Two decades ago I was in search of a special challenge: To offer a piece of my life providing healthcare in a nation at war. Simultaneously, a coalition of church in the southern African nation of Angola put out a call for assist in launching a clinic ministry. Thus began a partnership that’s endured through today. Next week I depart for my sixteenth summer in Angola.
When I first arrived in 1989 the plight of children was paramount. Most schools had long since been shuttered – closed by the colonists who feared an educated public and evacuated by the armies who preferred child as soldiers. Diseases of poverty (measles, malaria, dysentery, malnutrition) abounded, cultivated by absent vaccinations, mosquito nets, safe drinking water, and a pervasive attitude the childhood death was normal.
Today’s Angola is much improved. Armed conflict has ceased. Roads are now traversable. Some school have the lights on. Nevertheless, the plight of Angolan children remains grave, among the 15 Worst Countries for Children to Grow Up In. What can you yourself do? This complex question may cause you, like myself, to go in search of a special challenge, a unique partnership, to offer a piece of your life on their behalf.