Fundraiser for James Lingham’s Congo Mission Trip
You may know that I’ve recently returned from an amazing trip to the New Sight Congo Hospital at the town of Ouesso in Republic of Congo, which was founded and is run by the wonderful Henri and Joyce Samoutou.
I have learned that four in five people in the world who are blind or visually impaired suffer from preventable or treatable causes of blindness, and New Sight are committed to eliminating all reversible and preventable causes of blindness and severe visual impairment, starting with the poorest and most neglected communities in the north of Congo.
New Sight is a non-profit organisation providing eye care, health education, and training and employment to enable this work to ultimately become locally self-sustaining. I found it incredible to see people with serious eye problems being gathered from the surrounding areas and sent away with their sight restored, like something straight out of the Bible.
I went to help out at a summer camp for local children which the charity runs each year, to teach them about Jesus and His love for them through fun activities and Bible stories. It was great to meet and build relationships with these wonderful kids, even if I struggled with my French!
My time with New Sight has had a real impact on me, particularly in seeing what life is like for people living in the rural areas of a country like Republic of Congo; recognising how little they have in terms of the basics like food, water, clothing, housing, and how limited their prospects are, but yet still remaining so joyful. It was very challenging and caused me to realise how blessed I am. It has inspired me to make the most of what I have through finding ways to give back to those who have nothing.
I wasn’t able to do any fundraising ahead of the trip because I flew out to Congo only the day after my last A-level and was obviously preoccupied with revision and exams in the months before this. However, I now need to raise some funds for New Sight to cover the costs of my trip and would be massively grateful if you’d be willing to support me through making a donation to this wonderful charity.
Thanks,
James
