Burundi, Africa

New Generation Children's Home

In Burundi today, hundreds of children and adolescents wander the streets searching for a means to survive. They think no further ahead than their next meal or maybe where they are going to sleep that night. Dreams of the future never enter their mind and neither do the consequences of the drugs or alcohol they consume on a regular basis. Despite the war coming to an end, the number of these children increases daily. The difference between them and the countless orphaned by war is most of them have parents. Rather than having no one to take care of them, they have someone with no means to care for them. Their parents put them out on the street to beg as a method of survival. If the parents are lucky, not only will their child survive, but the child will bring in enough to also sustain the family. Instead, these children end up rummaging through garbage, stealing, or becoming subject to political manipulation. If they don't first die of starvation or illness they often end up in prison.

These children are the next generation. They are supposed to be the future of this society. They should have a right to education, self-expression, and freedom. instead, they are bound by the impossible conditions under which they exist, paralyzed by the cycle they are supposed to break, but doomed to repeat it. For this reason, New Generation started a movement to offer hope, care, and preparation to these future leaders, while raising awareness for the protection and fundamental rights of all children and youth on the streets. The kids are given housing, clothes, food, and schooling. They help with chores, are taught manners and responsibility. They grow and develop in a loving environment where they are nurtured and cared for. Here they live and learn for at least one year, often stepping out of survival mode and into family and community for the first time. They are broken from the ritual destruction of their former lives and shown a better way of being. They are offered hope and shown freedom.

Burundi, Africa...My next adventure!!!

My close friend, Jessica Sisson, and I have decided to go serve at the New Generation Children's Home. We will be leaving the states the first week of February!

Our hope is to help...

*Transform the youth of the country by influencing them to change their thinking and reform their actions.

*To give cultural value to the country by making Christianity a lifestyle, not just a Sunday ritual.

*To create a work ethic among the people by training them to produce a service.

I am very excited about this trip. Africa stole my heart a long time ago. Going back is an answer to prayer!!!

I will be posting updates as often as I can. I am not sure what the internet/electricity situation is like in Burundi. I also look forward to hearing about life in America over the next few months. Please keep me updated on facebook or email...kimmykim7@gmail.com.

I want to thank everyone who has made this trip possible. I am very fortunate to have such a wonderful support system. My family and friends mean the world to me!!