This month’s prayer letter comes from Mrs. Korpo Barsay. Korpo facilitates several Mission activities, including Days-4-Girls, Community-Led Sanitation Training, Vacation Bible School, and Community Tea for Elderly Women. She started work with the Mission in 2013 as an assistant to Cindy Ellis Bye (Sombee). Since then, Korpo has worked with every local and international leader who has served the Mission on the field. Besides Cindy, those leaders include Stan, Rev. Paye, and me. Today, she works directly with the COO of the Kuwaa Mission. Korpo recently returned from the district, where she conducted three of her four activities before returning to the Capital City of Liberia, Monrovia. She will tell her own story. Dear Kuwaa Mission friends and family, My name is Korpo Barsay. Most of you do not know me. You may not have heard of me, but I have worked with the Kuwaa Mission for over eleven years. It has been a blessing to be a part of this team, no matter who the leader has been.
My joy in serving this Mission comes from the fact that the Kuwaa Mission has made my dream of serving my people and making a difference a reality! I can see what difference this Mission is making, and thinking I am a part of it all is beyond my imagination! Thank you for what you are doing for my people and me! I work in several areas of the Kuwaa Mission’s ministries. Following are some of the ways that the Kuwaa Mission enables me to make a difference in the lives of my people:
- Vacation Bible School – We travel up to the region once a year and conduct something like Sunday School. We plan to do these activities during the long academic break between June and August. There have been times when we couldn’t get up to the region due to the heavy downpour of rain. We have been amazed at how accommodating the school authorities have been at such times. They will allow us to conduct our classes even on school days. It shows us the appreciation these towns have for what the Kuwaa Mission does among them. Another exciting thing about these VBS sessions is that there is no discrimination; all children of all denominations and all religions, including Muslims, participate! It is just amazing!
- Days-4-Girls – This program is intended to help young women who are experiencing monthly changes in their bodies and want to be in school. The Days-4-Girls program is the most challenging part of my team’s work, especially since we must make our own kits. But I enjoy doing it very much because you can immediately see the work’s impact. Sadly, we skipped the Days-4-Girls activities this year due to some problem with delivery. As is true for the postponement or cancellation of any of these programs, it was tough for me as I saw young women who badly needed these services get turned away because we couldn’t provide those needs. This experience has encouraged us to manufacture our own kits. We have done it before; we can do it again!
- Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Training—I am so grateful to the Kuwaa Mission for introducing me to this approach to health and sanitation training. Clean drinking water is essential and so is the air we breath. As we work together to provide clean drinking water from the wells, we work together to clean environments for clean air. Since we live and work in communities, the CLTS system presents something familiar. Seeing how it is quickly owned by the community leaders and expanded upon has been exciting. I only wish that the enthusiasm would be sustained. Although that is not the case in most communities, some of the towns have impressed me by keeping their communities clean for a really long time.
- Tea for the Elderly Women – As far as I can tell, this concept was created by our dear friend, Cindy Ellis Bye (Sombee). She came up with the idea to be inclusive. This activity aims to include the older women who are too old for the Days-4-Girls kits and too tired to run and compete for notebooks, crayons, and candies with the Vacation Bible School children. It is working! This activity is the last stage of my work every time I’m in these Belle towns, but it is certainly not the least. It is the most relaxing and the most fun for me. The idea is that since excluding the adult women from all the other activities creates a sense of resentment towards the Mission, climaxing the three-to-four-day events with activity as small assharing a cup of tea will work wonders. It has for all those involved, including myself.
How can I thank the Kuwaa Mission? Words are not enough. Please accept my many thanks, Kuwaa Mission! May God bless the work that you do! Prayer: Lord, thank you for your servant, Korpo Barsay, and her work with your people. Provide for her every need, O God! Increase her zeal for your work and give her joy in doing what you call her to. We also pray that those who partner with the Mission may find joy in the partnership and in every aspect of their service to you and your people. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen!
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