A  teenager  loses  his  leg  in  a  devastating  

bicycle  accident,  but  not  his  faith

A Prayer From Haiti

PORT-­AU-­PRINCE,  Haiti    –  Wagner  survived  the  January  earthquake  that  rocked  Port-­au-­Prince—but  what  happened  in  the  aftermath  changed  his  life  forever.  The  17-­year-­old  was  navigating  the  hazardous  roads  on  his  bicycle  with  his  mother  when  they  were  hit  by  a  truck  as  it  attempted  to  avoid  rubble  left  behind  from  the  quake.

His  mother  died,  Wagner  was  seriously  injured  in  both  legs,  and  doctors  were  forced  to  amputate  his  left  leg  just  below  the  knee.  His  right  leg,  although  intact,  had  to  be  immobilized.Two  weeks  later,  Wagner  

was  healing  but  was  unable  to  be  released  from  the  hospital,  because  he  had  no  means  of  mobility  or  a  way  to  get  home.  But  that  didn’t  stop  Wagner  

from  praying.

“I  kept  sending  my  prayers  up  to  heaven,”  he  said.Little  did  he  know  those  prayers  

would  be  answered  so  quickly.Earlier  this  year,  Free  

Wheelchair  Mission  sent  a  shipment  of  550  wheelchairs  to  Operation  Blessing’s  warehouse  in  Haiti.  Together,  teams  assembled  more  than  100  wheelchairs  for  distribution  throughout  Port-­au-­Prince.  One  of  those  chairs  was  for  Wagner. –  Continued  on  page  4

blessingsUNITED  KINGDOM

BLESSINGOPERATION

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Fight  For  Survival    –  See  pg.  3october 2010

Shoe Shop of BlessingA  shoe-­making  project  is  helping  widows  

and  single  mothers  create  a  better  life    

ZACAPA,  Guatemala    –  Vilma  works  hard  to  support  her  family,  but  as  a  single  mother  of  three,  it  never  seems  to  be  enough.Last  year,  Vilma’s  husband  left  her  alone  

to  raise  their  children  in  a  house  made  of  tin  and  cardboard.  In  order  to  provide  food  for  her  family,  Vilma  made  tortillas  to  sell  and  also  did  laundry  for  others  in  her  community.  But  the  money  she  earned  barely  paid  for  essentials  like  rice,  beans,  and  vegetables.Vilma’s  eldest  child,  Esmin,  even  took  an  

after  school  job  to  help  their  family.  The  14-­year-­old  earns  £1.00  a  day  distributing  water  around  the  community,  giving  half  his  earnings  to  his  mother  to  purchase  food,  and  using  the  other  half  to  buy  supplies  he  needs  for  school.  But  even  with  all  of  the  hard  work  and  her  

son’s  contributions,  making  ends  meet  was  not  easy  for  Vilma—until  she  learned  of  OB  Guatemala’s  microenterprise  project  in  her  community  called  Shoe  Shop  of  Blessing.Vilma  began  working  at  the  shop  learning  

how  to  make  sandals—a  more  lucrative  business  than  laundry.  Now  that  she  is  trained,  Vilma  is  making  48  pairs  of  sandals  each  week,  earning  around  £130  each  month.  The  increase  in  her  income  will  help  provide  her  children  with  what  they  need.  And  with  the  shoe  shop  located  close  to  her  home,  Vilma  can  still  be  there  to  take  care  of  her  children.Shoe  Shop  of  Blessing  currently  works  

with  seven  mums  like  Vilma,  all  of  whom  are  widows  or  single  mothers  who  have  been  abandoned.

Vilma  can  make  nearly  50  pairs  of  sandals  a  week,  earning  enough  money  to  support  her  three  children.

Besides  being  a  pesky  nuisance,  mosquitoes  in  Haiti  carry  malaria.  Mosquito  fish  (Gambusia)  are  born  with  an  

insatiable  appetite  for  mosquito  eggs  and  larvae.  The  always-­hungry,  guppy-­like  minnows  have  been  used  all  over  the  world  for  over  100  years  to  control  mosquito  populations.  Following  Hurricane  Katrina,  OB  stocked  thousands  of  

abandoned,  mosquito-­infested  swimming  pools  with  Gambusia.  City  officials  and  the  U.S.  Center  for  Disease  Control  were  worried  about  an  epidemic  of  West  Nile  Virus.  Our  tiny  fish  went  to  work  feasting  on  eggs  and  larvae  before  they  could  hatch,  and  OB’s  “Bug  Buster”  program  helped  put  an  end  to  the  threat.  On  my  first  trip  to  Haiti  in  early  2009,  I  started  to  dream  

about  using  the  New  Orleans  strategy  in  Haiti.  Last  year  we  launched  efforts  to  secure  a  permit  to  import  Gambusia,  got  the  green  light  in  December,  and  started  hatchery  construction,  but  the  January  earthquake  put  the  project  on  hold.  Recently,  we  completed  the  hatchery  and  secured  the  

official  blessing  of  the  Haitian  Departments  of  Environment  and  Agriculture.  We  then  made  arrangements  with  a  fish  farm  in  Mississippi  that  donated  several  thousand  Gambusia.  Yesterday  we  packed  the  fish  in  plastic  bags  filled  with  oxygenated  water,  flew  them  to  Florida  in  a  private  plane,  transferred  our  coolers  to  a  charter  plane,  and  on  to  Haiti.  The  OB  Haiti  team  and  I  met  the  plane  today  and  hurried  the  fish  to  their  new  home.  It  will  take  about  a  month  for  the  fish  to  acclimate  and  

start  breeding.  Gambusia  pregnancy  lasts  21  days,  then  each  pregnant  female  gives  birth  to  as  many  as  70  live  babies.  This  process  will  be  repeated  over  and  over,  and  before  long,  we  will  have  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Gambusia  to  plant  in  stagnant  waters  all  over  Haiti.Today  was  a  great  day  for  Haiti  and  a  very  bad  day  for  

mosquitoes  and  malaria.  Lessons  learned  in  New  Orleans  will  save  lives  in  Haiti.  Your  faithful  support  makes  all  of  this  possible.  

Bill Horan, OB PresidentA Message From The President

Of all the gi! s you could give this Christmas, the greatest gi! is love. Operation Blessing’s Christmas Giving Catalogue is coming soon to your

letterbox, " lled with unique gi! s that you can choose from to change the life of a child or family in need.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” ~ 1  COR.  13:13

Christmas Giving Catalogue Coming Soon!

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Since  1978,  Operation  Blessing  International  has  touched  the  lives  of  more  than  232  million  people  in  more  than  105  countries,  providing  goods  and  ser-­vices  valued  at  more  than  $2.7  billion.  

Because  of  your  faithful  partnership,  together  we  

affected  by  hunger,  poverty  and  sickness.  

Thank you for making a difference!

Did You Know?

NAGAR  KATTA,  India  –  In  the  North  Bengal  plains,  the  landscape  is  picturesque:  an  unending  sea  of  tea  plantations  stretches  to  meet  the  foothills  of  the  Himalayan  Mountains.But  the  beauty  of  the  area  hides  the  pain  of  those  

who  make  their  living  from  the  land.  Rekha  and  her  

husband  worked  at  one  of  the  tea  plantations,  but  a  few  years  ago,  several  of  the  plantations  closed.  Thousands  of  residents  lost  their  jobs  and  many  

families  had  no  other  means  of  income.  Rekha  and  her  husband  found  themselves  suddenly  unemployed  and  began  incurring  debt  as  they  fought  for  survival.When  a  tea  plantation  re-­opened  

in  their  area,  Rekha’s  family  was  overjoyed.  They  were  both  able  to  get  jobs  to  help  pay  off  their  debt,  but  the  couple  now  had  a  6-­month-­old  baby,  Ranjeet,  who  was  suffering  with  a  severe  throat  infection.  Until  he  recovered,  Rekha  simply  couldn’t  go  to  work.Her  husband’s  salary  was  barely  

able  to  cover  their  simple  way  of  life,  much  less  pay  for  Ranjeet’s  medical  care.Rekha  tried  every  homemade  

treatment  she  could  think  of  to  treat  his  pain,  but  nothing  seemed  to  help  her  son.Then  one  day,  Operation  Blessing  arrived  in  her  

village  and  set  up  a  medical  camp.  A  doctor  examined  Ranjeet  and  immediately  provided  them  with  the  medicine  they  needed,  free  of  charge.Now  with  her  son  recovering,  Rekha  is  able  to  

place  him  under  the  care  of  her  mother  while  she  goes  back  to  work.  Her  goal  is  to  work  hard  and  pay  off  their  debts,  and  then  they  will  be  able  to  provide  an  even  better  future  for  their  son.“Thank  you  Operation  

Blessing,”  she  said.  “You  have  brought  hope  back  into  our  lives.  You  came  when  we  needed  care  the  most.  Thank  God  for  your  services.”

Thanks  to  the  free  medicine,  6-­month-­old  Ranjeet  is  healthy  again  and  Rekha  can  return  to  work  to  support  their  family.

Fight For SurvivalA  young  mother  worries  about  her  family’s  

survival  until  an  Operation  Blessing  medical  camp  

brings  help  and  hope

“Thank you Operation Blessing ... You have brought hope back into our lives. You came when we needed care the most.”

A  medical  team  from  Operation  Blessing  arrived  to  Rekha’s  village,  providing  free  medical  care  to  families.

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The  team  arrived  at  a  tent  hospital  and  made  their  way  through  the  cramped  ward  to  the  very  back  where  Wagner  lay  in  his  bed.  Through  a  translator,  they  gave  Wagner  the  good  news.“This  [wheelchair]  is  a  gift  from  Jesus,”  they  told  him.  The  teenager’s  timid  smile  slowly  grew  bright  when  he  heard  the  news.“Se  bon  [it’s  good],”  he  said.  “Without  this  chair,  I  would  not  have  any  

way  to  function.  God  sent  me  this  wheelchair  and  He  is  listening  and  answers  prayers.”With  a  little  help,  Wagner  was  soon  rolling  himself  between  the  beds  in  

the  tent  hospital  and  eventually  outside  into  the  bright  sun  and  fresh  air.Over  the  next  12  months,  Free  Wheelchair  Mission  plans  to  donate  

5,500  chairs  to  OB  for  distribution  in  Haiti  alone  to  help  more  quake                                                .survivors  and  injured  persons  like  Wagner.

A prayer from haiti –  Continued  from  page  1

Over  the  next  12  months,  Free  Wheelchair  Mission  plans  to  donate  5,500  chairs  to  OB  for  distribution  in  Haiti.

PUNO,  Peru    –  South  America  may  be  known  for  its  mostly  tropical  climate  and  Amazon  rainforest,  but  in  the  highlands  of  Peru,  it  couldn’t  be  more  opposite.During  the  summer  months  in  

the  U.K.,  it  is  winter  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere,  and  in  the  high-­altitude  regions  of  Peru,  the  temperatures  have  dipped  dangerously  low.In  Puno,  more  than  11,000  feet  

above  sea  level,  the  air  is  colder  than  10  degrees  Fahrenheit,  and  even  healthy  children  are  at  risk  of  serious  sickness.Already,  30  children  under  the  

age  of  5  have  died  because  of  complications  with  pneumonia,  according  to  the  Regional  Director  of  Health  in  Puno.  Country-­wide,  the  death  toll  from  the  cold  has  risen  to  more  than  400  people.  Another  45,000  cases  of  acute  respiratory  disease  threaten  the  population  of  Puno.The  Peruvian  Air  Force  

partnered  with  Operation  Blessing  to  fly  an  OB  medical  team  to  the  

hardest-­hit  communities,  along  with  more  than  4  tons  of  medicine.Teams  provided  health  

screenings  for  respiratory  diseases  and  distributed  anti-­inflammatory  medications,  antibiotics,  and  also  thermal  blankets  to  help  children  stay  warm.  In  all,  more  than  24,900  men,  

women  and  children  benefited  from  the  medical  outreach.

A crisis of coldIn  the  mountains  of  Peru,  frigid  

temperatures  create  a  life-­

threatening  situation  for  thousands  

of  children

The  Peruvian  Air  Force  transported  OB  medical  teams  and  more  than  4  tons  of  medicine  to  help  

families  in  the  hardest-­hit  areas.

Peruvian  mother  carries  her  child

Copyright  ©  2010  by  Operation  Blessing  UK,  PO  Box  700,  Hereford,  HR1  9EW.  For  more  information,  call  0845  6003303  or  visit  our  website  www.operationblessing.org.uk