Out of central Tajkistan's rocky, war-hardened soil, ADRA is constructing greenhouses and helping families in the Rasht region grow hope in an area still recovering from Tajikistan's brutal five-year civil war.
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Out of central Tajkistan's rocky, war-hardened soil, ADRA is constructing greenhouses and helping families in the Rasht region grow hope in an area still recovering from Tajikistan's brutal five-year civil war.
Each family pitches in to build its greenhouse, provided by ADRA Tajikistan with donations given to ADRA’s Original Really Useful Gift Catalog. Photo credit: ADRA Tajikistan
Since the end of Tajikistan's civil war in 1997, the region has suffered a full collapse of its economy, leaving many people struggling financially. In a region already characterized as "less developed," the civil war destroyed the region's financial infrastructure. Many of the survivors lost their homes and livelihoods in a conflict that reportedly killed at least 50,000 people and forced another 1.2 million to flee from their homes. Thousands of families were left to mourn fathers and brothers who never returned home. And when the war ended, those who remained wondered how they would survive.
The greenhouses built by ADRA Tajikistan provide an answer to that question, allowing families to grow dill, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, and other vegetables during the cold mountain winters.
"The home-grown vegetables enrich the families' diets, provide an income, and increase their overall wellbeing," said Victor Muhanov, project assistant for ADRA Tajikistan. "Also, children can watch the process of carrying out greenhouse agriculture and learn valuable skills and abilities that will be passed down from generation to generation."
Sanchagul and her twin daughters, Fotima and Zuhro, show off their newly constructed ADRA greenhouse. Photo credit: ADRA Tajikistan
The greenhouse project, showcased in ADRA's 2007 edition of The Original Really Useful Gift Catalog, began in June of 2007. Each greenhouse costs $1,500 dollars to build, and can be constructed in two days. So far, ADRA has been able to provide greenhouses for six families.
Sanchagul, a rather shy woman with soft brown eyes and dark, kerchief-covered hair, is the wife and mother of one of those families. Fifteen years ago Sanchagul, her husband, Mirzo, and children were a typical Tajik family. Then war broke out, filling each day with insecurity, terror, and confusion. And when a missile fired by a military helicopter destroyed their home and belongings, they were forced to join other war-displaced families in a settlement known as Pitomnik. Mirzo was able to build them a small, four-room house, and Sanchagul has done her best to make the simple house a home, with traditional rugs to warm the floors and family portraits to line the walls.
The couple and their 25-year-old son, Mirzorahim, bear deep scars from the war. Mirzo struggles with crippling states of depression caused by the trauma and horrors of the war that make it hard for him to work and provide for his family. Before the war, Mirzo enjoyed a successful career as an accountant and business manager for the Rasht region government. Now he works as a laborer working to reconstruct the local roads. But with his depression, he often is unable to work, and the family often does not have enough to eat.
Mirzorahim was a normal, healthy, 10-year-old boy when the fighting began, exposing him to the hard realities and deadly violence of conflict. Since then, he periodically battles epileptic-like seizures doctors believe were triggered by war-caused trauma. His three younger sisters, Khangoma, and twins Fotima and Zuhro, attend school in a nearby settlement, though without proper shoes the walk is often difficult, especially in the snowy winter weather.
With both her husband and her son ill, the responsibility of providing for the family has fallen squarely on Sangachul's shoulders. Like all mothers, Sanchagul wants to make sure that her family is provided for, that her children are safe and their lives easy, and that they grow healthy and happy. But without help, each day becomes a struggle to survive.
The spacious greenhouses allow families to grow a bountiful harvest of vegetables, even during the harsh winter months. Photo credit: ADRA Tajikistan
Sanchagul received a greenhouse from ADRA this past November, and is just about ready to harvest the first crop of vegetables. Mirzo and Mirzorahim enjoy working in the greenhouse, cultivating vegetables that will supplement the family's meals and be sold for much-needed supplies, such as new shoes for the girls.
Grateful for the assistance from ADRA, Sanchagul knows the hope she holds for her family's future in this rocky, war-torn land will now grow as strong and healthy as the vegetables in their new greenhouse.
ADRA's relationship with the people of the Rasht region began back in 2002, with a project that distributed wheat, sugar and oil among the people in need there. ADRA has continued working in the Rasht region, reconstructing schools, providing community development assistance, and distributing gifts to children from vulnerable families.
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ADRA International’s board of directors contains some of the most passionate and diverse individuals, many of whom come from the countries in which ADRA works to rebuild lives. Pardon Mwansa, originally from Zambia, talks about HIV and AIDS, famine, and why there is hope in the continent of Africa.
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Nicaragua has had to endure political instability for several decades and just as they were recovering Hurricane Mitch destroyed homes, took lives, and devastated the country's infrastructure. Rudy Monsalve talks about his recent visit to ADRA's large food security and health programs in Nicaragua.
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Daily, our workers rely on the prayers of thousands of dedicated people as they provide relief to the hurting, food for the hungry and clean water to the thirsty. Learn how the power of prayer at work can change lives.
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ADRA's World Radio speaks to Nagi Khalil, Country Director for ADRA Yemen, about how ADRA is working on behalf of Somali refugees, the physically challenged, and tribal communities to promote development and peace in this nation by the Red Sea.
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Frank Brenda discusses how ADRA Germany helps support relief efforts around the world and has changed the lives of many supporters in Germany—including his own.
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Wendy Brightman talks about the future of Indonesia following the total devastation of many cities and communities by last year’s Indian Ocean tsunami. Once bleak the future is getting brighter.
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The dictionary defines the word “Intervene” as to interfere with the outcome or course, especially of a condition or process as in preventing harm or improving function. Nowhere has ADRA’s interfering been more effective than in Australia. There, ADRA is interfering with people’s lives in some very powerful and beautiful ways. The guest on this episode, David Jack, CEO of ADRA Australia tells us how.
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Rudy Monsalve has seen and discusses in this episode what it’s like when there is not enough food to feed hungry stomachs. He’s also witnessed the amazing changes that take place in a village or a home when food stops being a hidden treasure and becomes the tool for good health and continued life that it was meant to be.
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Recently ADRA’s World Radio traveled to St. Louis, Missouri for the 58th World Session of the General Conference of Seventh Day Adventists. There we had the honor of talking with two ADRA country directors face to face before an appreciative audience of ADRA supporters.
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Terror hides behind many faces, none so horrific as what took place in 2004 in a country tucked between the Black and Caspian Seas. What happened in the City of Beslan, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia is beyond comprehension. Our guest on this episode, Vitalie Zgherea, is Director of ADRA Russia. He knows full well what that face looks like and he shares with us the horror and the hope that ADRA is bringing to those affected by this terrible tragedy.
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Raafat Kamal, Executive Director of ADRA UK is our guide in this episode. You’ll learn about the great variety of work ADRA UK undertakes in various countries around the globe from projects assisting street children in Peru to water projects in north Sudan.
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In this episode of ADRA’s World Radio we head to the South Pacific, to a country north of Australia and due west of the Solomon Islands. Papua New Guinea offers mountainous terrain, over 750 separate languages, and a host of opportunities for ADRA workers to make a difference in thousands of lives. Our guest, Michelle Abel is Country Director for ADRA Papua New Guinea and heads up the work in that area.
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Llewellyn Juby gives an update on how ADRA responded to recent food shortages in Mongolia and taught the people how to change their diet to live healthier and longer lives. He also tells some captivating stories of challenges and successes he has encountered recently.
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Everyday ADRA strives to reach out to a world in need in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Dawit Habetemariam discusses how the agency does this and shares first hand accounts of ADRA's life-changing work.
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The work of ADRA Norway has grown tremendously from the days when it ran with only one staff member. Pia Reierson discusses why she became a humanitarian worker and how today she leads a dedicated group of ADRA workers.
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The frontlines of ADRA's humanitarian work is not always in the poverty-stricken areas that are often referred to as the developing world. Marilyn Mackay discusses her work with ADRA providing for the needs of the people in her own backyard: Australia.
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The horn of Africa is a part of the world that is a virtual powder keg. Civil unrest, lack of water, and famine are all too common. Rudy Monsalve recently visited the Ethiopia and Somalia border region and provides a riveting report.
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Many parts of Africa have suffered from poverty and hunger for many decades. We don't always hear about the plight of the people in that region, but they continue to suffer day in and day out. Birgit Philipsen discusses the great needs she has witnessed first hand on the African continent.
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Rachel lived and worked for ADRA in Nicaragua for more than three years. She discusses the many joys and challenges she experienced and how ADRA's ministry of compassion not only impacted the people she served but changed her own life.
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Water is a very precious commodity in many parts of Africa including Namibia. ADRA is helping the San people of the Kalahari dig wells and also protect them from the many elephants that live in that region. Julio Munoz recently visited Namibia and discusses how ADRA is making a difference.
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ADRA's Original Really Useful Gift Catalog allows people to purchase live saving items for people who have nothing. Tereza Byrne gives a behind-the-scenes look, and tells the stories the people in ADRA's World that whose lives are changed through the wonderful projects in the catalog.
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After twenty years of civil war Sudan is slowly moving to a new peaceful era. At the same time the Darfur region remains a challenge. Anne Woodworth recently visited Sudan and reports that some positive changes are taking place.
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By Jason Nyantino. Edited by Kara Watkins, assistant director for marketing and development, ADRA International
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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.
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Amino Muqtar Gudow
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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.
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“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
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“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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We see the faces of those living with HIV and AIDS on the cover of magazines, newspapers, and TV screens. Most of them live in Africa and Mike Negerie reports that ADRA is working to ease their suffering and trying to put an end to the spread of the HIV epidemic.
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Life is difficult for many Laotians who struggle day in and day out to find good, clean water supplies. ADRA works hard to improve the lives of the people of Laos and Denison Grellmann discusses the changes that are taking place every day.
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Working in a country with no central government such as Somalia can be challenging. Robyn Kerr discusses her recent experience working with ADRA in that East African country, helping the people overcome the challenges of poverty, disease, and education.
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Recent volcanic irruptions in the Andean nation of Ecuador have caused great disruption to the lives of its people. Hearly Mayr discusses his recent visit to the affected areas as well as ADRA's response to that tragedy and its programs that are helping give many Ecuadorians a better life.
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Paraguay has undergone many changes in the last 100 years. Unfortunately not many have benefited the country. Marie-Jo discusses a recent visit and how ADRA is changing the lives of street children struggling to survive from day to day.
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It is well known that safety and security is a serious issue for aid workers in various “hotspots” around the world. Ken Flemmer recently visited and trained ADRA workers in Latin America who are now increasingly working in gang-infested areas.
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Malawi's population has been greatly affected by HIV and AIDS. Dr. Tayo Odeyemi, discusses the interrelation of AIDS and food security as well as ADRA response.
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ADRA responded immediately to the typhoons that recently devastated parts of the Philippines. Tereza Byrne recently visited ADRA’s ongoing recovery and long-term development efforts in the Philippines.
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Years of political and social upheaval along with climate change and famine have left Ethiopia struggling to regain its footing. Tina Hudgins recently returned to Ethiopia after a 21 years and shares here impression on the many changes the East African country has experienced.
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Indonesia has been in the news quite a bit lately as the result of a series of devastating disasters—including the tsunami in 2004. Dr. Reuben Supit, shares how ADRA has been busy rebuilding the lives of those who found themselves in harms way.
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ADRA's World Radio caught up with Charles Sandefur, president of ADRA International, to discuss his recent trip to Africa, a continent with great needs which has a special place in the heart of ADRA.
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The country of Albania faces many challenges as if rebuilds after decades of totalitarian communist rule. ADRA has been in Albania since the fall of communism and is there today to help ease the struggle on some very important fronts. Elidon Bardhi discusses the history and life changing work of ADRA Albania.
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Imagine not being able to attend school because you can’t read, write, or understand what the teacher says. Tens of thousands of Roma (gypsy) children living in Albania are unable to attend school because they don’t know Albanian. ADRA is reaching out to these children and preparing them for an education and a bright future. Hearly Mayr talks about his recent visit with the Roma Children of Albania.
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Indonesia is no stranger to disasters and at present the people on the island of Java are trying to cope with the aftermath of an earthquake that left thousands dead and many more injured and homeless. Robert Patton updates ADRA relief efforts underway and explains why ADRA is positive about the future.
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Frank Brenda gives us a behind-the-scenes look into some of the hotspots where ADRA workers are making a difference in the lives of many, many people.
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Todd Bruce shares amazing stories of sadness and hope from amidst the rubble of communities in Thailand affected by last year’s tsunami. Todd talks about ADRA’s ongoing efforts to bring relief to the people whose lives were changed by this disaster.
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Lowell Cooper helps guide the work of ADRA around the world, heading ADRA International’s board of director, and shares some insights about ADRA’s mission and history.
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ADRA International has carved a niche for itself in Ghana. For more than two decades it has been there to bring humanitarian and development activities and in the process has become the largest Non-governmental organization, or NGO, in agriculture in that country. The guest for this episode, Samuel Asante-Mensah, country director, shares exciting stories and the success of ADRA’s work in Ghana.
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For almost three years violence, bloodshed, and genocide have ravaged Darfur, Sudan. Dan Wortman recently visited Sudan and discusses ADRA’s lifesaving work with some of the more than two million refugees and internally displaced people.
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Part of a special series on ADRA’s Africa Famine Watch, Paul Smart, tells us how the people of Ethiopia are facing a food emergency of epic proportions.
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Part of a special series, ADRA’s Africa Famine Watch, Karla Leitzke, discusses how the people of Mali are facing a food crisis and chronic malnutrition.
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In the first of a series of special broadcasts, ADRA’s Africa Famine Watch, Frank Teeuwen gives an overview of the crisis in Africa, where tens of millions of people are starving to death.
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Pakistani trucks come in two sizes: large, fat trucks carrying a maximum of 6 tons; and small, scrappy "mountain" trucks carrying a maximum of 12 tons. Confused? Now you are beginning to understand why a truck shepherd's life is never dull.
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 Radek Spinka, ADRA Pakistan’s logistics officer on special assignment from the ADRA office in Germany, is our primary truck shepherd.
Today he will manage millions of rupees, analyzing thousands of details, making hundreds of decisions, and dialing up scores of phone calls, to put 23 trucks weighing 147 tons, on the road to Bagh.
Early on Radek runs into a potential glitch. A truck is missing. He is urgently trying to find a truck that has disappeared after it left the steel sheet factory near Peshawar. So far it has taken 30 hours to make a 7-hour trip.
Meanwhile, sprawled all over the lawns of our Rawalpindi office are 500 winterized tents that will be delivered by 10 trucks today. Additionally, he’ll send 39 huge custom-built wood-burning heaters via 1 truck. These were converted into two-burner cooking stoves designed for sixty 1,000-pound school tents, 35 of which were delivered and erected by our ADRA team in the past three days.
Rounding off the fleet are the 3 trucks filled with steel sheets, hammers, nails, saws, and shovels which left Rawalpindi at 3:00 a.m., 5:l5 a.m., and 6:40 a.m. this morning. They should be arriving at Deerkot, Bagh in a few minutes. Plus 6 trucks filled with 2,700 quilts that will be loaded this evening. Add to that 2 trucks filled with steel sheets from Mardan and you can see the logistical conundrum Radek must solve.
Radek seems to be continuously on the phone. This time he’s talking with Ismah, his counterpart in Kashmir. She is a 22-year-old, young lady, with a degree in commerce who speaks English fluently. Recently promoted, she manages to keep about 50 ADRA employees busy off-loading trucks, putting up tents, helping people erect shelters, and coordinating the trucks’s arrival times with Radek’s help.
It works like this. There are three NGOs (non-governmental organizations) in Pakistan who do nothing but provide free trucks, jeeps, mules, and helicopters to those NGOs like ADRA who are registered with the United Nations consortium.
When we have NFIs (non food items) to deliver to Kashmir, Radek calls up one of those three “transportation” NGOs, giving them 24 hours advance notice.
He gives them all the information, and they hire the trucks. Then Radek goes the extra mile, getting names of truck drivers, license plate numbers, and mobile phone numbers if possible, so he can help Ismah trace them if and when the get lost.
So far, Radek hasn’t lost one of the 118 trucks carrying 812 tons of lifesaving items you have donated with love for the Kashmiri survivors.
Guess what? Radek just informed me that Ismah called and said that the 1 lost truck has been found, and unloaded.
The shepherd of trucks has done his job today.
Click here to read our first update from Kashmir.
Click here to learn how to participate in our efforts.
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For Manny and women in villages throughout Siguiri, when an ADRA vehicle arrives, it is a symbol of hope.
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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.
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The old riddle asks, “If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it does it make a sound?
Right now millions of people are suffering silently. They are starving to death at the hands of a deadly famine that is suffocating Africa. Experts agree that there is more than enough food to feed the world’s population. So why are so many silently dying from hunger? Watch “Suffering in Silence” to learn more about hunger, famine, and ADRA’s response to this terrible tragedy.
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Serbska/former Yugoslavia: ADRA's work in Serbska, which was hard-hit by civil unrest (food distribution & warehouse) …
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Frank Teeuwen recently visited the Kashmir region of Pakistan and in this episode gives a firsthand account of the progress being made and the challenge that lays ahead.
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ADRA began relief efforts immediately to assist tens of thousands of people in Kashmir region of Pakistan that lost homes and loved ones in the terrible earthquake that struck the region last October. David Syme gives an update of ADRA’s ongoing relief efforts in the region.
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Depending on when you were born, the name Vietnam can mean many things. Country director Stephen Cooper shares how to those who work for ADRA, Vietnam means opportunity to make a difference.
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One year after the horrible Indian Ocean tsunami the final death toll is still not known. But what is known is that ADRA is committed to rebuilding broken lives, no matter how long it takes. Frank Teeuwen updates on ADRA’s work in the tsunami-devastated areas.
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Today we journey to the base of the Arabian Peninsula, to a country few people know about and fewer people visit. Our guest on this episode has spent some time in Yemen; as a matter of fact he lived in Yemen for three years, representing ADRA. He shares some very interesting stories on ADRA’s World Radio.
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Everyone likes a success story, especially when that success involves saving or enhancing human life. On this episode of ADRA’s World Radio, Sharon Pittman Country Director of ADRA Guinea, will share some success stories taking place in the West Africa county of Guinea, where ADRA is saving and enhancing lives every day.
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In this episode we take a behind the scenes look with Ed Baber, a financial administrator for ADRA International. He shares many of the safeguards and global policies that are in place to protect the funds that support the humanitarian work of ADRA. He also shares experiences from traveling around ADRA’s world.
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Careful planning, respectful partnerships and a grass roots approach to serving the community characterize its outreach. George Baiden, country director for ADRA Kenya has seen those elements of service put into action and in this episode he bring us up to date on some of the new and ongoing projects of this amazing organization.
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People who live in the tiny East African country of Rwanda, nestled in the great Rift Valley and squeezed between the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west and Tanzania to the east, are hoping that their tomorrows are a whole lot brighter than their yesterdays. A horrific civil war in the mid-1990s left the country bloodied and decimated. But that was then and this is now. Our guest, Daniel dos Santos, country Director of ADRA Rwanda, is stationed in Kigali, the country’s capital.
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The West African country of Niger boasts a lot of sand and rock and little else. And that’s the good news. Unfortunately, this Sahara Desert country, bordered on the north by Libya and on the east by Chad, is home to much suffering as well. Our guest for this episode, Frank Teevwen, is Bureau Chief for Emergency Management at ADRA International and brings us up to date on some of the ways that ADRA is planning to relieve a bit of the suffering.
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Lately on the show, we’ve been talking with country directors and other ADRA personnel about the work of ADRA in different parts of the world. In this episode, Mario Ochoa, executive vice president for ADRA International, takes us on a little journey back in time to the roots of this amazing organization. In reviewing ADRA’s past we discover that his past parallels in some interesting ways the road that the agency has taken.
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Tereza’s story, her journey actually, is just as filled with excitement, danger, violence and redemption as the stories of those whom the organization touches in so many parts of the world. Tereza is our guest and shares the interesting story of how and why she works for ADRA.
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When the great tsunami of December 26, 2004 struck, nothing stood between the island nation of Sri Lanka and the earthquake’s epicenter but open water. In a matter of minutes everything changed forever. Sri Lanka, located off the southern tip of India, is now a country in crisis. But in the midst of such horrific loss of life and livelihood, there’s reason to help. ADRA is there, bringing help to thousands as it works to return some semblance of normalcy to a people devastated by that disaster. Conrad Vine, Director of ADRA Sri Lanka, is with us today to bring us up to date on the work of ADRA in that country.
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The East African country of Sudan, bordered on the north by Egypt and on the east by Ethiopia, reflects both Muslim and Christian influences. In this tightly populated region of the world, feeding, educating and nurturing the people who call it home would be a challenge in the best of times. These are not the best of times in Sudan. Political turmoil, wars and the horrific spreading of the AIDS epidemic have turned portions of East Africa into a heartbreaking mix of dire hunger, displacement and disease.
ADRA is there, doing its best to meet the needs of as many people in that part of the world as possible. Lonita Fattic (ph.) is country director of ADRA Sudan and is with us on ADRA’s world radio.
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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.
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“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
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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.
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“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.”
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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?"
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“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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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“…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.
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"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.
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“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.
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Regretfully my husband and two sons have died, so now I am alone. I was planning to die this winter for I had no way to heat my house, much less to get any food. I could not believe it when I found an orange in food from ADRA.
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“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and wateched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on’.” Mark 12:41-44 (NIV)
When we visited a project, a persistent old woman insisted on talking to us. The translator told us she was 92 years old and showed us an orange that she held in her hand. Then she told us about her lifelong dream.
“Since I was 6 years old I wanted to try this fruit. One time I saw a rich man eating it, and I had continued to wonder what it was. When I was 10, I learned this fruit was called an “orange.” I still had not tried it. We had to work hard and could not afford even one orange because it costs as much as a month’s worth of flour. Then WWII came. Of course, we could not think of this fruit at that time. After the war, it was a hard time. We could not get bread and were eating potato skins and certainly no oranges. During Soviet times it was a bad fruita fruit of rich people. I worked all of my life on a farm collective.
“Regretfully my husband and two sons have died, so now I am alone. I was planning to die this winter for I had no way to heat my house, much less to get any food. I could not believe it when I found an orange in food from ADRA.
“Now I can die happy.”
She had waited a week and a half for the ADRA workers to come so she could say “thank you.” Then she cut the orange in four parts and shared it with me, our translator and another person with us. We told her that the orange was hers, but she would not let us refuse it. We had to eat it with her.
After that we bought five kilos of oranges and gave them to her. The next day we heard from the project director that she had divided those oranges with all the pensioners and handicapped that attended the soup kitchen so that each got a little bit of orange.
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I finally got them to translate her words: "I don't want an old coat... I need food. I'm hungry! I can't eat a coat!"
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He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ~Deuteronomy 10:18 (RSV)
In the summer of 1999, just over a year after we arrived in Kyrgyzstan, we received a shipment of more than 7,000 new winter coats from AmeriCares.
One of the sites we distributed them to was in Talas Oblast, the most western province of Kyrgyzstan. It has a lot of high mountains and is seriously under-served because of the difficulty of traveling there.
During the second day of distribution we were in the city of Talas distributing to pensioners, disabled adults, residents of a psychiatric institution, and those in a local hospital. At the hospital, we began handing out about 130 coats. Mr. Ashuraliev of the non-governmental organization (NGO) “Tilek,” began calling the names of the recipients. Near the end, one very elderly-looking babushka (pronounced BAH’ bash-ka) came for her coat. She began crying loudly as we gave her the coat, and speaking very fast in Russian. When I asked for translation, the translator and Mr. Ashuraliev were very embarrassed. I finally got them to translate her words: “I don’t want an old coat... I need food. I’m hungry! I can’t eat a coat!”
From that moment, I began to think of development in terms of what the people see as their needs and priorities. Yes, the winter weather is very cold there. Yes, they do need coats. But what good is a coat if they have no food? We gave the woman the coat, and I also gave her 200 som (about US$10) and all the local currency I had. That should have provided her with food for at least a month, if she had no other expenses, but I always suspected that she ended up selling the coat for food later.
Later, ADRA opened a “home kitchen” in Talas to provide hot meals at least 5 days per week to the very poor, pensioners, invalids, orphans and street children. That kitchen is still open, but will most likely be closing early in 2002, when the funding runs out. It costs about $120/month to keep a kitchen open, including ADRA’s overhead costs for management and supervision. We pray that God will help us find a way to continue to care for these people.
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Once a month ADRA distributes food in cooperation with the World Food Program. I give soy/corn powder to pregnant women and children under five years old.
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Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Proverbs 3:27 (NIV)
The standard of living usually decreases when one works as a volunteer in a developing country. Having running water or hot water is not a given when living in one room with the bathroom in the backyard. There might not be any decent cooking facilities. Telephone lines, including cell phones and e-mail, might be far away. Electricity is definitely not available 24 hours a day.
However, consider one of my days. A large number of people are gathered at the temple ground. They have elected eight to a “Village Development Committee.” Now they will identify types of problems and determine solutions. They need rice for planting new crops because flooding wiped out their last crop. The roads are in bad shape, especially during the rainy season. The school needs more teachers. Health problems include respiratory infections and diarrhea. With a central role in this process, ADRA provides facilitators, advisors, and funding.
That afternoon I visit another village. Once a month ADRA distributes food in cooperation with the World Food Program. I give soy/corn powder to pregnant women and children under five years old. Other ADRA workers and village volunteers hand out oil, sugar, and rice to replace crops destroyed in last year’s flood.
At the health center, a group of traditional birth attendants (TBA), trained by ADRA in safe delivery methods, are gathered for their monthly meeting. Most women deliver their babies at home under the care of a TBA. TBAs are highly respected in their communities, and the skill is often passed from mother to daughters.
I am saddened to see the unequal distribution of resources in this world. Developed countries struggle with illnesses and deaths related to lifestyle while developing countries struggle with illnesses and deaths related to lack of clean water, basic health care, and food.
Since my arrival, my days have been filled with new, exciting, and meaningful experiences. Moving across cultures is not always easy. The “rules” are different, and adjustments are many. However, I find that I thrive on meeting new people, learning about a new culture and language, and helping people that are less fortunate than I am.
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This provides them with increased income and, in turn, a better way of life.
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“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)
Recently I had the amazing opportunity to visit the country of Myanmar (Burma). Myanmar is unique in that the lower part of the country around the capital, Yangon, is wet. The upper part of the county, around Bagan, is desert and referred to as the dry-zone.
Life is tough in the dry-zone of Myanmar. Every day community members walk miles to collect water for that day’s use. They asked ADRA to help them find water and to dig wells near their villages so they can use the time spent getting water on other vital tasks such as gathering firewood for cooking and finding food for their families. ADRA is now partnering with them to bring clean water to their communities.
Others, laboring feverishly over hot open fires to make Jaggary (sugar lumps), asked ADRA to supply them with energy-saving stoves to help them increase their production of jaggary. This provides them with increased income and, in turn, a better way of life.
Day in and day out the people living in the dry-zone region toil and struggle to survive. They labor for pennies a day to try and make ends meet and usually the ends don’t meet.
My visit was a great inspiration to me as I witnessed the impact ADRA is making and has made in many villages. I felt blessed and honored to visit with the people of Myanmar and to learn that ADRA is making a difference in their lives.
Please pray for the people in Myanmar in their daily struggle to survive. Please pray, too, for ADRA and its staff as they continue to work in this country.
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The restless, whining youngsters had runny noses, discharge flowing from eyes, sores on little legs, skinny arms, and protruding bellies. Their mother, Marta, was pregnant and nursed a little one. She seemed irritable and frustrated, unable to control the children.
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"Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, 'Take and eat; this is my body'" Matthew 26:26 (NIV)
The restless, whining youngsters had runny noses, discharge flowing from eyes, sores on little legs, skinny arms, and protruding bellies. Their mother, Marta, was pregnant and nursed a little one. She seemed irritable and frustrated, unable to control the children.
Marta’s husband Jacinto worked far away and was gone for many days at a time. The family lived in a one-room shanty on a piece of land belonging to someone else, in return for guarding the owner’s land. They could eat leftover produce such as cooking bananas, yucca, and some citrus fruit. Clearly their diet was inadequate.
The community in general distrusted outsiders so I gently tried to befriend Marta. I knew better than to offer vitamins or medications. Finally, I began sending beans and vegetables to her via others. After several weeks, a neighbor told me that Marta let the food spoil. I was shocked.
Marta accepted my greetings and my stories, but she would not accept my food. She could not understand that I meant her well, hoping to improve her family's life, that I had nothing "up my sleeve."
Time passed. My husband and I moved when he became Director for ADRA Peru. I often thought of the community we'd left behind and prayed for our former neighbors.
Then ADRA started soup kitchens to feed needy children, including one in Marta's neighborhood. I wondered how many in the community were responding to this service.
On a brief visit to the jungle, I observed Marta and her family. In place of tears and whimpers, I saw smiles. Every eye was bright and clear. Arms, though small, were fuller and not a draining sore on any of them. The youngsters’ abdomens showed they’d been deparasitized.
The difference? Marta was working at the soup kitchen, so she and the children were eating nutritious meals. In addition, ADRA gave them bags of food.
What she would not take from me, she would gladly accept from ADRA.
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In Bolivia people assume responsibility for their own hunger early. Thanks to ADRA, at least some have the chance to be children a little longer.
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"For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: If a man will not work, he shall not eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV)
In the heart of La Paz, Bolivia, women in bowler hats crowd the streets, wearing up to 12 colorful skirts for warmth and carrying great bundles on their backs, often including a baby. Many school-aged children stand by the road, hawking a variety of trinkets and snacks, helping their parents earn enough money to feed the family.
On a tour of ADRA projects, we visited the Ackokalla Road food-for-work program. Using only picks and shovels, it took 100 men 100,000 hours to construct. Although only 3.6 miles (almost 6 kilometers) long, the road is tremendously important because it connects an isolated area with a market where local farmers sell their produce.
At a mother-child health clinic, almost 40 Aymara Indian women, many with babies, crowd into a tiny one-room house. The women come twice a week to learn cooking, childcare, and entrepreneurial skills.
In another section of La Paz, Dr. Gabrielle Castro uses only the most basic dental equipment and supplies to care for the people who crowd her tiny office. These people, who live on the Altiplano, are unbelievably poor even by Bolivia’s standards. Their small houses rest on the windswept plain or cling to the mountainside. No one has electricity; and people must carry their water, sometimes from great distances. Almost nothing grows on the Altiplano during much of the year. There are few trees, fewer flowers, and little grass.
At the bottom of a mountain we walked across a footbridge ADRA had built across the Undwavi, a big river that boils along the valley floor. Not far away is a school ADRA built. At the mountain’s foot, the climate was totally different than in the city. Seemingly in the middle of a vast uninhabited jungle, we were surprised to see about 60 students. One group of kids played soccer while another practiced their drums and panpipes.
It was good to see them in school, doing what all kids should do, but many here cannot. In Bolivia people assume responsibility for their own hunger early. Thanks to ADRA, at least some have the chance to be children a little longer.
-- Jeannette Johnson as told to Celeste Perrino Walker
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