Photo: One of our farmland staff tends to turkeys which are providing nutritious protein in our children’s diets and generating funds for our programs. Our Uganda farmland enterprise has recently expanded to include a turkey house project which currently consists of 8 turkeys in 2 turkey houses. We are breeding the turkeys and expect them […]
Photo: Our faithful farmland staff cares for our goats and a variety of crops.
We are happy to report that we’ve planted 3 new crops at our farmland enterprise: onions, tomatoes, and green beans. We eagerly await a plentiful harvest of onions, tomatoes, and garlic next month, and we look forward to a harvest of green beans in July. Other forthcoming harvests will be eggplant in August, and potatoes and spinach in December. All of this is great provision from God as the produce from our farmland stocks our orphanage pantry with nutritious, organic ingredients for the children. It also supplies our human trafficking rehabilitation home with fresh ingredients for their meals.
Photo: Girls from our India Girls Home send donors their love and gratitude for the new solar water heating system!
We are happy to report that a solar water heating system has been installed at our main India campus, and with the main solar panel system back online after recent construction, the campus can now function completely from solar power during the frequent outages. Winter is almost over in India, but there are still some chilly mornings ahead relative to their tolerance, so it is a blessing for the children to have warm water this month as opposed to the cold water they were bathing with during chilly mornings.
Photo: The garden is flourishing with fresh vegetables such as carrots, celery, and mustard greens.
Unfortunately, our main campus orphan home in Myanmar was robbed this week in the middle of the night. The thief took our camera, a cell phone, a purse with cash, and our laptop computer. In total we lost about $3,000 worth of goods and cash. Asking our local director for comment on the news, he replied, “Although we are saddened to lose important items that we use in our work, we forgive the thief.God knows all and will set things right. We are praying and trusting that God will restore what was lost.”
Photo: Children in one of the newly renovated classrooms are happy to not have to worry about dirt floors turning muddy during the rainy season.
Thanks to a recently successful fundraiser, our Kampala Children’s Hope Center has been undergoing renovations and improvements to prevent flooding and provide adequate shelter for the students during the rainy season. The improvements include upgrading from dirt to concrete floors, a new roof, permanent chalkboards, and other repairs and upgrades to the perimeter of the facility that will prevent flooding and keep the children safe. Renovations will be complete in just 2 weeks time.
Photo: Thanks to profitability at our farmland, our program provides this young scholar with everything she needs to attend a local school.
We are happy to report that due to recent improvements at our farmland enterprise — a new fishery, a second fishery pond for fingerlings, and a new storm-proof hen house — we have yielded better results in our production levels. Among the things that the farmland’s profits support is our children’s outreach program, which is now helping to put 60 children in school. They receive scholarships in the form of school supplies, uniforms, backpacks, and whatever else they need to meet the local school enrollment requirements.
Photo: These brave survivors of human trafficking are happy to be learning a new skill in their seamstress class as part of our rehabilitation program.
We are happy to report that we recently received three girls at our rehabilitation home who were rescued from the perils of human trafficking in Delhi. The Indian police, in conjunction with our partner child advocacy group, rescued them after they had been missing for three months. Now they are safe, receiving counseling, room & board, medical care, literacy classes, cooking classes, and acquiring craft-making, seamstress, and gardening skills through daily coursework offered by our full-time teachers.
Photo: Bo (pictured at front) is thankful for her new sisters at one of our orphan homes, and the opportunity to attend school.
We are very happy to share the powerful story of 9-year-old Bo who lost her father and became an orphan, but now lives a happy life full of redemption and hope at one of our Myanmar orphan homes. Her father died of a serious illness, and her mother was too poor to buy her clothes or send her to school. Bo was starving and often cried because she could not attend school with her friends. One day her mother met a woman who told her of our orphan home. Knowing that she could not properly care for her, she gladly sent her to live with our family.
Photo: Children in our primary education program are thankful and happy for new uniforms!
We are excited to report that our students in Uganda, ages 4-13, recently received new school uniforms. This generous donation was made possible by Paratus Classical Academy in Houston, TX. The children and parents of Paratus wanted the delivery of the uniforms to coincide with Christmas cards made by the students as well as money they raised for a small Christmas party for the children in Uganda.
Photo: Thanks to profits from our newly expanded fishery enterprise, our students will be better equipped at the start of the next school year.
Our facilities in the Philippines were rocked by tropical storm Seniang which hit the islands at the turn of the new year, leaving the region with 54 dead and 260,000 affected. It was a powerful storm spawning calamitous and deadly mudslides in the vicinity of our main campus. However, our elevated location just outside of the local town spared us from fatalities and severe damage to our girls home, 2 fishery ponds, hen house project, vegetable gardens, and banana grove. By God’s grace we are recovering well from the minor damage our facilities received.
Photo: Our girls are thankful for a harvest of radishes, a healthy ingredient for their meals.
We are pleased to report that the last phases of the harvests for our 14-acre farmland, and the on-campus ground level gardens and rooftop box gardens are going very well. The latter two projects are an effort to introduce more fresh organic vegetables and herbs into our children’s diets at the Girls Home and Boys Home, beyond the lentils that our farmland is already producing. There have been heavy rains lately which may affect the yield of these harvests, so our native team in India asks for your prayers.
Photo: Girls in our Nepal rehabilitation home learn to make friendship bracelets as part of a skill development program to help them gain economic independence.
We are happy to report that our native “border awareness team” rescued three girls from the Nepal-India border last week thanks to their vigilant watch, working in tandem with border police. The girls were going to India with a man who said he was their friend, though they had only known him for 2 weeks. Our team kept the girls at our border safe house for 2 days, called their parents, and sent them back home where they are now safe and sound. Their parents are very grateful to us for saving their daughters from the dangers of human trafficking.