Simply Scott: DAY 2- AMOR RETURNS TO SOUTH AFRICA

My Favorite Quote

If you have food in the refrigerator,
Clothes on your back,
A roof over your head,
And a place to sleep,
You are more wealthy than 75% of the world.
Just by having a house.

If you have money in the bank,
Or money in your wallet,
Or any spare change in your purse or pocket,
You are in the top 8% of the worlds most wealthy.

If you woke up this morning,
With more health than illness,
You are more blessed than the million that will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of a battle,
The loneliness of imprisonment,
The agony of torture,
Or the pains of starvation,
Then you are ahead of five hundred million people in the world.

If you attended church this week without harassment,
Arrest, torture or death,
You are more blessed than 3 billion people in the world.

Quote from a friend of Pastor Blackburn.

Poverty Information

"More than 1.4 billion people in the world make less than $1 a day, and 1 billion people go to bed hungry. About 1 billion have no access to clean water." Washington Times Daily- May 29, 2009

"32 [years is the] average lifespan of a man in Swaziland, the lowest in the world, according to the CIA's World Factbook. The problem, again, is average. Most adult males there live much longer- its the large infancy mortality rate that drags down the average." New York Post- Dec. 28, 2008

"South Africa faces a shortage of up to 94,000 teachers by 2015, thanks to poor government planning and the effects of Aids-related diseases." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- Nov. 23, 2008

"The United Nations says that almost half of remaining Zimbabweans (5.1 million of 11 million) will be dependent on international food donations by year-end. Currently, more than 80% of them are also umemployed. The long-term solution, according to the UN and others, would be to restore the country's agricultural industry to its former glory as soon as possibe." Finweek- October 2, 2008

"Ten million children die each year from preventable poverty-related diseases; there are 1.4 billion people in the world surviving on less than $1.25US a day and more than 70 million primary school age children are out of school." Mail & Guardian- September 26, 2008

"At least 35% of South African children are either chronically malnourished, underweight, or acutely malnourished."The Citizen- September 25, 2008

"An estimated 40% of of all the world's severely malnourished children younger than five live in [India]."The Los Angeles Times- August 25, 2008

"An estimated 40% of of all the world's severely malnourished children younger than five live in [India]."The Los Angeles Times- August 25, 2008

"Zimbabwe's soaring inflation now stands at a staggering 42 million percent, economists have said."The Zimbabwean- August 14-20, 2008

"According to a WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water and Sanitation, 62 perent of Africans do not have access to an improved sanitation facility, namely a proper toilet, which seperates human waste from human contact."The Business Day- July 29, 2008

"UNICEF executive director, Ann Veneman, maintains that "40 percent of the world's population lacks access to toilets, and the dignity and safety they provide."The Business Day- July 29, 2008

"Roughly 45 percent of South Africa's 47 million people, vastly black, are impoverished and unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent."Daily Nation- June 2, 2008

"According to the South African Development Committee, 45% of the total population lives on $1 a day."Mail and Guardian- May 30, 2008

"South Africa survey released in March revealed 10 percent of population earned more than 50 percent of the income while the poorest 40 percent accounted for less than 7 percent."Daily Nation- May 26, 2006

"Eighty-one percent of [South Africa's] children experience income and material deprivation, such as not having access to a fridge." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"More than 50% of [South Africa's children] live in households where nobody in employed." Sunday Times of Johannsburg- March 2- 2008

"Seventy-seven percent [of South Africa's children] live in an environment without access to proper toilet facilities, electricity and piped water." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"Twenty-five percent [of South Africa's children] live in households without both parents, or in child-headed households." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"Twelve million children live in poverty in South Africa. Four million of these are starving and up to 40% of those aged under 5 could stuffer stunted growth." Sunday Times of Johannesburg- March 2, 2008

"More than a third of Mexicans live below the poverty line of about [one US dollar] a day." Saturday Nation- January 5, 2008

"More than 40% of the population in Southern Africa are living in abject poverty."
Mail & Guardian- October 26, 2007

"In 2001, 924 million people, or about 31 percent of the world’s urban population, were living in informal settlements or slums, 90 percent of which are located in the developing world. By 2030, the number of world-wide slum dwellers is projected to reach two billion. The East African (Kenya)- October 22, 2007

"A child dies every three seconds as a result of extreme poverty."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"More than 1 billion people around the world live in abject poverty, on less than $1 a day."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"About 800 million people go to bed hungry every night."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"More than 6,000 people die from HIV/Aids everyday."
Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 17, 2007

"Out of the [Mexico's] population of 103 million, nearly 50 million are impoverished."
Baja Times- Feb. 1, 2007

"Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day." World Bank- Daily Nation(Kenya)- October 16,2007

"30% of South Africans don't even have pit latrines; they use buckets." Wall Street Journal -June 21, 2007

"A fifth of the country [Mexico] gets by on less than $2 a day." Wall Street Journal- August 4, 2007

Vital Stats on Amor Ministries (as of 2/5/2009)

Homes built since 1980: 15,588

Projects in 2008
Homes: 1001
Churches/Sunday Schools: 17
Schools: 7
Clinics: 2
Group Homes: 5 (in South Africa)
Rehab Centers: 2

Participants since 1980: 291,552
2008: 21,552
Trips since 1980: 7523
2008: 623

Participants have come from 38 states in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Korea, the U.K., Ireland, and South Africa.

6720 families benefited from the Food Bank in 2008.

1040 children have received school supplies from Amor's back-to-school program in 2007.

# of Amor Team Members: 44
# of Volunteers in 2008: 88
# of Mexico Planning Boards: 5
# of Pastors: 26
# of Amor Camps: 5
Average number of people per work site: 18

Years of ECFA Membership: 16
$$ Spent directly on Programs: 87%
Years as finalist in 50 Best Christian Work Places to Work: 3
# of Board Members: 11

Monday, March 30, 2009

DAY 2- AMOR RETURNS TO SOUTH AFRICA

March 29, 2009

7:00am. We landed in Dakar, Senegal after a long Atlantic flight. I must have tested out 1001 sleeping positions without much success. Fortunately I had an empty seat beside me. All that tossing and turning would have driven the person in the seat next to me nuts. Ask Dan Irving about that from last years trip to South Africa. Dan, bless him, sat next to me. A test of true friendship.

9:00am. I begin reading a chapter from the yet unpublished book, "Home" as I fly over the African continent. Author, Dan Irving should be very happy that I waited until I was soaring over the African coast before I began reading this, yet another, incredible chapter. I can't wait until the book gets published next year.

5pm. We land in Johannesburg as weary but excited travelers. Our plane had been full of all sorts of international travelers. Luke Makwakwa said his section of the plane was filled with a plethora of languages ranging from Afrikaans to Zulu. The new Johannesburg airport is a sight to behold. Its been completely been rebuilt and expanded in preparation for the 2010 World Cup Soccer. Basically the biggest Super Bowl of them all. We were very glad to shortly find our host, Humphrey Birkenstock at the arrival area.

6pm. We depart in two borrowed vehicles with all our luggage. We are staying at one of our South African supporter's homes. We have never been there before and we only get an address. But, "We have GPS", we proudly proclaimed. After well over two hours of scouring the city, getting separated from each other, we arrive at our quest home for the week. One thing we can say about this evening's diving adventures, always follow Amor's caravan rule #1, "if you get separated from your caravan and can't see any of the cars in your caravan, stop! Find the closest and safest spot where you last saw your caravan and wait." IT WORKED!! Steve and Luke returned to the exact spot we had last seen each other nearly a half hour later. Amazing thing was that we each arrived back at the same spot at the same time.

8pm. We arrived at the quest house after passing through the main security guard gate. We are so glad to have arrived and are all really hungry. We drive to the nearest shopping area and you would have thought we were in Mission Viejo, California. Ah, South Africa, a land of stark contrasts. Get this, we ate at the Cattle Baron, a US rest chain. The exchange rate is so good here, the South African Rand to the US Dollar, that the dinners were all under $10 US.

9:30pm. We are all back at our quest house and full, and tired. We are ready to hit the sack. We only found one sleeping bag and two air mattresses from last years trip so tonight two of us sleep on the carpeted floor and in our clothes. Tomorrow we will buy a couple more sleeping bags and perhaps even more important, our PILLOWS!

FINAL COMMENTS: Last year on this trip we were blessed to have writer Dan Irving on the trip with us. He became our official writer, historian, and blogger. For those of you who have read his previous writings, it was delightful and..... oh, so witty. We miss Dan dearly on this trip but he is leading his very own trip with us this June with people from his very own church in Chico, California. Dan, you are dearly missed on this trip and I will do my best to capture the adventures and misadventures of this journey with your inspirational writings of past trips in mind. But now, since I am writer and editor, I get to leave out the infamous Scott and Steve bickering!

PS. Geek moment. I am writing all of these blogs on my Blackberry Storm with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard. I didn't even bring a laptop computer with me this time. Can you believer that? Scott traveling without a computer! Now this is a first. But, this phone is truly amazing. Like having a full computer in palm of your hand. That evenbworks all over the glohe. And, have found a wonderful use of waking up at three am in the morning due to jet lag and a different time zone....blog until the sun comes up!!!!! Oh, by the way, the other guys are all asleep and I am typing via flashlight.
Scott Congdon
Founder/CEO
Amor Ministries
1664 Precision Park Lane
San Diego, CA 92173
USA
619.662.1200 US Office x130
619.247.3113 US Cell
619.662.1295 US Fax

+27.11.461.3222 South Africa
+44.203.026.4006 UK
+52.335.350.0280 Mexico
scott.congdon- SKYPE

www.amor.org
www.simplyscott.org

1 comment:

Wendy Johnson said...: Scotty! You are just as witty as Dan, so keep up the posts. The pictures are awesome. You all look like you slept just fine in spite o the arrangements - or you fake it well.

Thanks for all the updating. It is exciting to read. We do miss you guys, though!; 3:09 PM

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