Ethiopian Child Sponsorship--Time to Renew!

I thought I'd start early this year because last year it took a while to meet our goal. For those who don't remember or are new, TNH sponsors an Ethiopian child affected by AIDS through an American organization called AHOPE for Children (www.ahopeforchildren.org). We started off sponsoring a little girl, but then we were switched to a little boy when AHOPE ended its affiliation with the orphanage our girl lived at. Now, AHOPE has taken over the original orphanage and I am waiting to hear about the status of our original little girl. In the meantime, our sponsorship money is going to the boy. If you sponsored in the past and didn't get the link to the info on the boy, email me at tricksyhobbit@donet.com for the address of the web page my husband put up with info on the boy. You can read about the program changes at AHOPE at their wesbite. Nothing has gone wrong with AHOPE. They are still a strong program. It was the management of the orphanage by an Ethiopian NGO that went awry.

Anyway, a full year's sponsorship is now $330. (Last year it was $300, and we met that goal because my husband kicked in the final $5.) Our sponsorship money will be due in September. If you would like to renew your commitment or join the sponsorship, please email me at tricksyhobbit@donet.com. You can send me a check made out to AHOPE for Children, which I will forward on, or you can donate to my PayPal account (tricksyhobbit@donet.com) and I will write AHOPE a check for the amount I receive that way.

Ethiopia's children are especially dear to me because my own son will be joining our family from Ethiopia. The HIV/AIDS crisis is especially severe in Ethiopia, as is the crushing poverty. Many Ethiopians live on less than $1 a day. The country is still trying to recover from some devasting famines in the last decades as well as a succession of bad governments. Sponsoring a child (in whatever amount you can afford) is a small way to help out. Our sponsored child is able to remain with his family due to the relatively small commitment we make. My daughter Danika, who is 2, looks at our sponsored child's picture every day and tells me that he's not coming to live with us like her brother is because our sponsored child gets to stay with his family. I feel good that we are able to do this for our sponsored child, and I hope that you guys will join me again.

I'm sorry this is not very eloquent. I'm having a hard time emotionally with the adoption thing, so I'm not able to think straight about how best to present the sponsorship program and solicit your donations. Please visit www.ahopeforchildren.org to learn more, and if you have any questions, email me at tricksyhobbit@donet.com.

Like last year, if you send me checks I will send you the receipts I receive from AHOPE. We will post the updated information about our child on our website. And I'll keep everyone here at TNH posted as we progress toward our goal of $330.

Thanks,
Danna