Worldwide Activity Report -- December 1997
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Copyright 1997 by The Family

         Every day, in nearly 80 countries spanning the globe, full-time Family volunteers work to bring hope, happiness and God's love to others. Following are some highlights of their recent activities and experiences, as reported by the Family members involved.

Kids in crisis
From Lauren and David, Kenya
         Imagine a barren, dusty yard, 75 feet long and 40 feet wide, surrounded by rooms of bare stone and cement. The rooms' corrugated metal roofs provide shade, but no escape from the blistering heat. The only windows are barred and face the yard. Their panes are broken or missing altogether. Inside the rooms, metal bunks with rotting mattresses stand in crooked rows. Few of the beds have blankets; none have sheets. The air is so foul it turns your stomach.
         Now imagine that this place was built to temporarily house 80 street children and young delinquents, but presently holds as many as 400--all listless and bored from being confined to this small space 24 hours a day, day after day, with no schooling and nothing to do.
         This is one of Nairobi's remand homes, or juvenile jails--Approved Schools, as they are called here.
         The children are from ages six or seven years old to mid-teens. Some are there for crimes which range from petty theft to murder, but others were simply alone on the street when the police happened by. According to this country's laws, no child is to live in a remand home for more than three months. By that time, their case is supposed to have gone to trial in the children's court. In actuality, some children have remained for as long as two years, waiting for their case to come up. Others were sent back after their trial because they had nowhere else to go.
         The children are supposed to be looked after by wardens, but they are most often left to themselves while the wardens chat outside the walls. In some Approved Schools, boys and girls are separated only for sleeping. With no supervision, you can imagine what goes on.
         Each child has one uniform, which is often worn out or split at the seams. Some children wear just a shirt, and others don't wear any clothing at all. If one of them decides to wash his or her clothes, they must put them on wet or walk around naked until they dry.
         For all of these children there are only two blocks of toilets, one at each end of the courtyard.
         Under these conditions, scabies and a host of other skin diseases spread like wildfire. Some of the children have AIDS. The infirmary, a bare stone room, is often unmanned. Medicines are almost non-existent.
         You can't spend more than five minutes here without being surrounded by children who tell you in their broken English that their day in court is approaching. Each pleads with you to be there to vouch for them, so they won't be sent back here. "I want to go to school," they insist. "I don't want to be here! Please come to court for me!"
         About a year ago, a Catholic organization that tries to help these kids asked us to come along when they visited them. We've been coming ever since.
         Sad to say, due to our limited resources and all the red tape involved in extending material assistance to these government-run institutions, we haven't yet been able to do much to improve the physical conditions these children live under. But from the start there was one thing we could give, and which every child needs--love!
         It wasn't easy at first for Lauren to pull the little children onto her lap or hug them when they were so filthy, but she soon found that was the most affection some of them had ever felt. It meant everything to them. How could she say no?
         Juan, another Family member, often spends time with some of the older ones, getting to know them and trying to instill some positive influence while losing badly at checkers.
         Meanwhile, David pulls out the electric shaver. The boys much prefer shaved heads to heads full of lice and other vermin. It's not an easy task, nor a pleasant one, but if the electric shaver behaves David can shave up to 45 heads an hour. When the shaver refuses to work, he takes the opportunity to get into deeper conversations with the boys or join them in a game of soccer.
         After about an hour and a half of that, all of the children crowd into the 15- by 30-foot dining room, sit down, and wait for us to come sing with them. We somehow manage to make our way, guitars intact, from the door to the tiny floor space they've reserved for our "stage." Then the fun begins.
         This may sound almost incomprehensible after our description of the situation, but we get a wonderful feeling while packed in that room with them. They know we're only there for them--to show them love and bring them a few minutes of happiness.
         Even if we wanted to, we couldn't forget our times in that jam-packed, dusty room, with sunlight streaming through the broken windows and those children singing their hearts out and having fun. But most important, the example of Jesus' love we try to show them, our counsel, and our prayers are bound to have a lasting effect on some of them. That's worth it all!
         Your prayers and financial backing for this project are sorely needed. Please help if you can.

         [Picture caption] Self-portrait with friend. David shaving the head of a boy in a Nairobi remand home, also known as an Approved School. (Cameras are not allowed on the premises.)

Hurricane Pauline disaster relief
From Jason, Mexico
         Shortly after Hurricane Pauline and the ensuing floods and mudslides devastated parts of Acapulco and outlying areas, claiming over 400 lives, our team of 12 Family members joined the relief effort. Victims of the disaster were touched that we had come all the way from Guadalajara, 600 miles (950 km) away, to help and encourage them.
         The day we arrived in Acapulco, we met with the local head of Red Cross and another official who suggested that we take the three-quarters of a ton of food we had brought with us to the nearby town of Tunzingo, which had suffered major damage. We went straight there, and within 30 minutes had unloaded and set up a distribution line. For the next two hours, representatives from about 400 hard-hit families filed by to receive bags of assorted food items.
         We then turned our utility trailer into a makeshift stage and performed several comforting and heartening songs. That was one of the most appreciative audiences I have ever sung for.
         During the next few days, we worked out of Red Cross warehouses and distributed another five tons of relief--food, clothing, juice and drinking water--in five other towns.
         One town was so remote and so cut off by flood damage that no relief teams had been able to reach it. We drove as far as we could, then the townspeople came to meet us and hauled the supplies on foot over the impassable section of dirt road.
         The six towns we helped were all in the same area, so by the time we left, everyone knew us. Several people brought small thank-you gifts, and one whole town came out to thank us and wave as we pulled out.
         As we and other Family members have found in similar situations, the Red Cross workers, military, and other volunteers were exhausted and needed nearly as much encouragement as the disaster victims. So when we weren't distributing relief supplies, we spent time with them, counselling, presenting musical programs to them, and doing whatever we could to support their efforts.
         "You came just when we thought we had no strength to carry on," the local head of the Red Cross wrote us in a thank-you letter. "You gave us the extra boost of encouragement we needed to see the job through."

North Korea famine aid update
From Tim and Marina, Japan
         We are continuing to collect humanitarian aid and send shipments to famine-stricken North Korea. Last month we sent 17 tons of baby food and formula. Other Family communities in the area pitched in to help prepare the shipments and get them off. We received letters of commendation from both UNICEF and the Red Cross, and Tim was asked to accompany one of our shipments to North Korea.

One from the heart
From Jonathan, Esther and Rima, Romania
         "You brought love and joy to these children," a staff member from the French humanitarian aid organization Medicins Sans Frontires (MSF) told us at the end of a camp for street children and orphans, which MSF had organized. "That's what made this camp a success!"
         For eight days, members from Family communities in Romania and Hungary helped staff the camp, which was held on Romania's Black Sea coast. Many of the 70 children came from Gypsy communities which we had toured with our clown show a few months earlier. They all remembered us by name, and expressed over and over how happy they were to see us again.
         Our responsibilities included teaching hygiene, physical fitness, and drama, and serving as team leaders of the various groups. That put us with the children 24 hours a day. We also organized the recreational activities: games, sports, dances, sing-alongs, basic foreign language classes, and more. Not only were these activities exceptionally fun, but they provided great opportunities to teach the children social skills such as working as a team and considering the needs and happiness of others.
         The last night we held a carnival, complete with face-painting and balloons, and passed out hundreds of toys that had been donated by one of The Family's sponsors in Hungary.
         Partik, the MSF area coordinator, told us, "In the future I will certainly call upon The Family instead of paid social workers. Your involvement is not just a form of employment; it comes from a commitment of the heart!"
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         The Family is a nonprofit, volunteer organization. Each of the activities you have just read about was made possible through donations from businesses, associations and concerned individuals. If you would like more information about The Family, or if you would like to help sponsor Family volunteers or projects, please contact us at one of the addresses below:



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