Wanna help?

A good friend of mine, Lisa Merritt (executive director and co-founder of Inca Link International) posted this article, and I couldn't help but share it. Because I am serving abroad, a lot of my friends and family are interested in helping me help the people I serve. Before I left, people asked me how they could help, what they could send with me, and I wasn't sure what to tell them. I have a better idea now. This article outlines and explains a few examples of aid-gone-wrong:

"The Seven Worst International Aid Ideas"
http://matadornetwork.com/change/7-worst-international-aid-ideas/

Although these altruistic flops may be disheartening, this article presents a good challenge. Instead of helping in ways that make us feel good about ourselves, we are challenged to think critically about how our actions really affect the receivers. Sure, sending toys and socks to children around the world to open on Christmas day makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but hunger is not going to end by spreading Christmas cheer. I acknowledge that there have been circumstances in which lives have been touched positively by these gestures. However, there are more reliable ways to improve the lives of poverty-stricken populations. It's easy to give away things we don't want or need anymore, but the article makes an important point about hurting local economies. Besides, if it's not good enough for you, why should it be good enough for someone else?

Now that we've been through some bad ideas, let's talk what people really need and reliable ways to meet those needs.

I have not completed thorough research on world-wide needs. These are just a few things that I have observed in my own travels, through friends who serve or work in poor areas, and through aid organizations. I think it's safe to say that many people in many parts of the world lack clean water, stable income, and education. Even though it doesn't feel as personal to support projects with funds as sending something you can physically touch to someone else, projects to improve the overall quality of life are most effective... well, as long as the project is well-thought-out and properly executed (ahem, do your research before supporting a project).

There are many organizations working toward providing communities access to clean water. Wine to Water is just one. I know children personally who have benefited from this organizations work in Peru. Visit winetowater.org for more information.

Another great way to support people around the world is through community development projects. Covenant World Relief has many different projects that promote sustainable income. From micro-finance banks in Mexico, to vocational training in Vietnam, to agricultural projects in Ecuador (remember those Sumaco mushrooms?), Covenant World Relief provides grants and other resources to promote a healthy economy. Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime, right? Check out Covenant World Relief's projects at covchurch.org/relief/projects/cd

A final way to improve communities is to help provide access to education for children. By supporting a child monthly, a sponsor provides "educational fees, school uniforms, tutoring, health care, and, in faith-based sponsorship organizations, spiritual mentorship" ("Cost Effective Compassion: the 10 Most Popular Strategies for Helping the Poor" www.christianitytoday.com... someone did) complete research on this!). Whether you sponsor a child through smaller organizations like Inca Link International (incalink.net/inca_link_international/sponsorship.html), H.E.R.O (haitihero.org), or organizations that work world wide, like Compassion International (compassion.com), you not only improve a child's life today, you give them opportunities and tools to be productive individuals in the future.

These are just a few opportunities that I know about -- there are a lot more out there. Challenge yourself to find an organization or project that not only impacts your pro-social ego but impacts the lives of others in a positive, sustainable, and holistic way. If you're looking for an effective way to help others, these few opportunities are good places to start.

Oh, yeah, that other life...

Besides the traveling around Ecuador and preparing to serve with Inca Link in Peru, a large part of my mental space is currently occupied with the question of admission to graduate schools. This fall, I applied to seven (7) master's programs in speech-language pathology. The application process was stressful, as the steps to achieve the goal of admission are somewhat unclear. What are grad schools looking for, exactly? What's important to include in a personal statement? How do I balance professionalism with unique personal qualities? Submitting the applications was nearly nerve-wracking enough to produce a panic attack. There is no going back now... Waiting for results is an entirely different kind of stress; there is nothing to do but wait and wonder.

Fortunately for me, I've been a world away from my potential life as a graduate student, so usually the thoughts keep quiet deep in the recesses of my subconscious mind. At least, they did until recently, when the estimated time of result arrival drew near. Because the applications are now online, the results are also available online. I've been checking periodically only to find the same status: submitted, under review.

Until yesterday.

I received an email notifying me that my admission status to the University of Minnesota was available. Oh god, I thought, simultaneously filled with excitement and dread in anticipation of what that admittance letter would read. The U is one of my preferred programs and admits only 25 students each year. I expected to be either thrilled by "yes" or devastated by "no."

I was neither thrilled nor devastated. I was wait-listed. Neither yes nor no, middle of the road, not offered admission but there is still the chance that I could be offered admission if someone else denies the offer. I'm a viable candidate but just not quite impressive enough to make the first string.

While my initial response was disappointment, I mostly feel confused about how to feel. I wasn't accepted, but neither have I been definitively rejected. Ok, so I still might not get in, or I might get in after all. More waiting. The other confusing part is that I can't gauge my chances with other programs based on these results. Is it a good sign or a bad sign? I wouldn't really be able to know about other programs based on this one anyway, but it's just confusing.

All I know is that if I don't hear from the other schools soon, I may very well develop a compulsive checking disorder in the meantime.

El Carnaval

Many parts of Latin America celebrate a festival called "carnaval" every year leading up to the season of lent. In Ecuador, el carnaval is essentially a water fight over a four-day weekend. At least, it only officially lasts for four days. Most people leave Quito for the holiday weekend, so things here aren't too wild, but in other towns, you can't walk down the street without getting water dumped on you from rooftops, water balloons thrown at you, or sprayed with carioca (a sort of colored foam comparable to our silly-string). To experience the yearly celebration, Mandy, Valerie, and I went to Carapungo, a suburb of Quito, to "play carnaval" with Mandy's former host family.

We started as observers, watching Mandy's host parents scheme to get the employees of their furniture store wet before closing up for the night. Soon enough we were the victims, covered in carioca. We slipped out to get our own foamy artillery. The game was on. Val, Mandy, and I made a pact to work together, and as our adversaries did not understand English, and we did understand their Spanish, we had the upper-hand in planning tactics. They, however, had access to buckets and water spouts. We were soaked in no time. The fight quickly moved to the back alley, where we fought over buckets, defended the water spouts, chased each other like children, and all ended up completely soaked. Lucky for us, we escaped the flour that was dumped from the rooftop and nobody brought out the most lethal weapon -- raw eggs.

I'm not sure how the tradition began or what its significance is, but playing with friends, family, neighbors, and strangers of all ages is a celebration indeed (when you're prepared for it, at least). As much fun as we had last night, we stayed inside today, avoiding another soaking.

Surprise!

Since Mandy moved to Ecuador a year ago, some of our former housemates and I have been dreaming and scheming about meeting up in Ecuador. Although we had our doubts about timing it right, we did it! My friends Valerie and Colleen both came in to Quito last weekend -- the trick was that not everyone knew the dream was about to come true.

Colleen, Valerie, and I had been planning to make Colleen's visit a surprise for Mandy. At one point, we really thought Colleen wouldn't be able to come, so we went with it. Colleen told Mandy she couldn't get vacation time to come (she has a big-girl job with Apple Computers). Val and I created a cover story, saying that Val was coming in Saturday night, when really Colleen was coming in Saturday night.

Then the plot twisted. Valerie wasn't sure she'd be able to come the week Colleen could. She made it work, but the potential missed timing inspired us to make it a double surprise. We told Colleen that Valerie couldn't come until the following week, that they would just miss each other.

The surprises went perfectly. Colleen came in Saturday night, when Mandy was expecting Valerie. I had just enough time between seeing Colleen and greeting her to tell Mandy that Val would get in the next night. We created a fictitious friend of a friend named "Mike Peterson" to give a reason for going to the airport again.

After we were reunited, we had a full week of sight-seeing and enjoying being together. We climbed up the Basilica in Historic Quito, visited the equator, rode the Teleférico cable car to view the city from above, soaked in the Papallactas hot springs, and ziplined over the jungle canopy. Best of all, we shared adventures.

Colleen left yesterday. Valerie and I will be here with Mandy for a week and half more until we travel together to Peru. Time here has gone by quickly. I've seen many parts of Ecuador -- coast, jungle, mountains, city -- and have had good-quality time with my friends. So far, so good!

The Road to Sumaco

After a week in Quito, I ventured out to Sumaco with a group of Covenanters from across Canada. Sumaco is a small, peaceful village in the "oriente," the western part of Ecuador, which is mostly jungle. Although the pueblo is small, it has a massive history. The settlement was started in the late 1980's by a group of refugees who lost their homes to an earthquake and the proceeding landslide. Immediately following the disaster, hundreds of displaced families were housed and supported by the Iglesia del Pacto, the Covenant Church of Ecuador. After awhile, the people needed a place of their own and found Sumaco, often referred to as "Pacto Sumaco" after the church. They chose the area because it was similar to the land they had lost. For the past 25 years, the people of Sumaco have been fighting to obtain titles to their land. There was a complicated back and forth between the republic and international agencies trying to protect the land as environmental reserve. From my (limited) understanding it went like this:

Republic of Ecuador, "Yes, you can live there."
International Environment Agency (or something), "Ecuador has to reserve that land to get funding."
Republic of Ecuador, "Then again, you can't live there."
Sumaco, "But, you already told us we could live here. We have nowhere else to go."
Republic of Ecuador, "Ok, well, you can stay; we'll just ignore you."
International Environment Agency (or something), "Ecuador has to reserve that land to get funding."
Republic of Ecuador, "Yeah, actually, you can't live there."

But Sumaco kept on trying. As of January 2012, the people finally have the papers to file for land titles, making them legal owners and permanent residents of the place they've called home for the past two decades.

The village is remote and rustic. Until a few years ago, there was no road at all to get to Sumaco; now there is a narrow dirt road through the lush, green mountain. A bus leaves daily at 5am to go to a bigger town and returns nightly at 7pm. Wooden houses are built on stilts to keep from flooding in the daily deluge. When the sky isn't cloudy, you can see the Sumaco Volcano from "main street." Many people are undereducated and underfed. In order to bring more prosperity to the village, a new agricultural project is underway. Funded by a grant from Covenant World Relief, the town is beginning to cultivate mushrooms to sell for profit. Although the growing is still in the experimental phase, there is great hope in the potential earnings from the Sumaco hongos. The mushrooms are delicious, and coming from someone who doesn't really like mushrooms, that means they must be really amazing.

While in Sumaco, we worked on multiple projects. At the local public school, we helped fix up the bathrooms and drainage system, began the foundation for a new classroom, and gave health and English classes to the students. Others worked on a project for the Covenant Church of Ecuador's social outreach program, FACE ("FAH-say"), which included installing window panes to the FACE agricultural house, where the process of growing mushrooms begins. Every afternoon, we held a VBS type program for the local kids. We played games, sang songs, did crafts, and told and acted out Bible stories.

Although poverty is rampant and resources are limited, the beauty, tranquility, and simplicity of Sumaco are enviable. Up in the cloud forest, the people survive on the little they have and thrive on the community and support for each other. As I have observed elsewhere, the people with the least amount of material possessions have the greatest amount of faith in God; they depend on God in a way that is almost impossible for those of us who depend so much on our own wealth.

Pray for Sumaco. Pray for united leadership for the Covenant Church, Mount Sinai, of Sumaco, as they are currently without a pastor. Pray for wisdom as the community gains titles to their land, and with those titles the ability to sell their land. Pray for physical and spiritual nourishment. Pray for prosperity through the mushroom project. Pray that the Christians of Sumaco will never lose their hope and trust in God.