Orphan village

After church today we went to the near by orphan village, feeding center. This one is run by Children of the Nations (COTN) and they also have two small group homes for orphans here - one for boys and one for girls. We started coming here in 2007 to visit the older kids, now we try to bring something each time. Usually books, toiletries, 'pretties' for the girls, etc. I brought a jigsaw puzzle for each house this time, too. We enjoy the kids. I sponsor one of the older boys. Usually all the kids aren't there, as many are away at secondary school. Last time at the girl's home we met Diane and Maureen - she had just finished her high school and was hoping to get into college. She is now a freshman at ABC college! What a blessing. She is very bright and will do well. We gave her a ride back to the campus - she is one of 5 kids, lost both parents when she was in 7th grade. She is the only one in the COTN home program, one younger sibling is in a feeding program. She is delightful! Of the boys, I met my new kid, Alex. My previous older boy, Innocent, dropped out of the program, so I took on another older boy. COTN tries to get three sponsors per child - that provides not only food, clothing and basic medical care (plus if they are in a 'house' they have shelter, etc,) but also provides for school fees, even at the college level. Please look up the COTN website, then you can look to sponsor a child, even picking the country, the age, etc. These folks do good work. I have sponsored Lidson (previous blog) for years, and watched him grow into a fine young man. A sponsor gives a child hope for now and for the future, plus lets them know they are special to someone. All for less than a nice restaurant meal in the US! The pictures: driving to the village, we passed some women and children - note the woman with the wood on her head and the baby on her back! Then Jose with the teen age boys - I don't remember all their names, but the one in grey next to Jose is my ex-boy, Innocent (who is trying to get back in the program), and the next in line in white is my 'new boy', Alex. The girls: the girl with the huge smile is Maureen, the one in red is Diane (I think she is still needing a sponsor -check out the COTN website), the other picture is the Auntie and another girl, both of whose names I have forgotten (must be my age...). Enjoy.