Day 2

We had a very full and wonderful day here in Ethiopia!

Our morning started out with 130 kids waiting for us at the carepoint.  

We had an amazing turn out as only 3 of the children were absent.  They started out by singing for us, and after receiving their name tags we started activities! The children divided into 4 groups according to age, and then were able to rotate through four activities:

Making bracelets

 

Playing soccer (always a hit here!)

Legos! (even the big kids loved these and complained when they had to rotate to the next station.

 

Music with Jeff!  This was also a huge hit!  Jeff taught them the words to some songs and also about different styles of music like blues, country, and rock and roll!  He did an amazing job and is donating his guitar to the carepoint so some of the kids can learn to play!

As the kids went home, Fikru showed us one of the newer programs at the carepoint, the lunch program!  Because of increased sponsorships, we are now able to give a free lunch three times a week to 43 of the children, chosen based on need.  The woman who makes their lunch is the mom of one of our carepoint kids, so this program is also giving her a way to provide for her family!

In the afternoon we did four home visits of children in the community.  Fikru (our carepoint director) chose some of the families who face the most challenges in their lives and we visited with them and heard more of their stories.  Some of the challenges we learned of were:

• An aging father of 5 who fell and hurt his back and can no longer work his job to provide for his family.
• A family of three who all face serious health issues that make it hard for them to work their jobs.  Their daughter has been very sick for the last two weeks and they feared they would lose her.
• A single mom of four children who struggles to find cleaning jobs in order to provide for her kids.

While their needs are still great, they are all benefiting from having their children participate in the sponsorship program!  Their kids are going to school, getting lunch three days a week at the carepoint, getting the medical care that they need, and coming every Saturday to learn about God's love for them.  And I can tell you from my time with them today that they are so thankful.

We're reaching out this week in search of more sponsors to join us in this ministry! If you'd like to sponsor one of these amazing kids, click the "Sponsor a Child" button on the sidebar. Thank you!!