Taiwanese and Japanese Ambassadors Visit Chez-Flo

Ambassadors Thang, Ming-Thong and Tsutomu SUGIURA, respectively from Taiwan and Japan spent night at Chez Flo on Saturday April 17th. His Excellency Ming-Thong (right) was so impressed by the architecture that he asked if I could recommend him someone for using the same stone bricks to build wall fence like at Chez-Flo around the 5000 m² land his embassy owns in the city of Ouagadougou.

They loved the place!

Update on Mandira at Carmel

Last fall, a little girl name Mandira was struck by a motorcycle and her leg was badly broken. Her family was faced with paying for a surgery to prevent her from being permanently crippled that they could not afford.

Through overwhelming support from SPC and a fast response from the WWMC, we were able to help raise the money for her surgery and we have just received the following update and images from Rev. Koshy on her progress.

Dear [SPC],

Thank you so much for your sacrificial support for the medical treatment of Mandira. She is back to school and is able to smile like other children in the school. Thank you for the timely help in rescuing her.

Please thank the Shallowford church on our behalf for their sacrificial support in saving Mandira.

I am sending few more pictures from the rag picker slums where people survive by collecting garbages and rubbish from the streets of the city and earn less than 2 dollars a day. These are the kids in our projects and these are the kids who learn computers and become like any other person in the society.

All these are possible by your prayers and continuous support for the slum projects of Carmel Community Projects.

Words cannot sufficiently express how much we appreciate your help for these less fortunate children.

With thanks and prayers

Koshy and Joicy

Burkina Faso, Mission Trip, November 2009

The team arrived Saturday evening in Ouagadougou and after many hugs and warm greetings from old friends, the team traveled to the a home provided by our new friend, Mr. Emile Quedraogo. On Sunday, after a pleasant breakfast at a "patasseria" or pastry shop, the team visited a series of "peri-urban" work sites underway by ASUDEC. The team visited several villages where we met families who were implementing the chicken program of ASUDEC. One gentleman received 10 chickens in March of 2009 and has grown that number to 252, not including the 48 he sold for 60,000 CFA. He has used this money to buy a bicycle for his son to ride into Ouaga to attend school and has also bought a young cow, which after caring for and fattening, he will be able to sell for a substantial profit.

Monday, the team visited the American embassy in Ouaga. The new ambassador to Burkina has not yet arrived in Ouaga so the team met with an assistant. The team discussed ASUDEC and promoted the organization to the assistant ambassador. The team then visied a local market to shop and see the tremendous artisans in Burkina. That evening, the team had dinner with ASUDEC leaders.

Tuesday and Wednesday and part of Thursday will be spent traveling to Diebougou in the southwest of Burkina. This is the home town of ASUDEC director, Dr. Salibo Some. The team will be visiting various work sites in the area, including a school built by ASUDEC. The team has brought 4 backpacks full of school supplies which were donated by the Chapel Choir and the youth group.

Sorry there are no pictures, someone forgot to bring the cable to connect the camera to the laptop. The team has shot many hours of video footage already and many pictures as well.

New PC USA Article Recognized Frontera Ministry

The below link is written by the Pat Cole of the Presbyterian Church (USA) communications office and focuses on Frontera de Cristo's ministry of reconciliation.

http://bit.ly/3h7EN6

The article describes the works and background of Mark Adams and the Frontera Ministry.

In particular, they cite the work of Just Coffee and the Just Trade Center, but they also talk about the many congregations who visit the border each year to learn about the issues facing our neighboring countries.

Shallowford's Worldwide Ministries Committee has just concluded a year long evaluation of SPC's relationship with the Frontera Ministry and is please to announce that plans will soon begin for a 2010 trip to Agua Prieta.

Mission participants will begin meeting in January and will meet monthly prior to the trip so that they may begin to learn more about this ministry and work together in planning the trip and activities. The WWMC also hopes that the team can identify a project that will be conducted while in Agua Prieta.

If you would like to learn more about this trip or would like to be involved, please contact Nick Villaume (nick@villaume.net).

Decatur/Bousse Sister City Relationship

Members of the Worldwide Missions committee at Shallowford Presbyterian Church, led by Dr. Darl Snyder, have been actively working to reinvigorate the sister city relationship between Decatur, Georgia and the town of Bousse in Burkina Faso. The relationship was particularly strong in the 1990's and included several trips to Bousse by folks from Decatur as well as Decatur hosting representatives from Burkina Faso during the 1996 Olympics.

Unfortunately, the relationship has grown dormant in recent years as city leadership has changed and folks became involved with other interests. Darl recently received a request from one of his very good friends in Burkina, Mouhoussine Nacro, to see if the city of Decatur still had interest in the relationship. Darl has worked tirelessly to bring folks in Decatur together, contacting many people who were directly involved before, and meeting mayor Bill Floyd and city manager Peggy Merriss for lunch.

As luck would have it, Mr. Emile Ouedraogo, who grew up in Bousse, and is now the Director of National Security for Burkina, was traveling in the US, and offered to stop in Atlanta to meet with the Decatur representatives. Darl picked up Emile from the airport on Friday, August 21 and took him to a luncheon in Decatur attended by several interested folks from Decatur, including the former mayor Elizabeth Wilson. Also in attendance were representatives from the current administration of the Decatur city government. Darl said, "It went beautifully. In fact, I don't think it could have been better. Emile seemed deeply grateful. Everyone was very positive and encouraging about renewing the relationship."

On Saturday, several members of the WWM committee had lunch with Emile at Leon's in Decatur. Emile shared his concerns for his people in Bousse and expressed his gratitude in our efforts on their behalf. He presented Jim Lang with a gift from the people of Bousse to the city of Decatur. The gift was a beautiful, leather notebook decorated with the names of the cities Bousse and Decatur. The craftsman of Bousse are well known as skilled in leather crafts. In the picture at right, L-R is Jim Lang, Andrew Swerlick, Emile Ouedraogo, Leta Bogle, and Darl Snyder.

Upon returning to Burkina Faso, Emile wrote to us: "I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY DEEP AND PROFOUND GRATITUDE FOR ALL WHAT YOU DID FOR ME DURING MY JOURNEY IN DECATUR. I WENT BACK TO BOUSSE DURING THE WEEKEND TO MAKE A FULL AND COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF MY MISSION. THE ENTIRE POPULATION,THE MAYOR AND THE COMMITY ARE EAGER AND PREPARED FOR YOUR VISIT IN NOVEMBER. FIND ATTACHED PICTURES RELATED TO THE WATER ISSUE, THE HEALTH CENTER AND THE WATER RESERVOIR BUILT BY BECATUR AT THE VERY BEGINING OF THE COOPERATION." The following are a few of these images.

Photos from Africa

by Darl Snyder (SPC WWM Team Lead for Burkina Faso Ministry)



The lady on the left is Dr. Carla Roncoli, a faculty member at UGA, Carla is the person who carries money from the World Wide Missions Committee of Shallowford Presbyterian Church to the lady in Burkina Faso who has HIV. That lady is the one on the right in the picture. Her name is Francoise Yameogo. The money from Shallowford does not go directly to Francoise. It is given to a nurse who works in the US Embassy infirmary in Ouagadougou who is well known by Dr. Roncoli. The money is used to purchase medications to control HIV. As you will note, Francoise appears to be in very good health. That is because she is being provided proper medications due to the contributions from Shallowford Presbyterian Church. Francoise has two daughters who, as of this time, are in good health and have not been exposed to the HIV virus.

I join with the other members of the WorldWide Missions Committee in expressing grateful appreciation for the support SPC is giving Francoise. And, thank SPC on behalf of Francoise for your thoughtfulness.

Darl

Teachers and Learners (Observers)

by Darl Snyder (SPC WWM Team Lead for Burkina Faso Ministry)

Today's Atlanta Journal Constitution has a section titled EDUCATION MATTERS, page A-11.

After glancing through most of Section A, I went back to page A-11 to read EDUCATION MATTERS. Subsequently, I thought how often I am asked the question, "What did you teach at the University?" Until this moment, my answer has been that I did not teach. Now my answer will be very different.

One is always teaching and always learning regardless of the circumstance. I find myself being on the alert to what others are doing and/or saying with the hope that I will learn something from them.
It is never too late to be a teacher/learner -- even at age 87 there is still some hope for the likes of me.

Most of you have met or have heard me speak often of Dr. Salibo Some' our young friend who is doing such remarkable things with his people in Burkina Faso, West Africa. In each of the EDUCATION MATTERS letters I saw Salibo wielding his magic as he does day-in-and-day-out with some of the more than 3000 farmers, and many others, he serves. I see his magic at work with the children in the school he brought into reality where no school had ever existed. Again, I see his magic at work with the women in their groups as they learn new ways of making money through micro-enterprises where none had existed. Truly, Salibo is a master at teaching .

And, while he is teaching he, also, is learning, turning new thoughts in his mind, thoughts that could well make a huge difference to these people who have so little. While Salibo is teaching and learning, I, too, will be doing the same as I have for these many years. It is humbling to give thought to the numbers of people, in so many parts of the world, whose lives I have touched and who in turn have so richly touched my life. I am thankful to be so privileged to be a role model functioning as a teacher and as a learner.

Darl

You can download a presentation about all that ASUDEC and Dr. Some's work here:

http://bit.ly/n9aSr

Here are some excerpts: