NOTE FROM CHRIS
As we end the year I want to thank each one of you for participating with us this past year in helping provide better services and more opportunities for children in the developing world. I also wanted to share with you our new logo and our new website. It is our goal to be more effective in communicating updates on the projects people have participated in and, as well, to communicate the needs we encounter in the target locations where we are working.


This past year we continued to assist numerous communities who are sponsoring Student Centers in affiliation with Compassion International. With the help of groups and individuals from around the U.S. we were able to improve and expand the facilities for children in the local communities. Our work in 2004 took us to communities in Guatemala, Ecuador, Brazil, Thailand, Nicaragua, Peru, and the Dominican Republic, all of which were significantly improved with the more than $80,000 and hundreds of volunteer hours that went into these communities.

My recent time in Lima there reminded me of the great disparities that exist in most places we work. Lima is a very cosmopolitan city with more than 8 million residents. There are luxury hotels, fine restaurants, upscale shops and beautiful homes, yet, once you get outside the city the economic opportunities are few and far between. Education, health care, and economic opportunities are centered in the great capital city and are lost in the rural areas. However, there are local communities doing something about this. From vocational training, to education assistance, to health care, to homes for the unwanted, small communities are changing lives each and every day!

I hope that the successes I share will inspire you to continue to be a part of community needs around the world. As you and I partner with folks abroad we are together changing the world and, as we all know, that partnership changes us. I look forward to those changes in 2005!”
© Copyright 2004 - BBAF.org