Did you know you can sponsor a HopeChest child today?
UPDATE TODAY 1/25- only 7 more orphans left to sponsor. God is so faithful… thank you for opening up your hearts wide.
My friend Karen Wistrom is a mom with a crazy passion. I had the honor of meeting her 2 sons at the Transitional Home in Ethiopia when we were there bringing home Zoie. She is advocating for HopeChest Ethiopia Sponsor Program, Kind Hearts and needs 18 more orphans sponsored who are desperate for food and basic needs. I told her my crazy readers would step up and make a REAL difference in an orphan’s life.
What is Kind Hearts?
“Kind Hearts” is a care-point on the southern edge of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. It is a safe place for children to go during the day and they are able to attend pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade. The children attending Kind Hearts are identified by the local government as the most needy in the area – many are single or double orphans (meaning they have lost one or both parents) and are living with relatives or neighbors that can barely provide for an additional mouth to feed. Others may live with a parent but are in an extremely destitute situation.
How can I help?
A word from Karen: Of the 68 children that are now coming to “Kind Hearts” every day, we have 50 of them matched with sponsors and the children are already starting to feel the impact as nutritious meals are now available EVERY DAY!!! (18 children are still waiting for a sponsor!!) What a difference from one month ago when our team arrived and these kids were too hungry and lethargic to react.
There are still 18 children at Kind Hearts waiting for a sponsor family – waiting for YOU. Contact me at
kjwistrom@yahoo.com if you want to be matched with one of these sweet kids. Your $34/month contribution will ensure 2 nutritious meals every day, education, clothing, medical care and Christian discipleship. And your letters will teach them how much they are loved and valued!
Karen’s Blog– take a peek at all the children available for sponsorship.
Tsehaynesh (above) is still waiting for a sponsor family.
HopeChest Orphans Need Food & Love.
“As we noticed their blank looks and lack of excitement, we asked if they had eaten recently. “We are only able to feed the children on Wednesdays,” we were told. Kind Hearts was able to provide a safe place and a basic education, but they could only provide a meal of rice one day each week. Other than that, the children came to school hungry, ate no lunch, and hoped to have a little something in their belly before they fell asleep at night. I did find out that funds have been so short, that the two teachers/caregivers on staff have not been paid in the last 2 months – and of course, they have families to provide for as well. Hopechest stepped into the gap to pay the staff last month, but going forward, I’d like to find a few families that would be interested in “sponsoring” the teachers. We all know how important teachers are for these kids … education is the difference between a life of opportunity or a life trapped in grinding poverty.”
The other thing that struck me about “Kind Hearts” is the potential to become more self-sufficient and the opportunities to develop micro-business that can benefit destitute women and some of the mothers of the children at Kind Hearts. Kind Hearts is situated on 10 acres of farmland that can be developed into small business opportunties to fund Kind Hearts and to provide a trade to area women. We are currently putting together plans for a chicken house – which will not only provide eggs and meat to the children and other area orphanages, but will provide jobs to area women. The land can also be used to plant seedlings that can be sold to local farmers. We are also investigating the building of a bridge for a nearby polluted river that many of the children have to cross in order to come to school. The water is so polluted that the children get sick or get infected sores from the water. I was there, and I have never been so choked by toxic fumes as when I stood next to that river that the children need to cross in order to attend school at Kind Hearts.
So in addition to the child sponsorship program, we will be raising funds for capital projects like the chicken coop, bridge, textbooks, teacher’s salaries and playground equipment. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please contact Karen Wistrom, Kind Hearts Sponsor Coordinator at
kjwistrom@yahoo.com. If you are interested in giving a one-time gift to fund one of the development projects, please contact Karen or go directly to the Hopechest website at
www.hopechest.org, specify the amount of your gift and clearly specify KIND HEARTS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS.
Please check Karen’s blog regularly for updates from Kind Hearts at
www.family-from-afar.blogspot.com. The children at Kind Hearts have already begun to see and feel the impact of their sponsors as food is now available every day!
