Aaahhhh, internet that works….

Well, I didn’t keep up with the blog this trip. Our time just went so fast, getting to an internet café was not convenient, and when we were there is was too frustrating to load pictures. So, below is an array of photos illustrating this year’s trip.

We saw a few new things this year, but for the most part Ghana, to me…and now my mom even….just seems normal, normal for Ghana, that is. We’re becoming use to it, use to a different culture, sounds, smells, foods, and even a different perspective on time! You never know what might happen in Ghana, so we’ve learned to just go with it.

Not sure it is obvious from the pictures, but the kids are growing so much! Of course, as my friend Maasen pointed out to me last night, kids do that. Yes, they do and it is a good thing. It means they are getting the necessary nutrients and are hopefully developing healthy bodies….but still it makes me a little sad. Sad that they will eventually outgrow the cute, cuddly stage and sad because I miss out on much of their lives and the changes that occur between these visits. Regardless, this trip was blessed with much happiness compared to last year. While it was hard to leave again, it felt different…it was okay. Now I am hopeful for their futures and know that with the Hopkins Foundation we are on the right track to ensuring that they will no longer be forgotten about or abandoned in life.

While there are still many kids we can’t help yet this year via boarding school, the fact that seven of the orphans are enrolled and will head off on September 6 is amazing! The Hopkins Foundation hasn’t even been up and running for a year yet and already it is able to make this impact! I just have to say thank you, thank you, thank you again to everyone that has helped support these efforts so far! May God bless you! I wish each and everyone of you could see these children in person and see the impact that you are making in their lives!

I had a little pep talk/heart-to-heart with the seven kids that are enrolled this year: Peace, Noble, Elikim, Sammy, Princilla, Edem, and Emmanuel. I just wanted them to know how many people are making their schooling possible, believing in them, and showing them love. Our work to give these children better lives is far from over, so I don’t want to get a head of myself, but……..I just pray for the kids to feel the love that so many of us have for them, that this love is enough to overcome anything from their pasts, that it makes them grab a hold of the opportunity and potential school offers, leading them to successful lives, and that one day…they’ll pour that love back out to others in need.

I never got to update about the 2nd yard sale….it was also a success and helped with Elikim and Sammy’s enrollment. After the yard sale and several other donations from my friends Maasen and Amy, we raised another $500.00. Josephine also had a friend that agreed to sponsor one of the kids, getting us to the seven! THANK YOU!!!!!

Bernice's neighborhood in Sokode

Melody-Wonder's daughter (he teaches at the school I worked in). We met her last year when she was very tiny.

Our boys playing football with some local kids in Ho. Sokode versus Ho. Sokode won (6-4), whoo hoo!

Big boys playing football. That's Adaklu Mountain in the background....I climbed it, piece of cake. =)

Dora Memorial School. This is the boarding school the kids will attend.

Here are the first seven (oops, six, Princilla is missing from the photo) to enroll in boarding school. From left to right: Elikim, Emmanuel, Sammy, Noble, Peace, Edem.

This is where Bernice's mom lives in Ho. Love the tree.

On the trail to Wli Waterfalls

We crossed the river eight times using these bridges.

God's beauty.

See....my mom really did make it.

Mmmm....I just like trees.

Bernice (left) and her mom.

Huge bamboo

In the forest looking for monkeys.

Monkeys!

Noble feeding a monkey in the tree.

Elolo's turn. We had a ton of monkeys gathering near us waiting for our bananas.

Elolo worn out after a day of swimming.

We took the kids to dinner after swimming. They're enjoying a local dish called banku.

Awoenam. She is three years old, but like Elolo was malnourished and neglected and therefore is the size of a one year-old. She was brought to Bernice, who placed her with a nice woman named Pat. When we first met Awoenam she showed no emotion and wouldn't make any noises (for us nor for Pat). After a few encounters with my mom she was a laughing, happy baby! My mom fell in love!

Friends. Emmanuel and Noble. So cute.

On the way to the monkey sanctuary and waterfalls. Tro-tro with flat tire #1.

Flat tire #2 and our boys trying to lift the tro-tro. It worked.







Entertaining themselves and making me very nervous while we waited for a new tire !

My old friends, the DiVOG boys: Richard, DJ (with the wild pants), and Robert. Mypa (not pictured) and Robert took my mom and me out in Accra our last night in Ghana. It was great to see life in the capitol and all the expats!

I may be in Ghana and they may call it Maize, but looks a lot like Central Illinois to me. This is on the farm behind Bernice's house, she owns several plots.

The boys working on the farm. They are growing cassava, yams, and maize.

Sammy wasn't working too hard on the farm, he found this nice tree.

Gorgeous.

Leaving......

Elikim and Sammy

I have a wonderful update on Elikim and Sammy, the two brothers. Thanks to so many people’s generosity to the Hopkins Foundation and thanks to Josephine’s generosity, both Sammy and Elikim will be attending boarding school this September! This is great news and a big relief after our recent visit to their village. I informed Josephine of their condition and we are quickly moving forward to get them enrolled. Elikim has not been here this past week (he has been staying in Accra for a short period of time), but will be coming to Bernice’s house tomorrow morning to register for school, etc. We are all so excited to see him again and to see his reaction to this news!

The Ghana Travels of 15 kids, two yavus and a grandma

We've returned from our little jaunt to see monkeys and a waterfall (Wli Waterfalls are touted as the highest in West Africa) and everyone survived and returned in one piece! Praise the Lord! Bernice's mom came with us, so she should also be getting some praise!

What will I remember the most from this trip?

Will it be:

• Feeding wild Mona monkeys bananas from our hands?
• The glorious waterfall that appeared to fall from the sky at the end of an hour walk through a forest?
• Having my mom tell me she doesn't like camping, even though we weren't: we stayed in a two room building that had running water....the washrooms just happened to be outside in a common area.
• The mischievous laughter and smiles of my older kids sitting in the back of the tro-tro truly loving their time away from chores and the usual, being nothing but children?
• The tro-tro getting a flat tire twice and watching my tough boys try to lift the vehicle?
• Spending 30 hours with 15 children in very tight quarters? =)
• Guiding my mother for two hours through a slick forest trail fearing that she would fall and her surprising me by not falling or passing out?
• One hand holding my mom's and the other holding a small child making sure no one falls?

No, while these are all memorable moments, the thing I took away from this trip is how big of a responsibility it is to feed 15 hungry mouths!!!!! Wow, I felt that for the majority of the trip we were eating, talking about eating, searching for enough food for 15 children or negotiating food prices! It gives me a new-found respect for Bernice and McDonald's! =)

It shouldn't be a big surprise, but it has been almost impossible to get any of my pics to load. But for now, I was able to get these on here (I am behind a post on pictures, monkey and waterfall pics should be up tomorrow or Tuesday).




Right to left: Noble, Sammy, Frank (Wallasy), Ayrum, and Eyako-the last two are the twins. This is the picture I took right after we were all first reunited with Sammy in his village.








Races at the pool. Noble won every single time-he's a bit competitive.








My girls lounging pool side.








In Accra on the day of our arrival waiting for the tro-tro to fill up and take us to Bernice's. Looking great....right?

Priceless Moments

No news has meant good news.....sorry for the delay in posting, but we are alive and well. We arrived safely on Tuesday and have just been very busy with the children! I think we have not wanted to spend any time a away from them the past few days as we had just arrived! We want to soak up all the time possible!

So a quick recap from the last few days:
Our flight here went well. We did use a different airline from previous trips, Delta. The flight was cheaper and it flies direct!!!! That is huge since it cuts down on the length of time. So we flew from St. Louis to JFK and then straight into Accra, Ghana. Our whole trip was about 17 hours this time (that includes a 5 hour layover in New York-where we enjoyed people watching and margaritas=)! All I can say about Delta is that it is cheaper for a reason, but it got us here safely so I should not complain. But I will....the flight wasn't quite as enjoyable as my flights on British Airways and KLM, most of the movie monitors didn't work, they seemed to have less staff members, and the seats were much smaller. Also in the airports, their check-in and boarding systems were crazy and disorganized. Also, there were a lot more screaming children....not sure if that is the airline or just luck =). My mom and I did not sit together, which made her a little sad and relieved me a little (ha, mom-sorry). We had seats next to each other originally but gave them up for a father and small child that would have had to sit in different cabins!

Our friend Sylvester met us in Accra and traveled with us back to Ho...well actually now Bernice lives right outside of Ho in a village called Sokode. It is much quieter where she is now, which is lovely, but that also means no internet cafes there. We traveled into Ho today to use the cafe here. The ride from Sokode to Ho is a five minute taxi ride that costs us less than 50 cents. We are staying with Bernice afterall, she begged us to stay with her. We have our own room again which they have prepared for us very nicely and are once again treating us like queens! It is too much! They don't have much, but they give us everything!

As I said earlier, there are a few of the orphans that remained with Bernice and some live with her mom. So on Tuesday when we arrived in the afternoon we hung out with the five kids at Bernice's: Peace, her sister Patience, Noble, Patricia, and Ebeneazer (a new child that was brought to Bernice), plus Bernice's two grandboys- the twins. On Wednesday morning we headed to Bernice's mom's house in Ho...with Bernice and the other children in tow....all in one taxi....that is ten people in one taxi-and yes, my mom was in there! Fun! Elolo, Sika, Priscilla, and Selasie all live with Bernice's mom. After playing with the kids and spending the afternoon there we asked to bring all the children back to Bernice's. So while we are here, all of those children will be in the same house where we can play and spend time with them more easily.

There are the two brothers that we wanted to check on while here: Sammy and Elikim. They are in a small village five miles from Sokode, so yesterday my Mom, Bernice, and I took Noble, Frank, and the twins there to visit. The village is very small and somewhat desolate. Unfortunately, Elikim is away in Accra right now, but we did get to see Sammy. It was sad....in fact, even Bernice began to cry. Sammy was very dirty, his legs were covered in dirt and his clothes were also full of dirt. The women in town that welcomed us informed us that he isn't taken care of well. The women that he and Elikim live with right now doesn't have a lot and isn't around much because she spends all day out on a farm, so the boys fend for themselves. We are all considering right now what to do and what makes the most sense, but Bernice, my mom and I agree, those boys need to leave that house. There was a happy moment of the trip though: when we got to town we were greeted and just told to sit in front of this store while Sammy was located. So we did and of course my mom and I drew a little crowd. So by the time they found Sammy and he came running up, I know he was probably embarassed because everyone was looking at him and talking about his situation. So he looked very shy and wasn't smiling at all. He hugged my mom and me but looked down the entire time. But then we sent him over to Noble and Frank and I would pay a million dollars to see their reactions again! All of them, especially Sammy, had huge smiles, laughed and joked with each other. Noble pulled Sammy over to them and on their laps and they all hugged! Priceless! I did capture one picture right after, but it doesn't do justice. Sammy came to Sister Bernice's house last night and will stay with us for a while.

Yesterday was busy! After all that, we came back and took all the children to the pool at the hotel in Ho! Most have been to the pool once and a few have never been. We had a blast. There is a kiddie pool, the big pool, and inner tubes. At first only the big kids would come in the big pool with my mom and me (wearing the inner tubes of course) and we would lead them around the pool. Then they would get brave enough to swim in the inner tube by themselves. Then the smaller kids starting coming over the big pool and doing the same thing. It was a little scary for my mom and me to keep dibs on eleven kids that can't swim, but they all behaved well and no one drowned...so it was a great day! =) Two of the older kids, Patience (who has never been in a pool) and Noble are probably ready to swim without inner tubes. We tried a couple times and they are almost getting it.

This afternoon we are taking 16 kids and Bernice's mom to the monkey sanctuary which is an hour away. We will go there, stay over night, then tour the sanctaury in the morning, feed some mokeys and head to some waterfalls nearby. We'll return to Sokode Sat night, hopefully sane and with all 16 kids!

There is so much more to share.....like how much all the children have grown, all the silly things they remember about our time together last year, the new children we have met.....

Going, Going, …..Ghana

A lot happens and changes in a child’s life in one year. This past year has been one full of changes for our kids in Ghana: the closure of the orphanage; being separated from each other (their ‘new family’ essentially); sent off to live with any remaining family member they may have; for some, being returned to live with Bernice in a new place; and now some are preparing for boarding school. There is no doubt a lack of constants in their lives and this will remain true for a while until the Hopkins Foundation is truly well established.

At this time, there is only one small constant I’m blessed enough to provide: continuing to spend time with them, albeit a short amount of time each year. To my surprise, the kids made it clear last year just how much it meant that I came back to see them and especially that I brought my mom. They truly do hold on to those promises of ‘I will come back one day.’ I had no idea when I left them the first time when or how I would get back, but I knew I had to….one day. I had no clue that I would go back a year and half later and again a year after that!

Yes, that is right, I am going back to Ghana again!!!! YEA!!!! And so is my mom!!!! We made a last minute decision earlier this month that we couldn’t wait any longer, we had to go see them this summer! We will be there again for two weeks, leaving St. Louis August 10 and returning August 25.

Once again, this trip will be completely different from the last. We don’t have the orphanage to stay in this time and all the kids are in different locations (this is probably going to be the most difficult part for me). Our plan right now is to stay a few days with Auntie, maybe one or two with Bernice, and probably most of the time will stay at a hotel/guest house in town that is supposedly really nice. I’m leaning towards that option because it will give us our own space to use as a central location for the children. We could gather them all up in the morning and bring them to our place. We are also planning on at least one trip to the pool and a one day trip to a nearby waterfall area. We want to provide the kids with an opportunity to all hang out together but also get away from their current environments and doing something they never get to do! I have still not traveled up north to the elephant reserve, which involves a little trek on foot to get up close to wild elephants (uh, not behind fences). My mom wants to take the kids (I don’t think I have shared ALL the details with her-like the no fence part)….but if this actually happens….well, it is a day/night trip there and then back on a tro-tro on some very rocky roads with a bunch of kids and my mom! Kind of sounds like a disaster waiting to happen, but if we could pull it off, could you imagine the look own their faces when a elephant is 15 feet away from us…..could you imagine my face OR my mom’s!!!! =)

So, leaving in less than two weeks!!!!!! 2nd yard sale tomorrow and Sat!!!

A special thanks to several friends and family that have made donations since learning about our new trip. Maase, my mom's friends Gina and Pam, my aunt, and Kendra's Aunt Mary have all given or offered donations to be used for either the Foundation or for toys/clothes/food/etc for the kids while we are there! Thank You!

How Noble

Two more children will be enrolled in boarding school this year, which makes for a total of five currently!!! Oscar, who is one of volunteers my mom and I met last summer from Spain, is sponsoring one of the children and has said that he can raise enough for a second child! What incredible news! When Oscar first learned about the Foundation and the option of sponsoring the children, he asked if he would be able to indicate which child he sponsored. The answer was yes, but then internally I started quessing which child he was considering. I was betting on one of the boys because of the huge bond that was obvious between Oscar, Leo and the boys. I was right! Oscar requested that his donation be used to enroll Noble into boarding school! This makes my heart so happy!

Noble has been one the main kids that has had my heart since my first trip to Ghana. While he is behind in some of the major learning areas, he is truly such a smart boy. He would always make me think up math problems for him to solve and he rarely got them incorrect- and when he did he wasn't happy until he got it right. He dominated the dominos game my mom and I took there last summer and he LOVES football (soccer)! He is also the one who we had the birthday party for last year with the cake. Before coming to Bernice and the orphanage, Noble lived on the street by himself in one of the villages. I can't even begin to fully grasp how incredible this new attention and investment in Noble could affect him in so many ways!

The second child that Oscar will be sponsoring with the money he is raising is one of the girls, which is equally as adorable. Priscilla (really it is Princilla but my mom always say it wrong =)), the peanut-but toughie of the group, will now also be enrolled this Fall!

Thank you Oscar for impacting these children and all the SWODC kids!

Will Someone Please Buy this Goose?

The first of the two benefit yard sales occurred this weekend at Jeff’s house and raised $300 for the kids’ boarding school costs! I am definitely pleased with that amount and excited to see how much can be raised later this month!

I had this weird dream (wait, aren’t dreams always weird?) last week that we raised $300 at the sale. I happened to mention this to my mom and suddenly, $300 became our unofficial goal. Most likely, we could have raised more than that but we had serious rain nonstop Saturday morning that required the yard sale be moved from the front yard to the back alley garage! Needless to say, our sales were hurting on Saturday but some people did surprisingly come out to shop! We had over $207 the first day and then with the help a few purchases on Sat and a nice donation from one of my mom’s friends we had $260 in the end. My mom was either really set on the $300 goal or maybe just loves to make me happy (I’m thinking both), because she made her own donation to make our proceeds an even $300!

In addition to raising money to help the kids and getting rid of some old stuff, we enjoyed discovering others’ connections to Africa. One of our first customers knew a lady going on a mission trip to Ghana later this summer, one person’s neighbor was from Ghana, and there was a mom and son who knew a couple from church that recently adopted from Uganda. There were also several people that asked further about the Foundation and added a few extra dollars onto their purchases to help out!

Jeff and my mom deserve a HUGE THANK YOU because by default of being my family members they both got stuck doing a lot of work this weekend! Uh, I love you both….a lot! =) My mom was great because she likes to chat with people (no surprise there) and enjoyed the opportunity to talk about her kids in Ghana which helped us with more donations. Jeff’s muscles were of course a big help when it came to setting up and tearing down, but even more helpful was his willingness to entertain me on the slow, rainy day in the garage (and to ensure no one abducted me from the alley)! I may be able to obtain some of the pictures of the great outfits he pieced together from the clothes for sale! He also was great when I made him be a pretend shopper when a car would drive by! =)

The wooden goose from the picture is still left and will be waiting for a new owner at the Champaign garage sale! Really, I thought it would be a top seller when I pried it from my mom’s hands in her basement where it has sat for six years.

Cleaning House, Raising Funds

I have incredible friends and family! This isn't news to me, but it still makes me so happy every time I am reminded of it! My brother and my good friend Kendra have both been nice enough to offer up their houses (yards and driveway to be accurate) for garage sales to raise funds for my kids in Ghana! Thank you Jeff, thank you Kendra (and Jim)!

On July 3 & 4 at Jeff's and July 31 & August 1 at Kendra's we will be selling our old stuff and giving 100% of the proceeds to the Hopkins Foundation so more of the SWODC orphans can go to boarding school this Fall and have three meals a day! This should be a fabulous way to raise some more funds!

I'll be home over the Fourth of July weekend to hang with the family and conduct the St. Louis garage sale. In Champaign, we're having the garage sale at Kendra's because she lives on a very busy road, so we will hopefully attract a large crowd. I am promoting the garage sales as fundraisers for the kids and will have information about the Hopkins Foundation and pictures of the children onsite. Hopefully, some of our customers will feel extra generous when they learn our purpose. Also, their purchases are technically donations, so they are tax deductible! Friends and family can donate any items they no longer want or use. I figure everyone has stuff they want to get rid of but haven't gotten around to taking it to Goodwill yet, so why not give it to this cause! Especially, when it so easy-I am willing to pick up the items, organize, price, etc.

On another note, Josephine had an amazing trip back in May and came back from Ghana with lots of updates on the kids. She has asked to post on the blog to provide an update and I am thrilled. She had some 'make the hair on your arms stand-up' moments while there and feels even more certain of her calling in these kids' lives. So there will be another post soon to provide an update on the boarding school progress. But a quick summary for now- three children are being enrolled for August. Picking the three is definitely a difficult part and when Josephine asked my opinion it broke my heart to think about choosing. Yes, for these three it will be life-changing but for the others..... Regardless, during her trip the three presented themselves to her and the decision was easier than expected as you will read soon!

Josephine Returns to Ghana

Josephine (from the Hopkins Foundation) returned to Ghana last Sunday for a two-week visit. She has been visiting with the children that have remained with Bernice and her mother, working on the boarding school logistics, and she will also be traveling to the various villages where the other SWODC are currently living. She is there to prepare for sending the children to the boarding schools and to check in on the children that were returned to their guardians.

She sent me this beautiful email this morning to let me know about her time in Ghana thus far. Instead of recapping what she said, I thought I would just post most of the actual message here because it is so touching. It brought a huge smile to my face and maybe even some tears to my eyes (I know, I know, I am such a sap)! As I told Josephine in my email response, just hearing that she is there with the children brings such a peace and happiness to my heart. I know they are safe and are being loved right now!

Quick note on the email-'Woezo' is Welcome in Ewe and Richard is the guy that gave my mom the full African dress! =)

**************

From Josephine Hopkins (4/26/09):

Woezo sister Alicia,

I am so grateful that I am here and able to hang out with the children. They are looking great but are in need of a few things so I will be filling those needs. I have told them all that you send hugs and kisses and I wish you could have seen their smiles. They sure love and miss both you and Mama Carol.

By the way, I am at the internet cafe next to the old SWODC office and Richard told me to tell Mama Carol hello and he misses her. He is an incredible young man!!!

I have been able to spend time with Patricia, Patience, Peace, Noble (who are still living with Bernice) and Elolo, Sika and Celese (who are living with Bernice's mother). In fact I am just on my way back from visiting today. I will be headed back tomorrow with new sandals for all. I will find out how to get to Bernice's mother's home tomorrow which is in Ho so I can spend some more time with Elolo, Sika and Celese.

I have actually run into some of the other children that are still around Sokode and Ho, Gloria, Matilda and Evelyn. I am so thankful for this.We went to market on Thursday with all the children (I don't know what I was thinking) and it was CRAZY!!! We decided to just go to Freedom Hotel and have a cold drink...much calmer.

I will try to figure out what needs to be done from this point and keep you posted.There is much love for you and Mama Carol here and I will close on that note.I'll be back in touch soon.

Much love,
Mama Josephine
********************

Prior to checking my email today, I was just sitting here thinking about my blessings this week (it is amazing how many blessing we actually receive on a weekly basis, but most of us...myself included....don't normally realize this because we don't take time to stop and think about it). I was already impressed by the blessings I did receive, then I got this email and it is truly a great blessing. THANK YOU!

40 Day Journey to Generosity

I spoke briefly to Sister Bernice again the other week on the phone and have learned that another one of the children, Selasie, has been brought back to Bernice from a guardian. Selasie lived at the orphanage during my first stay in Ghana but was gone visiting her aunt when my mom and I were there. She was suppose to remain with her aunt after September's events, but now she is now back to being Bernice's responsibility. Selasie is actually staying with Bernice's mom (because of the school she is enrolled in), along with Noble and Elolo; have I mentioned before that Bernice is in her 50s and her mom is maybe late 60s/early 70s! They really are amazing.

I debated writing the remainder of this post. Know now that I'm not trying to pat myself on the back or make it seem like I want anyone’s praises. I think doing a good deed and not telling anyone about it, though very difficult, is a true sign of your heart and intention. But here’s the thing, there’s so much news about the negative things in life and not nearly enough about the good things. So I want to share what is going on in my heart in hopes it starts a rumbling in another’s. Have you ever heard of the 40 Day Journey to Generosity?

Lately I have been being hit left and right it feels like with the need to reexamine my own generosity. I have made some big steps over the past six months to truly want to give cheerfully and regularly of my resources. For me after some original consideration, 10% of what I make was what felt right. I have always felt like a fairly generous person, I like good causes, a bit of a bleeding heart, etc. But, wow, when you really take a calculator out and see that 10% number, it is a bit of a reality check……I’ve been a selfish scrooge….that five bucks at church each week doesn’t really cut it (hey, I thought that was a lot and that was on a good week =))!

Since being back from Ghana, I have gotten really close to reaching my 10% goal, but not fully. There has been something kind of holding me back. Now my ‘almost’ 10% isn’t just to church, though I hope in the near future to get to giving 10% to church and all other causes be in addition. Currently, my ‘almost’ 10% is a mix of mainly church, the kids in Ghana and a couple of other local things I support on a monthly basis. As I talked about before, my mom and I have been sponsoring Elolo for quite sometime now (really in one way or another since I first went to Ghana), but I have wanted since September to sponsor another of the children for boarding school (I do wish it could be more than one) and have just been procrastinating on what the best way would be (i.e. monthly, a couple of large donations, etc). In the meantime, I’ve started to do some major saving for another major endeavor that is down the road a bit. This endeavor will take a lot of savings and a lot of faith when it comes down to it and also involves the kids in Ghana in a way (no I am not thinking about moving there….just in case that is running through your mind). But this need to save a substantial amount of money that is also for a really good cause had made me start rethinking my ability to sponsor another one of the kids for boarding school. Of course, I didn’t like this idea, but I can’t really make money magically appear so I thought that would have to be that. I have to choose.

But suddenly I have been inundated with messages about sacrificial giving and faithful giving…. and feeling like I need to make this sponsorship donation. Giving what I can now faithfully, knowing that God will provide for me in the future when its needed...its a little scary, but awesome! I have been in fear of giving the money to fully sponsor one of the kids because I fear the large sum that I need to save and not being able to do it. But what I’ve come to realize finally is that the money I have right now is not really mine; it has only been entrusted to me and I need to give back to God what is his. So, okay, I thought a lot about the donation and then I looked back at how I was doing with my 10% giving. Well, I was falling short as I knew. But then I calculated in the sponsorship donation and what that would equal out to for the year and I kid you not, it was got me right at 10%! So this week I wrote the full check, cried a little….really it was out a joy, not sadness….and took the leap of faith and it is awesome!

Now again, I don’t write this to congratulate myself or even suggest you also sponsor one of the kids (though that would be huge and help sooo much), but hope it does a little something in your heart too.

Here are just a few of the cool resources/interesting facts/verses that got me thinking….

An awesome 40 Day Journey to Generosity- www.givewithjoy.org –Very cool, you get messages to your email inbox for 40 days with brief teachings on giving with joy and viewing money totally different than what is pushed at us by society.

1 Timothy 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God.

Think that verse above doesn’t apply to you, that you are not one of those rich people?

- Did you realize that if you personally make more than $1500 per year you are richer than 75% of the world’s 6+ billion people!

-3 billion people live on less than $2 a day

-70% of the world’s wealth is concentrated in just 5% of the population (guess where most of that 5% resides)

-If you own a car, you are in the top 6% of the wealthiest people in the world

This is really cool: How rich are you? To find out how your income compares to everyone else in the world go to: www.globalrichlist.com

Calling Ghana

I called Sister Bernice today to check in on her and the children with her. Hearing their voices is always bittersweet, but mostly wonderful! Sister Bernice makes me laugh when I call because she just gets so excited and very loud when she realizes it is me (her reactions to my phone calls are nothing compared to when my mom gets on the phone....you would think she was a queen or celebrity the way Bernice reacts....screaming and hollering). She is doing well in the new house, but is still suffering from poor health which requires her to make frequent doctor's visits and travel far distances.

Patience, Patricia, and Peace were all in the house when I called so I also got to speak to them (Elolo and Noble are with Bernice's mother right now because of the long distance between their school and the new house). It is great to speak to them and hear their sweet voices, but trying to get more than a one word answer from them was like pulling teeth! Regardless, they are all well. Patience and Peace were both able to get enrolled into schools in Ho after returning in December. Unfortunately, due to the move, Patience will be repeating a grade since she missed out on some testing required to enter senior secondary school next year. I know she was very upset in January but she reassured me today that she is doing much better now and understands that this is just a minor setback. Hhmmm, she is strong.

Thanks to everyone that has donated so far to our boarding school efforts so that we can ensure that all the former-SWODC kids can once again be in safe conditions. My mom's gooey butter cake venture at work raised $75.00-AWESOME! She was hoping for more, but I think her effort and desire to raise this money is working in more ways than just fundraising.

Much, much thanks to:
My beautiful Aunt Dorles who is generously making monthly contributions
The Clarke Family-Gina, my mom and I thank you!
My mom's Generations' friends: Gloria, George (you rock), and Tom
Annette
Becky Bruno-thank you...as always, you are a wonderful, caring, giving and supportive friend
Cindy P & Steve- miss you!
Ina & William

Fundraising Update

I've been updating the section to the left as donations are received and added an area to thank those individuals that have been able to help so far. I just learned from Josephine that the fundraising event at their company's Holiday party resulted in $1800 donated! Wow!!! So cool. So far with our combined efforts, we have raised $2,050.00 It is an amazing start!

Josephine will be going to Ghana in March to visit the three potential boarding schools for the children and work out more details on enrolling the children when the time comes. This is at least her 4th or 5th trip to Ghana, I'm definitely jealous, but will be anxious to hear her updates.

FYI- My mom and I thought up another small fundraising idea that she will do at work soon. She is going to put her gooey butter cake notoriety to wonderful use by selling slices of cake in the break room and then taking orders for full cakes, with the proceeds going to the Hopkins Foundation for the kids' school! I can take orders! =)