Blog
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A World of Difference Made Possible from a World Away
May 15, 2011
A personal note from our Executive Director & Project Manager, who is at the Duk Lost Boys Clinic:
Every day at the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, we measure every child under 5 years old and if they’re malnourished, we provide these hungry children and their mother counseling and nutrition supplements to help them get back to health.
I was sitting in one of the consultation rooms a few weeks ago, when at one point a mother asked me what my name was, because, she said, she wanted to go back to the village and thank me for the work we’ve done in bringing these nutrition supplies. After the effort we put in to get these supplies to the Clinic and deliver these services, I found myself literally almost starting to cry at the thought—this mother, holding her 11 month-old child in her arms and looking at me; when someone donates money to the John Dau Foundation, they’ll probably never know the people it helps, yet, here was this mother right here, struggling to have a decent life, and I could reach out and touch her. She was as real as anyone I’ve ever met, of course, and here we were helping her because of some people thousands of miles away who had made a donation. I wanted to go back to my computer and print up a list of all of our donors and say “Thank these people here. They’re the ones who’ve made it possible. Without even knowing you, they’ve done more than I have. What I do is only possible because of them.”She’d first brought in her child, Bol, a few weeks ago, when he was near-death from hunger and sickness. In the last few weeks in the clinic’s nutrition program—the only such program for more than 50 miles around—he’s gained more than one pound of weight and is much more active. I could see the relief and hope in this mother’s eyes that her son was brought back to life.
I’m just so amazed at the things going on down here in John’s home village of Duk, even after being here for more than a year now. John’s vision and hard work come to life are proof of what one person, joined by many others, can do to change a the world. And though most people who donate will never see it, they are just as much a part of the great things happening here as anyone else.
