Hope Projects

For several years I've been thinking about updating my kitchen. I still have formica countertops, painted cabinets, and linoleum on the floor. Randy is really very handy and has done a lot of projects around our home, but with his stake president responsibilities I don't think he has time to do a kitchen -- not unless I want to be kitchenless for a year or two. I think I know what I want, and I think it will be expensive. I feel that it needs to be done before we try to sell our home, and we might as well enjoy it for a few years before we sell, but I'm really having a difficult time justifying the expense.

This past month I have read two different books that deal with humanitarian efforts in different parts of the world. I'm just finishing Mountains Beyond Mountains, which is the story of Dr. Paul Farmer's humanitarian efforts in Haiti. I'm so impressed with what many are doing to assist others, and I feel so strongly my own passion for those who are suffering. A few years ago Randy and I created a little family foundation, mainly to try and help our grandchildren learn about humanitarian opportunities and the satisfaction of helping others. Any member of the family can propose a project that we could participate in, and each family member has a vote in how our money is spent. We've replaced a furnace in a Romanian orphanage and refurbished an observatory. A couple of years ago we became acquainted with Hope Projects, a humanitarian effort to assist a remnant of the ancient Incas who live in the tops of the Andes of Peru. These people have never had any help from the Peruvian government. They live in abject poverty, but they are not stupid. They are bright and hard-working -- they simply do not have the means to improve their standard of living. We've purchased farm animals and sewing machines, and built a small medical clinic. Two years ago we built a one-room school in the village of Chifya.

These pictures were taken on the day that our little school house was dedicated. These signs were proudly mounted at the doorway (Okay, they got the middle initial wrong, but who cares about that). These children have never gone to school before. Now that they have a school house, the government will provide them with a teacher.

What I love about Hope Projects is that:
1. Our entire donation reaches the poor. Not one penny of our money goes for overhead or administrative costs.
2. The village residents have to provide all the labor. Consequently, they feel enormous pride in their accomplishments and they take better care of it.
3. The projects respect the culture of the people. Our ways are not imposed on them. They get all the credit. Every effort is made to make these villagers and local governments feel that they have helped themselves and that they have every right to be proud of their accomplishments.

Last year we added a community bathroom with toilets and showers and a place for women to do laundry. It is being built near the school house and the medical clinic and will be available to the entire village.

This little child lives in Chifya. She is dying of dysentery and malnutrition. Chifya could benefit from the construction of a green house where they could grow other things to supplement their diet, which is mostly potatoes (too short a growing season in the tops of the Andes for other fruits and veggies). They need a water system to provide clean water (they drink out of mud puddles and streams full of animal feces). Why don't they boil their water? Again, not because they are stupid. Many of them do not even own a pot they could use to boil the water in. So now, let's think about my kitchen again. How important is it to have granite countertops? Do you understand why I feel so conflicted?

To be continued . . .