A Desperate Need ...

One of our sponsor families who is very involved with Trees of Glory care-point in Ethiopia, was able to visit the care-point last week while she was in Ethiopia to bring her adopted daughter home!  Jessica Irvin travelled with her mom, Gail Mercer, and her mother-in-law, Judy Irvin. 

Jessica, Gail and Judy each sponsor a child at Trees of Glory, and they were all able to meet and spend time with their sponsor children! 

 Judy Irvin with her sponsor child, Mitiku.

 Gail Mercer with her sponsor child, Zewditu.

Jessica Irvin with her sponsor child, Meseret.

They also raised funds before their visit to provide a bookshelf and begin a library at TOG - and they brought blankets for the kids!  Here's Jessica's report and a few pictures from her visit last week!

From Jessica:  Our visit to TOG was wonderful. We all got to meet our sponsor children which was great. The kids sang for us, we did a little painting in the school room and played some, and of course passed out the letters and blankets. 

Jessica was able to check on Webit's health and also
deliver a letter from her sponsor family.

I was really glad that we were able to bring the blankets. The kids LOVED them. Fikre put them on each child like a head covering and draped them over each child. The kids wore them around for the rest of the day. It has actually been pretty chilly at night and in the mornings here, so I know they'll be using them.

Their biggest need is of course the well. They showed us where a temporary well had been dug-30 or 40 feet by hand-that they were hoping to use for the cattle, but the workers hit rock and never got to the water.

They've got two really big gardens ready for planting and have started growing some vegetables. They were also drinking the milk from the cows. They repeatedly mentioned the need for water to make caring for the kids, land and animals easier.

I will be working on fundraising money for this when I get home as it is truly such a desperate need of theirs.

As always, I enjoyed my time with the Hopechest staff. They took me to their office and were kind and helpful as usual. I continue to be impressed with the integrity of the services that they provide and trust that the kids are in great hands.

You can follow Jessica's blog here  http://steadfastminds-ethiopia.blogspot.com/

As Jessica saw first-hand, the fresh water well project at Trees of Glory is their most important need right now.  The care-point is currently serving 100 orphaned and destitute children, with no running water!  The staff walks to the nearest spigot every day, and hauls fresh water to the care-point on the backs of donkeys.  The director, Simret, hopes to be able to serve 200-300 children once they have a well on the property. 

If you would like to help with a fund-raiser for this project, please contact me at kjwistrom@yahoo.com for more information.  If you would like to make a donation to the well, you can make a tax deductible donation on the Children's Hopechest website at www.hopechest.org.

Go to www.hopechest.org, click on GIVE
Under Choose A Fund, specify DESIGNATED GIFT
In the Account Code, specify ET2119000
In the Notes area, specify WELL

I will be posting our progress on the well fund-raising here.