Homework time in Maputo, Mozambique. These studious students are all AIDS orphans who weren’t always able to go to school. No parents, no food, no money for books or school clothes. Then our ministry partner, Reencontro, found them, befriended them, made sure they had a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear—and covered the costs for them to get back in school.
With the New Year just around the corner, many of us in the U.S. will be making our lists of New Year’s resolutions. As I contemplate my future hopes to work harder, give more, and worry less, I can’t help but think about a mother and son in rural Ethiopia that showed me what I should really strive for in 2012—a life of thankfulness.
I hope all of you enjoyed a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. Keeping with the spirit of gratitude, I would like to share a heartwarming letter of thanks from a student in Ecuador who was rescued from the streets by our partner Chicos de la Calle (Children of the Street).
Yesterday morning, Cross Catholic staff listened as International Projects Officer Tara McKinney shared photos and stories from her recent trip to Malawi.
When I first shake hands with sisters Mary and Jhovana, they appear much like average college students. They carry book bags and talk about their classes, and they are both about to graduate and head into the workforce armed with their degrees. Their quick smiles reveal their justified excitement.
If I ever decide to pursue a second career in agronomy, I hope my professors are as dedicated as Desiderio Flores. Desiderio teaches classes in botany, weed control, and forage production at Carmen Pampa University, a Cross Catholic-sponsored school that is bringing educational opportunities to poor, indigenous communities in rural Bolivia.