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Events July 5-21:
MBB Founder Marilyn
Lacey traveling in Sudan
Oct 2:
This Flowing Toward Me
Book signing, 7:30 pm, Mercy Center,
2300 Adeline Dr, Burlingame, CA 94010
650-340-7400
Nov 9-12:
Carnival Cruise for MBB
4 Day Baja Mexico Cruise from San Diego.
Book with Anne Johnson at 650-697-1341 or email mytravelcove@yahoo.com. |
| Did You Know? |
Land mines are the 3rd largest access constraint in South Sudan, next to lack of roads and transportation.
Sudan has the world's highest mortality rate from childbirth. |
| Read Our Blogs |
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Mercy Beyond Borders blog provides a weekly commentary from MBB's founder, Marilyn Lacey, rsm, on MBB activities at home and abroad.
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. |
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Ambassador Of The Month
Sr. Helen Marie Gilsdorf, a gifted musician & composer, recently celebrated her Golden Jubilee as a Sister of Mercy with family and friends. Helen encouraged her guests to contribute to Mercy Beyond Borders as a way of recognizing her commitment to the poor and of promoting solidarity with our sisters, mothers and daughters suffering from extreme poverty in Sudan. Helen's suggestion opened a floodgate of generosity: several thousand dollars came pouring in for the women of Sudan! Kudos to Helen for her great idea. Many of us can now do the same at future anniversaries, jubilees, birthdays and Christmases.
Ambassadors of MBB volunteer to raise $1,000 each year for Mercy Beyond Borders. To become an ambassador, contact Sr. Marilyn Lacey.
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Archived Newsletters
You can find previous issues of this newsletter in the below links.
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Remnants of War
 What appear to be idyllic places in South Sudan - picturesque mountains and valleys rivaling the best hiking spots in Switzerland - often turn out to be too dangerous for human travel because they remain riddled with land mines from Sudan's long civil war.
A single land mine produced for pennies and sold for a couple of dollars will cost society $1,000 or more to defuse; the damage inflicted by land mines on individuals and entire economies is so vast it is nearly incalculable. For example, it takes $1million - $2 million to demine less than ½ square mile. Even if the cost were not prohibitive, the work is so difficult and painstaking that, using current technology, it could take more than 1,100 years to clear the entire world of mines-provided that no additional mines are planted!
According to UNICEF, Southern Sudan ranks among the top 10 landmine-affected countries worldwide, even though the full extent of the problem remains largely unknown because no survey has been conducted. Since the North-South peace agreement in 2005, refugees and internally displaced persons are returning to their villages in great numbers along routes infested with mines. Unlike many other countries, Sudan has very few "formal" minefields. Instead, landmines contaminate areas the common people use such as trails and wells. An article in the Journal of Mine Action (http://maic.jmu.edu) noted in August 2008 that only 323 acres had been cleared and 61,207 pieces of unexploded ordnance destroyed in Sudan. These numbers are dwarfed to insignificance by Southern Sudan's 80,000 square miles of territory (1½ times the size of Iraq).
During a recent visit to Sudan, I watched a demining team from South Africa working all day in the hot sun with specially-trained dogs sniffing out landmines from a patch of earth the size of a backyard garden.  The team cordoned off small sections of the land with string, meter by meter, and then inched their way along. When a dog located a mine, a team member wearing thick protective gear crawled up to it and snipped the detonator. It is dreadfully slow and possibly lethal work. Returning refugees cannot wait that long to begin farming. They sometimes set their cattle loose to wander a field, standing back to see whether the cows will detonate a mine. If not, they move in to till the soil themselves.
Children are particularly susceptible to injury and death from landmines. The weapons look like toys to curious young eyes. Explosions which would maim an adult often kill children outright. By keeping 850 girls in school all year, Mercy Beyond Borders protects them from the heavy daily work of gathering water and firewood that would otherwise expose them to unseen land mines. |
Women's Health Initiative
Thanks to a grant from Mercy Action, Inc., Mercy Beyond Borders will soon be launching a 12-month project in basic health promotion among displaced women in South Sudan. Sister Kathleen Connolly, an experienced teacher, social worker and trauma tech, will first train several women as health educators. After assembling health kits they will conduct workshops for the women in villages and the girls at St. Bakhita School. The focus will be on improved hygiene, safe food/water, maternal-child health, and AIDS awareness. |
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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
Executive Director
Donations to support the work of Mercy Beyond Borders can be made online by clicking on the button above or sent to Mercy Beyond Borders, 1885 De La Cruz Blvd #101, Santa Clara CA 95050-3000. |
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