Goodbye, Diego!

Diego (in the middle) shown here with his friends has come a long way in the sponsorship program.  He was just a toddler when he entered the sponsorship program, so at 13 years old (he will turn 14 in July), he has been in the program for more than 80% of his lifetime.  You may remember his health issues that led me to ask Aura's House to add him as a project on their site.  His aunt was able to pay off her debts, and Diego was able to get many things that would improve his health. 

The fundraiser through Aura's House was a success, and it raised the family's standard of living.  Of course, that was the point of the fundraiser- we want all of our children to get out of poverty, right?!  I don't know if this is the reason, but I have a strong hunch- Diego's family has left the sponsorship area!  I hope they have moved into their own place, as the place they were staying in was not their own.  In my head (since that is all I have to go by), I imagine that they moved to a better neighborhood that is closer to Diego's school. 

While I am happy for the family, don't child departures just suck (and no, I do not want the other child they have chosen for me- bwah, bwah, bwah)!?!?!?

Muntanga and his family

Muntanga above in front of his house and below a profile shot of himself in the dark

Muntanga with his goat above and Muntaga's sister Memory (sponsored by Sara) below

Muntanga with his school notebook above and with his family below (mother, father, Memory and little Luse)

Muntanga's mother below fixing dinner

Muntanga had some great photos on his camera.  His younger sister Luse is still in need of a sponsor.  If you would like to sponsor her, send an e-mail to macandmic@gmail.com

Alex's Camera

Alex and Warring above (not sure who the guy is on the left) and Charles and the unknown boy below

The boy above looks like a Michelo.  Does anyone recognize him?  Below, Alex decide to photograph feet.  LOL!

Charles' Camera

Alex above with the electronic game filled with candy that I sent him and below the Kalalu children working at home

Charles' family above and below the place where they cook their food

Charles did not take any pictures of himself, as you can see.  His cousin whom he calls his brother is an orphan and spends a lot of time with Charles and his family.  The cousin's name is Alex.  Well, Charles took a photo of Alex, and then, Alex used his camera to take some photos of Charles.  You will see Charles in the photos that Alex took when I post them tomorrow. =)

Fanwell and his extended family

Fanwell above with his cousins and below with his grandmother, aunt, and cousins

Fanwell's house above and his bed below

The Magoye river above and the part of town where they go to buy things below

Fanwell playing football above and playing billiards below (pretty inventive, huh?!)

Fanwell is a child that I sponsor with Mack.  We started sponsoring him after we heard of how sick he was and how he needed immediate medical attention.  He still looks ill in a lot of these photos- like he is in pain.  I hope that he will start feeling better soon!  We have paid for him to see the doctor, and we will see what the outcome of that is... Maybe he can take extra vitamin supplements. 

Anyway, he did a great job with his camera.  I like the river photo and it is cool to see what the town looks like, too.  He looks happy with his extended family, so that makes me happy =)

Daniel and his Camera

Aren't these two adorable?!  I have no idea who they are because Daniel didn't fill out his scavenger hunt sheet, but I plan to ask him in my next letter when I send him the pictures.

Daniel's self-photo above and then, more pics of the cute little toddlers below

Daniel didn't do as well as some of my other kids did.  I noticed that the girls took the exercise a little more seriously than the boys- though I did have a couple of boys that did a good job as well.  The ones with the least amount of good photos were Daniel, Ashes, Alex and Charles... But, I did get SOME pictures, so it is still nice to see their surroundings.

Thandiwe's Pictures

Thandiwe above and below dishing out supper

Thandiwe's grandfather above and her bed below

Thandiwe lives with her grandfather.  The video that I have of her, she said that she lives with him because her mom died.  I am guessing that her father died as well.  She has such a sweet spirit.  When she spoke of her mother's death, she started to cry.  It really moved me because my father passed away when I was 9, so I know the loss that you feel from that. 

I had to add Thandiwe to my family.  I hope that our correspondence will fill the void of her parents in some small way. 

Ashes and Family

Ashes above with his sisters and brother and below with his mother, 3 sisters and 2 brothers (his father was taking the photos)

Ashes above outside his school Naleza Basic which teaches grades 1 to 9.  Below is the bed that Ashes' father made for him out of wood.

I now have a bunch of photos of my CHZ children!  Ashes did not do so well with is disposible camera, but I did get a few nice pictures.  From him, I learned the most from his scavenger hunt sheet.  For example, he has 2 other sponsored siblings and 3 that are not sponsored.  His best friend is Ronald Juma who is, also, sponsored. 

At his school Naleza Basic, there are 9 grade levels and 1 teacher for each grade.  If you have a child in Naleza, you will be able to figure out who is in the class with whom if you know their grade level.  That is very interesting, and I will have to investigate it more after I finish basking in the fun of looking at these wonderful pictures!

I will be posting more photos of some of my other children over the next few days.  There were a total of 50 cameras returned to sponsors this week.  Each camera had the potential of having 27 photos- that makes for 1350 photos!!!  Unfortunately, some of the children only did a few good ones, so the average was about 20 good photos per camera, or 1000 photos!!  We still have over 50 cameras in Zambia that will be returned shortly.  If you would like to participate in the program, it only costs a total of $16 per child.  That purchases the camera, and ships it to and from Zambia!  Plus, you wind up with lots of great photos, and you get to know your child better.  I feel like I have already taken a trip to Zambia and back!