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Greetings!
Thanksgiving, coming as it does just before most of us are swept into the frenzy of the holiday season, is a wonderfully graced day of remembering. Time for feasting, of course, and time for enjoying family, Fall colors, and touch football; time for catching up on stories, laughing at our uncle's corny jokes, and admiring our aunt's trademark cranberry extravaganza. Most of all, it's time for remembering our many blessings - and therein discovering abiding joy -- for it is true, as Brother David Stendl-rast is fond of saying, that "you simply cannot be grateful and unhappy at the same time." Let's choose to be grateful for all that fills our lives. I thank each of you for your support of Mercy Beyond Borders. You've already brought help and hope to hundreds of women and girls in South Sudan this year! With a joyful heart, 
Sister Marilyn Lacey
P.S. If you're looking for a meaningful gift to give others this holiday, check out our Alternative Giving Gift Card. See the article below for details! | |
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Fast Facts |
"[H]igher levels of hunger [in a nation] are associated with lower literacy rates and access to education for women."
"[F]emale education has a much larger impact on poverty than other factors, including male education.
- both quotes are from the International Food Policy Research Institute |
| 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
 Craig and Mary Noke, a married couple, are global travelers, longtime beacons of welcome for refugees in the US, and supporters of Mercy Beyond Borders. Their $1,000 check to MBB underscores their conviction that educating girls is crucial to the long-term future of Sudan: Just as a redwood begins as a seed, the strongest women in Sudan will be those able to go to school. We're committed to helping MBB educate girls in Sudan.
Ambassadors of MBB volunteer to raise $1,000 each year for Mercy Beyond Borders. To become an ambassador, contact Sr. Marilyn Lacey. |
Archived Newsletters
You can find previous issues of this newsletter in the below links.
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Starry Night
 When I'm in Southern Sudan I love to stand outside after dark and marvel at the inky sky ablaze with stars. Because there are no "city lights" the darkness there is utterly dark yet almost dizzyingly dense with stars of amazing intensity. Van Gogh would have danced to see such a sky!
Stella Night--literally, starry night-is one of the 8th grade students at St Bakhita School this year. Here is a glimpse into Stella's life story:
I come from a very old, very small, and very remote mountain village 15 hours by bus and by foot from St. Bakhita's School. I go home once each year for the Christmas holiday. The last part of my trip I must walk up a steep path for four hours carrying my suitcase and my books on my head. Sometimes they fall and I have to go back and get them and continue on up the mountain. I speak Lopiti at home, but English and Arabic and KiSwahili at school. I am the only girl in my family to attend school.
You may wonder what happens if someone gets sick where we live. We have no clinic or doctor but we do have some medicines such as aspirin.... If someone becomes seriously ill they have to be carried down the mountain (four hours) on a handmade litter to the road and then wait for a car to pass by and help us take the person to the distant hospital.
My parents want me to become someone who can help my family, my people, and my country. I want to study history at the university and then teach history in secondary school. Later I want to become a Member of Parliament in the Government of South Sudan...
Stella has just finished her primary school graduation exams and is waiting to learn whether her marks qualify her to go on to secondary school. If so, Mercy Beyond Borders will provide her with scholarship funding so that she can pursue her dreams. |
Partnering With New Scholars
 Back in 2001, a large cohort of Sudanese refugee teens known as "The Lost Boys of Sudan" arrived to the U.S. Among those welcomed by Sister Marilyn to San Jose was 18-yr old Samuel Garang Akau. He had completed 10th grade while in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. Within 5 yrs of coming to the US, Samuel had graduated with honors from Stanford University.
During his first weeks in San Jose, while coming to the Catholic Charities refugee resettlement program each day for orientation, Samuel stood out from the others by his focused eagerness to learn. He was a voracious reader, always carrying several hefty books under his arm, and would often stop Sr Marilyn in the hallway to ask questions like, "What do you think of Thomas Jefferson?" Samuel sped through community college, easily made the Dean's List, received the President's Award upon graduation from the college, and then transferred on scholarship to Stanford. While there he was active nationally in the Safe Darfur student movement.
Samuel graduated with special recognition for his work in creative writing and then returned to Sudan to build a school in his home village. Upon his return to San Jose he obtained a job (besides supporting himself, he sends money for schooling to his relatives still in the refugee camp) and enrolled in a master's program in public administration.
With a friend from college he recently launched the nonprofit, New Scholars, Inc, which promotes the development of Sudanese students still in Kakuma Refugee Camp (via secondary school scholarships and leadership training workshops). Last month Mercy Beyond Borders established a formal partnership with New Scholars to promote the education of Sudanese girls. For Samuel, this is like coming full circle. As he told
Sr Marilyn:
It is a real honor for me to be working in partnership with you. I strongly believe that this partnership between New Scholars and MBB is a foundation for many greater things to come. I continually look back to that summer day you visited our apartment in 2007 and shared with us the idea that eventually became MBB. I also remember you making a comment that day that I was a "man on a mission." And here we are today!
As you read this article, Samuel is once again back in Kenya, organizing the first leadership training sessions for the first 5 Sudanese "New Scholars." For more info, see the website: http://newscholars.net |
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 Make an Impact in Sudan this Christmas
Looking for thoughtful gifts to give during this Season of Giving? MBB now has alternative giving Gift Cards available. When you donate $20 or more (via check to Mercy Beyond Borders, 1885 De La Cruz Blvd #101, Santa Clara, CA95050, or via our PayPal button below and at www.mercybeyondborders.org), you will receive by return mail this MBB gift card with envelope--one card for each $20 you donate. Impress your friends with this simple step toward the global peace and development we all desire. The reverse side, with space for your signature, contains another photo with the holiday message:
"To celebrate the true meaning of this wonderful Season of Giving, [your name] has made a donation in your honor to Mercy Beyond Borders. This gift enables displaced women and girls in war-ravaged Southern Sudan to move up from extreme poverty. Your sisters, mothers and daughters in Sudan thank you for being globally compassionate." | |
You're receiving this email because of your interest in MERCY BEYOND BORDERS. MBB 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.
Please feel free to forward this to others who may be interested in hearing about us.
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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