Where a New Year Means Nothing…

Yep, it is a sad sad statement but so very true for many in the world; many who are in such difficult circumstances that just getting through another day is a blessing in and of itself, many who do not even know that a new year has come because it is just another day for them, same hard life as always; many who can not even speak for themselves.

There are so many who need help in this world and i so wish i – we – could help them all but… it is not possible. However, that does not mean that i should sit by and do nothing. No. i can do something, i can help and even if i help just one of the thousands, i would have helped and that one person who have a better future…

So i continue my advocacy for special needs orphans and this month, the Teamwork Tuesday bloggers are focusing on Spina Bifida, a condition where the spinal cord isn’t completely covered on both sides. You can read more here and here.

Many infants in countries where medical facilities allow are treated early and have an almost normal life with this condition rarely limiting their development. However, where medical care isn’t so advanced and where society is more fearful of disabilities, these children do not have such opportunities.

Emmitt is one of these children with no chance for such early treatments and no opportunity has been given to him to prove that he can succeed in life. Instead he is an orphan, deemed to be unfit for even a basic education simply because of his physical condition which can be easily managed if he had a loving family who would support him through all the treatments and therapies needed.

Look at those intelligent eyes, imagine all that he could do if given the right opportunities…

There is a more urgent need than his physical health. Emmitt is 15 years old and in a year’s time, in 12 short months, he will age out of the system and he will either be sent out onto the streets with just the clothes on his back and a tiny amount of food (maybe money) and expected to find work with no skills and no education, or he will simply spend the rest of his life in a crib, confined to nothingness for the remainder of his likely short life.

He may not be able to walk but he is said to be “extremely smart” which means his mental capacity isn’t affected by his physical disability. A family who saw him said the following: “He is very friendly, funny, and talkative. He desperately seeks out attention.  He was talking to my husband, and holding Zack’s hand, which he then put on top of his head for Zack to rub his hair.  He is extremely intelligent, and just precious!  I brought him paper and crayons, and he drew me a flower.”

This sweet clever boy needs a family to help him get the best out of his life. He can have successes and accomplishments. He just needs a caring family who would believe in him. Are you that family? If you feel drawn to Emmitt, please please contact Reece’s Rainbow for details.

There are other ways you can help too. You can pray for Emmitt, pray for his daily needs and most of all pray for his forever family to come for him. You can share his story so his family can be found.

You can also help his forever family reach him faster by growing his adoption grant (international adoptions are so very expensive). Click on his name or picture to donate.

You can also support his wonderful advocates, at TheScenicRoute-Momto6kids and SavingHisSparrows.

Thank you.

syc

One Year…

Today (oops! missed 1st jan by 20 minutes – it should have been posted on 1st Jan, not 2nd jan) marks One Year since trippingdifferently.com came into existence and i started blogging here. (You can read about this blog’s previous life here.)

oneyear_20130101

WordPress has done a great job of summarising the year for me:

  • There have been 167 posts in 2012.
  • There have been about 6,600 visitors from 65 countries!

And i would like to give a special thanks to my top 3 commentors for showing me and my blog such love:

Thanks so much ladies for showing my blog and my writing such attention and love. i am very grateful and it has been wonderfully encouraging to read comments from everyone.

i know i have a number of followers as well and i thank you also. (i apologise if i have not gotten back to visiting your blog yet… i will… it will just take me some time…) It is amazing to realise that my words are being read and that people appreciate them enough to click “Follow”. Thank you very much.

i started trippingdifferently.com, hoping to bring more to my blog, more about Switzeland where we live, more about parenting, more about writing, more about photography…

BUT…

it turned out different – isn’t that what life is all about? – i did get to bring more to my blog but it has brought so much more to me; more than i could ever imagine…

i have met wonderful people in blogosphere and have gained so much from their writing. i have learnt and grown and matured as a writer through this whole year.

God has also allowed me to be of good use in His Kingdom plans; He has allowed me to become an advocate and prayer warrior for those without a voice of their own; for special needs orphans. If you have followed from the start, you would realised that from about the third month of its existence, more than 60% of this blog is devoted to special needs orphans. It will continue to be so. (Click here to read more posts about the orphans and how you can help too. Click here to read about some families who are in the adoption process and how you can help.)

However, in 2013, i also hope to be able to bring more of my writing life (perhaps more in the form of shared articles about writing as i am so “young” in my writing life) and more of my photography onto this blog. Of course, our happenings in Switzerland and our travels will also be featured at times.

So here’s to 2013 and wishing you all a fulfilling year!

Thank you once again for reading and loving on my blog. Hope you will continue tripping differently with me.

syc

Ending 2012…

Today is the last day of 2012 and 2013 is just a few hours away now… what better way to look back on 2012 than a quick summary which is our annual Christmas letter… (i have put in links to different blog posts for more details if you wish to read more about a certain event/happening.)

*******

HiHi

How are you? Hoping this finds you and your loved ones well and enjoying the Christmas season. It looks like we will be having a green Christmas over here this year; temps have been above 10 degrees Celsius over the last few days. All the snow we had has already melted. But Christmas doesn’t depend on snow, we have Christmas because of Christ.

2012 has been a year of unexpected and pleasant happenings for us.

Last year Sandra closed her book business and faced the frustrating issue of not having her driver’s license recognised. This year, on 6th November, she passed her Swiss Driver’s test. So it is official and legal, she can now drive in Switzerland.

If you have followed us/Sandra on Facebook, you would have seen some postings from our new blog (trippingdifferently.com) and you have also seen postings about the advocate ministry Sandra is now involved in; advocating, building awareness and fundraising for special needs orphans in Eastern Europe, Latin American and Asia. Thank you all who have been such wonderful support for this ministry. If you would like to find out more, please contact Sandra on Facebook or email.

She is also still involved with the Day Away Association for Women and attends the weekly BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). Her German lesson are also a regular weekly feature. She hopes to be able to take her B1 Level German exam in March and be done with German classes after that.

Tobias is in 2nd Grade and still loving school lots. He is doing well at school. At our last contact with his teacher, she said, “If you don’t hear from me, then all is well.” He has finished with swim classes, having gotten his 7th and final badge just before the summer holidays.

He continues with his Judo training and most recently took the yellow-belt test and passed. He is so happy about it. He also entered his first Judo competition in November, an internal one for his Dojo and came in 3rd in his category. We are very proud.

Music-wise, Tobias has started the violin and is very excited about it. Sandra joined him in classes and she is loving it too. The violin teacher is very pleased with their progress since August. They performed in a recital together, just before the end of the school term. So playing the guitar has taken a backseat for now.

Walter still travels a fair bit for work. This year’s travels featured a lot of Africa. Thankfully there are low periods too. The recent Oct/Nov months was a busy time and he was gone most of those months. But he managed to squeeze in a 5-day trip to Singapore to help oversee some stuff at his parents’ place. He still plays as much as he can for worship at church.

Our family travels this year, of course, included our annual trip back to Singapore, where we enjoyed fabulous food and the company of family and friends. In February, we did our ski week in Wengen and had some friends come over for a day, another friend joined us for 2 days and another one was with us the whole time. It was great.

For this year’s farmstay, Tobias wanted his best friend to come along. So it was Sandra, Tobias and Sebi helping out on a farm, not far from the city of Bern, for 3 days, 2 nights. We stayed with a lovely Christian family who also had boys about the same ages. The boys had a blast. So much so, Tobias is wanting to go back for 4 nights next time!

We do have one sad news. One of our Gerbils (they came to live with us September 2011) passed away. We will miss our beloved Nox. But we still have Puddles and hope she will be with us at least another couple of years.

Daddy, Son, Mummy... i love...
Daddy, Son, Mummy… i love…

That’s pretty much covers 2012 for us. How was your year? Do drop us an email/letter and let us know.

Wishing you a Blessed Christmas and a Wonderful 2013.

With love,

walter, sandra & tobias.

*******

Looking back, it has been a year of learning and i look forward to putting all that knowledge and new skills into good use in 2013.

Hoping that 2013 would be an amazing year of dreams come true for you and your loved ones.

God Bless You All.

syc