HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-06-23, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2016. PAGE 7.
Blyth woman returns from Zimbabwe mission
according to Decevito, who said the
children were very affectionate and
just wanted to be with her and her
fellow missionaries.
"They want to hug you and hold
your hand and just be near you," she
said. "It was amazing "
Decevito said she would like to
return again and, with successful
events like the barbecue she hosted
in front of Scrimgeour's Food
Market, where she works, she thinks
it's an achievable goal.
"The barbecue took me above and
beyond what I needed," she said. "I
ended up with $1,000 more than the
$3,000 goal I had."
That extra money came in handy,
Decevito said, especially when she
found a problem that she could help
fix at the local school.
"One of my jobs was to sit in a
classroom and be there to help and to
learn," she said. "I was in an English
class and the students went down to
the library which was a big word for
what was there"
Decevito explained that the library
consisted of a few nearly empty
shelves in a small room and a desk
without a chair.
"The books that were there were
very old textbooks," she said. "I
wanted to do something about that."
After school let out for the day,
Decevito spent an entire afternoon in
downtown Harare, with the teacher,
shopping for books for the library.
"I had $300, so I dedicated that to
getting books," she said. "We ended
up getting 30 to 40 books."
The books were ones that
Decevito suggested and included
tomes that she had read in her youth
and found interesting and
educational.
Decevito said that few things
compared to the experience of being
Smiles all around
Bekki Decevito recently returned from a mission trip to
Zimbabwe. The Blyth resident said one of the things that
struck her the most was how happy everyone was in the
country despite the fact that they didn't have some
conveniences that people in North America might take for
granted. (Photo submitted)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Blyth resident Bekki Decevito
recently returned from a mission trip
to Zimbabwe and loved the
experience so much she hopes to
return one day.
"It was a great trip," she said. "The
best way I can describe it is it was
enlightening but, at the same time,
very humbling."
Decevito said there are many
differences between Canadian and
Zimbabwe life, but it was the small
ones that made her aware of how
much she has that others don't.
"It's the things you don't even
think of," she said. "Turning on the
tap and brushing your teeth and
things like that."
Decevito decided to participate in
the trip through Village of Hope in
Zimbabwe through the Hanover
Pentecostal Church because her
family has been involved in the trip
for some time.
"My grandma has been involved
for 11 years now," she said. "It was
nice to get to go with her."
As far as the actual mission trip,
Decevito said there were some
routines to be followed, but that
every day was a new adventure.
"Some of us went to an off-site
feeding program some days and that
was a real eye-opener," she said.
Going to the off-site events was as
much of an "eye-opener" as helping
out, Decevito said. Witnessing
children literally playing with
garbage looking happier than most
children in Canada was surprising
she said.
"It really makes you realize what
you have," she said.
The program involved a school
program that is similar to Vacation
Bible Schools, Decevito said, and
each class numbered in the
hundreds.
"I was warned ahead of time that
craft time was difficult for that many
students, but I thought I could
manage," she said. "I did decide to
do crafts but I ran into some
problems with my supplies so, we
made prayer sticks."
Decevito explained the prayer
sticks were popsicle sticks that the
children adorned with stickers and
pipe cleaners.
"The kids loved them," she said.
"To have this small thing, they loved
it."
The love didn't end there,
`Citizen' closed July 1
As the nation pauses to pay tribute
to this lovely country of ours, so too
does the staff of The Citizen, which
will close its offices on Friday, July
1 to recognize Canada Day.
Because the holiday is a Friday,
there will be no change in deadlines
for the July 7 newspaper. Deadlines
for that issue remain Monday, July 4,
at 2 p.m. at the Brussels office and at
4 p.m. at the Blyth office.
The Citizen wishes its readers,
supporters and community members
a safe and happy Canada Day.
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A community pillar
The Lions Club honours its best and brightest with the
Melvin Jones Fellowship Award and the list of inductees
includes John Hoggart of the Londesborough Lions Club,
shown above. Hoggart was in charge of cooking the bacon
during the Lions Club's Father's Day breakfast on Sunday,
as fellow Lion Carl Nesbitt supervises. (Denny Scott photo)
Morrison Berries Country Market
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there when the children saw the
books and they were passed out.
"Seeing the kids' reactions was
amazing," she said. "It was
incredible. They just lit up over
books I had read as a kid. When I go
back next year, I hope to help with
the books again."
Decevito said she may have to
focus more fundraising on that,
however, noting that books are
heavy to transport.
While the trip was a great
experience, Decevito said much of
that was being there with her
grandmother.
"There isn't a lot of connectivity
there, so you're far away from the
family you know," she said. "I was
the only new person there and it
could have been very lonely if my
grandma wasn't there helping out."
In the end, however, Decevito said
the trip was a great experience,
including everything from long
flight which had layovers in
Switzerland and Germany to
every event she participated in
Zimbabwe.
For more information about the
program that first inspired Decevito,
visit www.missionzimbabwe.org
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