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Greetings!
WELCOME to the June edition of the Mercy Beyond Borders monthly eNewsletter, and thank you for your continued support.
We have received tremendous enthusiasm for the newsletter, and see this as an important way to stay in touch with friends of Mercy Beyond Borders. We are making several additions and changes to this newsletter, and would like to hear your feedback. We are adding an Events section providing information about upcoming events that may be of interest to our readers. Additionally, we're including interesting trivia in the Did You Know? section.
In an effort to grow our fundraising efforts, we have also implemented an Ambassador program. Ambassadors volunteer to raise $1,000 each year for Mercy Beyond Borders. We will be highlighting an Ambassador Of The Month in each of these issues, starting with the Mercyhurst College. If you are interested in becoming an ambassador, please email us at mercybeyondborders@yahoo.com. If you simply want to make a donation, please click on the Donate Now link under Quick Links. Enjoy this month's edition of the Mercy Beyond Borders newsletter and please forward on to your friends! | |
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Events
This Flowing Towards Me book signings:
- 06/10 @7pm, East West Books, 324 Castro St, Mtn View CA
- 06/23 @ 7:30pm, Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park CA |
| Did You Know? |
| Sudan is the largest country in Africa.
Only 2.4% of the population is over the age of 65. |
| Read Our Blogs |
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Mercy in Sudan blog chronicles the experiences of Kathleen Connolly, rsm, who moved to Africa in Jan 2009. She is living at St Bakhita School in Sudan.
Mercy Beyond Borders blog provides a weekly commentary from MBB's founder, Marilyn Lacey, rsm, on MBB activities at home and abroad. |
Help us spread the word about MBB by forwarding this eNewsletter to friends who may be interested. Simply click on the above button. |
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If you do not already subscribe
to our eNewsletter, click on the above button. |
| Ambassador Of The Month
Mercyhurst College
The faculty and students of Mercyhurst College, Erie PA are contributing their time, talent and money to Mercy Beyond Borders. In fact, they've written MBB into the college's strategic plan as a way to connect the campus with its global neighbors. This year the student body raised $1,500 for women in Sudan at its Spring Dance, a business school class took MBB as a case study for which they prepared a marketing plan and fundraising analysis, and an art major designed MBB's new brochure. Thank You, Mercyhurst College!
Become an Ambassador!
Ambassadors (individuals or institutions) pledge to raise $1,000 for MBB each year. MBB depends on this growing network to sustain its work in Sudan. To become an Ambassador, email Sr. Marilyn at mercybeyondborders@yahoo.com
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Glimmers of Hope
There aren't many silver linings that come from spending years and years in remote refugee camps--sometimes as long as several decades--before trekking back to your home village when the war finally ebbs. I've seen one positive thing emerging, however, among the women of Southern Sudan: a new understanding of their own self-worth.
 In the refugee camps the Sudanese women interacted with aid workers from various other cultures and countries. They heard, much to their surprise, that not all women in the world are considered to be "lower than cattle." They learned that women have intrinsic value over and above any dowry they might bring to their parents. They were exposed to the concept of basic human rights and gender equality. Some refugee women participated in leadership training in the camps, such as Teody Achilo pictured here. They now realize they have a voice and can contribute to reconciliation and peacebuilding. These refugee women are returning to their villages changed by those experiences and hopeful about the future of their own daughters.
Cultures change slowly, but they do change. The education of women and girls in Sudan, supported by Mercy Beyond Borders, may prove to be the most powerful element of that change process. |
39" Lizard Found Near School
 If you live in Southern Sudan, you live close to the earth and you share your living space with creatures both small (like malarial mosquitoes) and large -- like this 39-inch Monitor Lizard that prowled the compound where the Sisters who teach at St Bakhita School in Narus live. But if you live in Southern Sudan, you are also treated to the personal warmth and legendary hospitality of the Sudanese people, to the spectacular beauty of the African sky with its millions of stars, and to the blessings that come when working cross-culturally.
Here is an excerpt from the blog of Kathleen Connolly, a California Sister of Mercy now teaching at St Bakhita School:
Soon I'll begin a local health promotion project on women's nutrition, sanitation, and AIDS prevention. First I'll train 2 or 3 women who speak English and Toposa or Arabic. They'll accompany me into the bush to speak with women in the villages about health topics important to them.
Last week one of the schoolgirls killed the resident 39-inch long Savannah Monitor Lizard, which had been eating all our duck eggs. However, it is survived by several of its progeny living in a large hole in the backyard of the convent. I pray in that yard where I can see acacias (thorn trees), neem trees (medicinal) and nadapal trees (most shady).
Please feel free to drop by. Lots of hospitality here.
Of course, one does not simply "drop by" a place like Narus. There is only one road leading there, several hours of hard driving above Kenya's northern outpost of Lokichokkio. Traveling between Lokichokkio and Narus requires an armed escort of Sudanese soldiers to deter bandits from ambushing your vehicle. Nonetheless, St Bakhita School at Narus is thriving, with 850 girls eager to learn. Your donations to Mercy Beyond Borders support their education. We cannot thank you enough. |
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MERCY BEYOND BORDERS was founded in 2008 by three colleagues-- a Sister of Mercy, a university professor, and a medical doctor--determined to improve the lives of displaced women and children living in extreme poverty. We are a 501(c)(3) registered in California and committed to linking U.S. resources with displaced women & children overseas. We are currently targeting Southern Sudan, which has one-quarter of the world's displaced peoples.
Sincerely,
Sister Marilyn Lacey
Mercy Beyond Borders
Donations to support the work of Mercy Beyond Borders can be made online by clicking on th button below or sent to Mercy Beyond Borders, 1885 De La Cruz Blvd #101, Santa Clara CA 95050-3000.
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