Making a difference for 44 more!!!

Just before we left for Ethiopia in November, we got the wonderful news that 40 more children had just enrolled at the care-point!  (Actually - there ended up being 44 new children!)  Kind Hearts had become stable and secure after 10 months of a reliable and established sponsor program, and more children could now receive the necessities of food, clean water, medical care and clothing - and the benefits of education, Christian discipleship and LOVE!

We could immediately tell who the new kids were!  They had already experienced the many benefits and nutritious food at the care-point for several weeks before we arrived - but they were the children without school uniforms!  But the hope in their eyes and the joy in their faces was the same as all the other kids!!

I'm thankful to be able to say that ALL of the new children at Kind Hearts have been matched with a sponsor family! 

At the moment we have 101 children enrolled at Kind Hearts and every child has a sponsor family!! 

(To all the families that have contacted me about sponsorship - I will be contacting you as soon as we have the profiles for all of the new children at Trees of Glory - hopefully as soon as next week!!  We currently have 84 kids at Trees of Glory and should have profiles on 21 new children soon!)

We will be raising funds for uniforms for the new kids at Kind Hearts, so they can proudly match the rest of their school-mates and have a much-needed change of clothes.  A school uniform (which includes a light blue sweater with a white long-sleeve shirt, and navy blue pants for boys and a dress or skirt for the girls) is $25.  We will need to purchase 44 more uniforms and if we end up with a little extra, we'll purchase a few spares for those kids who are especially tough on their clothes :) 

These are the Kind Hearts uniforms.  The kids are so proud of them! 
These photos were taken last February when the kids first got new uniforms. 
Now the 44 new kids need uniforms, to match their school-mates!

To donate, please go to http://www.hopechest.org/, click on GIVE. 

Under "choose a fund", select "DESIGNATED GIFT".

Enter $25 (or more).

For the Reference Number, specify ET2110000 (9 characters) and in the notes are specify "UNIFORM". 

It's very important to specify the correct Reference Number and specify "UNIFORM" in the notes area so the funds get designated correctly.  I will keep you posted on our progress on this fund!  (Please send me a quick email at kjwistrom@yahoo.com when you give and the amount so I can track our progress in real time.)  We need a total of $1,100 in this fund to be able to purchase uniforms for all the new children.

These are just a few photos of some of the new kids at Kind Hearts that we got to spend time with in November.  We created a care-package for each child while we were in Ethiopia - so that the new kids would not feel left out or overlooked as the rest of the kids got packages from their sponsor family!  Some of the kids were able to meet thier sponsor family that day (a member of our travel team) and others knew that they would find out about their sponsor family soon.

Dave hugs the little boy (Robel) his family is now sponsoring! 

Netsantet now has a sponsor family! 

Tigist now has a sponsor family! 

Zenebech now has a sponsor family! 

Hibist now has a sponsor family! 

Michael is matched to the little girl (Yikram) that he spent time with in Ethiopia. 
SHE is the one that decided he was to be her sponsor! :) 

Becky hugs her sponsor child, Derartu! 

Sarah met Yayineabeba and is now sponsoring her! 

Lindsey met Mekides and is now sponsoring her! 

 Monica met Kalkidan and is now sponsoring her!

 Demis now has a sponsor family!

 Selamawit now has a sponsor family!

Hunde now has a sponsor family! 

Biruk has been matched with a sponsor family! 

Habtamnesh and Dagim are cousins, and they have each been matched with a sponsor family!

She couldn't stop thinking about the kids with the raggedy shoes ...

Last year when I spent time with the children at Kind Hearts and other Hopechest care-points in Ethiopia, we snapped these pictures of the shoes the kids were wearing.  We were all convicted by these photos and the reality of the situation as we all thought about the closet full of shoes our children have at home.  Shoes for gym, shoes for basketball, shoes for soccer, shoes for church, boots for snow, play shoes, everyday shoes, ... and the list goes on.

Shoes were one of the priority items on the top of our list for the kids at the care-point!

We set up a fund, and sponsor families immediately started stepping forward to purchase shoes for these kids.  Then, an 11 year old girl named Sami, saw these photos and couldn't stop thinking about the kids in Ethiopia with raggedy shoes ... and she decided to do someting about it!

Sami started a blog, called Little Goody 2 Shoes (click HERE to check it out) and she started making and selling bottle cap necklaces for $5 each - with 100% of the funds going to raise money for shoes for the kids in Ethiopia.  Sami has since raised enough money to buy shoes for over 200 kids!!!!  She also was able to donate $1000 to the November Ethiopia trip for construction supplies and materials!  She is unstoppable!  She is now raising funds for another care-point with 150 kids that needs shoes!!  If you think for one second that you can't make a difference ... please think again!!

Here are a few recent photos of the kids at Trees of Glory receiving their NEW shoes!!

Well, Hello Mr. January!

Each year, our adoption agency, America World Adoption (http://www.awaa.org/) prints a calendar.  Families are not only excited about the possibility of their child being featured in the calendar - but also happy to have the monthly reminder of all the precious children who used to be orphans, but are now at home with their forever family! 

Last year, I submitted a photo of our 9 year old son, Jayden, and this year I submitted a photo of our 4 year old son, Wesley.  Jayden was Mr. August 2010.  And this year, Wesley is Mr. January 2011!

The threads that tie a family together ...

Family traditions have taken on more meaning to me since we adopted our two sons from Ethiopia ... perhaps because I have become very aware of the things a child misses out on when they have no family.  There are all the obvious things ... but it's some of the little things that have taken on profound significance and have become especially meaningful. 

Our family (Jay and I and our kids) has never really been big on establishing routines - we're pretty laid back, we "fly by the seat of our pants" and we "roll with the punches" (Did I miss any cliches?).  None of us really get upset or frazzled when something changes at the last minute.

Since we adopted, routines and traditions have become more important to me, simply because it is so important for our sons.  I've become very aware of all the little things that our boys now have, simply because they are part of a FAMILY.  So many things that I used to take for granted .. I now see with fresh eyes and a new appreciation because my sons never would have had these little things ... because they had no family. 

I wrote previously (click here) about how momentous it was to watch my father pass on some of his woodworking skills to his grandson (a former orphan) and how the earth almost seemed to shift on its axis when I realized that this "passing on of a legacy" was something that my sons never would have had ... because they did not have a father or a grandfather.

Family traditions are one of those things that just happen naturally and can easily be taken for granted, or simply overlooked as they are happening.  It's usually only much later (sadly, its perhaps when grandma or mom passes away and things are just never the same) that you realize how much these little routines have become part of the very fabric of your family.  And how truly meaningful they are.

Several years ago, we started something that has since turned into a family tradition.  On New Years Eve, my sister and her husband plan a menu  - and we spend most of the day preparing it.  The menu is different every year, and the ingredients are intriguing and unique.  Half of the fun is in the preparation and the other half is simply the time we have together with all the adults (8 of us) in the kitchen, and the kids in and out. 

All 10 of our kids (cousins) are together all day and after the meal is eaten, and a few games have been played, and New Year's gifts are exchanged (the kids draw names at Christmas and then hit the after Christmas sales to find a fun gift for one of the cousins) - then the kids start watching the clock so we can see the ball drop and count down to the New Year together.  (Thankfully (for us sleep deprived adults) - the ball drops in New York City at midnight and it is only 11:00 pm here!) 

As Christmas neared this year, the kids were already talking about New Years Eve and asking "are we doing the same thing we did last year???"  The boys knew the routine too - and I smiled inwardly as I recognized the threads of this new family tradition had already been woven into the fabric of their lives.