What's in a Name....

Opiyo Tonny handing school supplies to Kumakech Aron, our littlest guy.

I love studying languages, so I have been trying to study some Acholi before my trip to Uganda in late July. Acholi is the name of the ethnic group most of our sponsored children are part of. The language is officially called Luo, and it is spoken in parts of Kenya as well.

Many of you have asked about the names of your children. Our concept of a family name that is passed on from generation to generation is not the custom among the Acholi. Instead, each child is given an Acholi name and another, often more westernized name. The first one is the Acholi name, and it usually means something, and reflects the circumstances of the birth, often from the perspective of the mother. My son Joey's Acholi friend recently named his baby after Joey: Oceng Joseph Rich. Oceng means born in the afternoon.

I thought you might enjoy doing a little research to see what your child's name means, which you can do at
this website

Dear My Sponsor...

New uniforms!

Many of you will soon be getting letters from your children. These letters may have been written before you became your child's sponsor, in which case of course you will not get one. The letters show various levels of English ability and academic achievement. The ones from the younger children and those who have learning difficulties are full of crossed-off portions, and you can see how they were attempting to copy from an older child (mostly Franka and Richard, whose letters are quite legible). Some have decorated their letters with charming pictures. Tonny pointed out to me that the letters do demonstrate that the level of education in the rural schools is rather low. He would like to try to get more of the children into the town schools, and hopes to initiate a Saturday tutoring session for the weaker students. He himself has had experience in tutoring English, math, and social studies, and mentioned the possibility of recruiting some local teachers to help out as well.

To read the rest (with a great movie suggestion), click here