Here's our big news: Our family has committed to a mission trip to South Sudan in early 2012.We're really excited (and scared) about this trip. We'll be traveling to the planet's newest country (The Republic of South Sudan becomes independent on July 9th, 2011).
We are traveling with a group from our church including refugees from the area that will be South Sudan, who hope to return to help people repatriate into their home village from refugee camps in surrounding areas.
We're headed to the Upper Nile State in South Sudan for about a month and we have several major projects on our agenda for the duration of our trip.
- Build clean water sources by way of biosand water filter systems. The area is plagued with dirty water from livestock and surrounding water sources which include a lot of water runoff, parasites, and waste. We will be building systems to filter the plentiful water into water that is safe for drinking. Destiny and I are attending a training camp this summer for one week to learn how to build the filters. We have applied for a $5,000 grant for funds to procure the construction equipment that we need to build the water filtration systems.
- Create microindustry for people to begin earning a livelihood. We hope to create a mosquito-net sewing business (any area so plentiful in water, is bound to be plentiful in malaria as well). Bringing the mosquito net business to Upper Nile will create jobs and save lives. We have applied for a $1,000 grant for sewing machines and supplies to start sewing nets. We also hope to train several entrepreneurial souls how to build the water filters. We hope to create some additional businesses while we are there as well.
- Build a multipurpose building such as a church/school, as currently children are taught under trees, and in poor weather, school ceases. There is no place for Christians to worship in the area.
Taking the family on a mission is not a subject we have considered lightly. In fact, it frightens us a great deal, and we are watching the local political situation very closely. If unrest occurs, we will not travel, but instead forward our funds raised onto others more fit to travel, but currently, this state--having no real natural resources worth coveting, has not been a target of any of the violence that we've heard about as independence approaches.
If you would like to help us get to Sudan, we would appreciate it. Our family will need to save and raise approximately $12,000 to cover travel costs. I'm including a "chip in" widget here. Funds donated will be sent on to Kent Lutheran church for the benefit of our family's travel.
If you prefer to direct directly to the project (not for travel expenses). You can donate via Facebook Causes. You can also see our mission's day-to-date updates and follow updates on the grant applications online at the organization's Facebook Page.
2 comments:
just ran across your blog from the Debtkid site. Seeing that you all are focusing on the Sudan, maybe I could pass on some information that could help. My best friend growing up is part of the Radler Foundation. They have several missions and outreaches throughout the Sudan: Orphanages, schools, churches, and freshwater drilling. If you would like I could get you in contact with them. Good luck on everything. My wife and I have talked about adoption as well someday.
Matthew, thanks so much for your comment! We're planning on working on water purification systems--the area we hope to work in has plenty of surface water (along the Blue and White Nile Rivers) it just isn't potable. We'll be working on biosand filters. Thanks for the info about the Radler Foundation--there are so few organizations working in South Sudan, that I am eager to learn about them. :)
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