Second chance at love

A few years ago I wrote a post about a friend of mine who suddenly found herself a single mom of four boys. Her husband, a doctor, unexpectedly died around Thanksgiving 2006. A few weeks ago I heard some exciting news. She just got engaged! Look at her smile!

I wish them loads of happiness and I am glad she found a companion to share the journey of life.

Changing Africa, part six

Just so you don't think these results are unique to Uganda, I wanted to share some pictures and stories from a recent trip to Liberia. We have a program for vulnerable children in three districts in Liberia. The concept is to place vulnerable children in homes with stable caregivers. We also try to improve the circumstances of the family. One way is through vocational training. This group of caregivers is learning to make soap for sale.

This group of youth and caregivers are learning to repair generators. Yeah, girls can repair generators too! We work with a local organization that offers pastry classes, carpentry, and so much more...

Through our program the lady in the stripes learned how to read and write. She proudly stood in the middle of a field she is working in and spelled her name for me. It is moments like that which remind me why I do this work. Her education can never be taken from her!

This fella and a few other caregivers got the bright idea of starting a farm. They burned bush, then dug out stumps by hand. They plowed large plots of land with no machines. They now have at least four acres of farm land where they are growing corn (a staple in the Liberian diet), watermelon, ocra, etc. The last report I read announced that Liberia has a nearly 80% unemployment rate (and we are fretting about 8%). These people walk for two hours to the farm each day, work hard in the fields and then walk the two hours home. The crops are used to feed needy families and to earn an income for those working the field.

This post wraps up my Changing Africa series. It is my prayer that you can see, there is hope...but the answer is in investing in people. Then the people change their communities. I don't think the answer will come in spending billions more in aid, or ultimately from a Western society. Africa will rise on the backs of African's. As a person committed to helping those who are suffering, I want to give them the tools to overcome, not just a hand out to appease my conscience.

Changing Africa, part five

I want to share a story with you from a third group of volunteers located in Northern Uganda. There is a woman sitting on a mat, in front of her home in the black shirt with colorful polka dots. She has three children. The group of volunteers surrounding her have been helping her with food, housing, and childcare as she rebuilds her strength. Her husband is dead from HIV. The woman sitting to the left of her in the colorful block shirt used to be one of our beneficiaries in the compassionate care project, like Martin mentioned before. She said a similar thing to what Martin said, she has found new life and purpose in caring for others. She is part of something larger than herself. She has hope she did not previously have. This small group of volunteers are caring for 32 orphans in their community. Wow! These are people who we would consider poor, but look at what they are capable of accomplishing when they are empowered to do so!

This is the woman they are helping. She was receiving food assitance from another NGO program and help with school fees. She said what this group does for her is so much more. She used to feel so alone, but she is not alone any more, she is now part of a community that cares for her welfare and the welfare of her children. So much better than a handout!

The man below is a local pastor and the leader of this group. This group is made up of three different church denominations. I had arrived early at the destination so he wasn't cleaned up yet. He wanted to get cleaned up and have the group wearing their t-shirts before I arrived. I told him I would rather see them at work and as they normally are, than to have a formal presentation.

I asked a few questions on my visit - has it been difficult for the different church denominations to work together on this project? In some areas we break up groups by denomination, we chose not to here. They all said it is better to have churches working together, through this they have realized they have more in common than differences that divide them. This project gives them unity. Unity is so needed in Africa! It is needed worldwide!

I asked the leader if the training had any effect on his role as a pastor, has he done things differently than before? He replied with a grin and said, "yes, before this training I thought that all I needed to do was preach. What I learned through this program is how to follow Jesus example and serve. The serving has brought more people through my church doors than preaching ever did." Across the globe, love in action is a powerful force for life change!

Changing Africa, part four

We have many volunteer groups like the blue t-shirt group. I visited just a few on my recent trip. A second group completed our training and one week later went out to help this woman.

She is partially blind, very old, alone and was living in this make shift home.

She has been in Lira since the IDP camps. Though displaced by the war, she had nothing to return to, so, she stayed. We asked the volunteer group if they recently learned about her or if they always knew she was there. What do you think their answer was?...they always knew she was there, but before they didn't do anything about her living conditions. I guess they assumed it was someone elses problem. Isn't that just like us humans? After attending our training they decided to build her a real home - one that would shade her from the sun and protect her from rain or animals (including nasty snakes). They are doing this with their own time, their own money, their own resources. It costs 1,000 Uganda shillings per bundle of straw for the roof. They needed at least 22 bundles to fully complete the project. The group took up an offering in their churches to pay the costs of building the house. It was not a handout from a white face or distant Westerner, it was community led and driven. Stories like this prove to me that real change is possible, even in what we consider resource poor areas!

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ~ Acts 2:42-45

changing Africa, part three

The volunteer group I mentioned yesterday, well, they have a lot of projects in the community. There is the HIV testing, but they also do income generating activities. They built this chicken coop. We provided the nails and a small initial investment in the chickens. They have made it a workable project, that provides needy families with protein to eat (eggs and meat), as well as some much needed income. They have plans to expand their chicken projects to help more.

Traditionally, it is appropriate to give your honored guest a gift. They gave me a chicken. Seriously! This is the first time I can think of that I touched a chicken. What am I going to do with a live chicken? Try explaining that to the customs officer! I buy my chicken prepacked at the grocery store, by that time it just looks like a hunk of meat, not a living animal. All day long we rode around the bush of Africa with the live chicken in the car. I've decided chickens sense fear. It was calm when others held him, the more experienced and less frantic, once that chicken was in my hands it was flapping around. It was like it immediately knew my weakness and was determined to get away. The group is helping hold the chicken down for the photo.

What I love about this is how empowered they were by the project. There is a sense of dignity restored when you are no longer asking for a handout, but rather have something of value to give to others.

In case you are wondering, I regifted the chicken to one of the staff from Uganda. They were thrilled to have it...and they know better than I what to do with a live chicken.