Long time, no type, eh? Sorry for the long delay. Internet has been a
real problem here over the last few weeks. We've also been really
busy.
Here are some of the highlights:
We
handed out all the clothing in two different ways. The first was over 3
days. We gave out tickets and people came to choose for their families.
They came per assigned section of the community. Each ticket was valued
at one piece of clothing and we gave out about 1000. When all was done,
we had enough to go again--which was a great provision of abundance!
Round
two consisted of a first come-first serve plan. We separated the
clothing for the women and the men. Women were on a Saturday, men were
on a Sunday. People could also bring a child not attending the local
school and pick up something for them. For each person who came through
the door, they took two pieces of clothing. I'm sure we served at least
300-400 people between the two days.
We also gave a
gift to each of the approximately 300 children at the Give Hope
Community school. Children got a bag of two pieces of clothing and chose
either a teddy bear or stickers.
It has been really
great to see people around the village wearing the stuff. I feel
encouraged when I drive by a little kid and recognize a jersey or outfit
that came from the container. I think most people have kept what they
were given and have not tried to sell anything at the market--that was
my biggest prayer.
We have also started the
Bike-to-School program. We gave bikes to four kids to reduce their
travel time to school (from hours to minutes). Sometimes I see them on
the road when I'm going to and from the village. They are so thankful.
They come by and visit and you can just see the joy on their faces. It's
wonderful! We also meet with them bi-monthly to help them find ways to
earn money (legally!) for their bike maintenance and cope with any peer
pressure. (Legally you say??--Yes, apparently being a loan shark is a
common way to make a few bucks here. Lend it out with interest...we are
helping them find other ways lol)
Now that the bulk of
the clothes are distributed and our room is a little more empty, we've
been able to start focusing on knitting and sewing programs. We sorted
all the materials and tools last night and the knitting crew went home
with their first projects. Sewing is a little slower to start because we
are waiting for our teacher to be available.
Well,
putting it all into one posting sure makes me feel like I've been busy
:) How encouraging! Sorry I can't put pictures up at this
time...internet is tooooo slow. Will try to do something soon, I
promise.
If you would like to support these projects,
please consider a donation. We will need some tables for the sewing
program and also still have some needs as listed on the Donate Tab at
the top of the page.
Thanks!
Natasha
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