Letters from the Missions

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=220 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <IMG SRC="13eb8750.jpg" border=0 width="184" height="117" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>"We, who have received the love of Christ through the Spirit must not contain it..."</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Volunteer Missionary Movement (VMMUSA)"><U>Home Page</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tuesdays Reflection"><U>Tuesdays Reflection</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mission Statement"><U>Mission Statement</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id215.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Vision Statement"><U>Vision Statement</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ways You Can Help Us"><U>Ways You Can Help Us</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="All About VMM"><U>All About VMM</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Application Qualifications"><U>Application Qualifications</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Discernment Process"><U>Discernment Process</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="application.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Application Form"><U>Application Form</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U>Related Links</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bridges Newsletter"><U>Bridges Newsletter</U></A></div> <div> <B>Letters from the Missions</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adobe Printing Instructions"><U>Adobe Printing Instructions</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U>Contact Us</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.guidestar.org/partners/networkforgood/donate.jsp?ein=36-3153581" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.guidestar.org/partners/networ"><U><IMG SRC="1887e300.gif" border=0 width="126" height="48" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <div>  <form method="get" action="http://search.atomz.com/search/"> <input size=15 name="sp-q"><br> <input type=submit value="Search"> <input type=hidden name="sp-a" value="sp10020180"> <input type=hidden name="sp-f" value="iso-8859-1"> </form></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>Volunteer Missionary Movement (VMM-USA)</B></I></FONT>     |     <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Volunteer Missionary Movement (VMMUSA)"><U>home</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Letters from the Missions</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> (<I>Note: the following letter was just received from Janet Gerber, who along with her husband, Dan, have been serving at a hospice in Uganda. Tracy O'Heir, whom Janet refers to in this letter, has been serving refugees in Sudan.</I>)</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="503" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 194 WIDTH="241"><div> 9 June 2004</div> <bR> <div> Today Uganda is celebrating Hero's Day.  It is a national holiday when those who have been the best war fighting soldiers are honored.  I have to wonder who the real heroes' are in this world.  I will tell you about one of mine from last week.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1f5fca50.jpg" border=0 width="252" height="165" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Our 30-year-old friend from Chicago, Tracy O'Heir, has been a volunteer in a refugee camp in Nimule, South Sudan for the past two years.  She often referred to me as her mom as I am plenty old enough to be.  She visited our home in Mbarara at times for a retreat from her daily life in the camp.  She had asked me a few times if I would like to visit her there and in March of this year I agreed.  Yes I was fearful because this is the area of double war. The LRA Joseph Kony army from Uganda and the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) who have been fighting for many years are all there. This trip left me with many reactions and emotions to deal with. But I thought if Tracy could be there two years I could at least visit for four days.  In Uganda they say <I>you really aren't my friend until you have visited my home</I>.</div> <div> Tuesday we flew from Entebbe to Nimule in a five-seat plane.  Those of you who know me know how I hate those small planes.  But it is not safe to go by road.  Flying low on this two-hour flight, we could see all the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camps in Northern Uganda.  These are people who have left their homes to huddle in a safer place because of LRA attacks. Thousands of families are living this way, waiting to go home. We saw no vehicles on the road or movement of people.  We landed on a rough rocky field runway in  Nimule. It was hot.</div> <div> Nimule is a refugee camp of Sudanese people 'waiting to go home'.  The other folks there are UN or religious refugee service staff.  The Jesuit Relief Service compound was filled with trees and staff living quarters, primitive but comfortable.  Tracy asked us not to go outside the compound unless she or other staff was with us.  We were introduced to many military people that day.  There is no official government in this Sudan outside of the SPLA.  Their peace agreement with Northern Sudan was signed two weeks ago but as one student said, "it is only on paper. The hard part is for us to do now".  SPLA army was ever present, as well as some UPDF Uganda army. Everyone owns a gun, not just the military people!</div> <div> On Wednesday we traveled 24 miles north to visit four school sites where Tracy had worked.  We reported our plans to the official office and went through a few road checks. Most of the land was empty with houses destroyed.  A few of the brave families had started to move back to their homesites.  That was a joy to see. There was war machinery along the road and bomb-made gorges.  Along a certain part of the road we were told not to get off the road as there were many landmines planted.</div> <div> One of the saddest sites for me was a large Catholic compound that had been there for over 60 years, including a church, schools, health center etc.  But in 1997, it was bombed and they had to evacuate.  The brick walls still stood and the cathedral was bullet marked.   People have begun to come back to worship there and they are slowly trying to repair it. A local priest lives in a small corner of the church.  I shed some tears there as I looked at the senseless destruction.  I don't believe in war -- it makes no sense to me.  I cannot believe we, as humans have not developed beyond having to use this kind of destruction to settle our differences.</div> <div> Thursday the SPLA Commander General wanted to take us to what he called a game reserve.  We had to cross the Nile and trek through tall grass to a place where 3 tents (he said came from Wisconsin) were pitched.   The men were tracking elephants of which they say are many.  Unfortunately the elephants had gone back over the hills to Uganda.  BUT -- they had a little Sony video and had filmed them to prove to us there are around.  We sat on a grass mat in the heat of the day and watched this little 4x4-inch screen of these elephants and a python they had filmed a few feet from where we were seated.  We were served warm soda and glucose crackers.  At one point I just sat there and laughed at the ridiculousness of the scene...sitting in a Kony war zone looking for elephants on a little camcorder, drinking warm soda and sweating like crazy.</div> <div> Friday noon we left Nimule by boat on the Nile.  It was an hour ride -- then short distance by land to the ferry where we crossed the Nile again -- then finally by road to Adjumani, a town in Northern Uganda where hundreds more Sudanese and Ugandan refugees are gathered.  After overnight there we flew back to Entebbe over the unsafe roads due to ambush in Uganda.</div> <div> Tracy is my hero of this year.  What courage it would take for a young woman to live in this situation for two years, dealing daily with SPLA, hearing bomber planes overhead and having a bunker on her compound for safety if needed.  Yet as I observed at her going away party which we attended, she had become one of them, their struggle for peace was/is her struggle.  She had touched many lives from young to old, common folk to Commanders.  She was declared a citizen of New Sudan and presented with a flag.</div> <div> My life in Mbarara is easy compared to Tracy's.  We are in the hot dry season.  We are awaiting the Lombard Mennonite church youth group to visit us in the next 10 days.  LMC has been very supportive to us in the past four years...We will now get to show them good Ugandan hospitality and welcome them to our home.</div> <div> Wishing you all a good summer.  I realize this month we are missing two important family reunions, the 4th of July in Chicago and much more.  We will think of you all during those days. Take care and peace to all.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B>Janet, Uganda</B></I>   </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>(Note: </I><I>Claudia Milligan served at Safe Passage in Guatemala from Nov. 2001 to Nov. 2003.  Her sending organizations were VMM-USA, St. John's Episcopal Cathedral (saintjohnscathedral.org), and friends across the USA. She returned to Jacksonville, FL, and is chief development officer at Hubbard House, Inc., the first emergency shelter in Florida for the safety of women experiencing domestic violence. </I><I>To learn more about how you can be involved with Safe Passage or any of the other VMM mission projects, please </I><A HREF="mailto:info@vmmusa.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@vmmusa.org"><U><I>email VMM's Mission Services Director</I></U></A><I>.</I><I>)</I></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="488" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 357 ><NOBR><bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1fb01070.jpg" border=0 width="257" height="263" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="241"><div> Reflections?  How do I even start to write of my two-year service to Safe Passage … service to Hanley and her administrative staff, to the local teachers and children, and to foreign volunteers?  Maybe I start by sharing the final days in the project and in Guatemala?  I spent much of the final weeks with tears in my eyes, as I looked upon the children and staff of Camino Seguro or in my thoughts of them ... conversations, touches, smiles, looks we shared.  I now journey through the grief process…the loss of a special time with special friends.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> Several outstanding things come to my mind.  The 300+ children and staff were generous and gracious in their three-day farewell.  Children wrote cards, made gifts, sang songs, and gave parties.  Many of the older children were shyer in their hugs, but their message of love for the foreign grandmother was clear.  The younger children were much more demonstrative with big hugs and wet kisses.  I will never forget five- year old Erick, with his giant sobs, as he hugged my neck and cried words of love and missing me.  In two years, I only saw Erick look at me for a quick second before he ran to play with younger volunteers.  These were the same children, who were initially unaccepting of the older woman, who never conquered expressing herself in Spanish, but relied on her hugs and smiles to win their trust and acceptance. </div> <div> Writing of not knowing the affect one has on others...at the farewell parties with the teachers and the administrative staff, many said how much they had learned from me.  What a surprise!  What did these people learn from me?  It certainly was nothing I shared verbally.  Maybe it was my willingness to listen and accept each person without judging.  Hanley reminds volunteers that we are guests in the project and I always tried to be respectful of each person…whether Guatemalan or foreign.  Each day, I awoke saying, "how do I serve this day?"  Originally, I thought my service was to work with the children, but I realize the greater connection was with the adults.  As I sit here with tears in my eyes, I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to be a part of their lives.</div> <div> After leaving the project, I have had many revelations.  Ten years ago or more, I started questioning and searching for simplicity.  As I look around Guatemala, its land and its people, I learned simplicity…at its finest...however, simplicity does not equal easy.  Life in Guatemala is not an easy life.  As difficult as many days were in my 28 months, I wish to never forget the lessons of life I have learned having lived and served there.</div> <div> Can one person change the world?  At the beginning of my service in Guatemala (September, 2001…pre 9/11), the skeptic in me answered, "NO!"  Now I can honestly say, "YES!"  I change the world…not by changing others, but by changing myself.  I will never be the same.  I will never look at the faces of my brothers and sisters of the world or at home in the same way.  I am the one who is changed.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <I><B>Claudia</B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>