BBC NEWS | In pictures: [Sierra Leoneans] Disappointed [Over Progress]

There is much human tragedy in the aftermath of war--in Sierra Leone, the brutality, even on the children, was particularly ferocious.
And in the midst of recovery and reconciliation, there are important steps to take regarding owning responsibility and assisting victims (even if some of those victims are also perpetrators) take a peaceful path now. Helping amputees from the war is a particular opportunity that needs sensitive and deliberate action.

Another underlying goal of the Child Rescue Center is to raise up people of character, recognizing that--as it is everywhere--the children are the future leaders (I'm reminded of the joke about being good to your children because they are the ones who will be picking out your nursing home); we can take that to a larger, and less mercenary, scale and remind ourselves that it is the children of the world who will grow up to be stewards of the world and 1) what legacy of politics and the environment are we leaving them and 2) what are we teaching them about "long-forgotten words, like 'peace', and 'joy', and 'good' ", as the Chris DeBurgh song goes.

Finding Big-Hearted Merchants

Today I was at the Springfield (VA) Mall, while waiting for my daughter to take a written driver's test at the DMV, I went shopping for sewing supplies needed by the children at the Child Rescue Center--during the upcoming trip in October we're helping them get a sewing class and a basic carpentry class started.

I found a terrific deal on scissors and sewing gear at "Mr. Dollar" and, when I explained where my unusually large purchase was going, the proprietor immediately refunded the sales tax!

But wait, it's getting better, while pricing hand-help Global Positioning Systems (GPSs) at "Sports Authority", the VERY helpful Kevin was behind the counter. First, let's go back a month: when I was doing online research of GPSs, I concluded that, for our upcoming mission trip, the Garmin "Rino" combination GPS/Walkie Talkie would be the most useful; we have some 40 acres to map and I thought it most useful to have two folks plotting the boundary AND be able to communicate via walkie talkie. WELL, while I was telling Kevin about the trip and why I was looking for a GPS, he reaches under the counter and finds an unboxed, on clearance, no paperwork or software included Garmin "Rino"(!!)

A small voice tells me I'm in the right place. Unfortunately, I cannot convince Ben, the store manager, to donate it to the cause--he'd like to help but must refer me to Corporate Headquarters (who tell me that I must fax my request--and nobody's in on the weekend anyway) because it is Sports Authority policy that all charity requests go through Corporate. So now I am penning a fax to Corporate to simply ask them to give Ben permission to give this orphaned, who's-going-to-buy-a-lonely-GPS-system-in-this-state? type of product to our mission team to help improve our service to the orphans in Sierra Leone. Seems like a certain win to me--I'll keep you posted.

Medical Needs in Sierra Leone

The United Methodist churches in Northern Virginia first began ministering to the people and children of Sierra Leone for their emotional and physical needs. A trauma center and medical clinic were established. I've shared some of the pictures drawn by the children depicting the world they experienced.

The medical center is now established, much like this program, Hope Universal. I captured this link because of its straightforward depiction of the injuries and atrocities sustained by the young people.

http://www.hopeuniversal.org