May 8, 2012 by Micah
This May 13th is Mother’s Day and a special time to share with her your care and appreciation. We would like to provide an opportunity that will not only encourage your mom but will also help a needy mother in Africa receive the skills and encouragement that she needs to be able to provide for her family. Countless mothers in Africa have every intention and a deep desire to provide for their children. Poverty and lack of knowledge squelches opportunity and the family suffers due to lack of food, school fees, and other basic necessities for life.
You can bypass the same usual gifts this Mother’s Day and give her something that is life changing for a family in need. For $30 We are able to provide a mother in Africa with the opportunity to participate in a special SKILLS FOR LIFE training session.
Here sessions in agriculture and business are combined with motivation and encouragement to help a needy mom put her family on a whole new course for the better. It’s meaningful – takes only a few minutes – AND we will send you an e-card you can print and pass onto your mother – letting her know that you have chosen to honor her in this unique way – by helping change the course of a family in need.
CLICK HERE to send your gift(s) and we will email you a card to print and give to that special woman in your life
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April 16, 2012 by Micah
Our spring Cultivate Magazine is here! Check out all the great stories here.
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March 8, 2012 by Micah
Rural women constitute one-fourth of the world’s population. They are leaders, decision-makers, producers, workers, entrepreneurs and service providers. Their contributions are vital to the well-being of families and communities, and of local and national economies.
Yet rural women’s rights, contributions and priorities have been largely overlooked. Rural women have also been hard hit by the economic and financial crisis, volatile food prices and export-driven agriculture. They need to be fully engaged in efforts to shape a response to these inter-connected crises and in decision-making at all levels.
Now Is the Time to Act
Rural women are key agents of change. Their leadership and participation are needed to shape responses to development challenges and recent crises.
Women are central to the development of rural areas: they account for a great proportion of the agricultural labour force, produce the majority of food grown, especially in subsistence farming, and perform most of the unpaid care work in rural areas. It is critical that their contributions be recognized and that their voices be heard in decision-making processes at all levels of governments, and within rural organizations.
Consider this story and learn how you can get involved today.
Here are a few photos from our Communications Director, Micah Albert, from over the last 5 years.
Kenya
South Sudan
DRC
Tanzania
South Sudan
Kenya
Bukavu, DRC
South Sudan
DRC
South Sudan
Global Data
70 percent of the developing world’s 1.4 billion extremely poor live in rural areas. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly one-third of these, while South Asia is now home to about half.
In 2010, 925 million people were chronically hungry, of whom 60 percent were women.
Agriculture provides a livelihood for 86 percent of rural women and men, and employment for about 1.3 billion smallholder farmers and landless workers, 43 percent of whom are women.
An estimated two-thirds of the 400 million poor livestock keepers worldwide are women.
The burden of unpaid care work is substantial. Globally there are 884 million people without safe drinking water, 1.6 billion people without reliable sources of energy, 1 billion people who lack access to roads, 2.6 billion people without satisfactory sanitation facilities, and 2.7 billion people who rely on open fires and traditional cooking stoves. Rural women carry most of the unpaid work burden due to lack of infrastructure and services.
In rural areas of the developing world, excluding China, 45 percent of women aged 20–24 were married or in union before the age of 18, compared to 22 percent of urban women.
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January 9, 2012 by Micah
Load carriers outside of Bukavu, South Kivu, DR Congo. (photo: Micah Albert) Learn more about these woman in an upcoming documentary film, “Heavy Loads” – Eliane Beeson
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January 5, 2012 by Micah
Cathy Lessig gives the devotion in the Kipkaren Children’s Home. (Photo: Micah Albert)
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January 4, 2012 by Micah
Recovered with the help of ELI’s AA program, this family in Kenya now makes bricks instead of alcohol. Learn more about ELI’s AA program. (Photo: Micah Albert)
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December 30, 2011 by Micah
Students at the ELI school in Bukavu, DR Congo. (Photo: Micah Albert)
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December 29, 2011 by Micah
Ilula kids at the Samro school. (Photo: Micah Albert)
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November 23, 2011 by Micah
Check your mailbox this week for our newest edition of Cultivate Magazine – it’s hot off the press. It’s full of great stories, images, writing, and great ways for you to get involved this holiday season and help those that ELI serves in Africa. Click here to see the magazine.
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November 22, 2011 by Micah
As a pastor and one of the fathers at the children’s home, it was a proud moment for me as we came together early Saturday morning for the baptism of 13 children. It was day long awaited by the children after many months of baptismal classes, study and prayer. The day had come and with it, many dark clouds and a cold wind. All of us felt the damp chill in the air as we walked 3 kilometers to the place where the baptism was to take place, the Marura River. I knew the water would be very cold, but I also knew the heart of the children. It wouldn’t matter to them. We finally got to the river and the children and I removed our socks and shoes and I rolled up my pant legs. This was the moment we all had been waiting for, especially for a boy named Derick. This young man has been through many trials, but his heart now belongs to the Lord and his focus is on his walk with the Lord. I took Derick’s hand as we entered into the icy waters of the river. In front of his peers, I asked him if he believed in Jesus as his Saviour. He looked up at me and smiled, eyes full of happiness, and confidently said, “Yes”. My heart was overjoyed to hear that simple word. Hearing it, I knew what it meant for Derick – it meant eternal life. A smile quickly appeared on my face and I said, “Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in accordance to the Holy Scriptures.” He held my hands tightly and I immersed him slowly into the river. He arose, his face beaming and as I suspected, unaffected by anything other than warm delight he felt in heart. Tears filled my eyes as I congratulated Derick and applauded this milestone in his young life. I was proud of all our kids; it was a day that will not be forgotten.
- by Jonah Chepsat (Father & Pastor at the Ilula Children’s Home)
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