Jimison Family Missions: A Cow in Every Kitchen

I won't write a whole lot right now...but a little beginning for you!

To say the trip was amazing would be an understatement. It was so incredible, I don't even know where to begin

So before I begin to blog about the trip, I want to some it up with one thing: SPONSORSHIP means the life to a child! I think I never fully comprehended this. I always thought that when one sponsored a child through World Vision, the money went to help the child get an education. Oops. I was off! It means everything - literally.

When you sponsor a child, the money goes to see that the child "lives life to its fullest" through health, water, education, training, etc. So, a sponsored child gets access to medical care, education, clean water, etc. And to do this, the money goes to help the whole village. For example, Lakeside church is sponsoring over 200 kids in the Abaya community. I have 2 of them. The Abaya community is new to World Vision so they are just starting out in the area. They will be putting in schools, medical posts, clean water areas, etc. for everyone in the community through the sponsorship money so that our kids can have access to it. Right now, the water situation and medical are still almost non-existant. But my 2 kids are being sponsored. So - ADP staff check in on them once a week and they will bring them medical care until it is brought to the area. Eventually, they will have access to water, education, and medical within walking distance (2 hour). By sponsoring a child, it brings life to the whole community.

We visited a finishing ADP area where World Vision has been there 20 years. Years ago, 27% of the kids attended school. Now, 97% of the kids attend school. In 1997 only 26% had access to fresh water. In 2008, 42% had access. Next week they open up a new pump that will affect 1 million people!

Our area is Abaya - and World Vision has only been there for 3 years. Within that time they have already built 2 school buildings and 1 medical station. There are 80 students to a classroom.

I will write more later - but I wanted to give my last thoughts about visiting my own sponsor kids. I am sure that I was the first white person they have ever seen. They had never seen a camera or their own reflection. At first Maritha was very scared of me. I'm sure I looked sickly to her! ha. My white skin must have been a shock. She hadn't even seen herself until I took pictures of her with her dad. She recognized her dad, so she could recognize herself. The thing that surprised me the most was her health. She had a protruding stomach that I'm sure was full of worms from contaminated water. She also was coughing and probably has TB. I realized how VITAL my sponsorship is to her. It means she can get medical help and some day - once enough sponsors are in the area - a clean water source will be put in for her. Sponsorship can really mean life or death. Some day she can attend a school, have a medical clinic nearby. I found out I can send gifts for the family for what they need - like a cow or goat. I am going to look into that right away.

If you don't sponsor a child, I highly recommend it. Let me know and I can get one for you. The more kids sponsored, the sooner the Abaya area can get clean water and medication. Let's put a cow in every kitchen!