Here is my first letter from Yohana in Tanzania:
Emmanuel is 13 years old. His father passed away in 2000, and then his mother passed away in 2004. He and his siblings were sent to live with their grandparents, but their grandparents were already in their 70's at that time. It was determined that it would be best for the children to live and be cared for at the orphanage, so he moved in when he was 7 years old. 
Mwanza shares a birthday with Jaden- August 5th!! This August 5th, he will turn 15th! He is the "father" of his family. Both of his parents passed away a few years ago. Mwanza has been raising his 3 younger brothers for several years now. He recently got a chance to go back to school, and he has been able to learn a lot in a short period of time. We did a fundraiser for the family, and I am hoping to get the pictures and list of what they bought soon. They have an account set up for them to allot them enough money for groceries and any necessary school items/tuition for the next few months. A total of $522 was raised, so hopefully that will last them close to a year.
Paulo will be 16 on the 28th of this month. He has been at the orphanage since he was 9. He is best friends with Dotto (below) and Dotto's twin brother not pictured. Paulo's parents died years ago, possibly of AIDS, but no one is exactly certain. Paulo and his brother Lufuta were brought to Bethany when it was decided they were unable to care for themselves. Lufuta is no longer at Bethany because he did not want to follow the rules, and instead caused trouble. Because of this Lufuta was sent to live with his grandfather. Paulo is wonderfully behaved, and is getting along well at Bethany.
Dotto is 16 years old. He came to Bethany when he was 12, so he has only been there for 4 years now. Dotto has a twin brother who is at the orphanage with him. The were both brought to Bethany after their grandfather was too ill to care for them any longer (their parents passed away in 2000 and 2001, and they were taken to Bethany in 2006). Both boys are in standard 3 in primary school.
Kulwa is 16 years old. He came to the Bethany Orphanage when he was only 5, after the death of both of his parents. He was present when his parents died, and so probably carries a lot of that in his memory. He is, also, a twin! He does not know where his twin brother is, as they were separated at a very young age. I sent my first letter to him 1 month ago.
Yohana will be 18 at the end of May. He joined the Bethany family in 2003. He is best friends with Romadi (the oldest brother of the triplets that I introduced earlier). Yohana's parents passed away, and he was left in the care of neighbors. When it became to difficult for the village to raise him, they brought him to Bethany. He is quiet and shy, but he gets along well with the "family". I wrote my first letter to him 1 month ago, and I have just sent off my second letter today.
Joseph just turned 18 last month! He wants to be a preacher when he grows up. He is living at the orphanage in Tanzania because he could not take his parents abuse one more day! He ran away, and then, he lived on the streets for a while. The social worker brought him to Bethany Orphanage in 2002 (when he was 10 years old), and he is getting along well with everyone. I wrote my first letter to him 2 weeks ago. I can't wait to learn all about him!
I thought it was necessary to do a general update on "my children", since I have added quite a few in the past few months. Most of these children are receiving emotional support, letters, small gifts, and kind words from me. I have not taken on any new sponsor children since I took on Mikerange (on Jaden's behalf) in January. Because of my now VERY limited income, it is nice to be able to do something to help that doesn't cost much but brings a lot of hope.
If any of you are interested, Shelby (a Canadian counterpart) and I have been working on a big project together. We will soon have an announcement to make (but do not want to make the full announcement yet). Some of you already have an idea of what is going on, but for those who don't it promises to be a BIG surprise and lots of fun!! For those who want to help the children in Zambia, this one will be for you! Stay tuned for that! And thanks for listening to stories about my children.
*By the way, MANY of you should have photos and letters back from the Summer Reading Program. Please send them when you can because I have no CI posts! Plus, I am waiting to hear back from Mack about the winner of the quilt, so I will update everyone when I hear something. Have a great Wednesday!
