Bits and Pieces

Lots of bits and pieces this week:

Thursday was World Malaria Prevention Day so Saturday (just this morning) Mr. Opiyo gathered the children together for presentation of the gifts of the month, which included mosquito nets, lamp oil, soap, salt, and cooking oil. He also gave the children some tips about preventing malaria and a devotional. Then they were going to have refreshments of biscuits (cookies) and soda pop. I am hoping for some pictures, but I haven't got them yet.

The beads have come...

To continue reading about beads, kids who still need sponsors, and some future plans for SOVCO, please click on the link below:
Bits and Pieces

Close-ups of Three Vulnerable Boys

I've learned in parenting, that to see our children like God sees us, we need to see their vulnerable side once in awhile. Growing up with just a sister, I didn't know boys could be so vulnerable. On the outside, they seem so tough. But now that I have sons and nephews, I know their soft side is in there somewhere.
Here are three of the boys we are sponsoring: Regan, Francis and Richard. And these are their stories....

To continue reading, please click here:
Close-ups of Three Vulnerable Boys

Get Ready for Letters!

Originally Written April 7, 2012

Mr. Opiyo wanted to gather the children together the day before Easter to write letters to us. This is no small feat when families live in such remote locations, spread so far apart, without telephones. He wrote that "I really moved with a bicycle for over 80 kilometres to tell the parents and guardians of our children to bring them."

To read the full story and see a picture, please click here:
Get Ready for Letters!

Ready for School

This post is out of order; it was first written March 3, 2012.

Last Saturday, SOVCO had a gathering to give the sponsored children their school supplies and some soap and skin lotion, and talk to all of the guardians about the sponsorship.  Mr. Opiyo also encouraged them "...to study very hard if their future is to be a bright future and a sustainable future for them before their parents and guardians... I and my volunteers and the Area Chairman of the Local Council thanked the Almighty God for all these good and faithful opportunities that have been given to these needy children in this community of Ongako..."  It looks like the children dressed in their best for the occasion and posed together for a picture at the end.

To see more pictures of the gathering and individual children getting their packets, please click here:
Ready for School

Home Sweet Home Uganda

                                                                   Originally written April 2, 2012

Last night, just after going to bed, my cell phone rang, and it was our director in Uganda, calling to check on some details about the sending of April sponsorship money. After we were cut off, my husband and I were silent in wonder, thinking that we had just been speaking with a man in a grass hut in Africa. That got me thinking about the houses our children live in, and so I have collected a few pictures to share with you.

To read more and see pictures of rural Ugandan houses, please click here:
Home Sweet Home Uganda

More Children Needing Sponsors

                                                                              Originally written March 22, 2012

We have a whole new group of orphans, so if you have friends or family who may like to sponsor, please forward this email on. If they are interested, they can contact me at forresterich@hotmail.com.

In a recent letter, Mr. Opiyo told of interviewing one boy for the profiles below. The boy began to cry and said, "Uncle, I am so interested to study but no one can help me!" Later his teacher told Mr. Opiyo that the boy is very bright, and used to be a street child. She hoped that we could help him continue his studies.  I know that you are with us in our desire to help all of these children.

To see pictures of all the children, please click on this link:
Some More Orphans

Pregant Pig and Nodding Disease

                                   SOVCO director beside the cow shelter,
                                   and I think those are the green peppers
                                in the background. (is he scolding the cow?)                           

                                                                      Originally written March 16, 2012

Well, there were a few little problems this week for SOVCO in Uganda. For one thing the green pepper garden was invaded by a pregnant pig and a cow that ate up all the peppers that were supposed to be sold to pay for school fees for children in the community. It turned out the pig was one belonging to SOVCO, and the cow belonged to the chairman of SOVCO's Board of Directors, who is letting SOVCO use the land for free, so there was nothing that could be done, but get ready to plant more peppers...

To read more, please click on the link below:
 Pregnant Pig and Nodding Disease

Communicating with your Child

                                                                           Originally written March 3, 2012

One of the delights of working with SOVCO for me is sending emails back and forth to the director in Africa. I just love the Ugandan way of putting things. Here is an example:

"Well yesterday on Monday, the 27th February 2012, I went to visit our
orphans how they are doing and found out that, they are doing well.
Indeed my sister, I must tell you that, our orphans are so discipline
in such a sense that, the moment they saw me, all of them ran and came
to welcome me immediately saying "Uncle, you are most welcomed in our
school" and they asked me ''Uncle, how are you doing?" Then I told them,
 "I am fine."
 I gave them the incisors today so that the guardians can shape off
their hairs by this Friday, hence to be smarter than other pupils."

As for letter-writing with the children, I bet getting a letter from you would put a smile on their faces...

To read more, please click on this link:
Communicating With Your Child

The Women of Hope Arts and Crafts Project

                                                                            Originally written late Feb. 2012

It's been a busy week in our "hometown in Uganda." I think the green peppers are all harvested, but the SOVCO director and volunteers are busy with measuring the children for uniforms, and home visits to the second set of seven orphans, bringing soap, lamp oil, salt and whatever else is needed. Mr. Opiyo, the director, says he will be getting more children ready for sponsorship by sometime in March, so if you are waiting, hopefully it won't be much longer.

Also, the Women of Hope have begun making beads again...

To read more and see more images, please click on the link below:
WHAP

Pictures from Home Visits

                                                                           
                                                                                 Originally written  Feb. 18, 2012

Seventeen children sponsored so far!

 Mr. Opiyo and the SOVCO members are busy with the green pepper harvest, which they will take to restaurants in the nearby town of Gulu to sell to get money for operating expenses. And they are dealing with the challenge of getting around to all the children for pictures and home visits, and the death of the trainer for the bead project, who died of diabetes just last week.

But Mr. Opiyo sent me some new pictures from his recent home visits with several of the children, and I wanted to share them with you...

To continue reading and see more images, please click on the link below:
http://mim.io/af8552?toolbar=promotions%2Ftoolbar_view

Second group of Orphans

                                                                                 Originally written Feb. 11, 2012

When I get these orphan profiles and read their stories of loss, it breaks my heart. These kids have been through so much!

The first group of ten children all had sponsors within eight days and I have sent the money to pay their school fees, which were due last week. Besides that, with the money that we give, the director and volunteers at SOVCO (local people who have a special concern for these children) will be doing monthly home visits to determine the needs of each family, and bringing them such necessities as mosquito nets, high-protein food, and clean water. They will set aside some money each month to pay for medical needs of the children as they arise.

To continue reading this post and see more images, please click this link:
http://mim.io/4fda42?toolbar=promotions%2Ftoolbar_view

Welcome to SOVCO Sponsorship!

                                                                      
                                                                           Originally written  March 26, 2012

Thank you so much for your interest in sponsoring a child in Northern Uganda!  In this letter I want to introduce you to the program and tell you how you can make your payments. In another letter which will come soon, I will give you some suggestions of resources that will help enrich your sponsorship experience.

The children we're supporting have been through so much, with a recent civil war in which rebel forces abducted thousands of children as soldiers and sex slaves. Most of these children we are supporting were too young to be abducted, but many of their parents were brutally killed in the war, and others have had to see their parents waste away to HIV/Aids...

To read the rest of this letter and see images, please click on this link:

http://mim.io/271152?toolbar=promotions%2Ftoolbar_view

Dusty Shoes, Orphans, and Vulnerable Children

                                                                       Originally Written Jan. 27, 2012      

 I have never been to Africa.  Last summer after my son Joey came back from a summer in Uganda, one morning I picked up his shoes, which were covered with red dust. I stared at them for awhile, trying to imagine the places they had been. Then I pitched those shoes in the trash can.

A few months later, a letter came. It was from Mr. Opiyo, a man Joey had met in Uganda, who has started a small organization called SOVCO to help orphans and vulnerable children (OVC; it's a well-know acronym in a place where these children make up 45% of the population). He wanted our help in marketing handicrafts made by the women who care for the children. I was tempted to pitch that letter in the trash can, too.

I am so glad I didn't, because these past few months I have been blessed to do what I can to help my new "brother" Mr. Opiyo find ways to care for his orphans and the women who care for them.

To read the rest of the letter and see images, click on this link:

http://mim.io/3cb632?toolbar=promotions%2Ftoolbar_view