CRISIS

PROJECT HARAMBEE UPDATE JUNE, 2023

"The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."

Dante Alighieri

And who can deny that we live in times fraught with crisis? Local, national, worldwide, with little respite. Yet the news isn't all bad. A powerfu remider of the implications of crisis is shown in the above symbol, the Chinese character for crisis, comprising two words. On the left, DANGER; on the right, OPPORTUNITY.

I live, and so may we all, in faith that, surrounded by danger, resources & strength are available to resolve these crises.

This indeed has been our experience at Project Harambee. We work in the heart of crises in Africa: staggering inflation, war, famine, collapsed economy. Each of these bears faces and names. You've seen many of them in our previous reports. Here I present more.

And you've always risen to the challenge with encouragehment, support, generosity. I'm constantly stunned at resources appearing at precisely the right time, the right place, the right amount for our friends in need. We experience life at the edge. For me it's become the center. You've joined me there. Here's a lovely example of the good news.

Emeye is a northern Ethiopian mother who appealed for help for a hospital visit & medicine for her very sick child. Her husand worked in a hotel in Lalibela but tourism there has collapsed, & with drought and war, so have all sources of income. So we responded--sending the cost of a family outing here at McDonald's--and here was her response:

"My baby he is better now. Thanks to God but still he is breathing by oxygen. I am like fish without water without you & I am really sorry to bothering you. I know it will be shame depending from you but the situation is pushed me. And you saved the life of my baby."

Emeye with her sick child at the hospital in November. Thank

goodness for the good outcome.

Then last week, a surprise. In this time of crisis she found herself with an unplanned pregnancy. Monday brought another surprise: the birth of twins!

We helped a bit more & she responded by asking me to name her new sons. With a leap of faith (hoping she will not expect us to educate these children through college) I sent the names Biruk and Bemnet: Hope, Blessing. All is well, due to your goodness: people who will likely never visit Ethiopia, never meet this family whom the fates placed in our path.

Baby Biruk

Baby Bemnet

Her latest communication:.

"Hello my beloved dokter. Haw are you doing?i am fine and my kids are also fine!!

today i have Good news because if i don't love share only my problems i have to share my happiness. I get one continer shipping place from Government the continer is realy have nice. So i will open Small shopping for future.

Because of the economy is realy crazy this time. For example as you told me last year egg is very important for kids but not possible one egg is 15 birr ($.28) one bread is 10 birr ($.18)

(not much here in the U.S., but impossible if you're earning less than $1/day. And when the inflation rate in your country is close to 34%!)

so not possible to manage life.

So that i will selling charcoal and other small goods.

Don't leave me alone in prayer that our God may bring peace to the country. Because if this continues, the cost of living will be horrible . And i will tray to manage life. I know it will be shem depending from you for long but the situation is pushed me to dependent . Thanks for your kindness and giving names for them. I like the name Biruk and bemnet this is realy lovely names!!

to tell you the truth you are my angle Come from God to save my life.

More than a money you are the confidence of my living life."

What price could you possibly put on this mother's peace of mind? What might have become of her child had she not somehow found her way to us?

We've been advised it's still unsafe to travel to northern Ethiopia so it'll be awhile before we visit again. The food crisis still exists there & through another miracle of loaves & fishes we've continued supporting several hundred children with food & school fees. I receive reports & photos regularly from our helpers there, Desiye Melku & Abebe Gelaw. Below are photos of the 2 schools distributing flour.

But we are packing for Kenya, leaving late July, focusing on our most ambitious program: GROW A DOC/NURSE & calling together our dozens of graduates & students. They can't all attend but we'll meet to hold another "pop up medical clinic" & work to strengthen the trans-tribal cohesion & network of our HARAMBEE family. I remind them of the strengths & opportunities afforded by a group: A single stick can easily be broken, while a bundle of sticks defies destruction. Cooperation, not competition.

We have grown so, adding spouses & children. John is cataloguing all the data so that we can keep up with everyone. Many days I feel like the woman in the shoe, with so many children she doesn't know what to do--a great problem to have.

Sign advertising our medical camp

Volunteers at the 2022 medical camp, including students from St. Al's h.s.

We'll be celebrating our latest success, Killion Juma, attending his graduation from Mount Kenya University on August 4. His road has been most difficult. A total orphan (both parents), he's had a state-appointed guardian & has faced more roadblocks than most. Yet he persisted & now will be awarded an MD. As his surrogate parents, we must be there with him. And we will carry the spirit of all of you. We've only been the instrument: it's YOU who have made possible this remarkable achievement. It's you who are responsible for the thousands of lives he'll impact in his professional life. Right: Killion Juma, M.D.

Brighton

You may remember him, born with a deadly combination of heart defects that left him barely able to walk.

His parents worked for 3 years yet were unable to save $3,500 for the surgery that would save his life. Last November we returned with soap- stone items crafted by his uncle & were able to raise the funds for the surgery. He now is home & doing well, will soon begin school, & has a good chance for a normal life. We still have many soapstone items for sale.

HONEY FROM AFRICA: bad news, good news. Drought in southeast Kenya continues, halting honey production. But our other beehive project, in central Kenya, is thriving. With profits from honey sales a new building for honey extraction & hive construction is being built. Get your order in now for this exotic sweet!

We bring comfort crosses, crafted by Wayne Lape, to those in need. Kenyans are a people of extra- ordinary faith & are encouraged knowing that a loving stranger in the U.S. cares for them.

In Kenya we'll again be visiting a women's prison, delivering donated items & dolls & toy cars for children. They stay with their moms til age 5.

I shreiked with delight when I first heard a child look at her brown doll & exclaim "She looks like ME!"

YES! (Thanks, Delta Sigma Theta!) We'd only seen blonde blue-eyed dolls in Nairobi stores.

More drama, more needs. Yet I can't be discouraged because help keeps appearing, surely miraculously, allowing us to respond. We've been watching the news from Sudan & South Sudan, where refugees are pouring in. (Is there no end to strife in this sorry world?!) I inquired of our friend Father Basilio in South Sudan. He wrote me: "The situation in Sudan is extremely bad. Some South Sudanese were evacuated to Juba but with no support & many are coming to the church. We have nothing to give them and there is no strategy for receiving those who are leaving Khartoum because of fighting. People came & joined their relatives, now some families have more than 10 families in a house, more than 50 members in one house & this is a real burden. The government & the NGOs are doing nothing. Only some churches are trying to help when ever it possible."

Photo sent by Father Basilio: refugess from Sudan arriving in Juba, South Sudan

So...we sent him whatever extra funds we had. He answered:

"Oh my God, I have received the money. Your gift became like manna from heaven. Thank you for putting some smiles on the faces of those whom we are able to reach with the helping hand through your generosity. Thank you for being kind to us and having us in your heart. May God bless you and all those who stand with you to support us."

And meanwhile in Zambia:

below: Father Richard Phiri at his graduation awhile back from Loyola, master's degree in business administration. Now head of a parish in Zambia, he's developing projects for education & income generation.

Father Richard plans to build a kinder- garten for the many children who receive no preparation before primary school, seeking a funding agency for $6,500 & help from an architect for a blueprint. And...early childhood education expertise. Ideas? If you're adventurous, travel to Zambia for hands-on work. You'll love it!

Our pig project managed by Father Richard suffered a setback with an epidemic of swine flu. We're up & running again, funding education with the profits. He's put several girls through school, including 3 graduate registered nurses.

When you do this work, you become exquisitely aware of all injustices. In our increasingly "global village" world, discrepancies in opportunity stand in bas relief. I weep at excesses, waste, moral myopia, & greed. Priorities are clarified. For instance...

Left: Yes, $37,000 for a pair of earrings indeed seems out of this world to me.

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And never ever will I be concerned about the "perfect bra fit." (What planet am I on?!)

So I will stop here. I expect you may be exhausted reading all this. Let me lend you some of the energy I get as I see funds exiting Harambee's bank account, yet the balance remaining the same. Surely we're on a right path. God bless you for joining us there!

When we're in Kenya I'll try to post on our Facebook page, Project Harambee, NFP. As always, we're the one with the picture of the African mother & baby.

Til then,

Ever grateful,

Keen