Sorry for the Delay in Posting

As I sit here with a window open, I can hear the choir from a church across the street, practicing for their Sunday morning service (imagine the sounds of stereotypical African Church Choir and you have what I am enjoying). I decided that I needed to post a quick explanation of the delay in my posting. At the end of every month Pieter, Rika, and their three children take a trip to South Africa for supplies, and a bit of a getaway. When Pieter leaves, he takes his computer with him, and without his computer we have no Internet at the house. I have been continuing to write while he was gone about everything that has happened in the last couple of days and I posted it today. Make sure to read back a couple of posts to make sure you haven't missed any of the story. I am also trying to upload some more pictures to my flickr account so check that out also.

Molly and I are leaving for South Africa tomorrow morning via the bus. It is sure to be an adventure and probably will have a story to follow. We have to leave Mozambique because you can't be in the country for more than 30 days at a time on our passport without renewing our visas.

This gives us a good excuse to take a short trip. We will be in Nelspruit, South Africa from July 1st - 4th. We have rented a VW Cabrio and will be hanging out, checking out Krueger National Park, and a place called God's Window. I'm sure that we will find other things that we want to do also. It should be a good break from all the work at the baby house. I will take lots of pictures to share. We are both excited for the short break in the action. I don't know if I will have internet access while I am gone, but check back regularly for new updates. I miss everyone at home and hope all is going well.

Thank You!

The following is a short thank you list of people & places in my life:

- To the Embassy of the Republic of Mozambique.
* I finally have my passport in hand, and it has my visa stamped in it so that I can come into your fine country. Thank you for being prompt in processing my paper work.
- To the Kansas City Public Library (Plaza Branch)
* I am very thankful that you finally found the nine books of children's poetry (5th grade poetry unit) on your shelves that were said to be still checked out on my library account. I no longer have $154.00 fine for books that I returned many months ago.
- To the great community of friends that I have at The Gathering
* I love the fact that I have great friends that care about each other, and will pray for each other when it is needed.

- To everyone who has responded in any way to my upcoming trip to Mozambique, Africa
* I have been blown away by the generosity of people in my life that want to help me out and be a part of what is happening in Mozambique. I have been, and still am penny-pinching to make sure that I have the funds in order to make the trip work.
In the last month, after much encouraging and friends almost forcing me to send out letters to let others participate in Mozambique at the baby house/orphanage. Honestly, I was very hesitant to ask for help financially, but I was told that I need to allow people to be involved. Out of obedience, and pressure from friends, even though I was still not super comfortable with asking for financial help, I went ahead and sent out a few letters to family and friends.
Can I just tell you, it has been so neat to see people step out and volunteer to help. I really didn't know what to expect as a response, and honestly didn't have any expectations of people showing interest. It is so wonderful to know that people in my life are excited to help with a project that I feel so strongly lead to participate in.
I will never be able to describe how touched and moved I have been as I come home and find notes/cards in the mailbox sharing words of encouragement, promises of prayer while I am gone, and financial support. It is very comforting to know that I have a group of people in the States that is interested, concerned, caring, and is praying for me while I travel to work with wonderful people who I'm so excited to be able to support and serve alongside. Thank you for your continued prayer, and support.



In the picture are pictured Pieter, Rika, and some of their wonderful "little" family. These are the people that I have the privilege to work next to all summer.

I Need Your Help

By the way, I have been trying my hardest to let others know about this blog. It makes it more fun to write when I know that I have people reading. I also want to use this website to increase awareness for Africa, and what is happening while I am there.

If you would just make a simple link from your blog or website to mine, that would be a huge help! I want as many people as possible to be able to participate in reading, while I am gone. If you have friends that might be interested in my trip please share about my website with them. I would be honored! Also, I love to know if you are reading, please post a comment, or send a note to justinberger5@gmail.com .

Thank you so much.

jb

Why Africa???

Yesterday, I had the privledge of going to the airport to help pick up five of my nine friends (four of them are stuck in Washington D.C. until tonight) that have been in Ethiopia for the last 10 days. It was so neat to get a little bit of a glimpse, from the few stories that were shared, of what I have to look forward to on my upcoming trip.

Mark, one of the guys that just got back, let me borrow a book a few weeks ago, and I have been reading my way through it for the last couple of days. It has really given me some insight into why Africa struggles the way that it does, but it also paints a really neat picture of all the potential that Africa has to suceed as a continent.

Facts that I found interesting from Against All Hope: Hope for Africa:

Natural Resources
- Africa has the land space of the United States, Europe, New Zealand, India, Argentina, and China (22.3% of the world's total land value).
- It has been said that Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo have the agricultural potential to feed the entire continent.
- If Africa could dam major rivers, there would be enough water to plant crops in the worst drought stricken areas.

Poverty Stats.
-14% of the world's population lives in Africa, but produces slightly less than 2% of the world's Gross National Product.
-17 of the 21 poorest countries in the world are in Africa.
-148 out of every 1,000 children will die before their 5th birthday.
-Average life expectancy is 51 years old.
-29 of the 42 countries with the lowest literacy rates in the world are found in Africa.
-Human Development Index (HDI) measures the "quality of life." based on life expectancy, literacy rates, educational attainment, and adjusted real income. 33 of the bottom 40 countries on the HDI scale are in Africa. (Mozambique is number 171 out of 177. The United States was listed in the top 8.)
-34 of the 50 "least developed countries" are in Africa. (Mozambique is also on that list)
-Mozambique is #7 on the list of "Least Livable Countries." (#1 is Sierra Leone)

HIV/AIDS
-71% of the world's AIDS cases are in Africa.
-6,000 people die in Africa with the disease each day.
-A conservative estimate of 28,500,000 Africans are infected with HIV/AIDS.
-About 12,000,000 children are orphaned throughout Africa as a result of both parents dying from HIV/AIDS.

Corruption Perception Index (CPI)
- CPI is a scale that ranks countries on a scale of Highly Clean(10) to Highly Corrupt (0). Sixteen of the African countries that were surveyed rated as highly corrupt. Mozambique ranks at 2.8 on the Corruption Perception Scale.
- Among the world's richest men are African heads of state.
- It is estimated that approximately $148,000,000,000 is in secret bank accounts of African rulers. This represents about half of the $300 billion that Africa as a whole owes its foreign creditors.

So the question of "Why Africa?" Africa is a place that needs people to care about it. I think that these statistics help to paint a picture of a continent that is without hope. They help to paint a picture of a continent that needs more people to be aware of what is going on. I have choosen to help make sure that the people that I come in contact with know about Africa. These statistics will hopefully help to explain the urgency of the message that Africa needs our help.

That is why I have choosen to take the opportunity to spend my summer in Maputo, Mozambique. If I happen to run into a hippo while I'm there, it will make the trip all that more memorable.


jb