Elmwood church adopts African village
AIDS epidemic leaves many orphaned kids
By Jolie Toews May 8, 2008 |
An Elmwood church’s outreach program has stretched all the way to a small community in Africa.
A group from Riverwood Church Community recently embarked on a mission to a village in Swaziland to help the AIDS-infected community become more self-sufficient.
“It’s not just to drop relief off, but to help them set up ways to support themselves,” Riverwood pastor and outreach co-ordinator Jon Courtney said.
The Riverwood congregation has also been supporting the village by selling African-made items and donating funds to set up a “care point” near the village.
The “care point” will consist of an existing lean-to for cooking with an adjoining building that will be used as a school and a church.
The congregation has been working with Children’s Hope Chest, an organization that matched the group with the village of Enaleni.
“They believe that a community should be linked with another community to create a personal relationship and long-term commitment,” said Courtney, 29.
“It’s about restoring dignity.”
Courtney, his wife, Kelly, and another couple visited Enaleni from Jan. 28 to Feb. 7.
They brought 250 lbs of school supplies, toys and hygiene items with them for the children of Enaleni, Courtney said.
“It was an unbelievable experience. It was really eye-opening to see the help they need,” he said.
“AIDS is so rampant there. So many kids are orphaned.”
Courtney and Kelly have chosen to sponsor a nine-year-old boy, Luketfo, whom they met while in Enaleni.
“He wasn’t expressive, he wasn’t interacting with the other kids, wasn’t smiling,” he said.
“I just thought, ‘What has happened in this boy’s life that made him this way?’”
The cost to sponsor a child is $35 per month, said Courtney, who signed up to sponsor Luketfo during Riverwood’s recent three-week fundraising campaign.
Riverwood attendees have so far sponsored 54 children from Enaleni.
The goal of the campaign was to raise $7,000 to dig a well near the village, but the congregation managed to far exceed that, pulling in $26,000.
Apart from making personal donations, people bought jewelry, paintings and handbags the Courtneys brought back from Africa.
Courtney, an avid photographer, even enlarged photos he took of some of the Enaleni children and put them up for sale.
The Courtneys plan to return to Africa within a year to continue with Riverwood’s mission.
