Look at what you've done!

Dear Friends - I am so excited to share pictures of the kids at Kind Hearts when they received their new school uniforms TODAY!!  Back on March 5, we completed a fund-raiser so that we could purchase school uniforms for all of the kids at Kind Hearts.  And just 2 months later, the kids are absolutely overjoyed to have brand new school uniforms.  Can you imagine??? I not only see pure, giddy joy in their faces, I see pride.

These kids have never had anything "new" before.  They are used to getting discarded remnants of clothing that don't fit and are already stained and worn out.  They watch the other kids - you know, the ones with a mommy and a daddy - with their new clothes and their nice uniforms.  Those uniforms designate them as very special children because they have the privilege of attending school.

Kids in Ethiopia know precisely what an education means.  It means the difference between a life of opportunity and a life of grinding poverty, sickness ... and death.  Education costs money, and parents pay a monthly fee so that their kids can attend school.  In Ethiopian culture, if you attend school, you wear a uniform.  Every morning, the streets fill with hundreds, thousands of children, in their matching uniforms, meeting at the street corners to walk to school together.

Because our kids at Kind Hearts have been identified by the local government as among the neediest and most destitute in the area, they have been granted the amazing opportunity to go to school.  They recognize that it is a very special privilege, and they are thankful.

Ever since each child was matched with a sponsor (in January), they now count on nutritious meals at school so they can concentrate on their studies.  But they show up in dirty, smelly clothes that are tattered and torn, and stained and stinky.

But today - something very important happened. 

They received an incredibly meaningful and tangible reminder of the love and concern of their sponsor family. 

Today was a very good day for our kids at Kind Hearts. 

And there are many, many more good days to come!

If you are interested in sponsoring a child at Kind Hearts, and making a most amazing difference in their lives, please contact me at kjwistrom@yahoo.com.  Currently, every child at Kind Hearts is sponsored, but there will be more children enrolling soon.  Please don't put it off for another day, send me an email today and I will contact you as soon as more children enroll!

About a month ago, each of the kids at Kind Hearts was measured for a new uniform.  (Above) The school uniforms as they are being bagged and delivered.

The school uniforms as they being sewn for each child.

The kids at Kind Hearts moments before the van arrived with their new school uniforms!

Don't they look so handsome and beautiful???!!!  I was hoping for beautiful shades of blue and that's exactly what we got!