Mama's Wish - Changing Lives Forever

For $11 you could treat yourself to 3 iced lattes, order a pizza, perhaps buy the latest DVD... or you could change a girl's life forever by giving her the gift of education.

For only $11 a month (or $130 a year) you can sponsor a high school student in rural China and give her the tools she needs to make positive changes in her life, and in her community.

These smart, hard working and very determined girls have beaten all the odds, but with an average family income of just $100 a year, a high school education is just a dream. Without the opportunity for education, many of these girls would be forced into marriages at a very early age, and work menial jobs to support their families. With our help they now aspire to be teachers, doctors and scientists, and they look forward to the day they can give back to their communities.

We are currently looking for new sponsors for the girls joining the program this fall. Can you help? As a sponsor you will receive letters and photos of your student, and updates on her progress. You'll also have the opportunity to send letters to her.

Please contact karen@angelcovers.org and we'll be happy to match you with one of these promising new students... and you too can help change a life forever.

Karen MacNair
Mama's Wish Education Program
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It's Packed!

I'm so excited to tell you that the shipping container we have been talking about for more than a year is now packed and ready to go to Ukraine! After many delays, the US State Department approved a grant to send this container with blankets, clothing, shoes, and baby bouncers to Ukraine. So many people worked very hard on this project and we certainly learned a lot. After packing and repacking pallets this morning, we are all thrilled to know that tomorrow this container will leave for the long, 2 month journey, to Ukraine. Hundreds of pounds of clothing, baby bouncers, shoes, and blankets totaled 16 pallets and will be distributed to children throughout Ukraine.

We thank you for all your donations to this project as well as you patience while we worked through the necessary steps to finally make this a reality. The children who will receive all of these items will be so blessed by each of you.

A fabulous day

Of course I've always believed that all children have unlimited potential. Unfortunately many children are born into circumstances that prevent them or reaching their full potential, such as extreme poverty, sickness, or other lack of resources. Humble Hearts was established for kids just like these...children who have amazing potential but don't always have the means to achieve all they can.

Today I learned that many of the children at Humble Hearts were able to prove it doesn't take a lot of money, professional coaches, fancy costumes to show the world your skills and talents. Two groups of kids attending Humble Hearts, one hearing and the other deaf, earned a spot at the national music competition a few weeks ago because of their amazing talents of signing, reciting verses, and singing. Today, I learned that both of these groups placed second in the national competition. To say I'm proud of these children would be an understatement.

All of the children in both of these groups struggle for food, clean water, medical care, and a quality education. Since Humble Hearts opened, these children have had all of these things, and they have teachers and staff who love them. All of the children of Humble Hearts are being taught that deaf people are as capable as those who can hear. They are learning how to communicate with each other and the community is learning the truth about deafness, rather than believing rumors and ideas based on witchcraft.

When I return to Humble Hearts in September, I will be fortunate enough to take each child and staff member a t-shirt that says, "Humble Hearts Giving the deaf a voice". A very talented friend of mine designed this logo and when I saw it this morning for the first time, it brought tears to my eyes. It could not have been more appropriate for the day or for these children. Never did they think they would have a voice and others didn't believe they were capable of having a voice. The national music competition proved they can.

If you are interested in supporting these amazing kids by helping with the costs of travel to the competition or the t-shirts, please go to http://www.angelcovers.org/donation.html and putting either "music competition" or "t-shirts" in the memo section of your donation.

These kids have always been my heroes. Today I once again learned why.

58 Dreams Come True

Recently 56 of our Mama's Wish students graduated from high school, and two of our students graduated from university. Truly a dream come true for all of them!

Graduating came as no small feat since each of these students came from incredibly poor, rural areas in China, where attending school is just a dream - especially if you are a girl.

Each of these bright young women have worked incredibly hard and have overcome so many obstacles. We are so very proud of all of them. No matter where the future leads these girls, there is no question their lives have been forever changed by the priceless gift our sponsors have given them. Thank you!

We are very excited to soon welcome a new group of students to the Mama's Wish program for the 2009-'10 school year, and we're currently looking for new sponsors. For as little as $11 a month ($130 yr) you too can help change a girl's life forever by giving her the gift of knowledge. If you are interested in sponsoring a Mama's Wish student please contact karen@angelcovers.org and we'll be happy to match you with one of these new students.

Karen MacNair
Sponsorship Coordinator - Mama's Wish Education Program