Network of Caring
May 2012
Network of Caring Update
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Greetings!  

 

During this time of year in the US kids are graduating from high school and college.  In fact here in the Network 21 office 6 of us, myself included, have a child graduating from high school.  Suffice it to say that this is a time of major transition for children and their parents.  Phrases like, "letting go" and "moving on" and "new life" are often being used.  And for the most part, though we are excited for our kids, we are a little sad to hear those words and see our children leave for college and a "new life."  
 
But as I ruminated about the transitions that are happening in our homes here I thought about all the good changes Network of Caring has been able to affect in the world.  Just like the young people graduating to "new lives" your charity has been able to cause many "graduations" from one old life into a new, better one.
 
To date 3850 people have received a new wheelchair and a new life through Network of Caring.  When Free Wheelchair Mission founder Don Schoendorfer asked why those who receive new wheelchairs are almost always wearing their best clothes he was told they dress up because they are "graduating" from the ground to where the regular people are.  That is a big graduating class that you have there Network of Caring...way to go!
 
This year nearly 200 students will graduate from our Ambassador High School in Mumbai India.  Add to that the thousands that have been educated through our child sponsorship programs and orphanages around the world and I would estimate the total number of grads in our history to be well over 10,000 kids.  And in many cases these kids that are now leading normal, productive lives were at one time living on the streets and facing the prospect of becoming slaves.  What an impact we have made together through real graduations!

I can also think of hundreds of disabled people who have "graduated" from lonely handicapped lives to lives of fulfillment and meaning through power soccer.  Last month we hosted a crew of writers, photographers, and videographers from Amway One By One here to film a video about our power soccer program.  It was thrilling to hear our staff at the Fernando Foundation share the joy they have felt experiencing the joy of a disabled kid played power soccer for the first time. One look and you could tell they had found a new life!

And these stories could be repeated over and over, all around the world.  I guess you could say that wherever Network of Caring goes, someone is graduating from something pretty bad to something pretty good.  Because you gave and chose to care about someone you didn't know and weren't likely to meet, many many thousands of people today have a new life.  Thank you very much and congratulations for all the new lives and graduations you have helped to create!
 
 
R.D. Saunders
Cheif Significance Officer

Team Thompson...Leaders in Partnership 

An Update from R.D. Saunders


Simon and Diana
Simon Thompson and Diana Choo
Big things happen when leaders take action!  This was the opening line to my article in the last newsletter on Bob and Terry Andrews and their team's support of Network of Caring.  Its just as true this time as I feature the team led by Simon Thompson and Diana Choo.  Simon and Diana are Network TwentyOne Double Diamonds living in Malaysia.  Last month I had the privilege to be with them and their team at the Network TwentyOne Asia-Pacific Go Diamond in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.  

Simon and Diana's approach was to have a dinner before each weekend seminar this past year with their team to raise money for Network of Caring. With this consistent approach they were able to raise nearly $10,000 to assist those in need in the Asia-Pacific region through Network of Caring.  And I don't think it is any accident that Simon and Diana were able to reach a new pin level this year in their business...this is pretty common for generous people.  And in Malaysia when I shared what Simon and Diana have done, several more leaders in the region said they wanted to lead their teams to support Network of Caring together, as well.

I believe the examples provided by Team Andrews and Team Thompson are great models for how we can raise resources and engagement for Network of Caring.  Bob and Terry had an intense short term campaign involving their large team in the US towards a specific goal.  Simon and Diana had a steady program with key leaders played out over the course of a year but coinciding with their weekends.  Both teams had outstanding results.  Both teams inspired other teams to do the same.  Would you be willing to partner with NOC as well?  Think about what your team could do...you don't have to start out with a big project...just start!  Big things happen when leaders take action.  

I am your partner in partnership and I believe that together we can make 

Profile pic w/ Thai kids

a monumental difference for those in need.     

 

R.D. Saunders

Chief Significance Officer,

Network of Caring

Network of Caring South Africa Aids Children in Hospitals 

 

R.D. Saunders in a Pediatric Cancer Ward

There are few regions on earth where more needs exist than on the continent of Africa.  And when you add sickness, youth, or extreme poverty to the equation the needs can seem overwhelming.  Often those in need seem to gather in places where hope can be very hard to find.  A children's cancer ward in Africa is just such a place.  But thanks to Network of Caring and her partners hope is lovingly distributed through smiles and through meeting an important need. 

 

CSO R.D. Saunders had the opportunity to visit South Africa in February during Network TwentyOne's Go Diamond in Johannesburg.  While there he toured 2 hospitals where NOC has been busy helping children battling cancer.  So often these children suffer from malnutrition after trips home in between their hospital treatments.  Unfortunately their lack of nutrition means whatever gains they have made battling cancer have taken a serious blow, all while spending needed time away from the hospital with their families.  NOC team members in SA discovered that providing a "hamper" of food to go with them when they go home goes a long way toward preventing malnutrition and helping them win the battle with this disease.  Through the generosity of our Southern Africa IBOs last year NOC provided 120 hampers to poor families with a sick child during Christmas holidays and have committed 120 more for the future. A big thanks to our generous IBOs and faithful N21 team members in SA!

Food Hampers
Food and Health for Christmas

 

SA IBOs, N21 Staff
N21 IBOs get involved
 
A grateful mother
Children in Informal Settlement Receive a Preschool from Network of Caring    
Squatter Camp1
Squatter Camp in South Africa

 An informal settlement or "squatter camp" as they are often called in South Africa is no place anyone would choose to raise a child, if they could help it.  Each individual shack is usually a combination of leftover construction odds and ends... cardboard, tin roofing, wood, etc.  In the last 15 years the number of squatter camps in Southern Africa has grown 10 fold due to economic conditions and an influx of other Africans.  Inhabitants are almost always the poorest residents in the area and deal daily with crime, danger, sanitation issues, and the lack of clean water.  But NOC South Africa, armed with the compassion of N21 IBOs, is working to remedy some of the issues.

 
You may recall last year that David Dornan, Jeff Neuber, and R.D. Saunders were part of the team delivering wheelchairs to the informal settlement known as Zandspruit.  This year through the gifts of NOC and the hard work of our team there, the youth of the Zandspruit settlement were given a new athletic field.
 
Handover of Zandspruit soccer field
NOC's R.D. Saunders officially hands over the new soccer field in Zandspruit
   Meeting t
he needs of these communities can be so overwhelming it's difficult to know where to begin.  Discussions with local social workers revealed that unless the youngest of the residents can be deeply impacted the cycle will continue and the challenges will only become greater. So NOC made the decision to build a preschool in the middle of one squatter camp called Gamora.  
 
Preschools are essential in temporary communities because they can advance early childhood education and healthcare.  Through the efforts of caring social workers a preschool had already been started, albeit in a makeshift building with a piece of carpet covering a dirt floor.  The only think in worse shape than the building was the bathroom, if you can call a tarp a room.  
 
But now two beautiful buildings have been built and furnished for the children of Gamora.  The new buildings seen below will transform the preschool in fundamental ways.  Having a building qualifies them for government funds and medicines, attracts new students, and gives them a sense of legitimacy in the community.  And now the children educated and developed at this preschool willl be more healthy and better prepared to attend the traditional elementary school at age 6, then secondary school at 12 and possibly college one day!  This little building will be a source of life and hope for the people of Gamora...thank you Network TwentyOne!
Gamora preschool
Finished Preschool in Temporary Settlement Built by NOC
Preschool Toilets
Completed Toilets, Necessary for Proper Sanitation
preschool4
New Furnishings for a New Preschool
preschool2
The Old Preschool has Really "Moved Up in the World!"

 


Thank you for helping so many to "graduate" this year to a better life.  Everyone has to have hope and because of the generosity of many so many more do have hope today! Let's figure out how to do even more for the neediest people in the world!
 
Sincerely,

R.D. Saunders
Network of Caring