tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25666035135526810172011-04-21T16:46:14.665-07:00Mission Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02664548133664339244noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2566603513552681017.post-29697435653838039282008-07-12T12:26:00.002-07:002008-07-12T12:28:10.816-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-47QJuALb5E/SHkFw49TuWI/AAAAAAAAAow/PIfZGOj8Z-Q/s1600-h/FF4P4703+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_-47QJuALb5E/SHkFw49TuWI/AAAAAAAAAow/PIfZGOj8Z-Q/s400/FF4P4703+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222211580394191202" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-47QJuALb5E/SHkFs1zKSAI/AAAAAAAAAoo/Z7c0-6Z5EkE/s1600-h/FF4P4641+copy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_-47QJuALb5E/SHkFs1zKSAI/AAAAAAAAAoo/Z7c0-6Z5EkE/s400/FF4P4641+copy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222211510826846210" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2566603513552681017-2969743565383803928?l=ashadesigns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mission Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02664548133664339244noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2566603513552681017.post-49580112374951977892008-07-12T12:26:00.001-07:002008-07-12T12:26:45.930-07:00Here is the text from the Asha Design card that I give out now with purchases:<br /><br /><br />On July 8, 2007, I went on an amazing adventure that, I know changed my life, and, hopefully, will help change the future of the children in Baguga, Southern Sudan. After 23 years of brutal civil war that saw all the basics of life (electricity, running water, roads, etc.) destroyed by invading forces, life is slowly settling into a new normalcy. <br /><br />Our Savior Lutheran Church in Topsfield, MA sent a team of 6 people to Southern Sudan to assess some of the challenges facing the people and to find out what we could do to help them rebuild their lives. <br /><br />We decided to concentrate on helping finance the Baguga Primary School, a school of 470 students, K thru 8, 9 teachers and a headmaster. They meet in a collection of thatched hut, no text books and the teachers are trying to teach while only having 8th grade educations themselves. Many of the teachers walk 7 miles each way to teach and then, since they only make $110 per month, they have after school jobs to help support their families. <br /><br />When you buy jewelry by Asha Designs (named for a beautiful young woman who I met while there) you will be helping to change the lives of these beautiful children. They will be the future doctors, teachers and leaders of this beautiful, wounded land.<br /><br />I knew when I decided to travel to Southern Sudan I would see things that would disturb my suburban American heart, that I would live for 2 weeks far outside my comfort zone, that I would be a "visitor" among these faces, so different than mine. What I didn't expect was to have these people crawl into my heart and change me so deeply; that I would feel that I, me, personally, could do some small things that could impact some of the lives of that beautiful land. I pray that their names, faces and stories will never allow me to slide back into complacency, that the songs of the children will haunt me until I become part of the balm that heals Southern Sudan. <br /><br />Thank you for choosing to make a difference.<br />Sue Clark<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2566603513552681017-4958011237495197789?l=ashadesigns.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Mission Teamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02664548133664339244noreply@blogger.com0