Giving Tuesday-Comparing two catalogs

This time of year I get a ton of catalogs.  Well, not really a ton because to be honest I rarely buy anything from them so I usually get taken off lists rather quickly, but I do get some catalogs.  I picked up a few of them and started flipping through while I was eating breakfast one morning.  

These are the two I picked up. The World Vision gift catalog and the American Girl catalog. I must say, that was an interesting start to the morning that really got me thinking about a few things.

Let me start with the American Girl catalog.  I have a 13 year old daughter who has a few American Girl dolls thanks to garage sales. I have never purchased anything from the actual American Girl store other than lunch one afternoon a few years ago when my mom and I took my daughter on a girls day and enjoyed a little after Christmas shopping.  My daughter realized that the $50 gift card that she had received for Christmas could purchase her barely one outfit for her 18" doll. 

Don't get me wrong. I love American Girl. I remember wanting one when they came out when I was a kid and I picked one up as quickly as I could when I found one for $5 at a garage sale. I tucked that garage sale find away one year and it appeared under the Christmas tree for my daughter. I love that the American Girl dolls encourage girls to be girls and provide an opportunity for them to maintain their childhood in the most wholesome way.

However, I don't love their price tag and like I said, I've been lucky enough to score a fair amount of American Girl dolls and their accessories used and at a fraction of the price over the years. While we could afford to buy American Girl doll at retail prices {the average doll will set you back around $120}, we have chosen not to because we would rather use that money so that we can be more generous in other areas of our life. More on that later. 

While perusing the American Girl catalog, the last page has the American Girl promise which says:

We promise to never stop believing in the unlimited potential in all girls.  We're dedicated to creating products, services and experiences that help boost confidence, ignite creativity, and fuel connections. It's our job to remind the world--and girls--how strong, brilliant, and brave they can be.

I couldn't agree more! Especially with that last line.  Let's take a second to break down that promise and see how it is that American Girl is fulfilling that promise with their products.

You can purchase accessories for your American Girl doll that will help normalize life events that an everyday girl has that will hopefully boost her confidence. If your daughter wears orthodontic head gear, you can buy a healthy smile set for $14. If your child is in a wheelchair, your doll can be too for $38. A hearing aid can be added to any doll for $14 and if your child has food allergies, you can buy an allergy-free lunch with safe {plastic} foods and a faux allergy shot for $28. Boosting confidence? Check.

I used to play pretend school all the time when I was a kid. One summer, my best friend and I charged the neighborhood kids $5 a day to go to our school. We even had a field trip to the fire station on our block.

If your daughter loves school like I did, you can buy Mary Ellen's classroom set for $40. It includes a two sided map, chalkboard, stand, pointer and a set of flashcards.  To be successful in school, having a desk and a chair is helpful.  You can get this one for $100. You can even get a school supply set with a backpack filled with paper, pencils and a book for only $30.

I'm a big fan of encouraging music and the arts. You can purchase a music and play set for $20. Or purchase a painting set that can be used in your doll's very own garden gazebo for $236. Ignite creativity? Check.

Does your daughter have an entrepreneurial spirit? Maybe she loves to bake and dreams of one day owning a cupcake shop.  You can get a complete pastry set and cart for $150. The pastry set has a cart with pretend treats and business supplies. If a French bakery is something she dreams of, you can buy one for $500. Fuel connections? Check.

There are so many fun creative products available in the American Girl catalog and on their website that every girl is sure to find something that she will love. 

But I couldn't help but notice that while I could buy doll sized accessories that will help "boost confidence, ignite creativity and fuel connections," I could also do the same thing for real actual people purchasing real actual items that would create a lasting impact. 

You know that last line in the American Girl promise statement about reminding the world--and girls, how strong, brilliant and brave they are?  Well friends, I want to remind the world that there are real girls facing real issues that are strong and brilliant and brave. Whose lives could be changed if you swapped out buying a dolls bike with faux leather seat for a real bike for a girl in need so that she can attend school. 

In March I introduced you to a girl named Nerott.  Nerott is a 13 year old girl that lives in a rural town in Zambia.  She wakes up early to help with the chores. Fetching water miles away and carrying that water heavy 50 pound jug on her head home before she starts her 15 kilometer walk {more than 9 miles each way!} to school. It takes her nearly three hours to walk to school and three hours to walk home, in an area that is at high risk for child sacrifice and kidnappings.

She tries to walk with a friend, but because of the lack of clean water in her area, children are often sick and she finds herself walking alone, sometimes at dusk or after dark.

Girls like Nerott could benefit from the gift of a bike.

I know I don't have to convince any of you how important an education can be for a child. Study after study has shown that education is the key to overcoming poverty. I have been able to see inside several schools in rural Africa. This is a very typical school house room. Many children are unable to attend school though because of high school fees.

There is also a teacher shortage. I visited a school in Uganda where the child to teacher ratio was 93 to 1. There are so few schools in most rural areas that children come from long distances.

While having a French bakery with plastic French treats and paper money would be fun, consider how beneficial it would be to fund a micro loan for a hardworking entrepreneur to start, grow or sustain their business.  You will even get an e-mail with the specific details of the entrepreneur you are supporting and updates to track their businesses progress.

You could fund 20 micro loans for an entrepreneur or purchase a plastic bakery for $500. Which one seems more life changing? 

What if instead of purchasing plastic doll items and accessories, we instead bought real items for real girls that would provide the help that a child may need to find their way out of extreme poverty. This time of year we are constantly giving to kids in want but what if we changed that thinking and gave to kids in real actual need?

Why don't we take a second to compare the items available in the two catalogs. 

American girl doll bike made of metal. Fits an 18" tall doll. Comes with woven basket. $115

World Vision will provide a bicycle for a girl that will provide safe, speedy transportation when a girl might otherwise be restricted from attending school because they live too far away or because of the dangers of getting to school. $100

American Girl doll sized wheelchair with wheels that turn. $38

World Vision will help you provide a custom wheelchair to a child affected with a birth defect, disease or injuries after contact with a land mine. $50

American Girl provides a removable plastic hearing aid for your doll. $14

World Vision can provide help for a child with disabilities including prosthetics and rehabilitation. $25

American Girl allergy free lunch includes a berry smoothie, a container of vegetables, and two sandwich skewers {all pretend}, as well as a fabric lunch bag and a {faux} allergy shot and allergy bracelet. $28

Fruit trees provide the vitamins and minerals that a child needs to grow. A fruit tree orchard can produce enough fruit to provide an income in just 2-3 years time for a family living in poverty. Provide 5 fruit trees for $30.

American Girl classroom set includes a two sided 1950's era map, a reversible chalkboard, pointer, easel and flash cards $40

World Vision will help train teachers and get a child the tools to succeed in school. These tools may include school fees, textbooks, uniforms, backpacks and pencils. $35

American Girl solid wood desk and chair $100

World Vision $100 gift towards education will offer things like teaching supplies, textbooks, toys, sports equipment and more. Because of corporate product donations, your gift will multiply 12 times in impact and will provide $1200 worth of school supplies.

American Girl school supply kit comes with book bag, writing tablet, geography reader, a pencil box {with crayons, a ruler, 2 pencils, and eraser and pen} and a report card $30

World Vision promise pack gives you the opportunity to list up a suffering child with a backpack full of basic school supplies, hygiene items and an insect repellent blanket. $22

American Girl flocked hard body goat $20

A healthy dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day. Her milk provides protein to help children grow and the family can sell extra milk to earn money for essentials like medicine. $75

I could go on and on comparing items, but I think you get my point.

To see more items that you can purchase for real actual children and their families, you can find the  World Vision gift catalog here. 

Last summer I had the opportunity to meet one of our sponsored children and his father in Uganda. Moses was just five years old when we started sponsoring him. He was in poor health and his parents struggled to provide for him and his two sisters. Sponsorship has provided Moses with clean water that is close to his home, an education and proper medical treatment so that he's no longer in poor health.  Moses' parents have received seeds and education on proper farming and business techniques as well as information on animal husbandry. What was once a struggling family, is now a thriving family with a bright future. Several years ago, we gifted the family with an extra $100 at Christmas.  Moses was able to buy the suit that you see him wearing in the picture, metal sheeting for their hut's roof, a mattress and mosquito net as well as several farm animals, like this chicken {well, maybe not that particular chicken, but that chicken's grandma...or something like that} that he gave to me as a thank you gift when I visited.To make the life changing gift of finding a child that your family can connect with personally, consider child sponsorship. If you want to talk about fueling connections, then child sponsorship is the way to do it.  You can find a child in any of the nearly 100 countries that World Vision works in here. We selected children that our family already had some type of connection to. Both of the kids that we sponsor are the same age as our two younger children. Perhaps sponsoring a girl in Cambodia that is at risk for being sold into the sex trade tugs at your heart.  The children of Africa have mine.  When you sponsor a child, your family is able to write letters, send packages and get updates on the child that you sponsor. There was nothing more special than being invited into the sparse hut that Moses lived in with very few possessions, but when he pulled out a stack of handwritten letters that our family has sent to him over the years tied with twine, I melted. He had kept every single one. 

I knew then that while I couldn't change the world, I could change the world for one child.

Tomorrow is giving Tuesday. I am challenging you today to consider making a shift in your thinking. What if instead of giving your child a gift on their want list, you used the money for that gift instead for a child in need.  Take a peek at the World Vision catalog with your family. Better yet, consider child sponsorship.   

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Are you a missionary right where you are? With a free printable

This week is a busy week for me. I have been asked to be a part of a panel of missionaries as part of our churches Global Impact Celebration {GIC}.  There will be missionaries from Russia, Indonesia and all over the globe.  And then little old me.I must say, I hesitated when I was asked to be on this panel because, well, it's a panel of missionaries. Having grown up in the church, I'm quite familiar with what a missionary looks like. They wear prairie skirts, home school their children and most importantly they claim that title and live somewhere millions of miles away. I'm totally kidding...kind of.However, I've spent some time reflecting and God has been working on my heart and you know what? As believers, we all need to claim the title of missionary.  We are serving God right where we are.  During my time of reflection, I have been reminded of this sign that I've seen leaving the parking lot of a local church. It's so very true.  

Several years ago, our church decided to really embrace a missions focus. To become an Acts 1:8 church. {You can read more about how our church is doing that and what organizations we focus on here.} 

We are a small humble church that meets in a building that looks like a barn. There is nothing spectacular to what Lifeway Church is doing other than that they are being obedient to Christ.  The extraordinary part comes in the lives that are being changed and the people that are being reached all over the globe because of this ripple effect that is starting right here.

source

So why is it that I can't seem to get it out of my mind that a missionary has to go somewhere really far away to be able to make a huge impact for Christ? God used an opportunity that I had to go to Uganda as a way to open up my eyes.  I didn't go to Africa on missions, I went to catch the vision of the work that World Vision was doing through child sponsorship.   

I returned from that trip and have been spreading the word about child sponsorship and the work that is being done through World Vision in nearly 100 countries.  I'm able to share the stories of the men and women I met in Zambia on my blog, but I've also been able to share their stories in the local schools and on the streets and with people I would have never guessed I would have been able to share them with.  I've been able to be a missionary in my own Jerusalem...right here, where I am. 

I realized that we are selling ourselves short if we think that we can't have a huge impact for Christ right from where we are. And really, isn't that where God works the best? Meeting us right where we are? 

I'm leaving you with this free printable memory verse that you can right click, save and print. Hang it as a reminder. Jesus tells us to go. If your calling is to go far, that's great. Just don't forget that you can also be serving and going right from where you are.

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Are you putting limitations on yourself?

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Godspeed Pictures, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #wherehopegrowsmovie http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
"I'm just a mom." Have you ever found yourself saying that?  I know that I have caught myself saying that phrase... More than once this year even!
My primary job for the past 16 years has been that of a stay at home mom.  I graduated college married with a toddler and despite the degree with the fresh ink, we had decided that I would stay at home and be the primary caregiver of our children.
One child, turned to three {how does that happen?!} and I loved my role as a mom. Though there were times that I felt like I was saying no to God and opportunities that He had given me because of limitations that I was setting on myself. I was in a season on life that placed limitations on my schedule because the kids were young and I was the primary caregiver, but as the kids got older, I realized I started hiding behind those limitations and using them as an excuse.  Thankfully, our perceived limitations do not stand in the way of God's purpose.
This time last year, the opportunity to travel to Uganda, Africa with World Vision was an opportunity that God placed in my lap and that I remember clearly coming up with excuse after excuse as to why I shouldn't go. It was an expensive trip and we had college tuition on the horizon.  Our oldest son was getting ready to turn 16 and our insurance was going to double just for the privilege of him having the ability to drive. Both my husband and I were driving cars with over 100,000 miles on them. Was the lifelong dream trip to Africa really worth the financial sacrifice?  It didn't seem like a wise game plan.  Once we got past the financial aspect and decided to trust God with the funding for that {he came through in a mighty way!}, we then had the reality of our schedules to work out. I was going to be gone for nearly two weeks in the middle of the summer.  Our kids were older, but they weren't old enough to be home unsupervised for several weeks straight while my husband worked and I was gone.  It would have been like The Hunger Games! My parents were amazing enough to offer to fly my younger kids to stay with them in Arizona while I was gone...a trip that they still talk about because it was so much fun!I was traveling with people I knew from church but that I didn't really know. I was leaving the continent for the first time ever, I didn't speak the language, I was branching out of my comfort zone.  It was hard to get past all of my self imposed limitations but thankfully, I did.  And God used me and is still using me to serve the people in Africa. 

I have found in this past year that the only person who can stop us from being the person God wants us to be is ourselves, by saying no to the opportunities that God gives us. I have been scared, intimated, overwhelmed, felt unworthy and yet God has chosen to work though me.  I'm just a mom but I'm a mom that has said yes.  I'm just a mom but I'm choosing to trust in Him.This past weekend I had the opportunity to pre-screen the movie "Where Hope Grows".  "Where Hope Grows" is a great new film that focuses on finding redemption through faith, hope and love. An unlikely friendship between a young man with the nickname Produce {after his job at the supermarket} living with Down Syndrome and a middle aged alcoholic single father, named Calvin, bring to light that God uses our limitations.

As a mom with two teenagers, finding movies that are engaging and appropriate and that they want to watch is sometimes hard. While tackling some hard issues, this movie did those things in a way that brought light to some tough issues including bullying and alcoholism. Not only did it my 13 year old daughter relate to the characters and become quite attached to Produce, I also was able to relate to the story.

I may be just a mom, but I'm a mom that can do some great things.  Not because I'm doing them, but because God is working through me.  He can work though "just moms" or "just the produce boy" if we let him.  I know you will enjoy this film as much as we did.  Take a peek at the trailer.

Check your local theaters for showtimes. Where Hope Grows is being released on May 15. You don't want to miss it!

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Training again. Some tips that I have learned through the years.

I don't let the fact that I hate running stop me from running. I have found that I am a fairly typical type A personality which is why I think that I keep signing up to run races. I have run four half marathons and more than a handful of 5k's.  I'm currently signed up for half marathon number five in June.I made myself a snarky running shirt and I think that helps me during my training runs.  I have also learned a few things over the years. If you are training for your first 5k or your fifth half marathon, maybe some of my tips will help.

Find a good training plan

I can't point to one particular training plan that I use.  Typically, I find the one that suggests the least amount of running. Actually, the first thing that I do when I sign up for a half marathon is that I look at my calendar and start counting back from the week before the event and subtract a mile from the distance. The week before my race, my long run is 12 miles.  Two weeks before it's 11 miles, three weeks before it's 10 miles, and so on. I also start changing the way that I work out. I start running more often.  Sometimes I run for a set amount of time {30 minutes}, other times I run 3-4 5k's plus my long run in one week. In general though, I am running at least four days a week with one long run thrown in there.

Get fitted for shoes 

I'm normally very thrifty, but after several months in the care of a podiatrists after my first half marathon, I realized that it's more thrifty to spend my money on a good pair of shoes than on a doctor.  Most running stores will fit you for the right shoe for the way that you run. Running in old worn out shoes or ill fitting shoes is the leading cause of injury for runners.

Buy good socks

After my first half I had the worst blister from wearing cheap socks.  The blister ended up taking off my toenail. Ever since I've purchased dry max socks to wear and haven't had a blister since.

Stay energized

If you walk into a running store, it's hard to walk past a goo or replacement snack that they won't try to tell you that you need.  I haven't had good luck with any of the gels or goos personally, though I know people who swear by them. Attempting them for the first time on race day is a major mistake that will leave you throwing up or in the bathroom.  The few times I have packed something to eat on long runs, it's been fruit snacks, honey sticks of gum. Find what works for you.

Stay hydrated

I'm not very good at drinking water, but after those long runs I know my body is depleted.  I will often get headaches that last the whole day and I have to force myself to drink water. The best way for me to drink water is to not have my water taste like water. I have been using Dasani Drops.  My favorite are the lime and strawberry basil. The small bottles fit easily into my gym bag and are unsweetened, naturally flavored with no color added and zero calories.  

I often find that I will remember to drink water while I'm at the gym or after a workout, but I will forget to hydrate during the rest of the day. As a busy mom of three, I spend most of my afternoons and evenings in the car. It's easy to slip a bottle of Dasani Drops into my purse.

For those rare times when I get a break, I like to curl up in my favorite chair in the house and sip the new Dasani sparkling black cherry while reading a good magazine. It's lightly carbonated so it curbs the desire to pick up a less healthy option and it has zero calories and no artificial flavors.

You can pick up any of these new Dasani products at your local Target.  Don't forget to use Target's Cartwheel app because for a limited time, you can get coupons for both Dasani Drops infusions and Dasani sparkling black cherry in the app.Do you have any good training trips for me? I'm always happy to learn from others! Please share them!disclaimer: this is a sponsored post all opinions are 100% my own. I wouldn't share something I didn't love. 

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What you can do to fight poverty and be part of the solution

We sang this song by Tommy Walker at church on Easter Sunday. I was still processing everything that I saw and experienced on my recent trip to Zambia and when I sang these words the names and faces of the people that I met popped into my head.

The sermon was on Zacchaeus but mostly it was about grace. The focus was on the concept of being known. In today's society we are all struggling to be known. We post pictures of ourselves on social media, we tweet glimpses of our lives, we Instagram our moments. We have a desire to be known and to connect with others.

Every village that we entered into left us with the same message.  Go. Tell our stories. Let others know about our suffering and rejoice with us in our thanksgiving. I can't tell their stories without telling you their names. They want to be known.

Molly will forever remind me of what the daily task of fetching water is like. I will never forget what it's like to walk with a 25 liter {6 gallons and 50 pounds} jerry can up the path that she walks twice a day barefoot. 
Benny was a sweet little guy that flirted with me while visiting a rural clinic. He was there with family that was sick. 1600 children under the age of five die every day from diseases related to unsafe drinking water. My hope is that Benny will survive long past the age of five and that he will be able to live in a community that has access to clean and safe drinking water.
Kiston is an 11 pound 15 month old baby that is HIV infected and severely malnourished. His mother walked four hours to get him to the clinic for help only to be told that they didn't have the means to help him.  A level 1 hospital is being built to serve that area though right now, that does nothing to help this baby.
Bertha is an overworked nurse seeing patient after patient at a clinic that is understaffed. She loves to interact with patients and save lives. 
Patricia is a little girl living in the rocky hillside village of Hajamba. She has never known the taste of clean water.  She's never known a life without constant diarrhea.  

Nerott walks nearly 10 miles every day to school after spending two hours fetching water. She goes to school for several hours, only to turn around and walk 10 more miles home. She doesn't have the luxury of having time to play like a normal 13 year old girl. She only knows walking and work.Nature {bright blue shirt} is the most incredible volunteer I have ever met. He spends his time traveling from house to house around the village checking in on the sick and the most vulnerable. It's a full time job and he receives no payment for it.  He says that he does it because he knows what a life changing difference World Vision is doing in this community.
Beauty, Ruth and Lointia are now able to dream! For the first time in their lives they have access to clean water.  Their health has improved and they can think beyond the daily task of fetching dirty water that makes them sick.  They even have time now to play and to have a childhood that they missed out on. 
Ivy and Charity are sisters in law that live on the same compound.  It was easy to see that their family is quite successful.  They have a whole herd of cattle, they have the luxury of owning farming tools and they have goats and chickens and a garden.  The only thing that they don't have is clean water. They live near a school that does, and so during the night, at the risk of being beaten, their husbands sneak to steal water. 

This is Moses and his father Richard.  Moses is ten and lives in a village in rural Uganda. I know his name and he knows my name. That's because Moses is one of our sponsored children.  We have written Moses letters and we have sent him pictures. I even had the opportunity to meet him last year in Uganda. Moses and I are able to have a relationship because of child sponsorship. 

Moses is also able to have clean water, an education, health care and training all provided as a benefit of child sponsorship.  In fact, all of the children and adults in his community have those same opportunities because World Vision has a relationship in their village. 

Through child sponsorship lives are changed. For only $35 a month {a little more than a dollar a day} you can change a child's world for good. It's as easy as visiting this link, and selecting a child. It's amazing what good work World Vision is doing in the lives of children and their communities and you can be a part of that! You can know their names.  You can pray for them and write to them and encourage them.  You can be a part of their story.

If you are a runner, you can consider running as part of team World Vision. This year, I will be running my fifth half marathon, but my first with team World Vision. Every training run I take, I think about one of those names. I think about how clean water can be life changing for them and it pushes me. If you would like to make a donation to my team for the Uganda WASH {water, sanitation and hygiene} program you can donate here.

a training run in Zambia

You might even consider starting your own fundraiser. You could have a milestone birthday coming up that you want to be able to share clean water for.  Maybe instead of gifts for your wedding you want to make a different impact and have donations be made in your name instead.  Or perhaps you have your own idea.  

All it takes if $50 to provide clean water for life for one person. You can be a part of the water effect. 

Make these needs known. Share their stories.  Know the name of someone whose life you can help change.The possibilities are endless and the needs are great! Please consider giving.

In case you missed it, here are the posts in this collection:

Hero's In Zambia
Living in Fear
A Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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Hero's in Zambia

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. Luke 12:48

As I stood on that red dirt in Africa for the second time in less than a year, I realized that this verse is so true for me. I spent years dreaming of an opportunity to go to Africa, a land that I have loved since I first heard about it when I was a small child.  I have been grateful for the opportunities that I have had to visit and I am humbled that I get to be a small part of an organization like World Vision that is doing great things in not only Africa, but in nearly 100 countries world wide.I met so many amazing and wonderful people during my week in Zambia and nearly every time I met them, they were thankful that someone was willing to tell their story and rejoice with them in their successes and lament with them in their hardships.  I have been given their stories to share and I am thankful for the people like you who are reading them and who are being inspired to help. I want to take the time today to share with you some of the hero's that I met on the trip. Justina is so proud of her new dish rack! She is sharing the message of how important sanitation and hygiene is in her community as a hygiene promoter volunteer.  Justina is a mom of nine and grandmother to 15. It's become her job as a volunteer to take the information that she has learned from World Vision and share it with the members in her community.  This information is changing lives and empowering people to make changes that are affecting their health.

Before my trip, I read along at home about this community that I was so fortunate to get to visit this past week. A community that used to gather water from a hole that has become known as "the dead dog water source".  These are the faces that are benefiting from clean water and are now able to dream about their future. A luxury that they couldn't afford when they were sick and desperate for clean water. The energy was palpable and they are now able to live life to the fullest. Isn't that the best thing we can give a person? The ability to live up to their God given potential. Hearing Mera sing songs of praise and have the ability to dance after just being bedridden for years was one of the most eye opening effects of clean water.

Seeing women come from miles away walking hours to attend an under five clinic to check on the health of their children was evidence to the love that mother's have for their children. Every minute a child under the age of five dies as a result of diarrhea, caused by contamination of water, poor sanitation and hygiene. These clinics give mothers an opportunity to check in on the health of their children and be educated about proper nutrition and safe hygiene practices. 

Kids in school are teaching other kids and then bringing the message home to their family members about the importance of sanitation and hygiene.  For generations people have lived feeling cursed. They believed that diseases and sickness have been brought on by something that they have done wrong.  Perhaps even that their ancestors were upset with them. Now they are living in the truth and are being educated to know how to prevent disease and are sharing that message with others.

Nurse Bertha sees patient after patient working long days and even longer nights in a facility without clean water or electricity. The needs are great and the ability to help is limited. Not only is Bertha looking forward to the opening of the first rural level 1 hospital that will be located on the grounds of the clinic she is now working at, the community is overjoyed at the ability to seek medical treatment in their community.  A church partnership through World Vision is helping to bring the hospital and even ambulances to a community in great need. 

It's not uncommon to find girls like Nerott who is just 13, walking to school 15 kilometers {more than 9 miles each way}  after doing her chores and fetching water. She is often sick because of dirty water and sometimes fearful while walking alone.

Molly has been at the back breaking job of fetching water for decades and is looking forward to rest when a new borehole comes to her village.  Molly spends two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening fetching water.  An act that gives her back, neck, chest and leg pains not to mention stomach cramps and diarrhea from unclean drinking water.  The women and men in Molly's village are fearful of starvation and death because of the drought that is already evident this year.

Charity and Ivy fetch water from a water source that they share with cattle. Their husbands often steal water in the night from a local school since the water they drink makes them gag. They say it tastes like urine and is very salty. They are looking forward to having a new water source later this year that is not only closer to their home and requires less walking through snake infested fields, but water that they no longer have to steal and risk getting beaten while doing so. 

These are the stories of the people that I met. There are many more just like them. Their stories inspire me. I hope they have inspired you. I have been given their stories to share and I hope that you will take their stories and share them creating a ripple effect. These are women just like me and you with children just like ours living on the other side of the world.  The challenges they face daily are different and only by the location of my birth have I escaped their circumstances. 

Child sponsorship is the most effective way to change a child's world. You can find a child available for sponsorship in nearly 100 countries worldwide here.  Put a name and a face to your hero and start telling their story! I promise you, your life will never be the same!

For the complete collection of stories from Zambia:

What Can You Do?

Hero's In Zambia
Living in Fear
A Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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