Archive for February, 2009
‘That was a giant and powerful cyclone for us’
Morondava Subproject Coordinator Roger Ralohotsy sent CFCA his eyewitness description of the cyclone that hit Morondava in mid-January.
On Saturday, Jan. 17, the rain began to pour but it did not last for long time. It drizzled all day. The next day, the heavy rain began to hit this region. The weatherman reported that there is a type of “Intertropical Convergence Zone” at the Mozambique Channel. It lasted all day and night. The next day on Jan. 19, the rains gained force, and the roads and the low areas flooded. The buses and the cars in town could not use the main street completely because it was covered by the water. It was hard to walk around: market and sidewalks did not exist anymore because of the water level.
In the middle of the morning, the radio warned the population in this region of Morondava that the bad weather had become a tropical cyclone. At first, the size of that cyclone was about 400 kilometers wide and the wind speed was nearly 150 – 200 kilometers per hour. The size of its eye was 30 km wide. That was a giant and powerful cyclone for us.
On the morning of Jan. 20, the cyclone began to move northeast, directly toward Morondava. The wind began to blow and became more and more intense. The radio kept passing on warnings and the different precautions to be taken when the cyclone hit the town. The wind and the rain continued all day.
Later that night, around 11 p.m. everyone could feel the force of the wind. The rain sounded like it was over. Maybe because of the power of the wind, the rain could not hit the ground or the people’s roofs. At 2 a.m., we could feel from the inside of the house that the wind wiped out everything. The coconut trees cracked, the tin roofs were flying like sheets of paper. All the leaves on the trees were grinded by the wind.
The next morning at 5 a.m. we prepared to go out but there was no way because the wind was so powerful. All the branches which pointed to the opposite direction of the wind were either cut down or twisted. The wind died down at 9 a.m. on Jan. 21.
We started to visit the neighborhood, and there was chaos in general. It is hard to say or give you an exact number, but around 80 percent of the houses had their roofs blown off. The coconut trees fell down. They are actually strong trees but could not resist the force of the wind. Thankfully, they did not fall on people’s houses. Also, when we discussed with families and friends, we found that no one was hurt.
Damage to the houses and the other infrastructures was serious. I would say about three days after the cyclone, running water returned. As for the electricity, that was different story since there were thousands of meters of wire to be fixed. Many poles fell down or were cut in half. These all had to be replaced.
CFCA is working with the Antsirabe project team and will be providing funding to assist the sponsored families with housing repairs and other critical needs.
Read about CFCA’s Disaster Assistance Fund that helps meet emergency and long-term needs of sponsored members affected by natural disasters.
Add comment February 26, 2009
Our interconnected world
Lent is a time for personal reflection. Traditionally Christians engage in acts of self-denial as a means of personal discipline and awareness of the sacrifices of Christ. It is also a good time to recognize these acts of self-denial as a way to grow in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in developing countries, for whom going without is a way of life.
Every Wednesday throughout Lent we will post a reflection that we hope will help with your own personal Lenten journey.
Lenten reflection: Week one
By Rev. Kelly Demo, CFCA preacher
The story of the flood has given biblical scholars in all three Abrahamic faith traditions much to ponder over the years. Written during the Babylonian exile, it tells of a people wiped into non-existence by their own sinfulness.
In Genesis, we hear of the first covenant that God makes with His creation. “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations.” (Gen. 9:12-13) The interconnectedness found between God, humankind and all of creation is firmly established.
It is easy in the world we live in to feel separate from creation. We buy our meat cleanly packaged, giving little or no thought to the life that was taken so that we could eat. We have grown accustomed to having whatever fruit or vegetable we want, regardless of the season and how far it had to travel to get to us.
At CFCA, we do our best to recognize the interplay between humans, creation and the divine. We hold up as examples the Dumagat people of the Philippines. When they sleep at night they choose not to sleep on a mat or bed. They sleep on the ground because they want to “sleep in their mother’s arms.” That is how intimate they are with all of creation.
Look at those in our projects who survive on subsistence farming, and you will see the tenacious and dynamic interplay between themselves, God and all that God has created.
Reflection questions:
1. Has there been a time when you have felt your world was completely washed away? During that time where did you find hope?
2. How would you describe your relationship with creation? Landlord? Caretaker? Parasite? Friend? Or something else?
3. The Christian faith teaches us that nature is not God but that God can be found within nature. When was a time when you experienced God in nature?
Add comment February 25, 2009
The power of advocacy
Yesterday we told you about the Power of One campaign. Being a CFCA advocate is as easy as telling your own story of your sponsorship, like Ken Bresnan does in this video. In Ken’s story, he shares how the gift of sponsorship isn’t just contributing to your sponsored friend’s life, but how sponsorship is also a gift to him.
If you are interested in learning more about the advocacy program, please contact the advocacy team at 800.875.6564, or by e-mail at cfcaoutreach@cfcausa.org.
Add comment February 24, 2009
The power of one
By Kim Plumb, member of the advocacy team
Neema, shown here in the picture at the right, may be young but he already knows the power one person has to make a difference in the world. That’s because a person named Vanessa made a huge impact in his life. Neema is a sponsored child, receiving care through the CFCA project in Tanzania. Before sponsorship, his situation was bleak. But when Vanessa stepped forward to become his sponsor, he began receiving life-giving benefits, including medication to treat his illness. Today, his life is much different.
CFCA advocates know that there are many more children like Neema, who need a sponsor to make a difference in their lives. That’s why, from March until the end of May, we are inviting our advocates to participate in a special sponsorship drive called The Power Of One. During this time frame, their challenge is to accept One folder and Find One Sponsor.
Did you know that if each advocate found JUST ONE sponsor, it would be enough to sponsor all the children waiting in Bolivia, Peru and Nicaragua! That’s incredible. Please keep our advocates in your thoughts and prayers for a successful sponsorship drive.
If you are interested in learning more about the advocacy program, or participating in the Power of One campaign, contact the advocacy team at 800.875.6564, or by e-mail at cfcaoutreach@cfcausa.org.
Add comment February 23, 2009
Visiting the Philippines with Paul
On the recent mission awareness trip to the Philippines, CFCA President Bob Hentzen and Paul Pearce, CFCA international programs director, divided the sponsors into two groups to travel to different parts of the country. In this post, Paul tells about his group’s experiences. Read about Bob’s trip.
Mission awareness trip
Philippines, Feb. 2-8, 2009
By bus and by boat
Legazpi staff and sponsored members with their families meet us at the tiny Pili Airport in Naga City. Our group traveled by bus and boat to the hotel. Under the watchful eye of the volcano Isarog, the setting is definitely South Pacific.
The theme Legazpi has chosen for this year’s trip is “CFCA: Bridging People Amidst Diversity.” Maria Luz, at the closing of her testimonial and upon meeting her sponsors, said she is “the happiest girl in the world.” In tears, sponsor Mariano was moved by the hospitality the sponsors received. We enjoy a rousing, sand-blown rendition of “This Little Light of Mine.”
Later, the Legazpi scholarship youth and staff energize a running-out-of-gas sponsor group. Sponsor April and her sponsored friend, Aprilyn, lift the roof with a duet of “You Are My Hero.” Sponsors head for the pillow after a long and beautiful day.
Legazpi angels
Riding two big buses, we headed down the coastal road toward Legazpi to participate in a tree-planting activity at the municipal park in the town of Tiwi. After visiting the Tiwi geothermal plant, we pass miles of pristine rice fields, stopping at the ruins of Cagsawa, a colonial church destroyed by one of the many eruptions of the Mayon volcano, and the volcanic rock and mud flow area from the 2006 eruption that killed numerous persons and affected CFCA families substantially.
Sponsors commented how much they liked the “angel” concept of the Legazpi project. Sponsors were each assigned a staff member, called an angel, to accompany them from arrival to departure, guide them, answer questions and wake them in the morning, if needed. Sponsors have felt very well-cared-for in Legazpi.
1 comment February 20, 2009
‘Faith is living inside us’
Earthquake. Fire. Hurricane. Tsunami. Genocide. War. Famine. Hardly a day goes by that one does not hear of a disaster of some kind that is happening in our world.
We listen to the news, we are concerned, we pray, we donate, we try to give relief. Then the 24-hour news barrage moves us on to the next big news story and the cycle starts all over again. Until we become slightly numb to devastation.
While we may quickly move on with our lives after a disaster strikes, those directly affected by it may feel the devastation for many years to come.
Eight years ago, Rosa was living in the mountains outside the city of Santa Ana, in El Salvador. Her eldest son, Carlos, was already sponsored through CFCA. The family was getting by on a meager income that Javier, Rosa’s husband, brought in through agriculture, and a small garden that Rosa enjoyed tending. Rosa stayed at home to tend to the children and to take food to her husband in the field.
Then, in January 2001, an earthquake, registering 7.6, destroyed their home.
 Rosa and her two youngest sons, Bryan and Cesar |
Rosa and her family slept outdoors for many nights and then went to stay with her brother. Rosa, Javier and their three children, her parents, and her brother and his family of four moved to an area in Santa Ana that had been designated for earthquake victims. There they built a small home from scrap metal that they found.
Rosa finds life in the city to be much harder and more expensive than in the country. She now has to buy the vegetables and beans that before she had grown herself, and she buys less of everything because food prices have increased. Where she used to buy one pound of rice, now she buys half a pound. She is, however, very grateful for the nutritional supplements her family receives as a benefit through CFCA. She also misses the community in her old village.
Rosa now earns a living by going to others’ homes and washing their clothes. Javier works as a bricklayer in the capital, San Salvador. He tries to come home every three days to see his family but the transportation expenses are high, averaging $4 a week.
The family prays every night for Carlos’ sponsor. They also pray that the other children in the family receive sponsorship.
“God holds me which is good, because things are only going to get worse. Things are more expensive now,” Rosa said. “Sometimes I feel like I have been abandoned by God, but then I tell myself I can’t give up because faith is living inside us.”
In September Rosa’s 9-year–old son, Bryan, received sponsorship. God’s answer to her prayers.
Update: At the time of this posting, Carlos, 14, is no longer in the sponsorship program. He decided to leave the program to find a job. Rosa’s youngest son, Cesar, 3, has been sponsored in his place.
Add comment February 18, 2009
Bob’s notes – Visit to the Philippines
Mission awareness trip
Jan. 29 – Feb. 9, 2009
A warm welcome
Sponsored children in the Philippines welcome us with a smile and a song. Their choir of 20 sponsored children charmed everyone.
With great admiration I note that our dear friend and longtime sponsor Jerry Menard has arrived in good health and great spirit. He currently has two children sponsored in the Philippines. I believe this mission awareness trip marks Jerry’s seventh trip this year to visit sponsored children.
During lunch the owners of the Good Shepherd Center in Antipolo, where our group is staying, told me that after meeting the sponsors and learning about CFCA, they, too, want to become sponsors.
Two talented sponsored girls with severe physical limitations won our hearts with an emotional rendition of “You Light Up My Life.” Four personal testimonies added meaning and substance to the afternoon.
Visit to former sponsored child, elderly in dump
In Quezon, we split into small groups to visit families and livelihood projects. My group visited the home of Maria Elena, a former sponsored child, recently married and now working as a business analyst and auditor at a major bank. Riding jeepneys and tricycles takes Maria Elena the better part of two hours to get to work and costs about $2. But the work is steady, and Maria Elena is grateful to be able to help her mother.
We were able to visit several aging friends in the dump area of Payatas. They seem to overcome difficult living conditions with hope and determination.
Today after lunch we traveled about one hour into the countryside near Antipolo to encourage an organic and sustainable food/farming program for 21 families. We dedicated a new water pump and hand tractor, purchased with a loan from CFCA. The hand tractor motor also provides power for the new irrigation pump. The tractor and irrigation system permits the CFCA families to produce two rice crops per year – sometimes three.
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1 comment February 16, 2009
Listening through letters
CFCA sponsors Howard and Jennifer Martin discuss their letter writing-experiences with their sponsored children and how their relationship goes beyond the financial aspect of sponsoring.
Add comment February 13, 2009
Solidarity walk begins the new year
CFCA President Bob Hentzen and 1,000 fellow walkers celebrated his upcoming walk from Guatemala to Chile with a solidarity walk in the community of San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. The solidarity walk, which took place on January 23, was almost three miles long and took about two and a half hours.
Guatemalan staff members and CFCA families organized the solidarity walk as a way to kick off preparations for Bob’s walk to Chile, which is set to begin Dec. 29, 2009. The route Bob will travel will weave through 12 countries (see below for a list) in Central and South America and is scheduled to conclude in April 2011.
During the solidarity walk, the 12 countries were represented by their national flag along the three-mile trek.
We hope you’ll enjoy this video clip of the solidarity walk.
Bob will be walking through Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Chile, although not necessarily in that order. The official route is still being finalized.
The purpose of the walk is to facilitate the building of community and strengthening of the bonds of solidarity among our CFCA families, sponsors and co-workers. Bob will use this walk to thank the families for the inspiring example of their daily walk, and tell them that we love them. He hopes to help counterbalance some of the isolation of poverty and offer the poor a sense of identity with the CFCA community.
“On my journeys, I find that CFCA truly walks with the poor and enables many people of good will to do the same,” Bob said.
In 1996, Bob walked more than 4,000 miles from Kansas City, Kan., to Guatemala. His upcoming walk will continue that trek.
2 comments February 12, 2009
Sol, Solecito
Four-year-old Liseth of Bogota, Colombia, loves learning songs and rhymes. In this video, she recites a few rhymes popular in Latin America, similar to “Hey, Diddle, Diddle” in English. The translations of her rhymes are below. Read more about Liseth.
| Arroz con Leche (Rice with Milk)* Rice with milk I want to get married To a senorita From the capital
Who knows how to sew With this one, yes I like milk |
Sol Solecito (Sun, Little Sun)*
Sun, little sun Moon, little moon Snail, snail |
| *In Spanish, these verses rhyme and, like “Hey Diddle, Diddle”, they make little sense. The rhyming is lost in the translation. | |
3 comments February 11, 2009
