Happy New Year! Another year has fallen upon us. Another year has slipped into the back of our memories. These can be memories of joyous occassions, laughter, triumph, trials, and/or growth. Whatever your past year may have looked like doesn't matter as much now. We are in a new year, with experiences for us to capture. This past year for me was full of ups, downs, laughter, tears, trials, sickness, connectedness, lonliness, growth, and rolling backwards. I have learned a lot this past year about myself, people, and God. Though I had trials and down times, these were the times I saw God's face. When I felt all alone amongst others, I knew God was there and my true friend. When I had no one to reach out to, He streched His arms to hold me and carry me through. When I wasn't sure how a task would come about, He brought it to be even better than I imagined. When my body grew tired from sickness, He showed me his healing power. When I thought I couldn't go on, He gave me His strength. When I wasn't sure what to do, He opened my eyes to a new way. This past year for me has been God. God has been there every step and turn I took this past year. It is good to just sit back in solitude and think of what occured in the past year and how much you overcame.
This past year for Project 21 involved many leaps of joy. Our project doesn't always seem to get recognized, but that all changed. Loma Linda School of Public Health decided that they wanted to be apart of the movements of Project 21. They said that they want to provide us with a stipend, practicum student, and other resources. We weren't sure what would happen next, so this was a pleasent surprise. Accompanied with this new change was us being heads over the nutrition center for malnourished kids. This past summer we helped out with the program by giving lectures and making a weeks supply of fattening milk based supplement. Working with the mothers and kids was such a rewarding time for me, so I was eager to be able to work with such a great intiative again.
Another change in our program was us expanding our borders to other villages. We finished giving lectures to all 21 quartiers (communities) in Bere earlier in the year, but we couldn't possibly stop there. We began to go to the villages that are oulining Bere, but still within in county. We have not finished this task, but are just barely begining since we want to reach 22 villages in all. The people in other villages are further from the hospital and may not have a clinic nearby. They are more likely to wait longer to get help and may not have as much knowledge about the danger of certain things. I love going out to these villages, because I feel like they need to hear our lectures the most. Too often there are people from far away villages that wait till the last minute to seek care and it ends up being too late.
Not everything that I do is related to Project 21. This past year I started to help out a couple of people here and there. The main person who helps people in need, Tammy, was gone on vacation, but that didn't mean that helping people would have to end. You all know I helped a mother and baby earlier in the year, but her baby still ended up dying. I tried to help her more with her other child, but she was afraid that her other child would die also. I haven't seen her since the day she refused to get care for her malaria, edemic, fatigued boy... Later in the year, I meet this lady named Naomi, because she was seeking for help from Tammy. Naomi is blind and mostly death, thus a little girl leads her around with a cane. I would give her food and soap until she came back the next month. I got money from a friend that I could use toward whatever, so I designated some for people I help. I gave Naomi a large sack of charcoal and some money that she would use to start a business. I also did the same for a grandma I know that is poor and lost the grandboy she was raising. Her house fell down due to the heavy rains from the summer, so she lives in neighbors house. Just seeing the joy in their eyes, hearing their thankfulness, and knowing this would make a difference to them made it all worth it.
One other thing that I did this past year was raise money for kids needing help to pay tuition and uniforms at the local SDA school. I decided to just announce the need of assistance on FB, but never thought that it would get much attention. As always, God exceeds your expectations. I expected to raise a couple hundred dollars..that would help some kids. But instead I raised $1,500!! That was enough to pay for all 31 needy students to go to school, plus give some of them uniforms and supplies. The willingness of others truly touched my heart. The last thing that I got myself involved into was writing a book. I felt impressed to make a photo coffee book and/or book on the stories of women from Chad that have overcome. Thus far, I only got to interview one person, Michelene. She lives in nearby city where she is a voice for women, orphans, and handicapped girls. I plan on meeting other women who share her passion for making Chad a better place for women.
As you can see there have been a lot of different things that have happened in my life this past year. I only gave you a glance into all that I was involed in, because there is too much to say. I am eager to see what all God has planned for me this year. I am now back In Chad, getting back into the swing of things. There are still many things that I would like to accomplish with the project or individually. As this year continues on please keep all of my plans and visions in prayer. I want this to not be a year of regrets, but a year of going beyond my wildest dreams. Will you come on this journey with me??
~ Look towards the future with hope, faith, and love ~
