Gifts We Want To Deliver To Ethiopia--Will You Help?

I asked for, and just received, a list from Desalegn that details the types of things FOVC and the orphans there most desperately need at this time. Here it is!

• clothes (gently used or new, boys & girls)
• shoes
• sneakers
• jackets & sweaters
• skirts
• jeans
• socks
• underwear (new)
• towels
• watches
• earrings, necklaces
• hair do-dads
• headbands
• deoderant
• soap
• shampoo, conditioner
• body lotion
• toothbrushes, toothpaste
• educational games for little children
• first aid kits
• school supplies
• notebooks
• markers, pencils, pens, crayons,
• mathematical sets (flash cards?)
• books for library
• office supplies
• printers (very important)
• printer inks for HP Laser Jet 1010 and 1005 series
• photo copy machine (very important)
• laminating machine (very important)
• digital video camera (very important)
• digital camera
• rechargeable batteries (AA type with 220v charger)
• AA batteries for digital cameras
• another laptop and desktop computers for office use
• blankets (can be bought in Ethiopia)
• bed sheets (can be bought in Ethiopia)
• beds (can be bought in Ethiopia)
• mattresses (can be bought in Ethiopia)
• kitchen materials (very important and can be bought in Ethiopia)
• adding machine
• coffee machine
• staplers
• toys

It's a big list, but it should be easy for Team Tasfa to gather lots and lots of these items. Please let me know if you can help! If we all do a little bit, we can make a HUGE difference!

with so much love,
Lory

Kids Sponsored!

Some FOVC kids have already been matched with sponsors. What are you waiting for? They are all in such desperate need. Since Shanto is in such a remote area of Ethiopia, it is an area that is not served by foreign aid, or by aid organizations or NGO's. These kids are all in such desperate need, and they are depending on us!

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!!!

More Sponsorship Insights

Dear Ones,

Please see Desalegn's blog post here.

I'm not much of a cry-er, but this one tore me up.

Humbled. Amazed. Grateful. Even broken. Thank you, God!

We are thinking of naming the sponsorship program Seeds of Hope. Here are some of the children the government has just referred to FOVC. As you can see, these kids are hungry and they hardly have clothes to wear.

Please contact Sharon today if you will plant a seed of hope!

From Our Social Worker & Prayer Needs

Here is US-FOVC's first official communication regarding the orphan sponsorship program!

Thank you for your interest in sponsoring a child through Friends of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (FOVC) in Shanto, Ethiopia. It is my great pleasure to announce that FOVC is ready to get the sponsorship program off the ground!

The past couple of months, US-FOVC has been in the process of developing the sponsorship program and anticipated beginning the sponsorship program in January 2011. It has come to our attention that the need for sponsorships to begin is very urgent. FOVC-Ethiopia is currently responsible for 57 orphaned children in Shanto. 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-Ethiopia's Executive Director, Desalegn Daka, reported that these children "need immediate support to sustain their lives." Because of this, we feel it is in the children's best interest to begin the sponsorship program and not wait until after Team Tasfa travels in December.

All 57 children are in need of sponsors. $35 a month will provide a child with food, clothing, education and medical care. Sponsorships help children living in poverty begin to break the cycle of poverty and hunger through education 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 me at followingthewayhome@gmail.com for more information or to begin your sponsorship.

Seeking the best for children of Shanto,

Sharon Bonnett
FOVC Social Worker
http://fovcethiopia.wordpress.com/

Thank you, Sharon! You are a gift to us and to the children of Shanto!

Because of the urgency of getting children sponsored, here are our most pressing needs. Will you pray, can you help?

• That we will get US-FOVC's website (and email accounts) up and running.
• That we will continue to make progress on the daunting 501(c)(3) application process.

with so much love,
Lory

Ready to Sponsor a Child?

FOVC is ready to begin its child sponsorship program now! FOVC has been made responsible for over 50 orphaned children in the village of Shanto. $35 per month will provide food, clothing, education and medical care.

The need is so great, we don't think we should wait until Team Tasfa travels....it's time to start helping these kids NOW.

If you would like to learn more about the sponsorship program, or if you're ready to sign up, please contact Sharon.

Let's give these children a reason to dance!

Tasfa Ethiopia

Tasfa Ethiopia happened last night in Denver...and the event raised about $20,000. Wow!

Thank you, Ethiopian Orphan Relief, and thank you, Shawn, for your hard and wonderful work.

The members and supporters of Team Tasfa had a terrific time!

Thankful and Community.

I found myself getting more and more sick late last week. Saw a doctor Saturday afternoon. Went to Urgent Care for an anti-nausea shot Saturday evening. Went to the local E.R. late that same night. Doctors couldn't decided whether to send me home or keep me. I knew something was really wrong and I was afraid to go home.

After some tests, it turned out I had an intestinal blockage. The pain was legit!

Transferred by ambulance to a different hospital for surgery. This is my second middle-on-the-night, unplanned surgery in less than six months!

So, after several days in a couple of facilities, I am home, and resting, (un)comfortably.

Thankful and Community.

Dave had a can't-miss work trip today. But, thankfully, my mom flew in to save us all. Thankfully, friends have sent flowers and are bringing meals. And checking on us. Generally making me, all of us, feel loved and thankful.

Thank God for our community....not just our town, but the people we know, the ones with whom we do our day-to-day life.

I guess it would have been more fun to have gotten, um, something augmented and maybe something else tucked.

But I'll take my community, and I'll be thankful.

In about 80 days, Team Tasfa will travel to join the community in Shanto, Ethiopia. Can't wait to experience the community, and the thankfulness, that we will all absorb and process together in Ethiopia.

(And now I'll take something to help me sleep, followed by a pain pill chaser!)