Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Empower a Girl with Mama's Wish

We are delighted to welcome several new girls to our Mama's Wish Education Program. These very smart and determined girls have beaten all the odds, and we would love to find new sponsors for them as soon as possible.

These bright girls come from very poor villages in rural QingHai Province in China - where attending school is often just a dream, especially if you are a girl. Without this opportunity for education, most of these girls would have been forced into marriage at a very young age, and work in the fields to support their struggling families. With our help they now aspire to be teachers, scientists and doctors. All of our students are incredibly grateful for this opportunity, and each of them looks forward to giving back to their communities.

For just $130 you can sponsor a high school student for an entire school year, and help give her the tools she needs to succeed. As a Mama's Wish sponsor you will receive letters and photos of your student. You'll also have the opportunity to send her letters if you wish. Our students love to receive letters!

You can learn more about the Mama's Wish Education Program and see photos of our available students here: http://www.angelcovers.org/mamawish.html

"We wish you everyday happy!"

Karen MacNair
Mama's Wish Sponsorship Coordinator

Monday, January 18, 2010

Working Together


The end of last week, the children who attend Humble Hearts returned to the school to see the destruction. Parents and children cried together as they came to better understand all that was lost. As the official opening of the school, parents were eager to find ways of moving the school forward for their children.

These parents come from the extreme poverty, rarely have enough food for their families, live in tin shelters, and many lost their homes to the bulldozing as well. However, these families united behind the school and it's needs. Families with little for themselves came together and quickly purchased polls for a new temporary building. This building, which was constructed immediately by the families, will be used to teach the youngest of the Humble Hearts students. Additionally, the children from class 1 and up were moved into a nearby church. This church graciously opened their doors and is allowing Humble Hearts to rent rooms for a nominal monthly fee.

There's a lot of work to do for sure. Books must be purchased, partitions need to be put in place to divide classrooms, desks and blackboards are still needed. To help with any of these needs, please go to www.angelcovers.org/donation.html and mark your donation for the Humble Heart rebuild. We are continuing to look for options for a permanent solution to the Humble Hearts crisis, but it's amazing to know that in less than a month the children are back in school and parents whose children have not attended Humble Hearts in the past are begging for their admittance.

From the parents to the children to the teachers to our donors...everyone is proving how much they love this school. Thank you seems completely inadequate.

So very grateful,

Kari

Monday, January 11, 2010

Humble Hearts will soon reopen!

In the past 10 days since my last update, emails have been flying back and forth between the US and Kenya. Beatrice and I have been working hard to not only get the word out about what happened at Humble Hearts, but to also find a solution so children can start school as soon as possible. Fortunately many possibilities have been presented to us and everything seems to be coming together so the children can start school again this week.

In the past 10 days we have learned that it wasn't the government at all how bulldozed HH and the surrounding homes and businesses, and this certainly wasn't a mistake. Instead it was the Kenya Railway and Kenya Pipeline Companies carried out these terrible acts. By the end of the month, they are planning to wipe out every church, business, school and home in their way between Western Kenya and Mombasa on the coast. They will be giving individuals and businesses little if any compensation. While meeting still are continuing with these companies and the Kenyan government offices, little help is expected.

However, a church very close to HH has agreed to let us use their building temporarily for the school. For only $205 a month, the building can be rented and children will be arriving to start school as early as Thursday. Tomorrow (the 12th), students from HH will return to the site of the school so Beatrice and the other teachers know how many children plan on continuing their education at HH and how many have moved. Additionally, the deaf children living at Angel Cottage have already started arriving and will begin school this week as well. We will be increasing the number of children to 40, including some hearing orphaned children.

Must still needs to be done this week. Lists of school supplies, books, and other needed materials will be made and thanks to so many generous donations, will be purchased right away. We will also be making lists of all of the kids who returned so we can notify sponsors if any have moved.

In the past 3 weeks since we learned of the HH demolition, more than $3,300 has been raised from individuals around the world. We were all heart-broken and overwhelmed. But through this tragedy it has become clear to me how important this school...not only to the children it serves, but to everyone who supports it. Humble Hearts is bringing hope to hundreds of children in the slums of Nairobi and even though the school is no longer standing, the children's dreams are alive and well.

Always grateful,

Kari