“If you weren’t in Nigeria right now, where would you want to be?” Godwin looked into the faces surrounding him. He is leading a nurture group with the children at Kids with a Vision Foundation. In this small group setting, Nurture Groups provide safe places for children to discuss their feelings with one another. As… Read more
Emily looked in the rearview mirror as she drove the five silent girls to the Back2Back team house. No one was talking, but their eyes were taking everything in. The five teenage girls from Tres Reyes knew each other, but one would think they were strangers as the ride to the Girls Retreat continued in… Read more
It’s a sunny day in Haiti. As Dan Ravenhorst, Back2Back Haiti staff, walks towards Lighthouse Children’s Home, he can hear a clear, confident voice pierce the air. He smiles to himself. He may not understand every world to this song, but he recognizes the voice who is sharing it with the neighboring homes. Anne Marie… Read more
Ansouby’s eyebrows knit together as he looks down at his fingers, strumming across the strings of the guitar. To anyone watching, it might look like he is deeply concentrating, but his stature has become a release for him. A year ago, seven children from Harvest Care Children’s Home began taking music lessons from a local… Read more
Large bowls sit side by side on long, wooden tables. Each bowl is filled to the brim with rice and beans. As team members from Grace Chapel hand out Ziploc bags, the children from Lighthouse gather around the bowls. They begin to scoop rice and beans by the cupful into the plastic bags. Today, we… Read more
Basketballs bounce off the concrete into small hands. A small soccer game has started on the field next to it – children chasing after the soccer ball with enthusiasm and vigor. Two small girls swing high, their laughter higher, as butterflies erupt in their bellies when they reach their toes to the sky. As mothers… Read more
The children are moving to the tempo the drum is setting. Sitting behind the bongo drums is Iliya. His hands pound the drum knowingly – as if he has been doing this very thing, making beats and setting pace for the choir, all his life. He smiles, his eyes most often looking down at his… Read more
Back2Back staff member, Sammy, knelt down with her phone in hand so sets of brown eyes could see the screen. They watched as children from around the world received red and green shoe boxes and opened them to find treasures inside. The children in the video were smiling, and as the children at Douglas Children’s… Read more
Sathwik’s cry could be heard throughout the campus. It was clear he was a little boy in a new environment, still fearful from earlier trauma. A visiting team engaged him in play and watched encouragingly as the older boys Sathwik lived with were patient and gentle in their attempts to calm him down. Sathwik has… Read more
House-bound for three months following major surgery, Back2Back Co-Executive Director Beth Guckenberger shares six hard-earned lessons learned. Initially shared in Back2Back’s spring magazine (download a PDF of the original article here), the unanticipated response to this story is now also the subject of a 20-minute podcast. Download a PDF of the original magazine article here…. Read more