Hands that Help

(Great helpers, Carey and Tito, compare hands)

The overwhelming destruction from the earthquake that hit Haiti last week is unimaginable for most of us. Millions around the world grieved as we heard of and watched scenes of human suffering. Thankfully, amid those were also reports of the overwhelming response by the rest of the world: help was on its way! Apparently, the Canadian response was such that web sites/servers crashed.

Help is love in action. Helping one another is both a privilege and a responsibility, and what’s wonderful about helping is that we can do it pretty much anywhere, anytime, to anyone, and in many different ways. And even though the help effort here hasn’t crashed any websites that I’m aware of, there has been a lot of it anyway!

Between December and January, over $20,000 came in as Unique Christmas Gifts (Mozambique and Brazil combined). And I’m pleased to say that the funds came in for finishing the Chitundo Health Post.

The Chitundo community will be overjoyed! Imagine—no more walking for hours to reach basic medical help.

Continued student sponsorships and an annual Care-a-thon keeps the mission school and feeding program running. Want to change a community? Help a child ☺


Here is an update from Francois on current school news.

On a more personal note I must say that this week, I had a chance to really appreciate the help I (we) have. First, the week started off sort of crazy when amid the busyness of annual budget and reports preparation, working on my statistics course, further health manual preparation, helping organize sponsorship information, etc., one of the mission’s sponsored orphans got sick and had to be taken to the hospital and I came down with a double whammy of flu and malaria.

(Keren and I on a home visit. Home visits always draw a crowd!)

I don’t like melodrama so, having said that, let me just clarify that I was nowhere close to dying. But I didn’t feel any too great either so my bed saw more of me than usual for a few days. In the meantime Keren, a volunteer nurse, was busy about her work which includes a whole host of activities from helping prepare school health curriculum

(Cover of Unit 1: "What makes us sick?")

To interacting and sharing ideas with local birth attendants


To doing sick-home-visits when needed. So, while I was in bed trying to be productive while at the same time trying to feel better (come on, you do it too), it was comforting to know that things carried on without me.

And of course, we aren’t just one or two people. There is an entire team—all those on the ground here as well as all those far away who help in other ways--working together to get things done. Yes, help is a good thing!

So to each and every one of our helpers, both near and far…thank you!