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Greetings!
The world has just finished watching the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, a dazzling spectacle of athletic prowess and national pride. If you are like me, you were mesmerized by the speed of short track skating, the endurance of cross-country racing, the impossible aerial acrobatics of the snowboarders, the daredevil downhill skiers, the elegance of figure skating, the drama of ice hockey, and back stories of the competitors. The people of Southern Sudan, however, were not watching. Not for lack of interest, but rather for lack of electricity, television sets, and even a living room to sit in. Some day these will come to the people of Southern Sudan. Some day there will be enough stability for steady development. Today most Southern Sudanese are focused simply on survival.
They are also focused on the April 10 elections-their first free elections in a quarter century. The President in the North, Omar al-Bashir, is up for re-election and will likely win, despite being currently under indictment by the Hague for war crimes and possibly facing charges of genocide for his continuing role in the Darfur conflict. Many observers expect violence to flare up around the country as the vote draws closer; many NGOs will be "leaving town" during April, as a precaution. Mercy Beyond Borders, on the other hand, plans to be in Sudan during the election, in solidarity with the people. I will be traveling there with an MBB Board member, Shirley Tamoria, MD, and another colleague. We will be visiting several of our projects within Sudan and meeting current and potential partners on the ground.
We thank you for your interest in MBB's work and of course for your support, which makes this work possible. Stay tuned for a report after we return.
Thank you,
Sister Marilyn Lacey | |
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Did You Know? |
Sudan is the largest country in Africa; its land mass is roughly the size of France.
Southern Sudan has just 20 miles of paved road. Gravel roads are now being constructed by the UN and USAID.
Southern Sudan is one of the last places on the planet to be getting mobile phone reception. |
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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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Archived Newsletters
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The strong, dusty feet of women in Sudan remind me of how close to the earth these women live. They have no closet full of shoes; in fact, they have neither closets nor shoes!
There is much that we in the West, nicely shod in our Nikes and Easy Spirits and Birkenstocks, no longer feel. The sharpness of parched, cracked clay earth. The intense heat that rocks hold from sun. The slip of dew on morning grass. The welcome squish of mud between toes when the rains finally come. The rhythmic thudding of bare feet packing down soil when women gather to dance. The coolness of water dripping 'round the bore hole before dawn after it has been hand-pumped to the surface to fill a jerry-can. The scratch of thorn and branch in the bush while walking - yes, walking - hours and hours and hours to haul water or collect firewood or lead goats to pasture or visit a friend in a distant village.
Not feeling those simple things, we are perhaps also impaired in feeling our connections with these women in ways that matter even more. Knowing that these are truly our sisters and mothers and daughters. Choosing to share our resources with them. Realizing that our kinship can be a source of joy for us all. That's what Mercy Beyond Borders is all about. We - and these women- are so glad you are part of MBB. |
Where Would We Be Without Them?
Mercy Beyond Borders owes a great deal to wonderful volunteers whose hi-tech talents behind-the-scenes keep us afloat in cyberspace. Today we highlight 2 of them:
Judy Chen, a marketing director in Silicon Valley, graciously produces the MBB eNews. She maintains the email distribution list, designs, formats and proofreads the articles and photos for each issue, and monitors the newsletter's marketing reach. She does all this, despite the fact that her regular job puts her on the road a lot, often traveling to Asia and Europe. Thank you, Judy, for finding time to bring Mercy Beyond Borders into our "inbox" each month!
Sylvia Dieckmann, a "graduate" of Google who now lives in England, volunteered to upgrade the MBB website. This entailed transferring it to a new platform, re-doing the architecture that holds the content, creating multiple subcategories for each of the main tabs, inserting links to partner sites, and much, much more.
We expect that the fruit of her work will "go live" by the end of March. At first glance, the home page may look the same to you-for example, we kept the same photo montage masthead-but once you begin navigating through the various tabs and links you will quickly see that the site contains a wealth of new stories, pictures and information about MBB work in Sudan. Our hope is that the site will help you feel better connected to MBB and the women and girls of Southern Sudan. Sylvia says that her favorite tab is the STORIES section. Please check it out and visit us often:
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Ambassador Of The Month
This month MBB gratefully salutes the Women' Retreat Group of Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church in California. After seeing an MBB slide presentation at their annual weekend retreat Feb 26-28, these generous women spontaneously donated over $1,800 to the women and girls of Sudan. What a stunning way to put into practice their faith commitment to solidarity!
Ambassadors volunteer to raise $1,000 each year for Mercy Beyond Borders. For more information, or to become an Ambassador, contact Marilyn Lacey at mercybeyondborders@yahoo.com |
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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