WFF and Changes for New Hope Turn Despair into Development
Updates from Jim Killon…
There is a lot of excitement here with the inbound vitamin shipment news. Many who thought it was too good to be true have stopped calling me the “miracle man” and started preparing for a massive effort to arrest anemia, malnutrition and receive proper medicine against parasites. My passionate talks to communities in and around Huaraz that potatoes, rice and a piece of chicken at every meal is not enough to sustain life and health. In addition to the 93+% rate of parasite infestation, which devours the nutrition that the minimal food intake the children receive, it is easy to understand why learning disabilities, early childhood deaths and developmental deficiencies are common. And preventable.
I have dispelled the notion of being a “miracle man” and shared rather that I am an ordinary guy who has an extraordinary focus on the welfare and benefit of these Peruvian children living in the high Andes in some desperate conditions. Anyone can ignite their compassion into action and help the less fortunate throughout the world, as just as Julian Lennon has done with the team at the White Feather Foundation. Perhaps what deters some from becoming part of our solution is that the despair that the children experience is far removed from the daily lives and thoughts of those who would otherwise become involved. Much of my writings and blogs address the blanket apathy that glazes over the hearts of people who feel that the world’s problems are not theirs. If we can understand that we are all one humanity, one people, a single energy united in love and compassion, then what happens in Africa or Asia or here in Latin America is as real as if a cold and starving child was crying on your own doorstep.
I arrived the other day at one of our children’s groups in Ticipampa. 121 new children that are now part of our project of Changes for New Hope. I brought a duffel bag of materials, school supplies, vitamins, some learning games and art materials. I spoke to them in an auditorium about how we would be building self esteem, building opportunities and self development. In this remote outback, no one had tried to reach them before. Their parents could never send them to university, hardly able to provide them adequate school materials. Lunches three times a week consists of rice and milk and a pack of crackers. They were destined to be the next generation of subsistence farmers living hand to mouth regardless of their eagerness to learn, grow and aspire into their dreams.
That is going to change now, as I explained about some very special people around the world. Hands went up, “Who is Julian Lennon, what is the White Feather Foundation? What is Changes for New Hope?” Face melted from questioning apprehension to understanding and appreciation. Then a question came that I never get tired of hearing, “Why?”
After 6 years, it still brings a lump in my throat as I share my answer to yet another group whose chances in life just changed for the better, a change for new hope, hence our project’s name,
“Because you are worth it.”
~~ Jim Killon
Changes for New Hope
Huaraz Peru
