Africa Archives - Cross International

Clean Water and a Small Business in Africa

July 26, 2021 by Cross International

Shallow Wells and Waterborne Disease

Ireen is a young mom who lives in western Zambia with her pre-school age daughter. Her only source of income is farming. Though she dreamed of starting her own small business in Africa, and building a better life for the two of them, Ireen had something holding her back—lack of clean water. Every day, Ireen spent lots of time walking long distances to retrieve water from shallow wells. Making matters worse, the water was unclean and, in combination with lack of proper sanitation and hygiene, caused Ireen and her daughter to suffer with waterborne diseases. Struggling with sickness and laboring long hours to retrieve water, Ireen was only able to provide one meal a day for herself and her daughter.

Escaping Poverty in Africa

Despite her difficult situation, Ireen was determined to break free from the cycle of poverty in Africa. Dreaming of starting her own business, she reached out to Cross International’s partner in Zambia, the Kachere Development Program (KDP). She learned that KDP was running a self-help group for women in her area to help them become small business entrepreneurs. Ireen joined the group, but her struggles with clean water made it difficult to attend the meetings regularly.

Thanks to Cross International supporters, KDP staff saw Ireen’s troubles and knew how to help her escape poverty in Africa. A local water, sanitation, and hygiene committee was formed and Ireen was named its secretary. A new community well was soon under construction along with efforts to improve hygiene and sanitation in the community.

Clean Water Brings Hope

Since the well was completed, Ireen’s life has greatly improved. With access to clean, safe water, and knowledge of proper hygiene and sanitation, Ireen and her daughter’s health has improved. And, instead of spending time fetching water, Ireen is able to work on starting her own business. Just six months later, Ireen was finally able to provide three meals per day for her family.

Ireen is also growing in her faith and attending church and Bible study. She is so grateful for the help she’s received!

Thank you for blessing Ireen, and so many others, through your support of Cross International. Your generosity truly has the power to transform lives.

If you want to help other women like Ireen, and support the construction of water wells, hygiene education, community transformation initiatives in African communities, and to work towards breaking the cycle of poverty, please visit this page.

A Chance to Go to School in Africa

July 22, 2021 by Cross International

Education Problems in Africa

At 12 years old, Ayana dreamed of completing her education in Malawi, Africa. Sadly, when her parents divorced, Ayana’s mother was no longer able to pay her school fees. The family was struggling so badly that they would go from relative to relative in search of food and shelter. The inability to pay school fees is one of the most common education problems in Africa. This financial barrier often prevents children from impoverished families like Ayana’s from receiving a quality education. This cycle can keep families in poverty for generations.

Helping Children Go to School in Africa

Through the generous support of friends like you, Cross International is partnering with organizations in Africa that are reaching out to poor families like Ayana’s. In Malawi, that partner is the Ambuya Development Center (ADC). Ayana’s mother reached out and, thanks to supporters like you, Ayana was able to enroll in ADC’s program. Her dream of continuing her education is now coming true!

Returning to the African Classroom

With support for her school fees, Ayana is now able to stay in school. Not only that, she gets to enjoy a hot lunch every day! She enjoys the ADC program, playing with the other children, and making friends. She’s also learning all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Now that her dream of an education in Africa is coming true, Ayana now has a new dream—to become a doctor so that she can help the sick.

Thank you for blessing children like Ayana with the quality education that can help lift them, and their families, out of poverty. Your support of Cross International has made it possible for Ayana to pursue her dreams. Thank you for giving her hope!

If you want to help more vulnerable children like Ayana stay in school and open the door to escape poverty, please visit our Thriving Kids page and support this cause.

A boy born with a bowed leg

February 15, 2021 by Cross International

Pemphero’s uncle heard a loud truck passing through his village, blasting a radio commercial from a megaphone. This is a common practice in rural Malawi, where TVs are still considered a luxury. Today, the commercial announced corrective surgeries being available for disabled children. Pemphero’s uncle looked down at his nephew’s bowed right leg and wondered if perhaps there was hope for the young boy.

Pemphero’s affliction has been hard on him. For most of his childhood, he has only known loneliness.

Pemphero’s sister had been kind enough to help. She and her husband took him in when others would not. But they also knew the likelihood that nothing would change being in another village. They tried to educate him and provide work, but the stigma against deformities and differences was too high. The community rejected him. There was only so much his loving siblings could do.

But that didn’t stop them! They heard the commercial and sought corrective surgery for Pemphero. “God spoke to us in a loud way!” they said. After meeting with doctors at the clinic, Pemphero was admitted to the hospital. He was given the life-changing news that surgery and a frame on his right leg would correct it. He was a timid boy who had been through so much already and was on the verge of something amazing

Never could his family imagine what would happen next, what joy would emerge from that somber little boy with the bowed leg.

What has happened is more than a feel-good story of a brave little boy enduring painful treatment in a hospital to get better.

What has happened is a transformation of spirit – all made possible as a result of generous donors just like you.

With the help of Cross International and CURE Malawi, your gifts have helped Pemphero go from being spiritually disconnected and hopeless to becoming the funniest kid in the hospital! He pretends he’s Batman in the X-ray room or Spiderman shooting webs from his hands to make the other children laugh. He thinks he’s a superhero, because he is one.

Pemphero has not only been able to grow in confidence but has literally been able to grow the bone that is necessary to move him beyond stigma into a life of opportunity – all thanks to someone with a loving heart like yours. His favorite memories at the hospital were in the playroom and at devotions, when everyone was praising God together, many with disabilities but no longer outcasts or forgotten.

His story is one of great personal triumph but impossible without donors like you. Each gift you give provides another disabled outcast child, wondering the dusty streets of their village alone, on opportunity at new life.

You can help transform the lives of other lonely and outcast children like Pemphero.

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How our ministry partners are adapting to COVID-19

April 23, 2020 by Cross International

The COVID-19 crisis is truly unprecedented. Our ministry partners face challenges they’ve never faced before. They need to address the reality of the coronavirus and ensure essential ministry services can continue. We are working with them closely to create highly-adaptable plans that can be adjusted as the crisis unfolds.

Today we may feel uncertainty. But nothing surprises God.
God is already prepared for everything we’re going to face tomorrow, next week, and next month. What the future holds may seem unclear to us, but it doesn’t surprise God. Nothing ever catches Him off guard. We’re seeing evidence of His provision in how our ministry partners are able and equipped to adapt.

Like in Eastern Zambia, where over the past five years Cross International has fully supported 47 water systems and trained thousands in the region with proper WASH techniques through our partner Kachere Development Programme (KDP). When the coronavirus hit the area, KDP leaders jumped into action. They worked together with the Ministry of Health to equip and train community facilitators on proper handwashing, sanitation, and social distancing practices to educate the public. A place where just five years ago had no access to water is now leading community efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and waterborne disease.

God knew what would be needed. He prepared the way.
Or consider the “shelter-at-home” directive that’s only effective when you have a home. So many of the world’s poor live without adequate housing and lack the ability to have a safe place to shelter or social distance into. And yet over the years in places like Guatemala, Cross International has partnered to build new homes for impoverished families through the generosity of people like you. Now, communities can help slow the spread of the coronavirus to others simply by staying at home.

God provides, even in uncertain times.
At Ambuya Development Center (ADC) in Malawi, schools are closed–and they are the only source of food for many children. Within the last few years, the center received God’s provision of a water system, hired a consultant to teach parents and children the importance of hygiene and sanitation, and gifted new homes to families in need. All of this happened before the appearance of COVID-19. Today, ADC staff members have the knowledge to train kitchen staff on proper sanitation so they can safely prepare meals for over 300 children, and families have the refuge of safe homes.

The pandemic changes our situation by the minute and, like each of our ministry partners, we’re adapting with it. What hasn’t changed is our commitment: to serve those in need around the world. We’re helping our partners adjust as we learn more each day, and our partners are better equipped for the unexpected because of your generous giving. Your ongoing support will help us meet these unprecedented needs today, and the needs God is preparing us for tomorrow.

COVID-19’s impact on our ministry partners and how you can help

April 16, 2020 by Cross International

Usually, we bring you statistics about how your giving has made an impact across our ministry partnerships. Today, our stats tell the story of how urgently your giving is needed by spotlighting a few partners. Amidst a global pandemic, COVID-19, ministries typically open to the community are closing their doors to service in order to help stop the spread of the virus. Organizations are forced to lay off workers to preserve funds, and food, medical supplies, and resources are running low. Now more than ever, our partners need your generosity and your prayers.

IN GUATEMALA

200 elderly, 100’s of children
450 workers were laid off at Hope of Life in Guatemala. 250 staff members continue to care for more than 200 elderly and many children: in the orphanage, more than 100 children with special needs, and a hospital full of malnourished individuals. They estimate their food supply, which normally feeds over 4,000 people annually, will last four weeks, and medicine will last for only 10 days.

278 children
Almost 100 children live in a family-style orphanage at Casa Bernabé in Guatemala, and 197 children from the community attend school here. The gates are closed to ALL non-residents, including cleaning and kitchen staff, teachers, and administrators. They face shortages of meat, cleaning supplies, and medicines. Items that can be found are often double or triple the normal price. Casa Bernabé receives no public funding and funding has sharply decreased since the pandemic.

IN NICARAGUA

160 children + family members
Arms of Love in Nicaragua serves over 160 vulnerable children and their large families. They have purchased additional food to feed their children for three weeks, and stores are selling out of food and medical stock quickly.

IN UGANDA

900+ young girls
More than 900 girls participate in the Project Princess Initiative program in Kampala, Uganda. Many are orphaned and live with elderly grandparents, who are highly vulnerable to the virus. This forces families to move, causing disruption, distraction, and most impactfully–school dropout. Family incomes are suffering as the economy shrinks and work stops as a result of lockdown.

IN ZAMBIA

2,400 villagers
At Kachere Development Programme (KDP) in Eastern Zambia, there is an urgent need for more clean water systems to support 2,400 villagers. Local Chiefs continue to ask for immediate assistance for clean water and WASH (Water Access, Sanitation, and Hygiene) training to help stop the spread of the virus.

IN HAITI

4,000 students
Divine Shelter Schools (DSS) is a network of 16 school locations that serve over 4,000 students in vulnerable communities in Haiti. Schools have been closed now for two weeks, and leadership is drafting a plan to create a life-sustaining feeding program for five schools that serve the poorest and most rural communities in the school network.

We are seeing a pattern with the partners we serve across the world: supplies are running thin, staff numbers are low, and your support is needed now more than ever. Cross International and our local partners are working together to identify needs, create plans to meet those needs, and adjust as the crisis unfolds. Our plans not only support immediate needs but integrate into the longer-term recovery and stability. As we remain focused on God’s sovereignty, we invite you to support this crucial and urgent work by giving today!