Sunday, May 17, 2009

World Vision is saving lives in Musele

World Vision is doing a wonderful job in the village of Musele!  Id like to share with you some of the ways the sponsorship program is helping the entire community! 

We visited several of the schools here in Musele.  The children who attend  all wear uniforms... and although there are many basic schools, there is only 1 high school for 70 Kilometers!!  The teens who are fortunate enough to get to go walk miles a day and some stay in the nice boarding houses on site provided by World Vision donors.  They travel home on weekends and bring back the food they will cook themselves for the whole week.  Its alot different than our schools.. here, they are just happy to get to go.  We got to sit in on a 4th grade class and watched as the teacher, in English and Lunda taught them about thousands,hundreds, tens and ones and how to identify them.  They sang us this familiar song: 

The more we are together, together, together, 
The more we are together the happier we are.. 
Cause your friends are my friends and my friends are your friends
The more we get together the happier we are.

The classrooms look very plain.  Only desks, a chalkboard and some posters hanging on the block wall.  They have to put water on the dirt floor to keep it from being so dusty inside,  I wish all the kids in the USA could see it... they would really appreciate their schools alot more!! They expressed great need for more high schools and need more supplies to make them efficient.  But still they are thankful for the improvement WV (World Vision) has made.  It is getting better constantly thru the donations of WV sponsors and donors. 

We also went to see a fishing pond that World Vision workers helped provide.  They want to help the people develop the land, so they teach them how to farm, make fishing ponds, and grow crops.  This way they take pride in doing it themselves and when World Vision moves on to help another village (they usually stay in one location about 10 years).. then the villagers can continue the work.  We asked the man who owned this pond how has World Vision changed his life.  He said that the pond has provided a means of income and food (the fish) for him and his family.  He said it allows him to be able to send his kids to school and buy food and clothes.  He was so grateful.  It took him about 3 months (with the help of 2 other men) to dig the fishing pond (by hand!)...  He saw how the training and the hard work paid off.  There are many examples of this all over Musele...  People who have taken advantage of WV's opportunity to build a business.  It was so neat to see!

We saw many wells , or 'boreholes"" as they call them.  When you see how spread out their huts are over miles of dry land, you can see why it is such a burden for them to have to walk so far, miles a day, for water.  The wells WV has dug now provide much easier access to the water, and now they have water that is cleaner and wont make them sick like getting it from a contaminated lake.  They are very grateful for the boreholes... You can purchase one as a gift thru WV for about $17,000, or you can buy a small share in one if you go onto www.worldvision.org.  There are other much needed things you can specifically purchase for your child by calling World Visions 800 number.  

The care clinics that have been built have definately reduced the sickness and death rates in Musele.  We met many of the caregivers who work with WV's program to help the sick and orphaned...  They were all so kind and truly had loving hearts.  Their jobs range from visiting and bathing the ill, helping tend to the children, cleaning their homes, serving as midwives to pregnant women, and just anything they can do to lighten their loads.  WV provides caregiver kits that include things like gloves, cloths, flashlights, bandages, sanitary wipes, ibuprofen and other things they use daily.  The caregivers told us that they need more supplies, as they run out too quickly.  You can help provide these kits by contacting WV...  Our WV rep Michael said they helped put together  a thousand kits with GMA people at $28 a kit.  You can encourage your church to do a similar thing.  You can put the kits together for them and WV will ship them over for you....there are specific guidelines that they can give you if you are interested.  Check out www.worldvision.org.  

As you can see, your sponsorship is really saving not just your child, but the whole community! You should be so proud of your monthly sacrifice to help them.. we are proud of YOU, sponsors, nd encourage you to continue to do all you can with us and WV as you Help Us Help Them!

Much Love,
Sonya and the Gang...

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