Millennium Online Newsletter:
Fall 2006

While on leave last year one Millennium team anxiously watched news reports with growing concern.  It was October 8, 2005 and a huge earthquake had devastated the land they love.  It was days before the team made contact with friends in the area and learned of their safety.  The quake was not so bad where they lived, but further up in the mountains others were not so lucky.  One village, still recovering from avalanches of the previous winter, watched the quake destroy in minutes what had taken months to rebuild.

 

Having lived in northern India for many years, these Millennium workers were planning to return there soon.  Within six weeks our team was back in India helping to coordinate relief efforts.  They started with temporary shelters. When thousands came to claim a shelter, our group set up a careful screening process to be sure supplies were only given to those whose homes were completely destroyed.  For widows or others with no income, the materials and labor were provided free of charge.  But for most, a small fee based on a sliding scale was charged.  This fee served to foster a sense of ownership and community.  People were willing to pay when they learned the money would be poured back into their villages. 

 

Millennium looks for solutions that foster local involvement, accountability and sustainable development.  This disaster was no exception.  Once the shelters were in place and survival ensured what then?  Many livelihoods in the area were adversely affected by the quake that had lasted just a few moments.  We wanted the funds to start education centers to address unemployment and lack of education in the area.  Besides providing much needed skills, centers like these build confidence and instill dignity in individuals, thereby impacting the community for generations to come.

 

Now, a year after the earthquake, while many in the area have finished rebuilding, others are still working on reestablishing their homes and businesses.  Since our team’s home and office are just a short distance away they continue working with the community. For instance, a visiting architect and engineer gave our team training and sets of simple drawings for more earthquake resistant houses.  Our team is able to pass this knowledge on to those interested in building a more secure home. 

 

The needs go beyond just shelters.  In a few villages we were able to set up temporary class rooms and a boarding school dining hall.  For one particular non-profit agency we were able to provide a simple building made up of three sheds.  It was imperative that they continue their work providing artificial arms and legs to children and adults who had wandered too close to the minefield near the border.

 

Life for people who have gone through such a disaster will never “get back to normal.”  Communities must pull together to build a new normal.  As promised, starting with the money given for the shelters, we are setting up educational resource centers.  These will provide resources for literacy, health education, agro-forestry, adult education and vocational training.  Our first active learning centre is in one of the hardest hit villages in the area.  There are now five completed centers, we expect to have 15 by the end of the year.

 

These are not formal schools, but coaching and learning centers where children and adults can improve their capacity to earn a living and climb out of poverty.  One year ago these people were reeling from a massive earthquake, now they are rebuilding homes and lives, looking to the future with hope, dignity and determination.

“I’ve found great people and the warmest hearts far away from Tajikistan.  Coming into your families I’ve found myself in a wonderful world…where people really love each other, always ready to help other people…where you can feel friendship and love.”  

 

In the colorful mosaic of cultures that covers our world, it is often a struggle to understand how we all fit together.  A young teacher from Central Asia experienced the best anyone in any culture can offer.  Parvina found that she was cared for and loved when she was far from home living among strangers.  The above quote is from her letter to the Houston families who opened their homes and their hearts to her this past summer.

 

Parvina was one of seven teachers who came to the U.S. from Kazakhstan and Tajikistan for a month of training with Millennium’s annual International Teachers Program.   The program provides a wonderful cross cultural experience for both the participants and their host families as they get to know each other, sharing what they each love best about their home countries. 

 

On the academic side the teachers attended classes held at the University of Houston, learning new skills and methods for teaching English.  This year, Mr. Terry Henderson directed and taught most of the classes.  His students were quite appreciative of all they learned in class, but more than that, they felt he was a dear friend. They had a great time dressing Mr. Terry in traditional Kazak and Tajik dress at the farewell party!

 

Satrina, had this to say about the classes, “I am very grateful to Millennium Relief and Development Services that it has such a program for teachers...It was a good opportunity for me to come to the United States and gain knowledge and experience in teaching.  When I go back to my country I can effectively use these skills which I gained in the United States.”   Another teacher, Abdugani, expressed his heartfelt thanks to Millennium because he is keenly aware that a solid command of English is one of the keys that will help his people move into the modern world.

 

After offering the program for 8 consecutive years, we are so grateful to our volunteers and staff here and in Central Asia for all their tireless efforts.  A special thank-you goes to our many host families.  They warmly invite strangers into their homes and after a week say good bye to new friends.  Willingness to share homes and hearts in this unique cultural exchange makes it possible to see how our world is truly a beautiful mosaic of brilliant color and design.

 

The message from Sudan was not the first of its kind.  “Please send us help!  We are overwhelmed, the need is so great”.  Our partners in Darfur were struggling.  The medical clinic was packed from dawn to dusk every time they opened their doors.  The U.N. food distribution program they operated never seemed to satisfy all the hunger.  The staff needed to run these and other programs was not nearly enough.  Still, stout hearts kept tired bodies moving forward.  They had to do what they could; there was no one else to do it…until now.

 

As happens several times each year, Millennium’s office was turned into a training center.  Among the nine participants, were two single men and a married couple who had heard the plea for workers in Sudan and came for a week of intensive training in relief and development.  Here they learned about development projects as well as a myriad of administrative skills necessary to keep an organization running smoothly. And they learned about cultural awareness and how to avoid the mistakes so common to those stepping into a different world. 

 

The year they spend overseas will impact their lives forever.  They will live and work among people who are struggling desperately to survive in a harsh place.  They will spend time administering programs, helping the long term workers however they can.  They will become part of a team that is determined to make a difference in the lives of the men, women and children in villages in war-torn Northern Darfur. 

 

And these four young people will make a difference.  They have found the answer to “What can just one person do?”  One person can take a step toward the weary, one person can extend a hand to the sick, and one person can bring a spirit of hope to the hopeless.  

 

All we had was one week to prepare them for the next fifty two weeks of their lives.  The year they spend in Darfur will be pregnant with challenging and opportunity.  By pouring our knowledge and experience into them we hope to help them find sure footing along the road they have chosen.  And, we send them out with our deepest respect and love.

Hatred permeates our moment. Witness words projected into the politically neutral space of the roads. Bumper stickers trumpet violent opposition to all manner of undertakings; at home and abroad. Foreigners describe their identities often by reviling whatever the US does. Such vehemence of anger choruses over punctuated disruptions of daily violence.

West and Near East are closer now. No place is left unconnected from networks of opposition to race and ideology. Amidst the anger there is often despair.
 

At Millennium, we do not believe in hatred. We do not believe in retreat. We do not believe in despair. We believe that it is incumbent upon us to live in the midst of hatred without hating. We offer another way. Our continuing presence abroad demonstrates our commitment. We continue our efforts, permeating the moment with grace.