Treading in new waters

As I emailed all the sponsors recently, we had some changes with this new idea of the children at our care point creating art to help support their school. The original idea was big and getting bigger. I felt as if we had something that could really grow and empower the children, but sometimes those ideas are too big, too fast.

In receiving the artwork from the children at Kechene and sending it all out to the sponsors who donated for the school's library we are presently raising funds for, it became a concern with Children's Hopechest that it could be child labor. I know we do this all the time in the States to raise money for schools like new playgrounds or improvements on classrooms. However, in a country like Ethiopia, it could be seen as a gray area and we MUST be careful.

So, the artwork has all been sent out to the sponsors as a gift from their sponsor children at Kechene. If they feel they would like to donate to the library, or anyone else who feels moved to do that, they can still go to the link www.go.hopechest.org/kechene-library and the funds will go directly to the library that Kechene so desperately needs. (This will consist of reference books like dictionaries, extra textbooks and thesauruses, as well as a shelf, tables and chairs.)

As far as empowering the children to help their own school, this is still a frustrating factor that I hope to work through with the organization, and Ethiopia for that matter. I strongly believe that empowerment and self-help is the key to growth and prosperity, but it is a battle I am not fighting alone, nor one to be solved overnight.  New waters may need some more treading, but we will keep swimming forward before giving up!
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"Ironically," this verse was shared today at church...


"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the Proper time He may exalt you." 1 Peter 5:6

Art work is HERE!

I have been a little giddy lately... the long awaited art work arrived last week and I have just now had the chance to photograph all of them and get them on line, all 127 of them. (3 children did not finish their painting when they were sent.:( )I will soon be sending them out to everyone so they can look for their sponsor child's art!

I'm excited because they are all so precious! They were done by the kids at Kechene during their art class knowing that they were going to their sponsors and that it would be making money for their own school! The goal is $3200 for shelves, reference books, extra textbooks, chairs and tables. Their new "library" is something I thought they would need and it turns out they are very much in need of these items.

I will send out an email soon to all the sponsors will ALL the art. The children painted their picture AND their names and reference numbers on the material (muslin I think) so folks can see who it belongs to. They are all so cute!

So, here is a sampler of the joyous, colorful pieces of creativity the little ones (Kindergardeners and 1st-3rd graders) have done for you...

Gotta Love them!

Garage Sale a success!

In April, it looked like Nov. 2012 would be the date to go back to Ethiopia to see all the children at Kechene and continue work to link sponsors with their sponsor child. However, since then, I have had clear direction that June 2013 is better timing for Caleb.

Since then, I had planned a garage sale to raise part of our enormous goal of $6000 so I set a lofty goal of $1000! In our small town, this is not very realistic. Most garage sales earn about $300 for a good sale. The heat last week was intense and it looked to be a very far reach.

I started to ask for donations for the sale from friends and family back in early June. I have a friend who has been very motivated to clean out their basement and she said this was the event she needed to get the job done. When the week came, last week, to start collecting the items, they really started coming! First a couple boxes from Matt's mom, then, a few more boxes from Matt's mom, then, more stuff from Matt's mom. (You get the idea...) Since we do not have a garage, I asked for people to bring things close to the garage sale date. Well, on Wed., Selam's room was packed full of stuff. I was starting to get worried that I would not get this all sold!

Our neighbors offered their amazing, new double car garage to use for the sale, Thank God!! By Thursday afternoon, it was PACKED! We had everything from kitchen tables, to furniture, to name brand clothes stack after stack. The donations came from people I have never met who heard from someone else that this sale was for our kids at Kechene.

I was so overwhelmed by not only the generosity, but the way folks were talking it out with friends and neighbors. The word spread quickly and by Thursday night when we closed the garage door before the sale, it barely closed. Now, my husband was really worried that we would not get rid of it all and we would be taking load after load to storage. It really was a lot of stuff!!! I reassured him that it would be ok and I'll take care of it. The verse, "Do not be anxious about ANYTHING, but in prayer and petition lift your cares to the Lord," became my verse for the weekend!

By Friday, people were lined up outside of the garage door before 7 a.m. The shoppers didn't stop coming until we closed at 4:00 p.m. We had already made over $600! Sat. was slower, but we still sold a ton! We even gave out $1 bags by the last half hour. Gavin, our 12 year old, had the idea to put out a donation bucket! Good thing, not only did it make us $82 on Friday, but another $42 on Sat! Plus, we were able to share what we were doing to everyone!

By the end of the garage sale, all of the big "stuff" was sold and all that was left was the little stuff that we were able to donate to We Care and Goodwill. The whopping total for the sale was $1008! (That's with all my expenses taken out from advertising and starter money.) How amazing!

HUGE thank yous go out to Mueller Implement for the donation of tables, Scott and Jami Lundell, Susan and Mike Bisbach, Tim and Mayra Angel, Keith and Connie Byers (my fearless mother-in-law and father-in-law for all the amazing donations and Connie's tireless help at the sale), Elizabeth Morgan, JT and Keeley Thomas for their garage usage, Anita Phillips, Bill and Lynn Abbott for their incredible lot of vintage toys and books, Cindy Wiker, Staci Driscoll (help at the sale and donations), Maggie Piper, Amanda Lockmann, Sandy Marty, Patty Steil, MacKenzie Johnson, and all the shoppers and donors who helped rack up the total!