World Vision

 WE DID IT!  $22,000.00

To all the clients, staff, and friends of Hartmann Financial Advisors—THANK YOU! Thanks to the generosity of one of our newest clients, who said she would contribute whatever it took to reach our goal, we raised 100% of the $22,000 needed to drill two freshwater wells in Niger, West Africa. We received donations from 68 contributors, including Hartmann Advisors (HFA) clients, staff, and friends (7 checks came in from non-clients who read this newsletter), and there were 5 contributors who sent in a second check to help us reach our goal. As previously reported, our gift was matched by the Conrad Hilton Foundation, which will allow two additional wells to be drilled in Niger.

On May 26, 2008, I traveled to Niger with a team of four others—two staff members from World Vision and two potential donors from northern Colorado. We spent nine days in Niger and were able to visit both of the villages where the funds we raised were used to drill two new wells, plus fund the mechanization of two existing wells. (Putting an electric pump in the bore hole of an existing hand well increases the water volume of that well enough to provide water for up to 2,500 people, versus 500 people served by a traditional hand-pumped well.) You can read about our trip to Niger in the article from our newsletter below.

Thousands Say “Thank You” from Africa

The village is called Zangon Gochi, and it is located in the Kornaka West Area Development Project (ADP) of World Vision in the Miradi region of central Niger. As we approached the village, we saw a large plume of water shooting into the air. When we got closer, we saw people running back and forth through the water—partly in celebration of the new-found supply of fresh water and partly because the temperature was a mere 115°F.

 
An engineering crew from World Vision was in the process of flushing the bore hole (well) and testing the aquifer to make sure there was sufficient water to allow them to put an electric pump in the well that would increase its capacity from supplying 500 people per day to supplying moe than 2,500. When we disembarked from the caravan of World Vision SUVs, we were mobbed by a large group of children and women from the village, and in a matter of minutes, we found ourselves running through the water with the rest of the villagers.

A short while later the entire village gathered under the shade of several large trees where carpets had been laid out for the "honored guests." The village chief welcomed us and thanked us for the gift of life we had provided to his village. “Our children no longer die from diarrhea, and we have no new cases of eye disease. Our village is clean and our children are healthy, so we say thank you to World Vision and to the people from America who made this possible.” He went on to tell the villagers that we were from Colorado, where it is cold, and then he invited each of us to say a few words.

I told the villagers we were there because there are people 7,000 miles away in America who care about them and their children. After we were finished with our remarks, the women of the village flocked to Heidi, and as she had done numerous times during our stops at previous villages, Heidi danced, whooped and hollered, and high-fived many of the women. You may remember I wrote about Heidi in the Fred of the Month column last year, but after watching her in action in Niger, I can tell you the article I wrote back then did not do her justice.

During our nine days in Niger, we saw many examples of extreme poverty. We also witnessed many of the programs World Vision is engaged in to fight that poverty. Even though Niger is a Muslim nation, it is quite obvious there is a high regard for World Vision and the work they do—especially for the children. We were all constantly amazed at how so many people who have so little are extremely grateful for the little they have. I came back from Niger with 283 pictures and 45 pages written in a journal; but most of all, I came back with a new appreciation for the many blessings we have here in America. For those of you who so generously contributed to this freshwater project, I also came back from Niger with a thousand “thanks” from very grateful village leaders, very grateful parents, and very happy children!

 Bonding in Niger

One of the highlights of our journey to Niger was when each of the five members of our team got to meet the child we are sponsoring through World Vision. There are tens of thousands of people in America who sponsor children all over the world through World Vision, and the vast majority never get the opportunity to actually meet their sponsored child—but we all did. We quickly came to realize that such a meeting can be a terrifying experience for a small child, but after spending a little time with the child’s parents, they usually relax and actually begin to smile.

Now that I have actually met Djamilou and his family, I am more committed than ever to make sure I constantly stay in touch with him and follow his progress through the reports I receive from World Vision.

Another highlight of our journey was having Dr. Joseph Riverson (“Dr. Joe”)meet us when we landed in Zinder, the easternmost city in Niger. Those of you who were at the Client Appreciation Dinner in October 2006 will remember Dr. Joe as our speaker for the evening—all the way from Ghana!

I already knew about Dr. Joe’s impressive credentials and accomplishments from the bio I had read prior to the dinner in Denver. But when you spend eight full days with this remarkable man, you get to know what a truly loving and compassionate man he is. Watching him interact with the children in the clinics and villages we visited and the way he always shared God’s love with them is something I will never forget.

In village after village, Dr. Joe took the lead in introducing our team. He constantly referred to our group as “Promise Keepers” because we had kept our promise to come to Niger.

HFA Clients Volunteer at World Vision AIDS Experience

On July 9, 2009, 37 HFA clients staffed the 3,000-square-foot African village that was part of the AIDS Experience exhibit held at Cherry Hills Community Church (CHCC) in Highlands Ranch. Each client served a four-hour shift, and many of them told me afterward that they were grateful for the experience.
 
Normally, 4 to 5% of the people who go through the exhibit will elect to sponsor a child in one of the African countries that is being ravaged by AIDS. That number was significantly greater last month, because 20% of the 5,000 people who came through the exhibit elected to sponsor a child—resulting in 1,050 children being sponsored! 

To all of you who generously gave your time, as well as all of you who elected to sponsor a child in Africa—Thank you!