KENYA:
 Alice...
Vitalice Kahendah...
Nelly Muthui...
KATRINA:
Kelly Schoon...
SRI LANKA:
Indulakshmi Premakumar...
PIERCE CITY:
Dorothy Blinzler...
 | KENYA |
Thank you very much for everything because if I start counting what you've done and how you've made me feel, this toolscap might get tilled up before I finish. I do believe that writing at times tends to be more realistic than just talking because even if you forget that I said something, there will at least be evidence.
First of all, on behalf of all the students of Hopewell, I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to you people because you brightened our lives, gave us hope again and made us feel loved and accepted. You have made us believe that disability (Poverty) is not inability.
Secondly, thank you for letting us tour with you to the game park (Lake Nakuru National Park). This significantly shows you've got mad love for us students. Guess what? We also have got exaggerated mad, crazy love for you. You have helped us through your advice and also action (donating and funding for school projects). Actually, before I continue, may the Almighty God bless you exquisitely.
\
Thirdly, you accepted to come to our place (home) despite the fact that it's just a single room with less space for comfort. I'm glad you appreciated what we (my dear mum) had and able to offer though not enough for great visitors like you. Thank you very much and sincerely I'm overjoyed and very glad. My mum and little brother are extremely happy for you and they are appreciative for everything.
Finally, I would like to approve what you have done to me. You accepted me as I am and appreciated whatever I did. Actually, you did brighten my life. We were very free to each other as if we've known each other for decades. To be sincere, I have nothing tangible to offer in return but I do PROMISE you one thing; I wanna do computer science when I finish high school and my ambition is to help reduce the poverty levels in Africa. ( I won't mind being a member of Wrestling the World!!!!) I know I can if I just work hard at it of which I promise I will. My worry is that I don't know if my mum will be able to raise the college fees. We've been with you for a very short period but I know that time isn't what makes a friendship last. It's love and devotion that keeps the tie between souls. True friends part maybe in distance but never at heart, and again it's not the presence of someone that brings meaning to life but it's the way that someone touches your heart which gives life a beautiful meaning and you have truly proved it. Please, feel good when somebody misses you, feel better when someone loves you, but feel best when somebody never forgets you. I swear I will never ever forget you because all I believe is that you may be out of reach but not out of my mind, you may be out of sight but not out of my heart. I may tell you I will remember you but I will ALWAYS do. I wanna summarize by personally thanking the following for coming to Kenya: Phill, Matt, James, Joanne, Shelly, Dad Steve, and Dad Don (They deserve to be my dads because they offered fatherly love so please allow me to call them that way because I highly respect them).
Hey I'm still proud to be a HOPEWELLIAN and Guess what? You have contributed towards it.
To conclude, I do pray that the almighty God may bless (actually rain blessing) to you, exceedingly, abundantly, above.
 |
| Vitalice Kahendah |
|
|
Hopewell will forever be grateful to God for directing Wrestling the World Organization our way.And even before they have set foot in Kenya,the impact of their efforts is already being felt.The massive 48 acre farm with a flourishing maize and bean crop,fully financed by WTW attests to the practical,hands-on-work approach they employ in addressing complex problems.This help to Hopewell puts a permanent stop to kids dropping out of school due to hunger and the harsh effects of poverty.The on-going penpal project is fast enlightening people around here and might just prove to be a very effective inter-cultural tool.......may be better than the sieved,controlled and syntheisized information found in our diplomatic missions.Nearly all the young penplas from the US have indicatd in their letters that they get to work(and get paid!).A 12th grade boy asked me in the last school baraza(assembly) how possible it was for his 17 year old penfriend to have worked and earned enough money to buy a car.The answer was simple...ask your friend!It is a great learning experience for all of us.
With the other planned WTW projects coming up nicely,we can only pray to God to bless their efforts and to touch the hearts of so many other people to contribute to the success of these noble initiatives.In the past,kids have been crammed up in tin-structured classrooms and the prospect of WTW financing construction of permanent buildings makes us appreciate the saying that.....perseverance pays....and that good things come to those who wait upon the Lord.
Ours is one community which doesnt have to be convinced about the immense love of God.He has visited us in a mighty way through this partnership with WTW.
 |
| Nelly Muthui |
|
|
I am 27 years old, single with no children. I am the first born in my family. I have 3 siblings. Susan is 24 years old and works for a tour and travel company in Nairobi while Julia is 21, in college.This is her final year - she is studying banking. My brother is 17 years old and is in 11 th grade in a boarding school 250 km from Nakuru.
My mother Esther is a primary school teacher while my dad Robert is a businessman. My parents are financially ok , average by Kenyan standards. I was born in central province of Kenya (my parents were born and brought up in this part of the country) but raised up in Nakuru because my parents bought a farm about 20 km from nakuru town along the highway where they put up a home. That is where we have lived most of my life. Recently we moved and rented a house in Nakuru town because the areas surrrounding the farm have become very insecure. What a loss!
I am a holder of a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems and Technology from United States International Univesity - Nairobi (USIU). This is an American University in Nairobi.
I am a christian and my parents have raised me up knowing that i am my brother's keeper. They have taught me to give and share whatever little i have. When we were kids dad always told us that since God had given us enough He expected us to share with those who did not have. Christmas were spent in children homes or other homes that took care and showed love to the less disadvantaged in the society - thats my family. It brought us much joy and blessings. So, as i grew up, these are the values i learnt from my parents and i knew i was destined to share my blessings with the less fortunate.
I would tell my family that i was going to study hard, make alot of money and have homes for abandoned babies and street boys. They thought i was just talking like all kids do, but here i am - dreams come true. Little did i know that it would take a lifetime to accumilate enough money to start such a project.There is also so much more one can give , not just money.When i look at Hopewell, i know that if vitalice and i were looking for money to start the project then we would not be discussing this today.
My parents ( their reaction is a different story - later) are our great supporters offering moral support and sponsaring afew of our students. They have watched us grow from Tumaini to where we are today. They lifted us up when the going was so rough - we've had really tough times thanks the Darleen, LDSC and all our well wishers.
Vitalice and i were friends long before Hopewell came into existence and we knew that we shared the same dreams. When he told me about his intentions of offering free high school education to 8th grade drop-outs (for lack of fees) i supported him because this way we would help more people and in a wider perspective .We never thought it grow this big - no complaints because we are suporting more children.
I am blessing others with what God has given me - good health, alot of love and care and moreso hope. I tell kids in school that God has not made us all equal in terms of wealth, education etc but we can change our situations if certain opportunities such as education (which is most important) are presented to us. That is what we are giving at Hopewell and those who take and embrace this opportunity change their situations.
I know that this is God's purpose in my life. People sometimes think we are crazy because they think as learned as we are, we could be working in big companies like most of those we went to college with, drive nice cars and own big houses. I consider this a call and i dont think there's anything better for me to do. What i do gives me great happiness which is most important in life.
As an IT graduate, i hope a time will come and i will be able to share my knowledge with Hopewell community. We have afew computers given to us by LDS caharities and Darleen but since we dont have secure buildings, we cant use them yet.
It is my prayer that i can teach students in Hopewell the values that my parents taught me and i hope they can all remember where they have come from. This way, it will take us less time to change the world.
I thank you so much for your continued support. Get assured that if the whole world turned against America today - God forbid, there are more than 700 hundred students, their teachers, parents and relatives who would stand up and say Americans are good people. They would stand with you for the great things you have done and are about to do. For the great hope, love and care you have shown them.
| KATRINA |
 |
| Kelly Schoon |
|
|
The new furniture provided to five New Orleans families soon after Katrina by Wrestling the World was a tremendous blessing to them by filling a practical, physical need and by serving as a symbol of hope and renewal. Some of these families lost more of their material possessions in the storm than others, but all had their worlds turned upside down. Slowly their new lives in the Houston area are becoming more routine, but they all still face struggles as they try to connect with family and friends, as well as find their way around this large city of Houston with its massive freeway network. However, after going back in recent months to see New Orleans and try to salvage possessions, they all realize that it will be a long time for things to even resemble the city that they loved so much.
The Matthews family is in the process of moving back to New Orleans, both to be closer to family and to be involved in decisions that are made, particularly about public housing. The Celestine, Keys, Varnado, and Hawkins families are all still living in Cypress, Texas, just northeast of Houston. The younger children in the families are becoming more used to the public school system in Texas, although many have struggled to catch up in school after spending their early years in the terrible New Orleans public school system. Cars and material possessions are being replaced, despite the fact that both FEMA and insurance money are slow to come.
I had the opportunity to go to New Orleans in mid-March to see some friends and was saddened by how much there is left to do in the city. Traffic lights are still out in many neighborhoods, telephone service is unreliable, many houses in the Lower 9th Ward haven't been touched, and the city just has a feeling of emptiness. But there are also signs of rebuilding. While in New Orleans I worshipped in a small African American church near the Desire Housing Projects on a Sunday morning. I was blessed by the congregation's gratefulness to God and trust in His provision as houses all around the church were destroyed. My hope and prayer is that the post-Katrina New Orleans will be stronger and filled with more justice than the old New Orleans.
| SRI LANKA |
 |
| Indulakshmi Premakumar |
|
|
The desolate landscape of crushed houses and fallen coconut trees was staggering. Debris of what had once been a peaceful fishing village lay littered on the beach. A few survivors who had miraculously escaped the monstrous waves gathered close together. Numb with shock, they rummaged through the rubble to salvage the remnants of their belongings, the fragments of their lives' earnings. They had toiled endlessly day after day to make a living, saved rupee by rupee to build their small huts, only to see their whole world crumble in one titanic blow by the ocean. Waves of depression and hopelessness inundated them as they stood, immobilized, staring at the future, stretching empty before them.
The devastation makes our eyes recoil in shock, as we realize the impact of a natural calamity. Watching the extensive news coverage on the Tsunami, I see more than scattered lives and destroyed houses… I recall the pain and suffering my country has endured through the years - through the ethnic war that ravaged my homeland, consuming people's lives, and disrupting families. Looking back at my childhood, I can only remember a life of turmoil, uncertainty and fear. My youth was one filled with bomb drills, national curfews, and power cuts, learning to study under the dim glow of candlelight, fanning myself using cardboard sheets to keep cool during the intense summer heat, and self-studying when the school closed for months during the war. I shiver at the thought of all the narrow escapes my parents had during bomb explosions, and how the "duck and cover" routine had become part of my school life.
The Tsunami wrecked an already subsistent population struggling to surmount the challenges of war, poverty and desperation. Almost 250,000 lives were claimed by the monstrous waves and the wreckage was vast and startling, and still very real to me. Seeing the destruction with my own eyes, I realize how fortunate I am to be alive. My heart bleeds with sorrow for my fellow countrymen - mothers who saw their children being swept away by the waves before their eyes, children who were orphaned and had nowhere to go, and for those who had lost their lives. Seeing the destruction, the pain, and the agony of loss, inspired me to help those affected by the Tsunami restore their shattered lives, for I know what it feels like to see no hope in the horizon when I was growing up during the ethnic war. During the summer, I collaborated with the Wrestling the World organization in a project to uplift the devastated region of Galle in Sri Lanka. We worked to restore a Home for the disabled where many of its residents died during the Tsunami. We also donated many essentials like books, school supplies, sanitation, and toys to two orphanages and a girls' school, both that desperately lacked them. Even though this project was a lot of hard work, it was very fulfilling and rewarding to help those in need, to reach out to my fellow countrymen who are less fortunate than I am, and to show them I care. I feel grateful to have been given an opportunity to help those who have lived a life of suffering, a life that had been mine before I was given the opportunity to pursue my dreams in America.
| PIERCE CITY |
 |
| Dorothy Blinzler |
|
|
May 4, 2003 is a day in the history of a small southwest Missouri town many locals agree is one of the worst days in the life of the more than 100-year-old town of Pierce City.
On that fateful day Mother Nature released her wrath on this small town with a population of just more than 1,000 residents. In less than 20 seconds, the storm, ranked by the weather service as an F3 tornado had taken one life and torn apart the century-old buildings.
How does a community this small recover? With lots of prayers, dedication from community leaders, business owners and area citizens, that question seems to have been answered now, almost three years later.
Early on, questions abounded whether the business owners could or would rebuild. Would the First Baptist Church parishioners be able to keep their faith? Would the business owners even want to rebuild? A short time later those questions were being answered.
Pierce City was on the road to recovery when city leaders found, after wrestling with the problem of how to even put a recovery plan into place, help came from all across the world. Strangers who had never heard of Pierce City traveled to the community to offer assistance wherever needed.
An example of this help came from Whitewater, Wisconsin in the form of approximately 13 young adults. Wrestling with the question of whether they should pack up and make the more than 12-hour drive, the group didn’t take long to say, “Yes, we are going.” This, according to Phil Klamm and Matt Warner, two of the organizers, in the end turned out to be one of the easiest decisions they would make.
During the group’s three-day stay in southwest Missouri, the individual members of the group helped salvage merchandise from some of the stores on Commercial Street, clear debris from the streets and homeowners’ yards.
According to Klamm after their return to Wisconsin the yearning to help others had taken hold. They organized the WrestlingTheWorld group and were well on their way to pitching in where help was needed.
Klamm and Warner, in fact, made a return trip to Pierce City in 2005 to visit and see the little town where they helped make a difference in the lives of its residents. During the return trip the two visited the new city hall, grocery store, pharmacy, senior citizens center and other businesses--witnessing with their own eyes what volunteering assistance really means to those who have been dealt a hard blow.
The WrestlingTheWorld organization saw a community that stuck together through the thick of the storm and road it out. What they found was a community that was, “Bent but not broken.”
The “Bent but not broken” slogan has been engraved on a plaque beside a bronze cross now setting in the yard of the First United Methodist Church. The cross once stood atop the steeple of the church. Though it was twisted and bent during the events of May 4, 2003, it is a testimony of the small town that stood up to Mother Nature and did not break.
|
|
|
