Exciting News!

So many exciting things ahead!  I am anxious to unveil them! 

First, I want to mention that we are coming up on our 2 year anniversary.  I am excited that the program is improving yet again in many ways. 

Here are some of the changes that you will already see in the child's account on the Mwana Hope website:

You will now see letters that the child has written!!  This means that you can read their letters before you decide to sponsor them.  You will see how they write, what they write about, information on their family and home life, and more!  I have uploaded all of the letters for children with the highest child ID numbers, and I will be uploading all of the letters that I have within the week. 

Additionally, annual reports will be uploaded in the child's account as they are received.  Check out Benny Mwiinga #730's account to see what they look like.  This is the easiest way to get information back on the children, so I sent a test batch to several of them.  Now, I am sending out more of these reports so that they can be filled out the next time Chim and crew get to Mazabuka. 

Having digital uploads of these paper items will save us hundreds of dollars a year in postage, which means more money gets to the communities themselves. 

I, also, like the idea of being able to go into the child's account to reread letters they have written.  When I write to a child, I always have to look back at the letter they wrote to me to remember their questions and conversation.  This digital letter means I can look back at their last letter and the one before and before that, and before that...

I just love it, and I hope you do, too!!

Christmas Letters are Here!

The cameras are not here yet, BUT lots of great letters arrived!!  Watch your mailboxes =)

Happy New Year- 2012!!!

The new year brings change for us all, including the children in Zambia. The children finished their classes in December, and will start a new grade level at the beginning of 2012.  Several of the children chose to write about what they have learned in class, including Henie whose letter I have attached here. 

I packet of letters arrived from Zambia today, so they will soon be on their way to you!!

Happy New Year!!

Letters!!!

Look What's Here!

I Have Three Words For You...

Letters have arrived!!

Letters Have Arrived, again!!! 3 Packages Full!

Check out all of these letters from the children!!  Very exciting!!  For the new sponsors, here is how the letter distribution goes:
1. I have to sort all of these 500 letters out into some semblance of order (yeah, it's not 500 letters, but it sure seems like it).
2. There is a database on our yahoo group where I will be updating which children wrote.  If your child has a letter in this stack, you will see it by looking for your child ID number and then "April 2011" in the letter field.
3. I start putting them in envelopes for the sponsors and ship them as the envelopes are filled.  This means you may get more than one envelope full of letters... So, be patient if one of your letters is not inside your first envelope.
4. Enjoy!!!

Meet Machila Hangoma #592

This handsome young man is Machila.  He has a birthday coming up soon on April 21st.  He will turn 13 years old, and will officially be considered a teenager.  He is currently in grade 6, and would like to be a teacher or a pilot when he grows up.  For fun, he likes to play football with his friends.  He recently wrote a letter to his potential sponsor.  Here is a little bit of what he wrote:
"If you visited my village, you would like to know how I live, eat, dress, and even how I sleep.  Also know about my family.
If I could change one thing in my village, I would change the state of living which is not to the required standard.
My favorite animal is the cow because I like drinking milk.
If I could have any superpower I would like to be able to build a house because our house we live in is not good.
I also want to tell you that I am in grade 6.  I walk 7 km to and from school everyday.  I have one brother and one sister.  I am 3rd born in my family.  I stay with my parents who actually help me with the few things they can afford."

Talk about a bright young man!!  Machila is looking for someone who can support his schooling, so that he will have a chance to change his village and lift everyone up!  If you would like to sponsor Machila, send an e-mail to macandmic@gmail.com

More Letters!!!

More letters to sponsors arrived today!! As you can see, it is quite a stack. They were shipped from Zambia on the 9th of February and arrived today- February 26th.  I will be updating the letter database today, and mailing these letters to the sponsors on Monday February 28th.  =)

Letters Have Arrived!!!

Letters from the children arrived today!  They have been sorted, and they are in the envelopes headed to all corners of the globe to reach their sponsors! 

I had sent some writing prompts and coloring pages that a lot of children returned as well.  Some times the children do not know what to write, but sheets that ask them to write about a particular subject give them the opportunity to express themselves.  I received several greatly written pieces about what their favorite holiday is and their Christmas traditions.  If you want more letters, sneak some writing sheets into your correspondence with your sponsor child =)

2011 First Distribution Post #17: Christmas Cards

Wow!  It is hard to see all of the children in these photos.  I will be posting a video next, and you will see just how excited the children were to get the Christmas cards.  Thank you for your hard work and dedication to these children!!

Letters to their Potential Sponsors

Annety Chipuya #526 above and Purity Hasende #419 below

Both Annety and Purity were dressed to impress on picture day. Unfortunately, it is probably NOT because they were wearing their favorite dresses but that they were wearing their ONLY dresses. Like many children living on the bare minimum in Zambia, the clothes they receive are not new but rather tossed out clothes that have been salvaged and shipped in bulk to Africa. That is where a lot of used clothing goes. While here in the states, you can purchase used clothing, even then, there are many clothes that Goodwill and places such as that can not sell. In order to bring money in, they sell it in bulk and ship it out by the crates full to places like Zambia. In Zambia, one would purchase this clothing from someone local that goes door to door selling the clothes they have purchased in a bundle. It is a tricky business because a lot of times you can not tell what is wrapped up in the bundle to know if you will be able to make money by reselling the clothes. You take a chance, buy a bundle, and then, you get your items sold and hope to sell enough to make a living.

These beautiful girls both wrote letters to their potential sponsors. I want to share their letters with you because they took the time to fill out the long template and colored the picture on the side. They both express wanting to get letters from their sponsors.

For Annety, she writes that her favorite subject is English and her best friend is Josephine Chipuya. She wants to be a nun when she grows up. She says that she wants to learn a lot from her sponsor and hopes that they will keep communicating. She asks God to bless her sponsor.

For Purity, her favorite subject is math. Her best friend is Callen Chipuya. She wants to be a nurse so that she can help her mom and dad. She is an only child, and would like to hear from her sponsor.

If you would like to sponsor one of these girls, send an e-mail to macandmic@gmail.com

Letter Writing Experts

Hastone Mwiinga #106 above is the 1st born of 4 children. He wants to be a policeman when he grows up. He says he likes to play football with Webstar, and he is intelligent in class. He is hoping for a sponsor that can buy his school uniform (he does not have one), a bag, shoes and other "things you can feel".

Trywell Hamweemba #529 above writes that he lives with his grandfather. Because he does not have parents, there are not sufficient clothes for him and his 2 brothers and 3 sisters. He says that his grandfather does not know how to help him because he does not have parents to provide for them.

There is one new child that was recently featured in a video. I do not yet have his sponsorship photo, but you can see him on his video here:

http://childhopezambia.blogspot.com/2010/10/muntanga-family.html His name is Muntanga Munachoongo #1111. He wrote that he lives with his mom. His dad has passed away. There are 9 people in his family. He likes English, SDS, and Tonga.

These children above are children who have written letters to their potential sponsors. Their letters stood out to me because they took extra care to write a lot and color a picture. All of these children are looking for a sponsor that loves to write letters.

Great Letter Writers!!

Ackim Mwiinga below is still in preschool, but he is not too young to color and dictate what he wants to tell his sponsor. He has had adults write his letters on his behalf, and has written 3 letters so far! Ackim lives with his grandmother (according to his latest letter).

Joice Muloba above is still in preschool. She has colored a baboon on her latest letter. She has an adult that has helped her write 2 letters so far. She is NOW SPONSORED!!

These children are some of the letter-writing superstars!! As you can see, they have all written at least 2 letters each. All of the letters will be mailed to the sponsor as soon as they have one.

I have some children who have written one letter to their potential sponsors, but they have very moving letters and write a lot on the page. I will be posting about those children next. =)

2nd Letter Writing Session

The 2nd letter writing session is complete! These letters are better than the intro letters because the children have figured out what it means to be sponsored, and they have received gifts and letters from their sponsors. I noticed that if the sponsor sent the child stickers, some of the children used them to decorate their letters. I sent some coloring pages to some of my kids, and they returned them colored =) One sponsor requested that her sponsor child trace her foot and send it back, and that child did. This will help in the purchase of shoes. For those who are part of a group sponsorship, I am making copies of the letters. One sponsor will get the original and the other 1 or 2 sponsors will get copies.

I will be sorting through them and mailing them out starting tonight. You will start seeing letters in your mailboxes next week! Watch for messages from the yahoo group, and you will know exactly when your child's letter gets mailed.

Letters to their Sponsors- Cold Season 2010

A stack of letters have arrived from Zambia. I know ever one is very anxious to receive them. I am purchasing a scanner in order to have the letters as a digital copy as well (as a backup in case it gets lost in the mail or the sponsor loses it). If you do not need me to scan your letters, send me a message on the yahoo group, and I will get yours in the mail tomorrow :o)

Letters to their Sponsors

I just love these pictures. You can see the children take the task of writing a letter to their sponsor seriously. I can't wait to see what they had to say!!

June Distribution 2010-Part 6

I sent Chim an extra donation back in May and asked him to purchase pencils and colored pencils for the children for letter writing day. These items were purchased, and you can see them above. The children will use these to write their letters, and the Zambia team will hold on to the supplies after they are done writing (so they can use them on the next letter writing day). Seeing these pictures of their cool writing supplies makes me that much more excited and anxious for letter writing day Wednesday.

Today is the 28th, so there are only 2 more days to sponsor a child, if you would like them to be included in July distribution! There are new children posted, too.

Write to Your Sponsor Child in Chitonga!!

Chim has provided this simple introductory letter for all of us to be able to write to our young sponsored children in their native language! I gave him some blanket statements and questions and he provided the translations. You will see the English followed by its Chitonga translation. Now I can write to my other 2 children, and their letter won't have to be translated! Yay!!

Dear

Oyandwa –

Hi, How are? My name is …………, and I am your sponsor!

Kwamba ulibuti? Izina Lyangu ndime ……….alimwi ndime mungwasi wako!

I am so happy to have the opportunity to get to know you and your family.

Ndakondwa kujana chiindi chakukuziba amukwasi wako.

I would like to tell you a little about me.

Ndiyanda kuti ndikuzibye kusyoonto mbwebede.

I am …….. Years old.

Myaka yangu ………

I am a mother

Ndili muzyali

I am a father

Ndili mwalumi

I am a woman

Ndi mukantu

I have……. Children. Their names are ………….

Ndilaabana bali ………… mazyina abo mbaa……….

I live in the U.S.A

Ndikala Kwa melika

I live in Canada

Ndikala kukanda

For fun, I like to

Zysobano, ndiyandisya

Kubala (read)

Nyendo zyakukwela (travel)

Garden - zyakusyanga

Run – kuzuzaana

Exercise –Zyakusobana

Making things- zyakupanga- panga

Take picture – kufotola

Ride bikes – kuchouvwa nchiinga

What do you do for fun?

Nchinzi nchochita zyakusobana?

Do you like your school?

Hena ulayanda chikolo

I hope to get a letter from you soon, and I will write to often. I send you and your family
Lots of love. I think of you often and you are in my prayers.

Ndalangila Ikutambula ilugwalo kuzwa kulinduwe lino-lino, alimwi ndinokulembela lyoonse.

Ndakutumina luyando a mukwasyi wako oonse.

Ndiyeya nduwe lyoonse alimwi ndakubbika mumipailo.


Love

Luyando

Your sponsor

Mugwasyi wako

(the child pictured above is Maurren from the video entitled "Meet Maureen"- She is still in need of a sponsor)