How to Help The Haitian Agricultural Project

All through the year, we get caught up with errands, work and events that we often miss some of the beautiful things in life.  It's summer, so let's see what we can find to enjoy, contemplate and appreciate.   Today's blog is about the people we support around the world through Sobornost For The World Foundation because it is where I have experienced beauty, joy, justice and hope for a better world.  I have seen beauty in the human heart, joy in the child's smile, justice in the business ventures and hope in the giving hand.  And the amazing part is it never seems to end!  

There is so much devastation today that we rarely have a chance to look deeply into the lives of the people affected.  We see the pictures, the destruction of buildings, but we don't often see the eyes, the arms or the hearts.  In our two missions in Sobornost, I have seen them in the people we serve, the people who serve and the people who share with us.  We wanted to help the children who were left without parents, food, educational fees, and homes because of the HIV-AIDs pandemic in sub-Sahara Africa.  It became evident to us, who live and work on Long Island, that over 14 million children were left orphaned from the pandemic in sub-Sahara Africa, so this is where we began our work.  We set out to form a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called "Sobornost For The World Foundation" in 2003.   The word 'sobornost' has many layers of meaning, but simply means a community of love or a group of people working together with one heart, mind, soul.  

At first we began working in Lusaka, Zambia, because we had a friend, Fr. Patrick Fitzgerald, who served as a missionary there for over 20 years.  He put us in contact with two wonderful people in Zambia who helped us organize the children into schools.  To the present day, they continue to be our eyes, arms and hearts in Sobornost-Zambia.  

A year later we were invited by Evan, a friend of our Sobornost International Director, Peggy McDermott, to care for pre-school-aged orphans in Kenya, about an hour's flight west of Nairobi out in the bush area around Kisii.  Lusaka was a developed capital city, whereas the area around Kisii was in very rural settings challenging us to provide small school buildings, clean water and a working kitchen with restrooms.  Peggy and Evan were in the Peace Corps together and shared many experiences overseas.  Peggy is a full-time teacher and visits the areas we serve every year or two. She has given her heart, mind and soul to this work in Africa, using her skills from the Peace Corps as well as being an educator in the public school system.  

Presently in Sobornost, we are serving about 350 orphans in both countries since 2003-2004, by providing food to whole families where the orphans live, providing school fees, backpacks, blankets, and when needed, medical attention.  

All our programs are supported by people on Long Island who send us donations or attend any number of fundraisers sponsored by Sobornost For The World Foundation.  

We are holding a fundraiser at the World Village Fair Trade Market to support, not only our orphans' programs, but also a grass-roots agricultural project by Bill Erdmann of Hidden Ridge Plants in Ridge, who will be making his second trip this year to teach better organic subsistence farming methods. If you wish to help us help others in these two programs, please contact us at the World Village Fair Trade Market, 101 W. Montauk Highway, Suite 4, Hampton Bays, NY 11946, email us at villagefairtrade@yahoo.com, or call us at 631-728-7880 and ask for Pattye Pece.  

It has been my experience these past eight years that people all over the world are reaching out to one another in one way or another.  Those who need help are waiting for it while those who can help are looking for ways to help.  The only difficult part is finding a way to connect the two.  In Sobornost For The World Foundation, we have found a way that works.