Please join World Relief in commemorating World AIDS Day today, December 1st.
For more information about what World Relief is doing around the world to join in the fight against HIV/AIDS, please check out the links below:
Winning the battle against AIDS in Cambodia: http://community.wr.org/Page.aspx?pid=1306
HIV/AIDS in Livingstonia: http://community.wr.org/Page.aspx?pid=1313
Abstinence pledges soar in the face of AIDS: http://community.wr.org/Page.aspx?pid=1312
And here are two simple ways for any of us to take action:
The Alive Campaign - Now is the Time to Act
Add your name to Integral's message to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. World Relief is asking all of its staff to participate. For more information and to sign, click here.
And pray!! God hears, especially on behalf of the poor and suffering. Please join me today in taking a few minutes to pray for those who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. It's a disease that has many faces.
I have a dear friend in California, Austin, who is an actor and humanitarian worker and aspiring nurse, and who is HIV+. He has the privilege of living in the USA and embracing life and living it to its fullest, and he lives his life with a strong faith in a loving God, and he's an inspiration to us all! But I know it's not always easy for him.
Then I think of the widow Christine that I met here in Rwanda, the one who was dying of AIDS and was facing incredible hardship, but whose face shone in the darkness of her little mud hut when she talked about the goodness of her Jesus.
Then, there are thousands of children every day, innocent children, who have either been born with HIV or who will lose a parent to the disease. Children. How can they understand that it's not their fault, that they're not forgotten, that there is still a God who loves them very much??
Thank you for your prayers for each and everyone, and that God would dwell near to each hurting heart.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving from Kigali!
It's Thanksgiving! Not really, here in Rwanda, but I feel nostalgic today for family and pumpkin pie and Cool Whip and Thanksgiving Eve services at Ev Free, and (yum) candied yams...
So in honor of Thanksgiving-that-is-happening-half-a-world-away, I am sitting here during my lunch hour thinking about how much there is to be thankful for. And honestly, I'm getting a little overwhelmed, and even beginning to feel a little uncomfortable because I know I have been blessed with so much.
Then, I remembered a great conversation I had with one of my dear friends and beloved mentors, Sue, back in June.
I was sitting in her living room and telling her how I felt so completely blessed and humbled at this season in my life by God's goodness, and I just was trying to think about what I could do to thank Him, to try to show Him just how thankful I felt.
She smiled a little bit, and said, "Yes, we often do want to DO things for God, don't we, especially those do-ers among us."
(If you don't know, that's me, a possibly textbook do-er. Sometimes I try to hide it, but it's true. Sue, of course, knows this very well.)
Then, with a voice full of warmth and compassion that I've come to love and cherish, she said, "Maybe He just wants you to receive His blessings with a thankful heart. And just be blessed. Maybe that's what He wants."
Her wisdom, like it always does, sailed into my heart like a deep breath in a wide open space. There's nothing wrong with doing things for God. It's just, sometimes, it's not what's required, is it? There's plenty of time for turn-over of blessings, for us to seek to bless God, to seek to bless others. But it's okay to let it happen when it happens, and not force it to happen. It's okay sometimes just to delight in His blessings. It's okay sometimes to just...be....thankful. Sometimes that's more than enough.
Sometimes I can hardly believe that's God.
You know, I love stars. I really do. I actually have some personal history with stars, even....embedded in the story of my past, there's something important in there about stars. Now whenever I think about the stars, they remind me of God, and His power and greatness and BIGness. But for some reason as I've been writing this quick entry, I started thinking about the stars, and it suddenly hit me that the stars don't DO anything. They're just...stars. And that's enough to inspire praise, and thoughts about God, and thoughts about God's goodness.
So this Thanksgiving, while my natural bent is to, well, DO something, instead I'd like to just...be...thankful. And my God, I pray that in this, You will be glorified.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
(PS: I love you, Sue!)
So in honor of Thanksgiving-that-is-happening-half-a-world-away, I am sitting here during my lunch hour thinking about how much there is to be thankful for. And honestly, I'm getting a little overwhelmed, and even beginning to feel a little uncomfortable because I know I have been blessed with so much.
Then, I remembered a great conversation I had with one of my dear friends and beloved mentors, Sue, back in June.
I was sitting in her living room and telling her how I felt so completely blessed and humbled at this season in my life by God's goodness, and I just was trying to think about what I could do to thank Him, to try to show Him just how thankful I felt.
She smiled a little bit, and said, "Yes, we often do want to DO things for God, don't we, especially those do-ers among us."
(If you don't know, that's me, a possibly textbook do-er. Sometimes I try to hide it, but it's true. Sue, of course, knows this very well.)
Then, with a voice full of warmth and compassion that I've come to love and cherish, she said, "Maybe He just wants you to receive His blessings with a thankful heart. And just be blessed. Maybe that's what He wants."
Her wisdom, like it always does, sailed into my heart like a deep breath in a wide open space. There's nothing wrong with doing things for God. It's just, sometimes, it's not what's required, is it? There's plenty of time for turn-over of blessings, for us to seek to bless God, to seek to bless others. But it's okay to let it happen when it happens, and not force it to happen. It's okay sometimes just to delight in His blessings. It's okay sometimes to just...be....thankful. Sometimes that's more than enough.
Sometimes I can hardly believe that's God.
You know, I love stars. I really do. I actually have some personal history with stars, even....embedded in the story of my past, there's something important in there about stars. Now whenever I think about the stars, they remind me of God, and His power and greatness and BIGness. But for some reason as I've been writing this quick entry, I started thinking about the stars, and it suddenly hit me that the stars don't DO anything. They're just...stars. And that's enough to inspire praise, and thoughts about God, and thoughts about God's goodness.
So this Thanksgiving, while my natural bent is to, well, DO something, instead I'd like to just...be...thankful. And my God, I pray that in this, You will be glorified.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
(PS: I love you, Sue!)
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving....
I know it's a day early (and we don't even celebrate it here!) but I wanted to express my thanksgiving for a beautiful friend of mine here in Rwanda.
Baraka (whose name means "blessing" in Swahili) is really an exceptional person, committed from her heart to serve the needy around her. (And in case you're wondering, she doesn't usually wear a red head covering like the one above! It was a gift from Bear when he was here.)
Before I left to go see Bear, Baraka was collecting clothes from anyone who wanted to donate them, and then she held a type of yard sale in her village, selling the clothes at a very inexpensive price.
For those who could not afford to come buy clothes, she made an offer to others to make a donation to the yard sale, and then she would give that donation to needy people in the community to use toward buying clothes.
The purpose of the sale was to raise money to pay for health insurance for needy children in her community (the government has a national health insurance plan that costs about $2/year for a child....but some families can't quite afford that, or have too many children to pay for all of them). It turns out that Baraka raised enough money to cover the cost of insurance for several children in her community....I'll find out how many exactly on Sunday. Awesome!! I was especially happy because the research findings from earlier this year showed that the number one reason families don't take care of their sick children in a timely manner is because they don't have health insurance.... Baraka, you are wonderful!
I also want to request prayer for Baraka's fourth lay counseling training this year, being held this week. As part of her ministry, Gate of Hope, she has been hosting a series of trainings for 15-20 Rwandans who want to learn to help others work through psychological needs, trauma, etc. This training week is always a busy but fruitful week for her....I know she would love your prayers. Here's a photo of her from the training back in May:
Baraka, thank you for being an inspiration to us and for serving those around you -- you are a blessing to us all.
Baraka (whose name means "blessing" in Swahili) is really an exceptional person, committed from her heart to serve the needy around her. (And in case you're wondering, she doesn't usually wear a red head covering like the one above! It was a gift from Bear when he was here.)
Before I left to go see Bear, Baraka was collecting clothes from anyone who wanted to donate them, and then she held a type of yard sale in her village, selling the clothes at a very inexpensive price.
For those who could not afford to come buy clothes, she made an offer to others to make a donation to the yard sale, and then she would give that donation to needy people in the community to use toward buying clothes.
The purpose of the sale was to raise money to pay for health insurance for needy children in her community (the government has a national health insurance plan that costs about $2/year for a child....but some families can't quite afford that, or have too many children to pay for all of them). It turns out that Baraka raised enough money to cover the cost of insurance for several children in her community....I'll find out how many exactly on Sunday. Awesome!! I was especially happy because the research findings from earlier this year showed that the number one reason families don't take care of their sick children in a timely manner is because they don't have health insurance.... Baraka, you are wonderful!
I also want to request prayer for Baraka's fourth lay counseling training this year, being held this week. As part of her ministry, Gate of Hope, she has been hosting a series of trainings for 15-20 Rwandans who want to learn to help others work through psychological needs, trauma, etc. This training week is always a busy but fruitful week for her....I know she would love your prayers. Here's a photo of her from the training back in May:
Baraka, thank you for being an inspiration to us and for serving those around you -- you are a blessing to us all.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
there and back again
If living in developing countries is going to be a big part of my future, I do wonder if it will ever become less strange to board a plane in a place like, say, Kigali, and get off a plane in a place like, oh, London.
The contrast is always kind of baffling. I have to prepare myself for it in my head, on the plane, somewhere in the airspace above the developed nation I'm about to visit, or I just get a little overwhelmed when I take steps outside customs and I can suddenly do something crazy like actually use my credit card (not an option in Kigali, in case you visit). And then, there are all these stores....I can buy a toothbrush (in case I, um, happened to leave it behind - why do I always do that?) or a bag of chips or a magazine in English, or a KitKat. It's so....bizarre.
It was no less bizarre this time (and yes, I did in fact forget my toothbrush, yet again, and was grateful that they are easy to come by in Heathrow!). From London I headed north on the train to a place called Shropshire, where I was to rendez-vous with Bear and his recently evacuated colleagues. There was a serious security incident in the country he was working in, targeting his org and people in his org, so the board ordered everyone out. The whole group, including board members, had gathered for a debrief and planning-for-the-future retreat there in the UK.
It was an honor to meet all of Bear's colleagues -- families, singles, older, younger -- who had simply been seeking to serve the less fortunate in a way that would honor God and bring blessing to others. It wasn't an easy time for them, as many were making decisions about their futures in ways they had never foreseen when they had started their journey of service. But there was a definite sense of God's presence and it seemed that we could just feel that many were praying for the group. It was a total privilege for me to be there, and I'm thankful for the opportunity. And I guess it goes without saying to say that it was completely wonderful to see Bear, and what's more, in a relatively safer place than he's been for a while! It was so sweet to be with him there.
After the retreat, Bear and I spent a little time on vacation (I had the time set aside already at work, as I had been planning to visit Bear for a while....just not in the UK!). I confess I felt a little bit guilty for taking this vacation, but it was really good to do it....it was a good time to process things through a little, and just spend time together after a fairly stressful month.
We found inexpensive flights to France and spent some time in Normandy, a region featuring Calvados, brie, William-the-Conqueror chateaus, and Mt. St. Michel. It's also a countryside shadowed in memories of D-Day. (Incidentally, there is a really lovely new museum at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. If you're in the area. The stories of heroism and honor are beautifully told.) Here's the cemetery close to sunset, and a photo of the main monument from the direction of the new museum:
The nice thing about Normandy in November is that it is relatively inexpensive for a European vacation. If you're wondering, we somehow managed to bypass Paris (tres cher, even in November)! But Bear found out I am secretly waiting for him to kiss me under the Eiffel Tower so hopefully some day, maybe post-marriage, we can arrange that....
We shot through London again on our way back to our respective countries (Bear is going back to central Asia until the end of December, actually, just not to the same country) and Sunday morning we were able to attend a service at Westminster Abbey (which was lovely, if not a bit...drafty! I got really cold!). But besides that, it was really a beautiful place and the chaplain spoke about who rules our lives, or what rules our lives, and how the world might be different if Love Incarnate truly did rule our hearts. Before leaving London, we managed to eat fish and chips and a drink a pear cider (for you, Dad) at an appropriately monikered place near the London Tower called "Hung, Drawn, and Quartered." Mmm, British humor. I mean, humour.
I am back in Africa now for my final 3 weeks, and I have hit the ground with both feet running. Actually, I need to get going as my lunch break is over!! I need to email many of you and will try to do that today and tomorrow (thanks for your emails!). Also thanks for continued prayer for Bear and others from his org, as well as a specific prayer request from Bear for the in-country nationals who were left behind in the country that his team had to leave. May the work multiply now. Thank you!
The contrast is always kind of baffling. I have to prepare myself for it in my head, on the plane, somewhere in the airspace above the developed nation I'm about to visit, or I just get a little overwhelmed when I take steps outside customs and I can suddenly do something crazy like actually use my credit card (not an option in Kigali, in case you visit). And then, there are all these stores....I can buy a toothbrush (in case I, um, happened to leave it behind - why do I always do that?) or a bag of chips or a magazine in English, or a KitKat. It's so....bizarre.
It was no less bizarre this time (and yes, I did in fact forget my toothbrush, yet again, and was grateful that they are easy to come by in Heathrow!). From London I headed north on the train to a place called Shropshire, where I was to rendez-vous with Bear and his recently evacuated colleagues. There was a serious security incident in the country he was working in, targeting his org and people in his org, so the board ordered everyone out. The whole group, including board members, had gathered for a debrief and planning-for-the-future retreat there in the UK.
It was an honor to meet all of Bear's colleagues -- families, singles, older, younger -- who had simply been seeking to serve the less fortunate in a way that would honor God and bring blessing to others. It wasn't an easy time for them, as many were making decisions about their futures in ways they had never foreseen when they had started their journey of service. But there was a definite sense of God's presence and it seemed that we could just feel that many were praying for the group. It was a total privilege for me to be there, and I'm thankful for the opportunity. And I guess it goes without saying to say that it was completely wonderful to see Bear, and what's more, in a relatively safer place than he's been for a while! It was so sweet to be with him there.
After the retreat, Bear and I spent a little time on vacation (I had the time set aside already at work, as I had been planning to visit Bear for a while....just not in the UK!). I confess I felt a little bit guilty for taking this vacation, but it was really good to do it....it was a good time to process things through a little, and just spend time together after a fairly stressful month.
We found inexpensive flights to France and spent some time in Normandy, a region featuring Calvados, brie, William-the-Conqueror chateaus, and Mt. St. Michel. It's also a countryside shadowed in memories of D-Day. (Incidentally, there is a really lovely new museum at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. If you're in the area. The stories of heroism and honor are beautifully told.) Here's the cemetery close to sunset, and a photo of the main monument from the direction of the new museum:
The nice thing about Normandy in November is that it is relatively inexpensive for a European vacation. If you're wondering, we somehow managed to bypass Paris (tres cher, even in November)! But Bear found out I am secretly waiting for him to kiss me under the Eiffel Tower so hopefully some day, maybe post-marriage, we can arrange that....
We shot through London again on our way back to our respective countries (Bear is going back to central Asia until the end of December, actually, just not to the same country) and Sunday morning we were able to attend a service at Westminster Abbey (which was lovely, if not a bit...drafty! I got really cold!). But besides that, it was really a beautiful place and the chaplain spoke about who rules our lives, or what rules our lives, and how the world might be different if Love Incarnate truly did rule our hearts. Before leaving London, we managed to eat fish and chips and a drink a pear cider (for you, Dad) at an appropriately monikered place near the London Tower called "Hung, Drawn, and Quartered." Mmm, British humor. I mean, humour.
I am back in Africa now for my final 3 weeks, and I have hit the ground with both feet running. Actually, I need to get going as my lunch break is over!! I need to email many of you and will try to do that today and tomorrow (thanks for your emails!). Also thanks for continued prayer for Bear and others from his org, as well as a specific prayer request from Bear for the in-country nationals who were left behind in the country that his team had to leave. May the work multiply now. Thank you!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
checking in!
It has been, I confess, a difficult three weeks here...but it has also been, at times, encouraging, fascinating, heartbreaking, and exhilarating. I haven't posted regularly for so many reasons, but here is a run-down of the goings-on around here lately:
It's hard not to start with a tragic and sorrowful event that has colored the last few weeks in a singular way and has been somewhat alarming at a personal level....except for I can't really write much about it here on this blog! Security issues. Bear has had to leave the country he was working in because of a senseless tragedy that occurred to one of his co-workers. Please do send me an email if you'd like more info. And thank you all so much for your prayers during this time...I can't even begin to tell you how you've encouraged me. It's been kind of scary.
I was supposed to go visit Bear next week where he was working (a planned trip for quite some time), and now instead I will go and join him and his co-workers in the UK, where they've evacuated and are doing debrief. In fact, I am en route as we speak, typing this in the Nairobi airport and hoping that in a minute I can catch up on some personal emails I owe some of you.... I am SO looking forward to seeing him and also meeting the people he's been working with, although I confess I wish it were under different circumstances.
Another difficult situation has arisen in the past 10 days just across the northwest border of Rwanda, about two hours from here by car, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been fleeing their villages and trying to survive in makeshift camps as fighting has broken out between rebels and government soldiers in this area. But, like many other African conflicts, "rebels" might actually be a mis-nomer, as this group of fighters claim that they are actually protecting their people against Hutu militants whose antics the government forces have allegedly failed to adequately address. There is a long and complicated history here, and Rwanda is involved in a unique way because of the ethnic component to the conflict. For more information, here are two news articles:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/05/labott.foreign.policy/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/05/afghanistan.civilians/index.html?iref=topnews
We have been praying a lot for an end to this conflict, and supernatural intervention seems to be the only hope at this moment. WR has an office and staff in Goma, a town very close to the fighting, which adds a personal element to the unfolding tragedy. Last week, we actually were able to host at our house a family of girls from Goma whose father, Amos, a WR accountant, had to travel to Uganda. Amos knew it wasn't safe to leave the girls behind while he traveled, so he brought them down to Kigali.
With much laughter (which was either a defense mechanism or simply non-cohesive emotional response, or maybe both?) the young woman told us stories of how they had been hiding under the kitchen table for two days while they heard shooting and grenade explosions not far from their home. They said they were scared, but they would sing and pray and then stop when they heard explosions, and then they would start again.
Beyond the terrible circumstances that led them to us, they were a delight to get to know and to spend time with. Here they are singing the Congolese version of Happy Birthday to Phil:
In other news, something I haven't shared yet on this blog, the results of the PhotoVoice activity from a few months' ago is proceeding in a new direction. From the start, I really hoped and desired that these young people would take ownership of the results of the initial project, especially since my time here is up at the end of this year. Perhaps about 6 weeks ago I was able to help the young adults select a leadership committee and then I went through a foundational lesson about relief vs. development with them. I also explained that since I wouldn't be in the country long-term, I wasn't going to be able to lead any more activities, but I could help out where I could.
Well, how many ways can I say that I am SO proud of them? They have completely taken the initiative, arranged to meet together weekly, and have come up with a project involving all of the young adults at their church. Their plan is to help 20, and eventually 40, of their most impoverished neighbors plant home gardens, so that these families will have fruits and vegetables year-round.
What's more, they wrote a letter to Interior fellowship back home in CA requesting funding for fruit trees -- the young adults here wanted to give one fruit tree to each poor family as a gesture of good will. The very cool thing was that in one night, Interior raised almost twice as much money as was requested for this project....yay Interior! Of course, that's the very generous and giving spirit of that group; I guess I can say safely that I'm not too surprised! But if you are from Interior and reading this, on behalf of the young adults here, I'd like to say THANK YOU. :)
We started planting seedlings together last week, and (don't laugh, please) I got another chance to hoe. You might remember the last time I did some hoe-ing was in the Philippines, and everyone laughed at me, I have no idea why.
The good news is I think I'm actually getting better. Honestly. Perhaps I'll be a farmer.
....And here are some of the young people showing me how it's REALLY done....
More shots of the day:
In the past three weeks, there have also been some positive developments in the work I've had the privilege of being involved with this year. The research project has been successfully terminated, the key behavior change message workshop yielded a whole set of what we hope and believe are culturally sensitive behavior change messages about child health issues, and now (via the MOH) WR has been tasked with taking the lead on the application of the messages in the community. This basically means creating training modules for community-based health workers. There's a lot of work but it's been interesting so far (my role has been to work on counseling cards, which are simple tools for community workers to use with their neighbors). What a year -- I've learned so much and feel very thankful.
Okay...over and out. I don't know when I will be able to blog next, but I'll do my best. I am looking forward to getting caught up in person with many of you, in just a couple of months! Wow! Take care for now... - C
It's hard not to start with a tragic and sorrowful event that has colored the last few weeks in a singular way and has been somewhat alarming at a personal level....except for I can't really write much about it here on this blog! Security issues. Bear has had to leave the country he was working in because of a senseless tragedy that occurred to one of his co-workers. Please do send me an email if you'd like more info. And thank you all so much for your prayers during this time...I can't even begin to tell you how you've encouraged me. It's been kind of scary.
I was supposed to go visit Bear next week where he was working (a planned trip for quite some time), and now instead I will go and join him and his co-workers in the UK, where they've evacuated and are doing debrief. In fact, I am en route as we speak, typing this in the Nairobi airport and hoping that in a minute I can catch up on some personal emails I owe some of you.... I am SO looking forward to seeing him and also meeting the people he's been working with, although I confess I wish it were under different circumstances.
Another difficult situation has arisen in the past 10 days just across the northwest border of Rwanda, about two hours from here by car, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been fleeing their villages and trying to survive in makeshift camps as fighting has broken out between rebels and government soldiers in this area. But, like many other African conflicts, "rebels" might actually be a mis-nomer, as this group of fighters claim that they are actually protecting their people against Hutu militants whose antics the government forces have allegedly failed to adequately address. There is a long and complicated history here, and Rwanda is involved in a unique way because of the ethnic component to the conflict. For more information, here are two news articles:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/05/labott.foreign.policy/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/05/afghanistan.civilians/index.html?iref=topnews
We have been praying a lot for an end to this conflict, and supernatural intervention seems to be the only hope at this moment. WR has an office and staff in Goma, a town very close to the fighting, which adds a personal element to the unfolding tragedy. Last week, we actually were able to host at our house a family of girls from Goma whose father, Amos, a WR accountant, had to travel to Uganda. Amos knew it wasn't safe to leave the girls behind while he traveled, so he brought them down to Kigali.
With much laughter (which was either a defense mechanism or simply non-cohesive emotional response, or maybe both?) the young woman told us stories of how they had been hiding under the kitchen table for two days while they heard shooting and grenade explosions not far from their home. They said they were scared, but they would sing and pray and then stop when they heard explosions, and then they would start again.
Beyond the terrible circumstances that led them to us, they were a delight to get to know and to spend time with. Here they are singing the Congolese version of Happy Birthday to Phil:
In other news, something I haven't shared yet on this blog, the results of the PhotoVoice activity from a few months' ago is proceeding in a new direction. From the start, I really hoped and desired that these young people would take ownership of the results of the initial project, especially since my time here is up at the end of this year. Perhaps about 6 weeks ago I was able to help the young adults select a leadership committee and then I went through a foundational lesson about relief vs. development with them. I also explained that since I wouldn't be in the country long-term, I wasn't going to be able to lead any more activities, but I could help out where I could.
Well, how many ways can I say that I am SO proud of them? They have completely taken the initiative, arranged to meet together weekly, and have come up with a project involving all of the young adults at their church. Their plan is to help 20, and eventually 40, of their most impoverished neighbors plant home gardens, so that these families will have fruits and vegetables year-round.
What's more, they wrote a letter to Interior fellowship back home in CA requesting funding for fruit trees -- the young adults here wanted to give one fruit tree to each poor family as a gesture of good will. The very cool thing was that in one night, Interior raised almost twice as much money as was requested for this project....yay Interior! Of course, that's the very generous and giving spirit of that group; I guess I can say safely that I'm not too surprised! But if you are from Interior and reading this, on behalf of the young adults here, I'd like to say THANK YOU. :)
We started planting seedlings together last week, and (don't laugh, please) I got another chance to hoe. You might remember the last time I did some hoe-ing was in the Philippines, and everyone laughed at me, I have no idea why.
The good news is I think I'm actually getting better. Honestly. Perhaps I'll be a farmer.
....And here are some of the young people showing me how it's REALLY done....
More shots of the day:
In the past three weeks, there have also been some positive developments in the work I've had the privilege of being involved with this year. The research project has been successfully terminated, the key behavior change message workshop yielded a whole set of what we hope and believe are culturally sensitive behavior change messages about child health issues, and now (via the MOH) WR has been tasked with taking the lead on the application of the messages in the community. This basically means creating training modules for community-based health workers. There's a lot of work but it's been interesting so far (my role has been to work on counseling cards, which are simple tools for community workers to use with their neighbors). What a year -- I've learned so much and feel very thankful.
Okay...over and out. I don't know when I will be able to blog next, but I'll do my best. I am looking forward to getting caught up in person with many of you, in just a couple of months! Wow! Take care for now... - C
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