Too Busy

One of my favorite things about being in developing countries is the way time is spent from day to day. I may have a mental list of tasks but allow myself to be distracted en route to make a new friend, and that is satisfying for the day.

In the States, individuals are paralyzed with anxiety from their daily routines and little joy is found in anything. If we see a friend at a coffee shop we have to schedule to have coffee a different time and go on about the day, even though we could have sat down together at that opportunity. We clean the house before the cleaning lady comes and have family meals at fast food chains. We rush getting ready in the morning and there's no time to pray with the kids at bedtime. Every movement of our days is planned according to a delicate schedule with no room for flexibility or spontaneity. That's not living, that's being a robot. Do we even notice the leaves changing colors on the trees or friendly smile of a passing stranger?

I've been reading "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg, to fill my mind with positive things instead of the usually oppressing injustices of the world. The chapter I just read was highlighting the reality of our hurried society. We are constantly connected to the world through our cell phones and don't go an hour without checking our Facebook or email. I know Phil and I are on our phones last thing in bed and first thing when we wake up, as if we missed something while sleeping. And to think we could spend that time in conversation together!

It was reading that chapter that I realized how much time I waste each day. I rush to get ready, to meet a friend (while I have my cell phone out and watching the clock), go to the store, catch up on my TV shows before some one gives it away on Facebook, make phone calls... and then I'm exhausted and stressed, with no appreciation for life. I don't have a job right now so one would think I'd enjoy my days, but I'm still too busy to relax or find pleasure in creation.

The other thing I realized is that if I'm in Kenya, or somewhere in the world where no one rushes, I love life. I sit and listen to the birds chirp in the morning, or take in the scent of falling rain on growing grass. I walk slower, carry my phone less, have deeper conversations. My faith is strongest when I'm out of the States, and it might have something to do with actually having time to cultivate a growing relationship with God. The Christian faith is all about intimate relationship with our Lord... yet the only way to have a functioning relationship with anyone is to invest in it, and not be too busy.

We had to cancel our trip to Kenya next month for health reasons, but we still really wanted to go. Kenya is where Phil and I met, and where living makes sense. I bet that living would be easier in the States if we took the time to actually live here, too.

So, in the morning, I'm not going to check my phone first thing. I'll read before I shower, and I'll eat breakfast. I love breakfast (any time of day). I'll call my grandparents and maybe go grocery shopping with a friend. I'll sit outside and watch the bugs. I want to enjoy life every day. Then the harder days will be easier.

Why not live more?

(My new favorite place in the world to enjoy - my backyard)

 

Living as best I can, 

-Dalene

What is UntilThen.org?

In the majority of our posts we talk about the organization Until Then. Though whimsically named, the mission is anything but.

About 5 years ago, Phil directed/produced the award winning documentary "Glue Boys" (available for purchase to your right). The film highlights the everyday lives of 6 homeless boys in Kenya, and shares the history behind the youths' addiction to inhalants such as shoe glue, gasoline and brake fluid, as a method of survival.

As the film was shown to various audiences, one constant question was "what can we do to help?". Phil would direct those interested to various organizations around the world who cared for vulnerable children, though was not satisfied with that being enough.

So in 2008, with family and friends the organization Until Then was born. The purpose of Until Then is:

          "Until Then is dedicated to raising awareness about the issues of street children.  Our mission is to open the minds and hearts of people all over the world so as to engage them in action to bring hope and help to the forgotten street children of the world.  We will dream of a day when all children have homes and families and will work for this reality 'Until Then'.”

And the way we attain this is by having conversations.

One of Phil's past jobs was with DC Shoes and he frequently shared his passion of fighting injustice. Years later an old colleague called him up who was starting a shoe company and asked Phil for advice on doing projects that benefited the poor. It was through this conversation that Until Then's partnership with Freewaters began, and how we do clean water projects.

Until Then is not a fundraising organization, though when people donate money 100% of goes to projects that help street kids. We focus on three areas of helping street kids: prevention, intervention and rehabilitation. We do this by advocating and creating awareness, as well as through partner projects.

Until Then is run by volunteers who equally believe that projects helping street kids should be self sustainable, and so we partner with organizations, churches and corporations to achieve that. The end result of any of our projects is that a vulnerable child is better of today than they were yesterday.




Ever Hopeful,

Dalene

Making a Difference

HIV/AIDS claims millions of lives each year and is the leading cause of orphaned children in the world.
Read this short, uplifting article about a woman who is making a difference in Kitale, Kenya (Phil and I met in Kitale). Patricia is nominated as a CNN Hero this year. 
Read this, and then vote for her with us. 

read the article directly at CNN here


Church leader reverses stance on HIV, reaches out to those affected

By Kathleen Toner, CNN

Kitale, Kenya (CNN) -- HIV is a curse from God. That's what Patricia Sawo used to tell others as a church leader in Kitale, Kenya.

"I thought it was a moral issue and a punishment for the disobedient," Sawo remembers.

Then one morning in 1999, Sawo awoke to find her body covered in shingles, a rash commonly associated with HIV. Scared and upset, she cried in the bathroom for two hours. A test soon confirmed her fears: She was HIV-positive.

"I couldn't believe it," said Sawo, now 45. "It was, 'Oh my God, how could this happen to me?' "

Sawo suspects that a blood transfusion was to blame, but at that time she didn't dwell on how she'd been infected. She just wanted to rid herself of the virus.

She had always told others that God could heal people if they'd fast and pray as penance for their sins. But when she followed her own advice, she still tested positive. She continued to fast and pray repeatedly for the next four years, hoping for a different outcome. But the results remained the same.

When her status became public, she became a victim of the prejudices that she had helped spread throughout her community. Within weeks, she and her husband had lost their jobs, she'd lost her leadership role in her church and their landlord had kicked them out of their home.

Sawo's family struggled for years. She and her husband started a small business to make ends meet, but she says it failed because her customers were wary of her HIV status.

Web extra: CNN Hero Patricia Sawo

"The stigma was ... painful," she recalled, saying it was even worse than the virus itself.

Eventually, Sawo realized that her attitude -- and the teachings of her church -- had been wrong. She found her way to Handicap International, a nongovernmental organization that provided accurate information about HIV and AIDS, and the experience set her on a new path.

In 2002, Sawo was ordained as a minister, and she went on to help start ANERELA+, a network of African religious leaders living with or affected by HIV or AIDS. She began preaching about the issue regularly from the pulpit, believing that faith leaders have a responsibility to speak out.

"The church must change its attitude," she said. "HIV is not a moral issue. It's a virus."

As Sawo's profile as an HIV/AIDS activist grew, people in her hometown began to confide in her that they, too, were HIV-positive. She began an AIDS ministry, caring for the sick in their homes, and soon people started coming to her house for help. She used nearly all her income to help those in need.

"Seeing so many look to me, it made me feel responsible," Sawo said. "Whatever money I got ... I used it to help them."

In 2005, Sawo and her husband established the Discover to Recover Centre. It was originally intended as a place for adults to receive care. But as patients died, leaving their sons and daughters behind, it evolved into a home for children.

The church must change its attitude. HIV is not a moral issue. It's a virus.
--CNN Hero Patricia Sawo

RELATED TOPICS

• HIV and AIDS
• Kenya

Now, 48 children live at the center. Many have lost one or both parents. Others have parents who are struggling with the virus. Eighteen of the children are HIV-positive themselves.

The close quarters aren't luxurious. The rooms are filled with bunk beds and mattresses. But Sawo, assisted by seven staff members as well as some of her own children, provides food, medical care and schooling. The young children attend the center's on-site preschool, while Sawo pays school fees for the older children.

Sawo said the most important thing she gives them is motherly love.

"They keep me going," she said of the children at the center. "They're my life."

Sawo doesn't have room for all the children who have been affected by HIV and AIDS in her community, so she also supports about 50 children who live with a parent or grandparent. She gives these families food, school fees and uniforms if needed; she sometimes even helps pay their rent.

Today, as a trained HIV/AIDS counselor, Sawo counsels 20-25 people a month, helping them come to terms with their health status. She also offers advice about coping with the virus and she connects people to programs that distribute free medicine.

For several years, Sawo funded her efforts by working as an HIV/AIDS ambassador for an international Christian organization. But that income has been cut back recently, and her husband died of malaria and typhoid in October 2009. Now, the center is surviving through monthly donations from Hope Span, a U.S.-based nonprofit, and Sawo's sheer determination. She has started farming maize and beans to ensure its survival.

Someday, Sawo said, she hopes to offer foster care housing, primary and secondary school and a vocational training center for children and adults.

It's been a long journey, but Sawo is confident that she has found her mission. She said that in a way, she's found the "healing" -- at least in a spiritual sense -- that she prayed so hard for after she first tested positive.

"HIV, it's made me a better person," she said. "God has his own ways of healing. ... So, for me, I'm healed."

Want to get involved? Check out the Discover to Recover Centrewebsite and see how to help.