Thursday, February 21, 2013

Seek to build Unity

These wonderful ladies are the officers of Chuuk Women's council ~  they have 17 other groups of women from all over Chuuk state that participate.  They promote women’s leadership, education on health and gender issues, environmental conservation, and the preservation of traditional and cultural crafts.  The center is a formerly registered Non-Governmental Organization in the Federated States of Micronesia and possesses a Non-Profit, Tax Exempt Number, that allows the deduction of donations by U.S. contributors.
Here is a picture of the first group of young mothers involved in the "Mother & Child" classes they just started this year.  We have had the opportunity through the "Bringing the Love" project to Chuuk to donate many baby clothes and baby toys for the class.  There are many opportunities where we have come to know other people and build unity.  We have learned the importance of having an attitude of "what can I give today?" rather than "what will I get today?"
The group is for ages 12-25 years old and the class is up to 2 months.  They meet twice a week if they are a mother now and it is limited to 15 ladies a class.
They will learn many things starting with how to take care of their bodies, how and why is it is important to understand family planning, how to feed their baby and create healthy meals for both mother and child.

They will get to learn the general knowledge of how they conceived a baby.
In many cases it has been less than an ideal situation. They could be victims of incest, rape etc. and the girls are given the opportunity to speak with a counselor during the class and after.
With this class they will learn to understand their bodies, and how to care for their babies.
The teacher who is teaching right now is a registered nurse volunteering from the United States.  She is a  darling girl named Chelsie but she returns to the states in April.  At that time another nurse from Japan will step in and teach.
I can't express here what a wonderful program this is and how much help is needed for these lovely young ladies.

If you would like to help and are interested in donating, here is a list of things they need.
Baby clothing 0-2yrs
Recieving blankets
Bibs
Cloth or plastic diapers
Calendars - free ones from the bank would be great - for tracking their cycles and planning.
Writing pens or pencils (with sharpners)
The postage to Chuuk is U.S. postage - Please use a flat rate postage box, weight does not matter with flat rate and they are shipped first class or priority.  If it is shipped any other way it takes about 4-6 months to get here and most of the time it cost a lot more for shipping.
Mail donations to:
Chuuk Women Council Attn: Grace
C/O Bringing the Love Project
PO Box 1627
Weno, Chuuk 96942
Grace will keep us informed and we will be able to track the packages. If you need a tax receipt and pictures we can make sure you receive them.

Many of our successful missionary opportunities to share the gospel have been found through our friendships doing service and getting involved with great organizations such as this. We believe becoming like Jesus Christ means building meaningful friendships and developing charity, and sharing the gospel through acts of service.

2 comments:

  1. This is wonderful to know we can help. My daughter is making receiving blankets as part of her personal progress project.

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  2. I love all that you are doing, we have collected boxes of baby supplies, we will be sending them off hopefully this week. Keep up the good work and I will let you know when we send the boxes!

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