EVERY.SINGLE.CHILD

This week I am a part of a conference at Bethany Christian Services specifically for International Staff. You guys this is TOUGH STUFF! It is knowing that birth mothers have to walk away from their children because they have NO. OTHER. OPTION. It is knowing that children are kidnapped and trafficked in to slavery. It is knowing that a Chinese parent can not get health insurance to cover their child so they can not provide the heart surgery that will keep them alive. It is knowing that a child watched their mother, father, uncle, neighbor die of AIDS and then learning they have it themselves.

But you know what makes me really sad? There are people that know this and say "People who have AIDS deserve it" and people who say "They just need to work harder and get an education". There are people that believe the horrors that happen to children and families are the fault of individual decisions made by one person.

I heard from an amazing man who grew up in the rural tropics of Uganda. He was the youngest of 5 children and every year the first day of school, his father would take a pencil, break it into 5 pieces and the 1/5 of a pencil would have to last these children the entire school year. Did I mention the school was a 7 1/2 mile walk each way? (And here is the irony for me, as I sit here, my dog is laying on the floor eating pencil and I don't even care!)

These experiences make me uncomfortable, they make me feel guilt, they make me what to drop everything and go into the world. They make me want to cover my ears, shut my eyes and go apply at Starbucks.

The number of orphans is 163 million... But MY agency believes it is possible for every single child to be in a family. That is right, EVERY. SINGLE. CHILD. I believe it too. I will work for it and I hope you do as well. And remember you do not have to adopt to help a child be in a family.

RIght now I sponsor 3 children, my first child is from Ukraine and I have been sponsoring her for years. Early in the process she was able to move back to her home from an orphanage due to vocational training programs her parents attended. Each of her 4 siblings are also being sponsored. I also sponsor a boy in Zambia. He is a part of the Milk and Medicine program. Each month his mother comes and her twin boys are check out by a nurse, and given the food and medicine they need for another month. This children are with their mother instead of an orphanage. Finally I sponsor a boy in Ethiopia. I met him on my last trip there. He had a smile that melted my heart. The sponsorship money his family receives allows him to live with his grandmother and attend school.

I have been able to work in Ethiopia and will go back again soon, to help with trauma education and assessment skills so that children are getting the best possible services.

We have to be constantly critically thinking about how we are helping, giving and learning ourselves.

I am assuming most of you have checked out by now, but in case you made it through here are some great great resources to start with if you are wanting to DO something...

BETHANY CHRISTIAN SERVICES

Yezalalem Minch

Nyaka School

I would also encourage you to read the book: Half the Sky (which I blogged about HERE
and watch a great documentary called: A Walk to Beautiful

I can say a little in a lot of words, but there are some great "mentors" of mine that says a lot with little words:

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
"Be the Change you wish to see in the World"
Mahatma Gandhi

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world, Indeed fact it is the only thing that ever has"
Margaret Mead

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us"
Emerson

"How wonderful is that that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world"
Anne Frank