Happy New Year! You Tube clips from ACTION, Romania

From our colleagues in Romania, still going strong with the Association we helped Found when we were there. "Give this Christmas Away".

Making a Difference in Ecuador

Recently I had the pleasure to meet up with two old friends of mine: Jenny and Gonzalo. They have a volunteer work in Ecuador, where Gonzalo is from and were here in the UK for a while to help care for Jenny's elderly mum. Now they are returning to Ecuador and we will be helping to support their work there.

In Ecuador, there are no such systems as the NHS, nor government benefit programs. So the people depend on NGOs and Charities for some of their most basic needs, especially the poor.
 Gonzalo and Jenny will be shipping down supplies of inspirational and educational books in Spanish, that they had been able to aquire while they were here.

Gonzalo's brother, who is a doctor, also gives of his time and expertise to the needy  in his country. Here he is giving a free medical check to a handicapped patient.

Activities include a training course for other volunteers called 12 Founation Stones. Here are photos of the graduation of those finishing the course.

"Chocolatito" is the name of a program for deprived children, which often involves the apprearance of a clown!

Helping the Needy in Mexico

You might remember that last June our son Ian was preparing to move to Mexico. (See archived post for June, 2009).  He has been there about 8 months now. Here are some of his recent activities and photos:

Passing out donated children's books and posters at a school duirng a Chirstmas show in Monterrey.

The city of Laredo, Texas, USA, donated an ambulance which they repaired and repainted. They then donated it to the city of Santiago, Mexico.

Here is Ian along with some of the other volunteers during a 2 day medical camp in a mountain village. Four doctors volunteered their help.