Not enough time :(

I had really good intentions of updating this blog as I was preparing for my trip. However, with the busy schedule I have been keeping this fall I just haven't had time.

I leave in 11 days!! A dear young friend is coming over today to help me think, shop and pack! I am looking forward to the help.

I think when I return I will just post all the information and pictures on our regular blog. So check here! I plan to print my blog someday so I think it would be good to have it all in one place.

I have been overwhelmed at the support I have received. I raised over $3500!! It paid for my trip and some of the money went to help my friends, Brad and Sharon, finally some money was given to buy supplies for the orphanage. Thanks for your prayers!!

Seeds of Hope

We started sponsoring a child. He is a 7 year old boy and I can't wait to meet him! The child sponsorship program was named, by us Americans, "Seeds of Hope". Please read below to see how significant that name is to the people of Shanto.

Here's a note from Desalegn about the meaning of "Seeds of Hope:"

Thank you so many million times for giving this great name for our (FOVC's) child sponsorship program. It is really very blessing name.

By the way Seeds of Hope stands for "Yetasfa Zer" in Amharic and it has much blessing meaning. Some times due to heavy drought and lack of regular rain the farmer uses his all seeds for feeding and some clever farmers save a few seeds for sewing (it may not be more than 10 gm, imagine how small it is). Now that small amount of seed which helps to revive again is "Yetasfa Zer"/ Seeds of Hope in our context!

So thank you for this name. You are always great for us!!!

Ethiopian food

We tried Ethiopian food for the first time. We ordered lamb tibs. It was yummy :) The boys especially liked no utensils and secretly I did too since I didn't have to keep reminding the boys to use them! My boys love to eat with their hands so I think we will be stopping by that Ethiopian restaurant more often.

FBC Mission's Conference

This weekend my church is having a mission's conference. After the banquet tomorrow Sharon and I will have a display set up and be available to talk with people about our trip. Our church is very mission's minded and I have felt such great support for this trip.

Want to make a difference in a child's life?

Southern Ethiopia is an area that is fairly untouched by forgeign aid like World Vision and other child-sponsorship organizations. FOVC is currently caring for 57 children. One of Team Tasfa's goals is to set up a child sponsorship program. Our family is going to sponsor a child. Would you consider sponsoring a child? If you do I will personally hug them for you and give you a personal update on them after I return in January. Please read below:

Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (FOVC) is currently responsible for 57 orphaned children in Shanto, Ethiopia, a small, remote village in the Sidama region. Twenty-four of these children joined FOVC in mid-September after the local government, seeing the work done by FOVC, requested that these children be admitted into the program. While we are thankful that the local government is supportive of FOVC's projects and is seeking help for the children in their community, the admittance of 24 new children has placed a significant burden on FOVC. FOVC's Executive Director, Desalegn Daka, reported that these children "need immediate support to sustain their lives."

All 57 children are in need of sponsors. $35 a month will provide a child with food, clothing, education and medical care. As a sponsor, you will receive photos and biographical information of your child, and the opportunity to communicate with your child 3 times per year. It is our hope that a long term relationship will develop between children and their sponsors. Your tax-deductible gift will have immediate impact and will offer hope to a child desperately in need. Please contact Sharon Bonnett at followingthewayhome@gmail.com or leave a comment below for more information.

FOVC's mission is to reduce and break the cycle of poverty and to ensure that all orphans and vulnerable children grow up in safe, permanent foster families and have quality education and the help they need to be successful in life."

Support

On September 21st I dropped 90 support letters in the mail. 25 days later I have collected $2495! I only need $237 more to meet my goal. Praise God!

Post from Sharon

My friend, Sharon, is the one who told me about this trip. Her and her husband, Brad, adopted a little girl from Ethiopia last February. I will be traveling with Sharon in December. She wrote an interesting post on her blog recently about Ethiopia. Read here.

Ethiopian calendar

Just an FYI. If you are reading through the FOVC blog please note that Ethiopia is on a different calendar system than many parts of the world. I don't quite understand but apparently it is only 2003 in Ethiopia. So please don't let dates confuse you.

What is FOVC-Ethiopia?

Desalegn is a man who grew up in southern Ethiopia. He is the 2nd person from his village to attend college. After getting a degree in Civil Engineering he decided to not pursue a career but instead to return to the village of Shanto and help the orphans, vulnerable children and widows. In 2006 Desalegn started FOVC-Ethiopia which stands for Friend of Orphans and Vulnerable Children. This is taken from his Facebook page:

Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (FOVC) is an indigenous non profit, non-governmental and non-political community based humanitarian organization making a difference in the life of orphans, vulnerable children and widows in one of the densely populated areas in Southern Ethiopia, called Damot Pulasa Woreda/District/. FOVC’s goal is to end the cycle of poverty and hunger through education and income generating activities in Damot Pulasa Woreda.

FOVC was started its humanitarian work in August 2006. The idea of starting this humanitarian work was born after having gone through some good seminars within the community and holding thorough study within the Woreda.

FOVC provides community based foster care, orphanage service and education for orphans who are homeless and extremely impoverished through its Orphans and Vulnerable Children Care and Education Program (OVCCEP). It also rescues widows from the streets and slums of the Woreda through its Widows Hope Program (WHP), trains life changing skills which enable widows to provide for their families. The widows learn skills such as pottering, basket-making, metal work, livestock development skills, crop farming skills, and small-scale business skills.

It is expected that through the providing of community based foster care for homeless, special care/orphanage service/ for extremely impoverished and diseased orphans and training life changing skills for widows that it will be possible to have a direct and possible effect on the life of the poorest people in the area.
The Community is grateful for their relentless support they have offered. We have many generous people who work as volunteers. The group together with the Board of Directors has been lobbying for funds for the projects sustenance to date.

Most of the new children (orphans and vulnerable children) do not have even their school uniforms yet, thus still rely on their old tattered clothes they used to wear on the streets. Most children in the region are beaten or abused by parents, ravaged beyond their years by hard living conditions, and stricken with A.I.D.S. These are common struggles against diseases and poverty. It is in pursuit of human and universal responsibility that our FOVC is established.

FOVC’s focus on orphans, vulnerable children and widows is unique. Most international and national support for impoverished people is focusing in and around the capital city of the country, with little attention paid to many impoverished Woredas like Damot Pulasa.

I will be traveling to Ethiopia with several people who are involved with FOVC-Ethiopia. I look forward to meeting Desalegn and helping with his ministry.

The FOVC-Ethiopia blog is listed to the right. Please check it out!

These twins are too young to be left as orphans

Recent post on the orphanage's blog.

Going on a trip!

I am going to Ethiopia on December 28-January 9. Please continue to check back for more information.