OK, I need Help from your ladies.
OK, ladies, and gentlemen who want to contribute, I have an opportunity to to change the lives of young women in Moldova! My church, Rolling Hill Community Church, is work on a few projects to help teenage girls who are transitioning out of the orphanages of Moldova. If I remember correctly, these girls are turned out of the orphanages around the age of of 17. Unless someone steps in, most of these girls end up on the street with no life skills and little knowledge of their value in God's eyes. As you can imagine, in the poorest country of Europe, these girls are left with few choices.
SO, when I asked what I could do while I'm recovering from surgery, Steve, the missions coordinator at RHCC sent me this:
I’ve got a great project for you that might be right up your alley. Actually, you could choose from a couple of things that need to get done, all with regard to our transitional living home project for girls.
1. I need to develop a curriculum for the project that would cover all the things that girls in Moldova need to learn: how to manage and save money; dating; getting along with roommates; problem-solving; networking for success; health and hygiene; self-esteem; having, raising and teaching children; changes in the female life-cycle; personality differences; dealing with difficult people; negotiating the things you need; using discrimination in relationships; personal safety issues; etc. I’m thinking of a notebook of stuff (I had developed some of this for CERI when I was there, but would like to have a whole, fresh approach).
2. I’d like to develop a 365 day a year devotional guide for the girls that encourages their ability to think more relationally about God and others and where they fit into His Kingdom and plans. I am thinking of ways in which Scripture can meld into their lives, past, present and future in very concrete ways, including teaching them about specifically female understandings of God and applications….maybe a section on women of the Bible; how women can take stands for themselves in a patriarchal society; Jesus’ intentional inclusion of women into his circle and what that means and looks like for them today; etc. It would be huge to have a section that would reframe for them the mystery and purposes behind their personal misfortunes and how God uses tragedy to “fit us for heaven” as well as make us useful to the other wounded among us….things like that. You could really go wild with this, I’m sure!
If you would like to be a part of this project, please let me know!
I know that there are plenty of y'all with things they have already written - or have ideas just waiting for the perfect outlet. Well, here's your chance!
7 comments:
Sounds like a good work, but wouldn't seventeen year olds already know basic kindergarten values, like sharing, conflict resolution, etc? They may be impoverished orphans, but I doubt that they were so highly unsocialized.
Also, you may want to get a hold of someone working in direct concert with some Moldovian charity- or at least someone who knows the culture. There's potential for some real faux-pas coming at an Eastern European social system from a Western, probably American viewpoint.
Wish ya luck.
Hello WishingBone,
I agree that our curriculum needs to be culturally relevant. I know several people who have lived in Moldova who have worked with a few charities who I hope will contribute heavily. This curriculum will be used as a larger program where mentors from Moldova and the US prepare high school age girls for successful lives and for the future for their country. I am simply attempting to be more democratic by opening up an opportunity for anyone to contribute by posting on this public blog.
One of the most frequent comments I have heard about Moldova is that much of it is trapped in the 19th century and desperately trying to catch up. That's a lot for these girls to deal with if they are going to be successful in modern Europe.
So, no I don't think it's worth their time to talk as if they were in kindergarten. . . but skills like conflict resolution are considered important "soft skills" in business no matter what field they may choose.
Thank you for your concern. Perhaps you would like to contribute?
Considering the political situation in that part of the world, I'd assume most of Eastern Europe is still recovering from the reign of the Soviet Union and its subsequent fall. It's certainly something to overcome.
As for contributions- what do you need? Is this mostly a soft-power, education and text type aid, or will there been actual commodities involved?
Wishingbone, as the original post describes, and as I see you are an accountant, perhaps you could give ideas on the basics of keeping up with ones personal finances? As we have discussed, you can only speak of what you know. Your contribution will be added to and edited by those who are more knowledgeable about Moldova's specific situation, but if you have already written on this sort of thing you might save us some time without taking much of your own time. If this is not something you have experience doing, then go on with your life - no big deal. I'm just asking for people to act on what they know.
Unfortunately, I'm not an accountant- it's just the default field for occupation, and I haven't gotten around to changing it.
However, I am female and close to the age of the target group, so I'm sure there are resources available to me that, with some editing, could just as easily apply to Moldavians. I'll see what I can get my hands on.
Sounds good. I look forward to receiving whatever you would like to give.
hey there Amy! Likewise, I doubt I got to know you in personal details but I decided to pay your blog a visit. I'm currently stretched from many angles but it's been awesome! Hope you are recovering well from your surgery. We briefly heard about it during one of our HIMnI prayer time.
I want to respond specifically to your blog.
1) I was suppose to go to Moldova this past summer but due to my limited vacation hours from work, I had to choose between that and the band tour to SC. Needless to say, my obligation leans towards the brothers in my band.
2) I'm not sure how much you know about Valedictorian. But at its core, I built the company ultimately to promote world causes through giving of a % of sales, promoting the awareness, etc. I'm not the only one doing this kinda thing as I search around but in the end, I don't believe we have enough of it.
I share this with you in hopes to encourage you on what you are doing. I would also love to work on a project that is specific to the cause in Moldova. My current task is on Human Trafficking. Part of the project is getting the numbers and stats that could raise the awareness to ppl in this part of the world. Seeing that I'm a one-man company at this point of time, I'm not sure how soon I can get to it, but do think of me as a resource if you can brainstorm of someway you could summarize what you are doing into one theme and let's see where God takes it as you pray about it.
Let me know. Best way to keep in touch with me would be facebook.
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