Affecting one person’s life can make a major difference in many more.
And in the case of Marion and Jim Harris, the P.E.I. couple has reached an entire community through missionary work in Ethiopia.
The two retired schoolteachers, who used their profession as an in-road to start volunteering in the country in 2005, have no plans to stop.
“We can’t walk away and not help these people. They’re our friends. They’re our family,” said Marion, who returned with her husband from their last mission about two months ago
Their first mission was in Kore, Ethiopia, in 2005, and they have been back seven times since, with each trip lasting between three to 10 months. They’ve also done five missions in Thailand.
Kore, which means garbage and has a population of about 10,000, is used as a landfill for the nearby capital of Addis Ababa and its millions of residents.
It’s an area of extreme poverty, with many of its inhabitants eating a meal every other day and using scrap pieces of metal and plastic to build their small (typically 6x6) dwellings. Many are afflicted with diseases such as leprosy, HIV and tuberculosis, a situation that is not helped by the lack of running water and sewer.
“It’s something you really have to see to understand,” said Jim.
It’s the same area that made international headlines last year when a garbage slide killed more than 100 people and decimated a number of homes.
However, as Jim and Marion have seen, the most vulnerable are also the first to give.
“They have wonderful hearts,” said Jim. “They’re the poorest of the poor, but they’d give you whatever they have.”
“We can’t walk away and not help these people. They’re our friends. They’re our family.”
Marion Harris
During their last trip, Jim had gotten sick, and after passing out a young taxi driver came to pick him up.
As it turned out, as a child, the man had gone to the Harris’ home-base in Ethiopia in 2005 for youth group meetings.
“He has his own taxi company now,” said Marion, noting the man continued to take Jim to doctor appointments throughout the mission.
Also this year, at the urging of another missionary, the couple met the operator of a non-profit called Brook Hills that provides the community with a food program, medical care and doolahs.
They were surprised when they met the man, that he not only knew who they were but also remembered their children’s names from the 2005 mission.
The young man had also gone to their home for youth group, later becoming a Christian and starting the non-profit.
“We didn’t even realize we were impacting that little boy and now he has a big NGO helping people out in his community,” said Marion. “So, when one child is impacted, perhaps that child will grow schools in the country. We don’t know.”
The couple is hoping to impact many more children through a fundraiser in P.E.I. this summer.
The two have a goal of raising $10,000 for upgrades to the Leku Kata kindergarten school.
The school, which has about 150 kindergarten children, consists of three classrooms with dirt floors that turn to mud when it rains. It has concrete walls with no windows or electricity, leaving teachers to try to educate children in the dark.
There are also no washrooms or running water, while a playground consists of unusable, broken equipment.
The couple’s goal, at least for now, is to put a window and door in each classroom, replace the playground equipment and install a toilet, chalkboards, teacher’s desks and benches for the children.
“It could be a long-term project, you don’t know. We’d like to do as much as we can” said Jim. “Everything you give them will go to good use.”
A “run, walk and wheel” will be held on Saturday, Aug. 18, at Monticello schoolhouse on Route 16 at 8 a.m. to help raise funds. The walk will go to Naufrage Harbour, then to St. Margaret’s Hall for a free pancake breakfast served by the ladies of St. Margaret’s.
The fundraiser, which is registration by donation, will be called “East to East” meaning from eastern P.E.I. to eastern Africa.
“It’s really neat because our community here on P.E.I. wants to get involved to help support this project, which is such a blessing,” said Marion, who plans on returning to Kore this year while the upgrades are being done to make sure the money is well-spent.
While the couple admits they have previously returned from missions both mentally and physically exhausted, Jim said it’s their faith that keeps bringing them back.
“The thing that gets us through it all is our faith in the Lord,” said Jim. “We just really believe that God has taken us there and he’ll look after us while we’re there.”
