No news is not good news.

We still have not heard anything about if the appropriate paperwork has been produced so we can book our travel. We have been told that the paperwork (adoption decree, birth certificate, and passport) can take between 3 and 6 weeks to generate. We passed the three week marker last Thursday. So we are hoping that it will come soon.

HOPE AFTER PARENTS:

As many of you know, we have been supporting my sister in her endeavors with Hope After Parents (HAP) an organization she became involved with while living in Uganda. This organization tries to provide for the basic needs for orphans in a rural part of Bushenyi, Uganda. It was started by a handful of local Ugandan teachers who make very little money themselves, but have big hearts for the orphans of the area. The founder, Moses, was an orphan himself growing up. There are well over 200 orphans living in this small community, many are HIV + themselves, all are living in extreme poverty. Unfortunately, HAP had very few resources to help the children, which is where we came in.

Nina initially went to Uganda to do her research for her Masters Degree in education. She was doing participatory research teaching teachers how to use computers and other technology to augment their teaching. These schools, have dirt floors and very few resources so you can imagine, using computers and the internet is quantum leap for them and opens up a world of resources. Nina told me that the teachers started referring to the internet as "the world's library".

On the weekends Nina started helping Moses with the orphans (there are over 200 locally). She fell in love with the kids and plans to return as soon as she can. We began by just trying to provide the families of orphans with basics like a mattress, blanket and mosquito net (many were sleeping right on the ground and had nothing to cover them) but eventually the dream is to open a school specifically for the kids so that they can have a place not only to learn but somewhere to call home with loving adults to care for them. To that end, my family has pooled our resources and we have purchased a piece of land. The land is being cleared and when we have more money we will begin building a school. In the meantime, we have purchased treadle sewing machines and many of the orphans are learning to sew! The idea is not only to provide them with the book learning they need but also to endow them with skills that they can take to the market. Before Nina came along, Hope After Parents had little more than hope, now we are putting some real resources behind that hope and the children are beginning to dream of a future.

Have I piqued your interest? WE NEED YOU. Next Thursday (Feb 7) we are hosting an information night for our friends and family that might be interested in learning more about our project. We plan to spend the evening brainstorming ideas about the situation and how we can move forward. Nothing I have ever done is more important than this and I would like to extend the invitation to you.

Contact me for more information on the evening via the normal channels.