Human Suffering

Have you ever taken the time to truly ponder suffering? I mean worldwide, large scale suffering?


Every. single. day. 18,000 children die from hunger. Over the course of a year that is 6,570,000 little people who die from starvation. Which, that is not even the tip of the iceberg as far as human suffering goes.


And how many people suffer with cancer?


How many people die of easily prevented diseases every year? 


What about persons who are permanently physically or mentally disabled? 


And what about the MILLIONS (246 million or 1/6 of the worlds children is the last estimate I saw) of children who are working as child slaves across the globe? 


It blows my mind to think about these things. There are a lot of people out there suffering. It is overwhelming. It is sad. It sometimes feels hopeless.


But as Mother Teresa said:
"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." 


And that is the essence of turning this world on its head. If each of us makes the choice to do small things with great love... the collective work will result in less suffering. Fewer children dying of hunger, fewer outcasts in society, fewer children being forced into the labor force and out of schools. 


All it takes is you knowing your calling and attacking it with much love. We can't change it all but we can impact our own parts of the world. That is what this trip is about for me.


It isn't changing the world. It is following my calling to help the people I feel called to help. And to help them with much love. It is taking Loving God and Loving Others to its logical conclusion. And we ALL have the ability to do that. We all have the ability to lessen suffering wherever we are. The world's suffering is overwhelming and I think that is kind of what Mother Teresa is getting at. I can't do it all but I CAN do what I do with great passion, conviction and love. 


So I just want to encourage you to not over-estimate your importance but also don't under-estimate it. You can't do it all but you can and should do what you can when and where you can.


"I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."  ~Edward Everett Hale


May you be encouraged to do what you can do... always.

Why go to another country?

Lately, it seems as if I have a lot of questions concerning why I am going to Africa. No, not about motives or the importance of what we are doing in Ghana or anything like. But WHY go away from your family and home to help when there are lots of people to help right here.

It is a complicated matter to explain my exact feelings on this but I am going to try my best.

It is about "The Big Picture" for me. I think so many Americans really have no real idea how people in the rest of the world live. Yes, we have poverty here. Yes, some kids are going hungry. Yes, some kids have abusive parents. Yes, some children live in filth and horrible neighborhoods. I am not disputing those things even one bit. I am also not saying that we don't need to help in our own back yard! I have a lot of goals and ways to help in my own community and country. I am passionate about education and our public education system and food in schools and making sure children are getting good nutrition when they eat 2 meals, most days, at school.

But when I went to Mexico after I got married... my perspective was permanently altered in a way that is hard to describe. We traveled down through Mexico on a bus to Comitan, Chiapas from Cancun. Cancun was like a very fancy and nice tourist area. UNTIL we got to the bus station where the people who live in Mexico and are not attached to the tourist industry were. We saw our first glimpses of poverty. And as we began our journey southward, we saw more and more severe poverty. No running water, homes built with wood and cardboard boxes, children playing in the dirt and helping with chores instead of going to school. Many meals skipped, many begging children, people in literal rags. No system to help orphans, the elderly, or the disabled. Many proposals of marriage to escape a life of extreme poverty. It is both soul breaking and extremely encouraging.

Why is that? Well because it HURTS to see so many people suffering. It is uncomfortable. It is odd having people look at you like you are wealthy beyond imagination. It is sad to get marriage proposals from young women and men wanting a better life. But, through the experience you learn a ton about humanity. About selflessness and hospitality. We built water tanks in Mexico for 2 months and every time we were with a new family, they would sacrifice their own meals to make sure we were fed well and taken care of. They would offer their very best with an extremely grateful heart. It made us feel thankful for our own comparative wealth and realize that even in very dire situations in the US, we are still very well taken of. It opened our hearts to other people and cultures. Gave me a love for travel and a heart for people.

A heart for people. God's heart for people being made clear. The BIG picture of what putting action to your words looks like. Before I experienced time away from the United States, I was very self-centered (certainly, I still can be). I cared about others but cared about myself and my own needs being met much much more. The people we came into contact showed me how to love people when it didn't directly meet my immediate needs. With no expectations. Just to care and to love and to help. These are things that *I* probably would have had a hard time learning without that experience. Now I have such a heart for people, especially children, that I feel positively convicted to go and help these children in Ghana. I am one person with 2 friends and a big and Mighty God. Maybe I can't change the world but I do feel like we need to do our part to change what we can change. And that is why I need to go to another country. Because I have been given the opportunity to make a difference somewhere and in a way I am passionate about. That is God! I can't speak for everyone else but this is where I need to be for me to pursue a passionate love of people and receive a passionate, pursuing love from God.

Me with a precious girl in Comitan the week we led a VBS

We can't do it alone though. We have had so much help along the way and are praying that we continue to get more help going forward. This school needs to be built. It will allow George and his NGO, PACODEP, to rescue more children from slavery and a hopeless existence on Lake Volta. It will provide education to these children who will then have the knowledge, power and redemption to change their country and be advocates for the children on the lake. It does more than just help 60 children who use the building to learn in. Much, MUCH more. Education is powerful. We don't think about how powerful it is sometimes because we just have it. Our kids turn 5 and go to school just like we did. Oh but education changes nations. And it will change the culture in the Volta region to educate these beautiful children. Christ and Education are their hope and vehicles for change.

Please consider making a donation to the school. I will be money that will never be thought to have been unwisely spent. It is money that, with every "brick" placed, will live on and do good, positive work for years and years and years to come. It is an investment in the lives of children who are going to grow up and change their nation. THAT is amazing.

Children who have been rescued from child trafficking on Lake Volta. A new life and a  renewed hope.

Convictions of starting kindergarten

I am sure you didn't miss the memo because I have hung it like a banner... my son started kindergarten a couple of weeks ago. He is in love. Three recesses a day! Oh my :) Rules teaching him how to be respectful of himself, others and property. Art class, library time, and parent volunteers. Reading new stories that hes never heard before or seen and illustrating his very own book (with an amazingly drawn American Flag. Backwards but awesome effort!). Looking like a tiny boy with his over sized bag on his back but proving that he is anything but a small boy when he comes home each day and tells me about his day. Community, friends, fun, learning. This is what kids in the United States do at age 5. Nervous parents usher their children out the door to school everyday with the promise and hope that they will learn the things they need to know to be successful, informed adults.

In other parts of the world though, things are not at all like this. Parents are trying to figure out how to survive and get enough food for their family. They need their kids to stay home and help them make money or they just live too far from school and can't get their children there. Unfortunately in some areas of the world, these families are exploited because of their struggles. This is the case in the Volta Region of Ghana. Tricky masters come in and convince parents that if they sell their children to them and allow them to work for them that they will make sure their child is educated and learns job skills to help them be successful. The money isn't great by our standards... about $20/year for the service of a child. But the promise that their child will be fed and educated and the fact that they can use this money to feed their other child is, unfortunately, a pretty promising offer. And so children are sold.

Children, the same age as my sweet son, are sent to work on Lake Volta for 14+ hours a day. They are made to dive deep into the lake and face drowning, eels, crocodiles and various other dangers of life in the fishing industry. These 5 year olds are the size of 3 year olds from malnutrition. They are beaten for making mistakes. And often the very young boys do not know how to swim but are forced to learn or never again rise to the surface of the lake. Refusal to do these things yield boat oar beatings or sometimes beatings entangled in embarrassment at the hands of other trafficked children. There is no hope. Their families don't have the money or resources to get them back or visit them. And they genuinely think that they are helping their child by giving them an opportunity for schooling. It is a lie and manipulation but desperate times make parents choose what they think is best for their kids using the resources they have.

And then the days start blurring together. Children on the lake don't remember what village they come from after a while or their birthdays. Little sleep, little food, work that adults find excruciating and difficult, no time for being a child. My heart breaks.

No, I can't change the world alone. But I believe that God calls each of us to use our lives and experiences to serve Him wherever we are and however we can. I am being led to Africa this November and my heart has already fallen in love with the children on the lake and with the kids at The Village of Life. I keep telling their story so more people fall in love with them. So that ignorance is no longer an excuse. The burden is now on all of our shoulders. We KNOW the horror of child trafficking and we all have to figure out what to do with that. I would ask for your prayers both for the trip and for how you can be involved in loving on OUR children.

The truth is, that since my son has been riding up on kindergarten and then beginning, the more I have thought about and mourned the fact that there are so many children who do not have access to the same things our children have. That has rocked my world. Absolutely to the core. And I can't just leave it at thinking because that feels so wrong. And that is the conviction of kindergarten for me.

More on Education

What can I say... it's been on my mind lately. I have a 5 year old who is about to start Kindergarten. Five is about the age that children are bought from their families and taken to work on Lake Volta in Ghana. They aren't gearing up for their last summer adventure to see their first cubs game like my 5 year old is. They aren't buying nice shiny shoes, or pink and purple shirts (my son has pretty epic style), they don't get to have a bag to carry all their school supplies to school in. They are not guaranteed 1-2 hot, nutritious meals a day like my son will have at his school. There will be no tutors to help them learn to read or learn English (Ghana's national language). No one to make sure they have the resources they need to learn and grow into healthy men. 7,000-10,000 little boys on Lake Volta with no hope of a future. No education, no food, no clothes, no rest, no shelter, no family. 16 hr work days and maybe one meager meal a day. Boat oar beatings if they don't listen or get out of line. Little boys as young as my son, drowning in a lake after being forced to dive down 25 feet into the lake and untangle fishing nets from the trees below the water. These are the boys and there are thousands of girls with the same plight but different jobs. Beautiful little people forced into domestic servitude at young ages and on down the road into sexual servitude. Hope broken and lost and deprived of everything their lake brothers are deprived of. Utterly heartbreaking.

I often times think about what God wants for children... because I have a heart for children. I have known since I was 12 that I would work with children. Not only that I would work with children but that I would work with children that many people seem to note as "difficult". My aspirations have been to be a special education teacher, a child advocate, a child life specialist. I have always wanted to work with special needs children or children in the system or children who are ill or just children who didn't seem to get a fair shake at life. I was that child and I dearly love those children. So God puts it on my heart constantly... what does God want for children?

I can assure you that it isn't this:

photo from the touch of life foundation

or this:

It looks more like this:

Yes... this is the same boy as above after being rescued from Lake Volta and being taken to The Village of Hope (a sister orphanage of The Village of Life)- photo credit TOL foundation

and this:

Photo Credit TOL foundation

I want all of the children in Ghana to look like my son on his first day of school. Happy and excited and full of hope for his future. Please join us in making that a reality for the children on Lake Volta. Help advocate for the trafficked child. Help us raise the funds to build the new school for The Village of life and help us get to Ghana so that we can be God's hands and feet to show these children the love that God has for them.

Education

Girl in school_Ghana, a photo by Join Up! on Flickr.

When I think about meeting the needs of the children in Ghana the most important and influential immediate (physical and tangible...) need I can think of is Education! Sure all children need food and water and shelter and love. I absolutely think those things are primal needs for healthy lives. But what I am concerned with is changing a system that locks kids away from their childhoods. A system of work that enslaves children. If we can fight THAT system that is embedded in poverty then we will likely have well loved and well fed children. And the key to fighting a system that is intertwined with poverty is education. It is universal. That is how you fight it here in the US and how you fight it in Africa. 

When we go to Ghana in November, we will be working hard on bringing education to children. The idea is that these children are going to be the future business men and women of their nation. The future doctors and nurses and leaders. That is why building another school building at The Village of Life is of great importance! This will allow more children to be rescued off of the lake and given a formal education. An education that will allow them to employ moral business practices and to advocate for children as they turn into young men and women. 

We are also going to continue to work on educating the slave masters that own the sweet children on Lake Volta. Praying that peaceful attempts at educating these men and Gods movement in their lives will start to change the hearts and minds of the people who buy and use children in their fishing businesses. 

Please be a part of this! It is how we will help this region in Ghana change. It isn't a hand out at all... it is educating them and providing them with the skills necessary to go on to be honest and  moral business men and leaders in the future. Now that is a powerful goal! Please donate to the school if you can. Every single dollar will help. $30,000 is what it takes to  build this new school. That is nothing when you look at the school buildings our children go to in the US. NOTHING. We can do this. We can raise $30,000 to give beautiful children a family and education. We can raise that money to have a place for FORMER slave owners to take business classes or learn new skills so they can run an honest business that violates no ones rights. Get the word out. Donate whatever you can. If all of my friends donated just $10 we would be WELL on our way to building a new school in Kete-Krachi for rescued children. We would be WELL on our way to helping to transform a huge region of a country through empowering them and educating them. It is quite amazing when you think about it all. I truly believe that we can all take part of being the hands and feet of God in this. God has a heart for children and wants us to fight for their rights. I hope you can take part in this journey with us.

Quick Recap of Auction

Hi! Just wanted my bloggie friends to have a quick recap of the auction.

It went very well! We raised about $1200... half of which will go to my personal travel expenses (and makes me about 300 shy of my plane ticket) and half will go to the school fund! Yea :)

If you bid and did not win OR you just want to make a donation, there are donation buttons on the right hand of this page. One for my travel fund and one for the school. If you want to split up your donation, you can deposit into my travel fund and leave a note via paypal and I will make sure half of it gets into the school fund.

Thank you all so much for your support. I will get back to my blogging ways soon. Today though, I am super busy with appointments and mailing loads of goodies to people and... you know that kind of stuff.

Take care!

What this auction is all about!

In November I will be traveling with 2 of my friends to Kete Krachi Ghana for a smidge over 2 weeks to work with trafficked children at The Village of Life and on Lake Volta. We will be loving on them, learning their stories, telling their stories, and prayerfully furthering the effort in releasing more children from modern day slavery on the lake and in the homes of these masters. More info about our trip can be found here.

This auction is a fundraising effort for our trip. The money raised will be split in half and used for two purposes. Half of the money will go into my travel fund to help make sure I am on the plane in November! The other half will go to The Village of Life school fund. We need to raise a total of $30,000 to construct a new school on The Village of Life campus. This project will allow George Achibra and the staff of PACODEP to continue rescuing and educating the children on Lake Volta. If less than 50% raised will finish off my trip expenses, we can give even MORE to the school fund!

If you do not want to or do not have time to or any other reason there is not to participate in the auction... PLEASE consider donating. There are donation buttons on the right side of this blog. One of the accounts is for my travel fund and the other is the school fund. Every dollar helps!

Thank you all for dropping in and participating in this great auction. I look forward to seeing the action unfold. Have fun!

Auction will open at 5:30pm CST on Thursday June 16 and will close 24 hours later at 5:30pm on Friday June 17.

Custom print canvas preview

Have I mentioned lately that I have EXTREMELY talented friends? Well... I do :)

This item comes from Kim Burke. She is a designer at a sign company in Indiana (check them out if you are close to Lafayette!). She created a 24x12" custom designed print on canvas, ready to hang. Here is the little gem for you:

Clutch Purse Preview

My great friend Kristie made a gorgeous clutch purse for the auction. Here is what she has to say about it:

This gathered clutch is perfect for a casual night out. Measuring 9.5 inches wide and 5.5 inches deep, it's just big enough for all the essentials. The lack of interior pockets maximizes space and allows you to fit more items inside. 

100% cotton construction with stained wood buttons on front and a plastic zipper. 

Plain back. 

Handmade.

Auction info!

So we are really getting down to crunch time in this auction! Very fun stuff if you ask me. The Auction will take place on Thursday June 16 at 5:30pm CST and will end on Friday June 17 at 5:30pm CST. This should allow anyone wanting to participate the ability to do so! I will have the items/pictures/description/bid info in TWO locations.

One place will be right here on my blog. I have tons of friends who have no desire to do the facebook thing and that is A-Okay! But I still want you to participate. I will post each individual item in it's own separate post and you will be able to bid in the comments section. I will check in periodically to update to the current bid price so that you know what is going on over on facebook too!

The other place will be on facebook. Go to that link and "like" the Going Going Ghana Auction community page and you will be all set to bid. Same basic principles over there as on the blog. There will be a photo with the item description, photo and bidding info and you will bid in the comments.

Some items will have free shipping as the donors have provided it with their donations. Others will have a shipping cost and I will be sure to point that out in the auction info. If you live local, you will be able to pick the item(s) up from me or have me drop them off to you.

I will be accepting payment via paypal, money order, or cash (for locals only). Sorry kids not messing with checks from people I may not know. Once your item is paid for I will ship it to you (or the donor will) as quickly as possible. If someone falls through on a payment (which won't happen because you all are awesome!), I will go to the 2nd place bidder and offer the item to them.

ALL proceeds will be divided 50/50 to go into my personal travel fund for our trip to Ghana and into The Village of Life school fund.

If there is ANYTHING at all I missed, let me know! This is the first time I have ever done something like this but even if I have forgotten something, I will update this post as necessary or I am a pretty reasonable person and we will solve any issues that arise. Sound good?

Thank you all for your help and support. Can't wait to get this party started :)

More Artwork! Photography prints preview

My friend Meredith has some prints to offer up to 3 lucky bidders! She will let the bidder pick their size of either 8X10 or 11X14. I am in love with the train but they are all beautiful.

As previously explained... I will have full details for all of the previews up for the auction. So if you don't see info for something you like, I am sure it will be up on the 16th.

Vitamins preview!

All my health nut peoples out there that love to be healthy and strong and love to stay organic and crunchy... well we got something cool for you! A months supply of Nutrilite DoubleX vitmains/minerals/phytonutrients. You can check it out at my friend Amy's website.

Theme park tickets preview... woot!

Growing up in S. Indiana, I spent many many summer days at a theme park in Santa Claus, Indiana called Holiday World & Splashin' Safari. I have SO many fond memories there. They seriously have the best water park I have ever been to and such a fun family atmosphere! That is why I am so excited to announce to my many friends and family that we got 2 one day admission tickets for Holiday World & Splashin' Safari for the auction! Wee :) If you haven't had a reason to go to Indiana before, this may be a great reason... especially if you live within a few hours. There is nothing like Hoosier Hospitality and nothing like a great summer day at the parks! And of course... all my southern Indiana peeps already know about this little jewel so I don't even have to tell them how awesome it is.

Tony Dungy autographed book!

This is one thing I am SUPER excited about. I wrote Tony Dungy and asked if he could donate something to the auction and he sent me a signed book :) His staff was so sweet and helpful. The book he donated is called "The Mentor Leader" and would make an awesome Fathers Day Gift, die hard Colts fan gift, or just a gift for a person looking to become a good leader.

These are the photos of the book and the letter from Tony Dungy's foundation stating that it is an authentic autograph. I can send the letter along to the winning bidder too if you want. It is addressed to me but you may have it if you win :)

Another piece of gorgeous jewelry!

My friend Marcia who owns Bratcat Beads has donated a beautiful piece of handcrafted jewelry to the auction.

I am just thinking its going to be difficult for people to figure out what to bid for. SO many great items :)

Preview Party! Photography session

J Fortune Photography of Southern Illinois is donating a photo session to one lucky bidder! This is pretty limited by location so please only bid if you can get to her in S. Illinois or can pay for her travel to come to you.

Wool Soakers preview

A friend who owns Alfalfa and the Sprout just sent me pictures of the 2 wool soakers she has donated!!! SO stinkin' cute. If you cloth diaper your kiddos... you will be drooling and maybe even if you don't.

First up is a size small wool soaker.
Measurements:

Waist: 10"-14

Rise:16"

Thigh: 6"-10"

Then we also have a medium dino soaker.

Measurements:

Waist: 12"-16"

Rise: 20"

Thigh: 8"-12"

As a general rule you can take or leave my opinion but I think they are both pretty gender neutral and would look adorable on ANY fluffy butt out there. 

Sunday Morning Preview

I think many of you know that I have a couple of friends who have little ones with cystic fibrosis. It is a cause very near and dear to my heart... raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to find a cure for these beautiful kiddos. Well my friend Lora introduced me to Kristy who offered to make a donation to the auction. She has a son named Jude who has Cystic Fibrosis. If you don't know much about CF... definitely look it up. It is a genetic disease that creates incredibly thick and sticky mucus in one's body. It affects the lungs, pancreas, and the digestive system. These kiddos and adults have to have a lot of medical treatment and take a ton of medications every day to help them absorb the nutrients in food and to be able to breathe and clear their lungs out. Kristy's business Jude's Cure helps her support her family but she also donates 10% of all proceeds to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation so that their great work in finding a cure for children like Jude (and Alyssa and Ryan) can continue. So I am incredibly excited to have this piece in the auction and introduce people to her business.

What a build up! Up on the auction block will be a Pinafore (it is a top, not a dress... that is the word on the street. We all know I have boys and know nothing about girly stuff) in your choice of material and size (6mos to 3yrs). These little beauties are reversible too!

Collector Barbie preview

True story right here. My mom used to buy me collector edition Barbies thinking I would be amazingly interested in them one day and um... that never really happened. The good news is that I have quite a few special edition barbies that have never been removed from their box... So since they have just been sitting in my closet in a box for ages... I thought maybe I could put them in the auction and have them help a girl get to Ghana. So here is my whole barbie collection...

So heres what I have... I have all 3 in the Avon Spring Collection. These are called Petals, Tea Party and Blossom

I also have quite a few of the winter series that Avon had.
I have the 1995 Winter Velvet Doll

The 1996 Winter Rhapsody Doll

The 1998 Winter Splendor Doll

The 1999 Snow Sensation Doll

Then I just have a few Special Edition Dolls

2000 Timeless Silhouette

1999 Angelic Inspirations Doll

1997 Avon Exclusive 1st in Series Mrs. P.F.E. Albee (and my fave... she is cool)... 

And Last: 2001 Avon Special Edition Simply Charming doll

Auction Preview: fluff style!

I know all my cloth diapering buddies know what this means... I got fluffy mail that needs to be shown to you! Special, soft, delicious fluff. You have to forgive my photos though. These are poor quality, I know. I will have better pictures for the actual auction, promise. But I HAD to show you :)
Up first is a pair of longies with a matching hat. I will get the measurements but my guess is that the longies are probably 3 months-ish sized... Lora correct me on that if I am wrong!

 And next is a pair of toddler shorties.

Both of them to me look very gender neutral to me... I am known to put my kids in purple shoes and pink shirts though :) (both are boys).

These were donated by my friend Lora... her very talented Mama made them.