Thank you for your thoughts and pr-yers this past month. I am excited to share that I have accepted the CWEF Development Coordinator position in Hong Kong! It looks like my time in Asia will be a bit longer than I originally planned. (Funny how He often seems to throw our plans out the window…)
The current plan is to come back to America in December of this year. From December through April, I be home and will have the opportunity to share more about the work CWEF is doing in Asia. I can’t wait to sit down with you and chat face-to-face! If you know of any organizations that would be interested in hosting a presentation, please let me know. I am excited to share about our work with as many people as possible. Then in May of 2011, I will move to Hong Kong to begin my two years of service as the Development Coordinator with CWEF.
Again, thank you for your unwavering support. I can't wait to see you soon!
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This woman's children taught her how to brush her teeth
Training Children Helps
Educate Parents
Educate Parents
The month of May was highlighted by the surveying trip that Liying and I took to the villages where CWEF plans to implement water systems during the 2011 fiscal year.
The villages we visited were incredibly impoverished; we heard many stories of suffering and listened to many desperate requests for help. It was heart-wrenching to witness (I’ve shared a few of these stories on my blog). There were also many positive experiences, however, from our time in the villages.
One village we visited is so remote that a dirt road was only built to it 5 years ago. As we interviewed one of the village women, I immediately noticed a toothbrush and toothpaste sitting in a jar on the windowsill. The woman and her husband were never educated and couldn’t even tell us their ages. Needless to say, it seemed like an oxymoron that they would know the importance of good personal hygiene. When asked about the toothbrush, the woman told us that her children taught her how to brush her teeth. They gave her the toothbrush a few months ago and instructed her to brush her teeth every morning and night. Since then, the woman has used her toothbrush every day.
Her children, students at BangBing Middle School, which is 30 kilometers away from the village, were participants in a CWEF hygiene training at their school last year. They learned the importance of brushing their teeth and washing their hands from our CWEF service team! And these healthy practices, brushing teeth and washing hands, that our team members taught them, they have now taught to their parents in a village 30 kilometers away. The impact CWEF is making in this region is multiplying!
