Newsletters
With our regular newsletters, we aim to keep you posted on all the interesting and important news and updates of our programs and various activities. Enjoy reading!
March 2014
Dear friends and partners,
Yesterday my daughter Miriam and I went out to the projects – Miriam for a class assignment – myself to check on some of our work. It is the time of year when Miriam begins asking about what I want for my birthday – it’s a conversation we have each year – my birthday is in April and coincides with Easter. My normal quick response is a hug and a kiss – a response that my girl just ignores – what do you really want? As Miriam was taking pictures for her school assignment – her empathy for the people in our communities – for the children – leave her emotionally drained – “They are so very beautiful – they are so poor – why mama, why?”
There is never an easy answer to why. All I can say is how we help to help alleviate the pain of others – we can offer a gift of life – water! For the past few years – my birthday has been about giving water – water that changes and enhances the lives of those who - through no fault of their own – live lives that are often so demeaning. I would like to share the story of one of our families.
Teng Vutha and his family received a birthday well in 2010 – they were very poor like so many are – with the well they were able to grow rice year round, they were able to raise pigs and chickens – and every savings cycle they would enhance their lives by buying items such as bicycles so the children could go to school, or buying a water pump for irrigation, or materials to build a new home. It was not easy – they worked very hard – sometimes they were very tired – but they never complained. It was all about life – all about reaching through the poverty and pulling themselves out. It was about life itself.
Next month we celebrate my 66th birthday – we celebrate Easter – both events are about the gift of life. I am so grateful to my God for my life, for the blessings He has given – for the gift of my daughter Miriam. How better to celebrate than to bring a gift of life to others who struggle. I am bold and would like to share 660 water sources so that another 1200 families may begin the journey of building a better life. Will you help me to do that?
How good it is to have life – how good it is that we stand together in life. Happy Easter,
Janne
