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Members of the Dhanawe women’s group tend to their kitchen garden

The small plane carrying me to Hudur town starts its descent into the once lush green cropland surrounding the capital of the Bakol region in south Somalia. Instead of thriving fields of millet and vegetables, though, I see scraggly, water-starved vegetation poking up through patches of sand. Scattered water wells and a few boreholes dot the ground below. The plane lands, and I step onto the Hudur airstrip. “Welcome to dry Bakol,” my colleague John Ndezwa says in welcome.

John, the project coordinator for ADRA’s Emergency Water and Livelihood Support Program (EWLSP), tells me that chronic drought conditions in southern Somalia have devastated the Bakol region and have greatly affected the ability of the agro-pastoralist communities to produce food. “Many wells are dry and those that are functioning yield water that is 50 percent below normal capacity. The locals’ dependence on water for their survival and livelihoods has threatened their ability to recover,” John explains. He adds that increased movement of livestock and people in the region has put existing water and food sources under persistent pressure, thus straining resources and creating competition and the potential for conflict at already crowded water points.

EWLSP is ADRA’s latest project in Somalia, promoting the establishment of ten kitchen gardens by women’s groups who are trained to manage the gardens. With 34,000 beneficiaries throughout Somalia to its credit, the EWLSP has brought hope to local women determined to increase their household income and diet diversity.

I set out with John and the rest of the ADRA team to explore the Bakol countryside and see how the EWLSP project is helping people in the dry, vast lands of south Somalia. We travel east from Hudur town and after a few kilometers we arrive in Dhanawe village.

A group of about 30 women—members of the Dhanawe Women’s Group—have braved the scorching sun to meet the ADRA team. With assistance from ADRA’s EWLSP project, the women have set up a kitchen garden and they are eager to tell us how the garden has changed their lives. Fifty-year-old Amino Muqtar Gudow, one of the most active members of Dhanawe women’s group, is especially anxious to share her story. “I am very grateful for this project because I now see hope of harvesting my vegetables, selling them in the market, and making enough money to fix my teeth,” says Amino, who though self-conscious about her imperfect smile, grins widely as the other women tease her good naturedly. “I have to look good to find a husband and this is a perfect opportunity for me to improve on my beauty,” she adds.

Amino Muqtar Gudow

From Dhanawe, the ADRA team travels to visit three other villages participating in the garden project: Farak, Garasweyne, and Tawakal. The gardens provide ample evidence that EWLSP is fulfilling its objective to strengthen and diversify livelihoods of households and communities in Bakol. More than 100 women have been trained on seed selection, soil fertility, and irrigation techniques, along with how to prepare land and plant seeds properly. Hundreds more will benefit once the additional six planned kitchen gardens are fully operational.

“ADRA has provided us with good training on how to manage this kitchen garden and has also given us farm tools and implements, including wheelbarrows, shovels, forks, rakes, irrigation drip kits and seeds for planting,” says an elated Habiibo Aden Mumin, the chair of the Garasweyne women’s group. “We are now prepared to turn our shambas [gardens] green.”

In each of the four kitchen gardens I visited, the vegetables planted and nurtured by the women are doing well. Mano Sheikh Hussen, one of ADRA’s EWLSP community trainers, ensures the women know how to make the best use of their homegrown bounty. “The women are trained on how to cook these vegetables and taught the importance of such a diet to the family,” notes Mano, adding that the women also learn some basic principles on how to market their produce.

In Bakol, where ADRA has implemented water projects for the last six years, it was easy to see the kitchen garden project has helped to bring about another “green” revolution. With the women inspired by their garden’s success and the increased diversity in their families’ diets, hope has replaced despair.

Vegetables in Dhanawe kitchen garden

“I am very optimistic that once I sell the vegetables and make money to fix my teeth, I will be able to get myself a husband. Men do not like me because of my teeth, but I am now optimistic that things will be better,” concludes a joyful Amino, as she reaches for a jembe [garden hoe] and begins tending her garden.

As I hop onto the plane bound for my home base of Nairobi, the words of Amino still linger in my mind, and I smile as I think how her life is changing because of ADRA’s kitchen garden project.

Jason Nyantino is the public relations officer for ADRA Somalia.

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The enormous force of the Tsunami left nothing of Qulule village but this deserted strip of sand.

Qulule village took a direct hit from the Asian Tsunami on December 26, 2004. After the water receded, the devastated villagers struggled to come to terms with the calamity and fought for a breath of fresh air amidst the stench of death and destruction. They had no choice but to leave everything to God. As I walked through what remained of the village, I stepped gingerly through the remnants of domestic life littering the beach—endless piles of kerosene lanterns, furniture, and kettles—my footprints trailing through the dark, circular, ashy patches marking where the villagers once cooked their meals.

Prodded along by my curiosity, I explored further, digging deeper into the scattered remains of Qulule. I climbed to the headland, observing that the village had once stood only 20 meters from the high tide line in the mouth of a beautiful gorge. Thus situated, when the tsunami struck, Qulule had been literally erased away, its forty-odd temporary dwellings swept into the sea. Only a solitary cement-block structure, sheltered under a rock ledge, remained standing.

The enormous force of the Tsunami left nothing of Qulule village but this deserted strip of sand.

As the Qulule villagers shared their tsunami experiences, I listened intently, pained by their tales of survival and loss. Their oceanfront homes washed away, they had no choice but to move under rock ledges and caves. The inviting landscape they so loved was now foreign and hostile, the white sandy beach uninviting. But where else could they live? Perhaps the headland—on the cliffs high above the beach—but up there the only access to fresh water was in the deep gorge a lengthy and treacherous hike away. Besides, a villager could normally carry only a 5-liter can of water at a time. For this reason, along with the threat of flash floods through the gorge, the villagers preferred to stay near the water source at the beach. Yes, the headland was a challenging option. The villagers assured me, however, that they would move to higher ground if the gorge water could be accessed more easily. I knew ADRA was well equipped to make this happen, and as I left the village I assured my friends we would return to build a waterworks in the gorge.

In October 2005, anxious to see how my friends had fared over the last year, I returned to Qulule with an ADRA project team in tow. I was surprised and pleased to see a new village perching on the cliff top! The villagers had kept their promise of settling there, even though the waterworks had not yet been constructed.

The ADRA team eagerly set about surveying the land and discussing the technical requirements and logistics of building the much-anticipated waterworks. After all, Qulule had been waiting almost a year for this, and the villagers were growing skeptical they would ever have easy access to the gorge’s spring water. As the villagers observed the work under way, doubt gave way to the hope and promise of renewed life. By February 2006, designs had been finalized and work had begun. The project is progressing steadily, and the waterworks should be completed and functioning by the end of May 2006.

I witnessed firsthand the faith, courage, and resiliency of Qulule’s people. Left with nothing in the wake of the tsunami’s destruction, they relied on God to “swat away the flies.” Now, in anticipation of the new, convenient, and safe water source, Qulule is once again vibrant and growing.

Qulule is just one of the water-hungry Somali villages ADRA has helped by constructing waterworks. ADRA is actively implementing or supervising numerous other waterworks projects in the region.

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Looking down from the relative comfort of my airplane seat as I pass over the vast, arid country of southern Somalia, I notice that the water holes are downright dry. Blame it on Gu and Deyr—the seasonal rains that have been largely avoiding the Horn of Africa for the better part of a decade.

In general, one would remark, the region is in trouble. Slowly keeling over. The two consecutive failed rainy seasons are giving the residents of the districts of Huddur, Elberde, Rabdure, Tieglow, and Wajid, in the Bakool region, a reason to consider the worst. The last dry spell arrived in 2005 between April and June, when the Gu rain was supposed to soak the grazing areas and give farmers enough moisture for their fi elds. But when the water didn’t come again in October, and the fodder and the water holes became critically low, livestock carcasses began turning up all over the place. That’s troubling news when your way of life depends on the health— and size—of the herd.

In the Bakool region alone, more than 1.4 million people are beginning to feel the effects of the drought. Water prices are already jumping. But the water itself is increasingly going to fewer people—that is, to people who can afford, and are ready to pay, 35 to 40 Somali shillings for each 52-gallon drum, nearly US $3. In a country where the yearly income for an average person is $600—when there are no droughts, of course— that kind of spending will cut a hole in your pocket. If the situation worsens, the United Nations fears that there will be more than just dead animals. The magnitude of the situation then would be like shutting the faucet off in, say, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Honolulu, and Tulsa at the same time—indefi nitely.

Elberde district is the most affected by the lack of rain, and the problem is stretched to an almost unbearable level by the ongoing clan confl icts. Only two hand-dug wells and one borehole—from a total of 18 wells—are functioning. The rest have simply dried up.

Many herders up and down the Somali-Ethiopian border are not waiting for the water to come to them. Instead, they are pushing their flocks, and their families, to the south across an area the size of New Jersey toward more fertile areas in Garas Weyne, Morogavi, Dhil Siji, Xuddur, El-Lahelay, and various Tieglow villages where they are likely to fi nd a river. The move, in humanitarian lingo, has turned them into IDPs— internally displaced persons. This means that thousands of people are now strangers in their own country. And that, most likely, means that someone else will decide whose bucket dips into the water fi rst.

Although ADRA rehabilitated several wells and boreholes in the area, the infl ux of 12,000 IDPs and their camel and goat herds has reduced water levels by half. That’s worrisome, if not alarming, when you consider that the next rain— the Gu seasonal rain—is not due for another two months. However, no one should have to wait around that long for water.

But some do. In Falanfay, a small village near the Bakool regional capital, Xuddur, people waited four years to see the water in their well. Nevertheless, after all that time, Ibrahim Golbow is thankful. He is 98 years old, a former shoemaker and a village elder. He has a good reason to be happy about the water. That’s because over the years he has become the father of 20 children— 14 boys and six girls. And he wants to see them live a long life, as he has. He says, “ADRA is the sun of our village. It has brought us water, which had been a problem for ages. I see hope on the way, and this is a good thing, you know.” Finding water when you need it most is in some ways an exercise in patience and stubbornness.

Take the plan of ADRA, for example. It’s a struggle against the harsh Somali landscape: picking a collapsed borehole, removing the silt from the inside, digging deeper into the earth, and restoring water yields to normal levels—all of this before moving on to the other 69 holes. One by one.

While other relief agencies are trucking in the water from the Juba River, a steady drink that meanders across the most droughtprone region in Africa, ADRA’s plan—funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA)—is entirely set up to give towns and villages in the Bakool region—Garas Weyne, Elberde, El Dhun, Xuddur—a permanent way to get their water. Already, the UN Water, Environment and Sanitation (WES) committee is on the ground, so work can start immediately.

Soon, ADRA will carry out a geophysical survey and drill a borehole in Abal, a town east of Xuddur. Also, because that kind of assistance most likely won’t be enough, ADRA hopes to partner with Médecins Sans Frontières- Belgium to pump and pipe water from the El Dhun borehole to Xuddur, then build latrines in some of the most overcrowded villages, chlorinate water sources, and produce kitchen gardens at some of the rehabilitated wells to increase food production and give people better choices of food.

For now, however, the attention is on the holes. No one is celebrating yet.

Perhaps, if the people of Bakool fi nd the water before the water fi nds them, they will have time later, one hopes, for everything else.

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We traveled endlessly over long stretches of narrow, red, dirt road that wound its way through the flatlands of West Africa. It seemed like ADRA’s vehicle was the only vehicle on the road that day. I was excited because we were headed to remote villages in the Siguiri region of the Republic of Guinea. There, visitors are rare, and I had been told that ADRA’s visit would be a joyful event.

That’s not surprising; villagers only have one opportunity each week to leave the village when the ADRA truck comes to town! Moreover, an ADRA food security project is providing hope and life to villagers.

One component of that project is economic development. By establishing income-generating activities through small loans to women’s groups, individuals are able to create opportunities for their families. Increased family income can provide adequate, nutritious food, basic medical care, clothing and education.

Each time we drove into a Malinke village, women, children and men quickly emerged from their traditional homes (round huts made of dry mud walls and thatched roofs). They greeted us warmly in Malinke, the local language, shouting, “Inekay. Tanasite [Hello. Good Morning].” When we arrived in Mankity village, it looked like the entire village had been waiting.

Mankity’s women’s group gathered around the ADRA workers. Crowding in closely behind them were husbands, children, and other interested onlookers. Dembele, an ADRA worker from that region, explained to the women how the loans work and the terms of repayment. He also shared experiences and successes of women in other villages.

Manny Keita, a member of the women’s group there, has a success story of her own. Years of hard work etched into Manny’s face, could not hide her sincere desire to do her best to provide for her family six children ages one to nine years of age.

In addition to cooking, gathering wood for the fire, cleaning her hut, and caring for her children, Manny operates a small business. Six months ago, when the women’s group in her village joined ADRA’s program, she saw an opportunity to expand. She travels to the nearest city, 48 miles away, and purchases goods, which she sells for a small profit in the local market.

Nevertheless, before she could expand her capabilities, ADRA had to teach Manny how to read,write and do simple math. Seventy-eight percent of Guinean women are illiterate. Manny knew that she needed skills to run a small business and understand how to repay a loan.

Once she “graduated,” ADRA through the women’s group provided Manny’s first loan of $100. Her immediate challenge, the distance between her village and Siguiri where she buys her goods (48 miles) was overcome. Each trip cost $8, which previously made a deep hole in her income. In addition, she could only buy a few goods.

Manny says, “I used soup, peanuts, fish, eggs and corn at my house. But because I didn’t make very much in profit, I couldn’t buy many other goods to sell. ADRA’s loan increased my cash flow, and now I have a small store in the local market.”

Manny is grateful for ADRA’s help, and her thriving business enables her to take better care of her family, and make a contribution to her community. Others in her group have also opened small shops selling soap, lamp oil, dishes, clothing and gas.

The duku tigui, or chief of the village, has expressed his appreciation of ADRA, the US government, and people of America who made helped make this possible. “The ADRA loans have helped improve many of the small businesses in Mankity.”

“Our women see there are possibilities outside their own villages. When they first see how many documents they must complete to get a loan, they are discouraged. But it also teaches them the importance of literacy. This encourages them to send their children to school.”

Most importantly, the duku tigui said ADRA’s project boosts the women’s confidence. “Just seeing ADRA’s vehicle arrive is enough for them. If someone is willing to make the long, rough trip to Mankity to visit them, then they know someone cares about them.”

Not only that, knowing that ADRA believes in their abilities and is willing to trust them with loans, is beyond anything they could ever have imagined!

For Manny and women in villages throughout Siguiri, when an ADRA vehicle arrives, it is a symbol of hope.

Apart from that, ADRA had since 2002 also granted the blind farmers small scheme loans up to the tune of 27.6 million cedis to expand their agricultural activities.
 
Mr. Anthony Manooh, Technical Co-ordinator of Agriculture and Natural Resource Management of ADRA who presented the items expressed satisfaction at the performance of the farmers in soya bean cultivation, cashew planting and dry season gardening.
 
He challenged other physically challenged persons in society to take a leaf from the activities of the Karni blind farmers to engage themselves in productive ventures that would render them independent in society.
 
Mr. Manooh promised to offer them all the assistance they needed to harness their potentials to live comfortable and respectable lives in society.
 
Mr. Sampson Bediako Fordjour, Field Project Officer at Wa promised to supply them with grafted mango seedlings to add to other farming activities they were engaged in.
 
He called for regular meetings among them so as to come out with suggestions that could be useful for their development. ADRA also organised a three-day capacity building workshop for the farmers to equip them with technical skills and enhance modern ways of agriculture to improve on production.
 
The ADRA officials also educated them on the need to use improved seeds and prepare the land in line with modern trends that would increase field.
 
The participants were also taken through savings, record-keeping and the use of organic manure to improve yield and reduce cost of production.
 
© 2005 Copyright Ghana News Agency (GNA)

This article does not necessarily reflect the views of ADRA International

Green hills surrounded us and seemed to swallow up the road ahead. On each side, woman worked the fields either by hand with a small pick, or a plough pulled behind oxen. Little circular mud huts with thatched roofs dotted the landscape. We were on a 13-hour journey from Guinea Conakry to the far province of Siguiri.

It takes a little over 13 hours to arrive in the dusty village of Bambala. As we entered the village, population 686, children, women, and men surrounded us all talking the local dialect or French. The village was typical. Circular mud huts with thatched roofs were crowded up against each other with no apparent rhyme or reason for the way they are located in the village. The day is hot, and the sun showers its hot rays down mercilessly on us. Many of the women are dressed in colorful robes. We are led to the town square, which is a place where there are a couple large shade-providing mango trees. There we find the chief of the village, ministry of health service providers, ADRA health volunteers, ADRA health promoters, and the village men, woman, and lots of children.

For the next hour the community health volunteers proudly shows all they have learned during the past five years with ADRA. Their knowledge of primary health and nutrition is impressive. They show us with pride their “doctor’s emergency kit.” It is limited to basic supplies such as gloves, plastic towels, and sterilization solution. These few items, however, save lives. They showed us a book that had a pictorial report of the health status of the village. We could see by the pictures how many babies died each month and also how many babies were improving. All too soon the ceremony was over. As we left the village, the chiefwho had been very silentwalked over to ADRA’s country director for Guinea, Sharon Pittman. He said, “mama we are very sad, very sad.” He continued, “We are sad because ADRA is leaving us.”

ADRA’s health program in Guinea terminates on September 30, 2005. The chief said, “Before ADRA came to our village so many of our babies and children died. Now that ADRA has come we are healthier, happier, and our children are surviving.” I look into the eyes of the chief and could see such sincerity and love. I look around again at the children and know that many were alive and well because of the knowledge ADRA had given to this village in the heart of Guinea. Pittman said, “Even though ADRA is leaving, the knowledge you have gained will stay with you. Let’s pray also that the new project is approved.” The Chief smiled and said, “We will pray for ADRA every day.”

Later in solemn ceremony with the Governor of the State (Prefecture) it was so impressive to hear the outstanding confirmation of this political leader. He said, “You have come and made a difference in our area. The results of OUR program are outstanding. We look forward to working and cooperating with you on a new five year project. Please send our thanks to Washington as well.”

By Anthony Stahl, bureau chief for program management, ADRA International

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" 'I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid…’ ” Leviticus 26:6 (NIV)

A couple months ago, I returned from a trip to East Africa, including southern Sudan. Sudan is the largest country in Africa, but has been in a state of war for approximately thirty years. The results of this long-term conflict have been tremendous.

The infrastructure—including roads, schools, health facilities, and much more—is in shambles. One particularly bad 10-mile stretch of road took us 1.5 hours to travel! To get to ADRA’s projects, we, like ADRA South Sudan staff, had to fly in on a United Nations single-engine plane that lands on dirt strips.

The poor transportation and communication in southern Sudan make this area extremely difficult to work in. On top of this, there is the constant threat of ongoing conflict. At all times you must carry a “quick run” survival kit containing enough water for four days.

Despite these conditions, ADRA is carrying out a tremendous work in southern Sudan. Education projects are supporting schools that have no supplies. A guinea worm eradication project is helping to eliminate this painful, but rectifiable, disease. Women’s groups are learning literacy and numeracy skills and starting their own business to create income for their families.

One school that stands out in my mind is the Affa Displaced Primary School. It’s a school that ADRA is supporting with supplies and teacher training. The children who are students there were forced to flee their homes farther north due to fighting. Many of their stories are very saddening.

The future in this region depends heavily on the peace process that is ongoing. I hope you’ll join me in praying for the safety of ADRA staff working in this dangerous environment, the continued community involvement and support of ADRA’s projects, and especially for peace in southern Sudan.

“And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.” ~Nehemiah 12:43 (NIV)

After packing the essentials for a four-day visit to the village of Donomade, I met Irene, a field worker for one of ADRA Togo’s women’s empowerment projects who lives in Donomade during the week.

When we arrived that afternoon, ADRA’s AIDS Prevention Program team began by giving questionnaires and doing informal discussion groups with villagers and showing a film about signs of AIDS, transmission, and prevention. “Now we know how to protect ourselves,” said Bosi Rosa after the presentation. “I will start telling my children about AIDS and how they can prevent it.” Dovi, a petite little girl with a stack of schoolbooks resting on her head commented, “What I learned about AIDS makes me sure I want to avoid it.”

When I stepped out of Irene’s hut at 7 a.m. the next morning, a large circle of villagers was gathered around. ADRA’s life-skills classes, covering topics like women and children’s rights, health, sanitation, nutrition, family relationships, family planning, and methods of income generation, begin very early as its often the only time when women are free.

ADRA reaches youth through weekly presentations at primary schools. Out of 32 students, only eight were girls. This is not surprising in Togo, where there are nearly twice as many illiterate females as males. Early pregnancy and marriage are two factors that cause many Togolese girls to drop out of school. “My dream is to be a journalist. I want to stay in school and finish my education,” said 15-year-old Kristine. “Today I learned that I need to avoid early marriage and pregnancy to complete school.”

On the trip back to Lome, Irene and I passed barefoot school children on the narrow footpaths, waving as we drove by. We saw women walking with heavy loads of firewood balanced on their heads and men riding bicycles with towering sacks of corn tied to the back. These are everyday sights in Togo, and it’s easy to pass them by without noticing. Yet within each person, there are needs and a story. My week in Donomade gave me insight into some of those stories, and encouraged me as I saw the rejoicing of the women and children—like Bisi, Dovi, and Kristine—as ADRA brought empowerment to their life and hope to their future.

"You are the light of the world" Matthew 5:14 (NIV)

ADRA has been drilling wells in Somalia since 1992. Water is extremely rare, with water points being 70 to 100 km (43 to 62 miles) apart. People and their livestock have to walk two to three days to get water. The countryside has no lakes or rivers, and rain falls only about twice a year. Otherwise the climate is hot and dry year-round with temperatures averaging 40º C (104º F) in the shade.

Drilling wells is a real challenge. Boreholes have to be around 200 meters (656 feet) deep. To drill that deep we need from 80 to 100 thousand liters (21 to 26 thousand gallons) of water. Tanker trucks bring water from the nearest source located about seven hours one way over heavy sand and sharp rocks.

Sheik Mahmoud Diblawe from the Datable clan visited our office in Mogadishu. He wanted to thank ADRA for helping his people and to assure us of safety under his protection. Our drilling team and equipment were guarded by 50 armed militiamen with six technical cars, each mounted with a heavy machine gun.

I recalled his friendly welcome during our survey trip two years before. As we talked, I had mentioned that I was also a religious man, a Christian sheik—adding that we all pray to the same God. Impressed, he asked if I could dig a well for his village. He added, "Because of the remoteness of our area, no international organization has ever made an effort to come here."

Due to lack of funds, I could promise only to do my best. As we left, he asked for my business card. I wondered about this request since his area has no post office or telephone. "I have kept your business card in my Koran," he said. "Every day when I read it and pray, I include ADRA in my prayers. `If this man is a true sheik,' I told myself, `he will keep his promise. One day he will return.' Now I realize that you are a true sheik, and I thank ADRA for what has been done for my people!"

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” ~ Psalm 103: 2, 3 (NIV)

It was a bright, sunny Togolese national holiday morning as I walked out of my apartment to go to the villages for one of our project visits. Kofi, the driver, Mawunyo, the project coordinator, and I were on our way to the village of Donomade. I wanted to know if Donomade had any spectacular meaning. Yes, it had! And that was, “the village is so far that a sick person can never get there.” Upon our arrival in the village we saw a group of women under a big tree involved in a health training session facilitated by Chantal, the ADRA agent for this village. Their faces beamed with joy as they welcomed us, shaking our hands warmly. They quickly realized that I did not speak the local language because I did not know how to respond very well to the local greeting.

Suddenly, a mentally challenged man with a broad, genuine smile interrupted the meeting and started questioning why some people were speaking in English. He seemed curious and wanted to be my friend.

The shock of the day came when, on saying good bye to the community members, the man came close to me, and as he held my hand to say goodbye, he gently lifted it to his cracked lips and kissed the back of my hand. I reassured him that I cared about him, too. As we drove back to the city of Lome, his parting words filled my mind as I was reminded of my new buddy in the village.

I learned lessons from this precious child of God. We each desire to be loved. Thank God that His love is unconditional at all times, and when we need His attention He is always there. More so, He is the great physician who not only heals physical diseases, but the spiritual, too. And in Donomade, “where sick people cannot reach,” there was a mentally challenged child of God. I’m thankful that God can always reach Donomade, regardless of the distance. And as God’s arms and hands, ADRA is reaching out to people, even in villages considered too far. I love being part of the ADRA family!

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (RSV)

Ella, a 13-year-old girl in the village where I work, had just finished primary school and had gotten her certificate (after passing the test). But her mother did not want her to continue her studies. The little girl, who was very unhappy about this, told me about it and pleaded with me to help her convince her mother to let her continue school. I went to their home and spoke to her mother about it; but her mother did not agree and would not be convinced. She responded, “I do not want her to continue her studies. The purpose of a girl is to work in the kitchen, on the farm, and to have babies. Me, I didn’t go to school but I eat and do everything just like those who have been to school.”

The situation was tense but we did not give up. I tried all the different means to bring her to reason. One evening after dinner when the three of us were all in the same room, I started to tell a story, a story about a woman doctor who had saved the people of her village from a terrible disease. The mother listened attentively without saying anything. However, the next day she came to me and asked if I thought that one day her daughter would be able to become a government official. I said “Yes, but only if she continues her studies.” With that dream, her mother was convinced.

One week before school started, all was ready for the girl to start school. Her mother came to visit me and excitedly reminded me, “My girl is going to school.”

ADRA strongly believes in empowering young people to reach their dreams. And education is a necessary tool to breaking the poverty cycle. I’m reminded how rewarding this work is every time little Ella happily thanks me—and ADRA—for our help

“Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.” Job 4:3 (NIV)

The view from the top of Mt. Muhavura, an inactive volcano in Western Uganda, is overwhelmingly green. It is a jungle of intertwining trees, hillsides covered with swaying banana plants, and a valley blanketed with the delicate hue of tomato vines, cabbages, onions and potatoes. But the tiny pygmy huts that are scattered throughout the region are largely invisible.

Walls of mud and roofs of palm fronds give shelter to one of the most marginalized groups in Uganda. In 1991, the Batwa Pygmies were evicted from their forest home in order to create Mgahinga National park, one of the few remaining habitats of the mountain gorilla.

Without land, the Pygmies have been forced to become squatters. They have no permanent home, no gardens to grow food and for many, they have no hope. Standing next to the huts, the children’s eyes are large with sorrow and hunger. Their bare feet are cracked, their bellies distended from malnutrition. Their clothing is colorless and filled with tears.

But ADRA Uganda has been making a difference by building the Mabuyemeru Primary school. Now Pygmy students have a place to sleep, access to clean water, regular meals, school uniforms and, most importantly, a life-changing education. In a district where the illiteracy rate is 67 percent, the Pygmy children are learning how to read and write. They are also gaining skills like tailoring, weaving, and farm maintenance.

In the past, Pygmies were so discriminated against that their children could not attend local schools. But at Mabuyemeru, Pygmy children stay in the same dormitory as non-Pygmy children. They share clothes, school supplies, and dreams for a better future.

Alice Nyamihanda is fourteen years old and the first in her village to finish primary school. Her shy smile belies a determined spirit. Alice dreams of graduating from secondary school. Right now, she is halfway through.

ADRA is giving Alice and many children like her a priceless gift—a chance for a better tomorrow. “Please tell ADRA to continue their compassion for the destitute,” said the leader of the Kanyabukung Pygmy community. “Please tell ADRA that they give us hope.”

“. . . we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.” Psalm 66:12 (NIV)

It was the worst flooding in Hanoi since 1984. The water crept up the steps leading to the ADRA office. This had happened before, but the water had never come through the doors. As the rain continued, we were alarmed to see it inching under the doorways despite our best efforts. We moved computer equipment and file drawers from the floor to tops of desks and tables.

Later, one of the men brought used bricks and buckets of red clay to build barriers at each of the four doorways. Now it was possible to use buckets to remove water without it immediately returning. The rain slowed, and then stopped. There was concern that, if another storm came very soon, it would be worse. By evening, the office was nearly cleaned up, but outside the water still lapped just below the porch floor.

The light rain predicted for Saturday began on schedule, but it increased about 5 AM. At the office, water poured over the "mud/brick dams" that had been built. Closed doors slowed the flow, but water gurgled up through the floor drains of the bathrooms and leaked through gaps between floor tiles. We emptied lower shelves. Just before the water reached it, the bed in the guest room was raised onto a couple chairs.

With the water rising, about 35 people moved office items to the second floor. The rain continued, off and on, throughout the day. While lighter than during the night, it was enough to keep the water about the same height. By late afternoon, boats had ferried many things to a new location.

We have decided to stay, at least for the moment, in the new location. According to the "authorities," there could be additional flooding this year. We are not prepared to go through this "moving experience" again anytime soon. While still anything but organized, our office is beginning to take shape again.

As we provide aid in the future, we will be able to better understand the feelings of helplessness and loss when flooding strikes.

“So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.” ~ Job 5:16

“The first thing they did was shoot my husband,” she (pictured below) said, looking down at the mat as I gripped my pen a little tighter. Her eyes met mine and I could see they were full of tears. I glanced around the hut, where 20 women sat detailing their lives before and after arriving at this refugee camp in West Darfur, Sudan. As the stories poured out they were similar in their tragedy—full of pain, murder, rape, and pillaging.

My tears started to make it difficult to write. I thought about my closet full of clothes and shoes, the half empty water bottle I threw away, and the comfortable bed I would be sleeping in that night.

The dust blew in my already irritated eyes as I rode in the back of the pickup to the ADRA compound. We were quiet and absorbed in our thoughts, overwhelmed by the enormity of the task—1.2 million displaced people with similar stories and lacking basic necessities like food and water. “How can man be so cruel” I thought? “Where is God?”

“Inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these, you did it unto me.” The words rang through my head. As our brothers and sisters in Sudan call out to God for help, ADRA responds. It is here in the midst of the largest humanitarian aid crisis in the world—building latrines in the hot sand, digging wells for water, and giving friendly smiles—ADRA is bringing hope to those who are without, bringing aid to the least of these.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (I Corinthians 6: 19 20, NIV)

I arrived at Ajakuac Payam on graduation day for 43 Guinea Worm Eradication Program (GWEP) volunteers and supervisors who completed ADRA’s three-day workshop in Twic County, Bahr El Ghazal. Walking to our vehicle, an elderly man came beside me, chatting away in the Dinka Language. I could not understand a word, so I smiled. He continued chatting away and held my hand. I called one teacher who could speak both English and Arabic who translated, “I am impressed because this young lady knows ‘the pen’ well. Because she knows ‘the pen’ well, I am willing to marry her and pay her parents 50 head of cattle just for her pen and 100 head of cattle for her to be my wife.”

I was greatly impressed! Not because a man in Ajakuac Payam was willing to pay 150 heads of cattle for a bride price; but because I realized that ADRA South Sudan’s hard work to promote girl’s education was paying off.

Community members in Twic County are pastoralist, and value cattle very much. Here, wealth is measured by the number of cattle one has and the number of wives one can afford to marry. Happy is the man who has many daughters, for his kraal will always be full of cattle.

The fact that girls in this community are sold off for a bride price at a very tender age, poses a great challenge in the area of girl’s education. ADRA South Sudan, through community mobilizations, workshops, and meetings has been encouraging the community to send girls to school since 1998. Statistics throughout south Sudan shows that only 26% of the pupils enrolled in school are girls in spite of the fact that female’s make up over 60% of the total population of south Sudan. Retention of girls in school is also a great challenge.

The fact that the old man was willing to pay 50 herds of cattle just for ‘the pen’ (equivalent to USD $10,000 encouraged me that the community is gradually changing and placing a high value on girl’s education.

ADRA believes in the importance and value of girls and women and works to uncover that value in societies where it has been clouded. And just like Christ, ADRA believes every man, woman and child has inherent value. I’m glad ADRA is able to show God’s loving face in societies where some genders or ethnic groups have never had their value affirmed. And just as a valued bride is bought with a great price, it reminds me that God bought us with a great price because He, too, values us so intensely.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ~Deuteronomy 10:18 (RSV)

Continued from the last devotional…

Synopsis so far: Evelyne Nielsen’s husband, Bent, served as the country director of ADRA Burundi until he was murdered in 1998. With the desire to carry on the work of her husband, Evelyne took over as country director until June 2001 when she moved to continue ADRA’s work in Tunisia.

Now, after more than 25 years in Africa, I am discovering a new culture in a new country: Tunisia. Here, again, I am bringing ADRA’s mission of love and respect for everyone without consideration of race, gender or religion. My brightest experience after nearly five months in Tunisia, is of participating in Aïd el Fetr, a celebration on behalf of elderly people at the end of Ramadan. ADRA Netherlands sent funding for ADRA Tunisia to be a part of bringing joy to elderly people who were isolated and forgotten during the festival. It was thrilling to see elderly men and women in their traditional clothes moving in rhythm to the religious songs—songs sung for the glory of God by a traditional band, a Souleimia. They also received warm clothes to help them fight the cold of winter.

I will never exchange my place for another one. To work in the ADRA network means to be part of the long chain of solidarity all over the world between people of good heart and good will. It means expressing God’s love to people, who are suffering in their soul and in their flesh. That love is expressed through projects where they are involved right from the beginning—for their own development and the development of ADRA itself—and through projects where everyone—the community and ADRA teams—are learning together in friendship and humility.

“…The LORD, who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry…” ~Psalms 146 6 - 7 (NIV)

Recently, I visited Camp Ded Madi Okollo in Arua, Uganda, and met with a small group of refugees that had lived there for the past five to six months. This was their third camp and most had been refugees for at least 10 years.

The life of a refugee is a challenging one. The food rations which are per person, per month, are 26 lbs. of maize flour, 4 lbs. of beans, and 0.6 liters of cooking oil. There are no supplemental foods for babies. There are two working boreholes for a camp of more than 7,000 people. To get to the borehole water, you have to walk nearly a mile each day. Usually, it’s the women who bare this task.

Imagine all your possessions fitting in a small shelter structure with a “United Nations” tarp over the top and thatch walls at each end. A family of 10 might live in a shelter like this. All your worldly possessions were probably lost in your last move. You are faced with limited rations and water and are located in an area without employment opportunities or schools and with limited medical facilities. The only way to earn a living is by selling your meager rations. These are conditions most of us cannot even fathom.

Compare this with your life. How many cars do you own? How many square feet is your home? How much junk do you have stored in your garage that has not seen the light of day since your last move? Think of the health care that is a short distance away.

How do people become refugees? It is usually associated with violence, and/or freedom of expression. For most of us who live in societies where we are not subject to threats, conflict or acts of violence and who can express ourselves pretty much as we please, these situations are remote. Yet in parts of the world they are common daily experiences.

On June 20th of this month, the world commemorates World Refugee Day. I’m reminded of the small group of men and women I met at Camp Ded Madi Okollo. What should our response be as Christians? It is easy to say we should feed the hungry, clothe the naked and aid the sick, but it is probably a different story to stand up and fight for just treatment of people. It requires activism on our part. I believe that Christ calls us not to be “couch potato” Christians, but activist Christians who get involved in helping support those who are in situations—like refugees from Sudan living in a camp—where our voices might be the only ones supporting them.

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6 7 (RSV)

From the blue-tiled splendors of Tamerlane’s Samarkand to the holy city of Bukhara, boasting a mosque for each day of the year, Uzbekistan, lays claim to a breathtaking architectural legacy. Bound by sand and snow, these fertile oases attracted the greatest travelers and conquerors in history along the fragile threads of the Silk Road. This is our new home.

As soon as we arrived here, we began working to get ADRA accredited in Uzbekistan. This has taken much patience and persistence. Finally, the United Nations finally granted ADRA bona fide status to cross boarder operations from Uzbekistan to Afghanistan. This status helped ADRA obtain its accreditation, and in March 2002 ADRA Uzbekistan became official!

When we think about our challenges here, the most amazing and comforting fact is to see and feel God’s guidance all the way. It is awesome how things happen when we make ourselves available to God. Doors open before us. The right people step into our lives. Again, on God’s schedule, not ours. Sometimes the task before us is difficult or the needed information isn’t shared or isn’t clear, and it’s easy to fall into the trap of frustration. This happens especially when you look to all ‘you’ are doing. That’s the point! The little secret I’ve learned to avoid frustration is to make sure we are doing all we can, but then to look to Jesus and trust it all to Him. As we act in faith, reaching out to the needy ones all around us, the Holy Spirit, the mighty angels, and all the powers of Heaven are there to assist us. We look forward to seeing ADRA make a difference in this country.

ADRA Uzbekistan, currently a small team of four people, is contacting the government, NGOs, public institutions, and communities to assess the needs of the country. On a recent meeting with the Minister of Public Education, ADRA received strong support to implement educational programs such as vocational training for vulnerable children and a tobacco awareness programs at the schools. We are working hard on these possibilities. In addition, we hope to assist many in Northern Afghanistan and soon eight containers of winter clothing for distribution.

There is a work to be done in this country! We know that with God’s guidance, our best efforts, love, and donor’s compassion, we will make it happen! This is just the start of an exciting journey…

“Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.” Job 4:3 (NIV)

Every morning is much the same for me. I push a button to shut off my alarm. Then I flip a light switch, and click another button on my electric toothbrush. For water, I turn a couple of knobs. Later, I tap a few buttons on the microwave to heat my food.

Life for many people in Africa is far different. Millions face starvation and an AIDS pandemic. Helplessness, pain, hunger, and fear touch young ones who barely understand their world.

Drought has destroyed more than 90% of the food crops in the southern part of Africa. Political turmoil compounds the situation. A small can of cooking oil costs about CDN$75 (US$50). Sugar, flour, and soap are not available. AIDS kills 10,000 people every month, leaving hundreds of thousands of orphans.

While visiting an ADRA project, I met a volunteer that I call “Special Lady.” This woman lives a very simple life in order to help as many as possible. Often her mornings start at 1:00 AM when people arrive hoping to work for food or clothing. Even four-year-olds come for a chance to earn something to eat.

One family’s story is an example of the need that she sees daily. The 74-year-old grandfather suffers from heart disease and is unable to walk. He is the guardian of 18 grandchildren because ten of his eleven children have died from AIDS. The family has no income, and their house is deteriorating. Touched by their situation, “Special Lady” pledged to help.

Laying her burden in God’s hands, she cried, “How can I make such promises, Lord? I have no way of coming through!” Her next visit to the post office yielded an unexpected letter with US$500 for a family in need. With this generous donation, a well was dug and food was provided.

People around the world are making a difference for Africa. People are pushing financial and political buttons. ADRA is a beacon for God’s love in areas where the darkness of pain and hunger prevail. I hope your heart will push a button or two to provide hope, life, and a future. Together, we are making a difference...one life at a time.

"They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work." Nehemiah 2:18 (NIV)

The dream of a lifetime was realized when I traveled with my husband to visit ADRA projects in Africa. Rwanda is lush and green, with crops growing on every available piece of land—even the small mountains are terraced!

After a long, winding, and scary drive one morning, we arrived at Mugonero Hospital, beautifully situated above Lake Kivu. To the right of the hospital stand guest rooms with a hospital chapel in front and doctors’ residences to the side. The entire campus looks out over an incredible view.

But I learned a hard lesson about outward appearances.

As I walked, I came to a brick and iron fence. The simple sign proclaimed, “Innocent victims of April 1994 Genocide.” Thousands of bodies are buried in a mass grave—mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents had been robbed of their chance to live.

A little while later I walked into the hospital chapel. Five simple wood coffins are the only furniture in the building. Each is filled with partial remains of some of the thousands of people who lost their lives in a mass slaughter in this very church on a Saturday afternoon.

Gutted, the walls and ceilings of the guest rooms still display the scars of bullets and machetes. The rage fueling the genocide scarred the hospital, too. Windows and doors were broken, with most electrical wiring and plumbing ripped out.

As I ached inside and tears flowed out of my eyes, I gave thanks for those who have gone above the call of duty to restore healing in this beautiful, yet grief-laden area. In 1996 a team of volunteers from Canada spent six weeks putting the building back in working order. Patients have been cared for since then. Regular staff training and improvements continue due to the dedicated efforts of Dr. Gerson Araujo and his wife Arleide.

While the memories of war are still very evident, I see love in action.

"…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday." ~Isaiah 58:10 (NIV)

It’s easy to relate to darkness. It’s the thing we feared as a child and the feeling that sometimes envelopes us as adults. For the past year and a half, here in the United States, we’ve experienced darkness as a nation. We grieved the loss of friends and neighbors caught unexpectedly in the crossfire of terrorism one dark September morning, and we’ve lived through the darkness of uncertainty and insecurity that followed as we were caught up in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. I’m sure you’ve faced your personal darkness as well. Nationally and personally we long for the light. Even as we emerge from the winter months into spring, we’re reminded of the joy of longer days of sunshine. The light seems to bring life to the soul.

God knew we’d face times of darkness and gave us a road map with ironic directions to emerge from our darkness into light—spend yourself on behalf of the hungry and others who are oppressed.

If you’re hurting and stumbling through the darkness of a difficult experience in your own life, reaching out to help others and to better the world may seem impossible; but doing so brings the discovery that the healing you need comes in great measure as you help others.

There are many people around you and around the world who need help. For some it’s your time, a caring ear or your patience. For millions in ADRA’s world it’s food, medical aid, empowerment, shelter, and knowledge.

I’ve seen the unveiling of dignity in the eyes of women in Bangladesh empowered by ADRA to better care for their children and provide an income for their families. I’ve seen the sparkle in the eyes of children in Madagascar as they eat the lunch provided by ADRA at their school. Once lethargic, they now eagerly learn. I’ve seen the glow around a father in Nicaragua who’s learned new farming techniques and received seeds from ADRA. It’s the glow of hope for the next harvest, which will provide for his family. I’ve witnessed their emergence to light all because someone cared enough to spend themselves in support of ADRA’s mission.

If you’re searching for light, consider spending yourself on behalf of the hungry and oppressed that ADRA seeks to minister to every day. It’ll light up your life and theirs.

The hard-packed dirt floor, mud walls and dark shadows bore no resemblance to the way I’d imagined a room like this to be. Steady moans came from the young woman lying in the corner and only the traditional supplies of a cloth, razor blade, and wood shavings lay on the shelf nearby. It was hard to imagine that here a new life would be welcomed ... hopefully.

Will you help mothers like these?

Compared with the sterile, doctorand nurse-fi lled delivery rooms in my world, the two scenes couldn’t be more different. With the exception of one significant similarity. It’s embedded in the hearts of new mothers everywhere: the hope that their child will be healthy. The dream that their child’s life will be better than theirs. The desire to see their every aspiration met, their every dream come true and the wish that opportunity will meet their every ambition.

Stepping into that mud-walled world, life’s unfairness became painfully clear when I realized that for these woman—and for you and me—where we’re born heavily determines how or if we will live. The same is true of our children. And although it shouldn’t be, in Malawi and other developing countries, a healthy, opportunity-filled future remains unattainable for most.

You can help change that by partnering with ADRA!

More than 500,000 women die each year of pregnancy-related causes, Every Mother’s Wish 99 percent of them in the developing world. Malawi has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world—1,100 per 100,000 births. In the United States, that number is eight per 100,000. The infant mortality rate in Malawi is 120 deaths per 1,000 live births versus seven deaths per 1,000 live births here in the United States.

And even if an infant survives the birth, more than 10 percent of children born in Malawi will die before their first birthday, and about 19 percent will die before their fifth birthday-many from preventable causes, such as malnutrition and HIV and AIDS, including mother-to-child transmission.

Also severely encumbering a mother’s potential is the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Malawi. Of the 800,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in Malawi, more than half are women, and 40,000 of them are their children. Mothers have also had to leave behind an estimated cumulative number of 390,000 AIDS orphans.

I couldn’t help but see the conditions of their world juxtaposed against mine and felt their undoubted frustration as most of their dreams, and the opportunities every human being deserves, remained out of reach. Fortunately, they don’t stand alone.

Change this by partnering with ADRA’s ministry.

Will you?

Part of ADRA’s mission statement acknowledges the mutual dreams it shares with mothers by asserting that it will, "Facilitate the right and ability of all children to attain their full potential, and assist in assuring the child’s survival to achieve that potential." With that mission, ADRA could not stand idly by in Malawi.

Since 1991, ADRA’s comprehensive programs for men, women, and children in Malawi, funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), have targeted family planning, birth spacing, home-based care, HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in 22 of the 29 districts in Malawi. They provide training to community health workers and traditional birth attendants to promote healthy children and safe pregnancies.

For the scene I described earlier to happen to fewer women, ADRA trains health workers to refer high-risk pregnancies to clinics, to use gloves during delivery, and for each woman to provide their own razor blade to prevent the spread of AIDS during the delivery process. The most recent phase of this project, from 2001-2003, benefited 1.2 million people.

In Malawi, the HIV and AIDS epidemic can be overwhelming, but hope lies in that country’s children. ADRA’s Anti-AIDS clubs provide recreational activities, focus-group discussions, and materials about AIDS. ADRA also targets youth out-of-school with brochures, drama, small business skills training, and small loans for entrepreneurs who complete the training.

ADRA’s daily 15-minute radio program and weekly TV show, both titled, Why Are We Dying? address the cultural practices that spread the disease, reaching more people than our projects or staff could personally touch.

Malawians, like the 19 community health volunteers I met at the Chilipa Health Center, are working hard for their own future and their communities. Since 1996, ADRA has been here in the Zomba district where ADRA community health volunteers teach their neighbors about family planning, HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted infections. They’re proud to announce that their infant mortality rate is dropping.

They also think of women differently now as they’ve learned that a healthy mother means a healthy child and a healthy community. “Our community can develop only if we are healthy,” recognized one health volunteer.

ADRA, in partnership with each community, is fighting valiantly to enable and preserve the health of children and youth as well as strengthen the rights and health of mothers in Malawi. But the task ahead remains heavy.

That’s where your donation makes the most impact.

Will you donate a generous gift today for mothers in Malawi and other developing countries where the promise of life is tenuous, at best?

Your gift will help provide the medical help and training needed to empower women to deliver healthy babies, and to make appropriate lifestyle choices to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.

At this time of year as we celebrate “Mother’s Day” worldwide, remember the mothers of kindred spirits in Malawi. As you watch each step of your child’s or grandchild’s journey through life, and your dreams fulfilled as your children grow, eat bountifully, head off to school or walk down the aisle in marriage, remember that those dreams are dreams of the women in Malawi, too.

With your help, ADRA can continue fighting for every mother’s wish. How many mothers and children will you help today?