More updates

I know last week I would be telling you about the 10 children who are a part of the program.  That is still coming.  We are just waiting for the families to finish registering with the government, and then we will introduce you to each of the children.

As we are waiting for this, I know some people have wondered what the money that was raised went towards.  Before I left for Ethiopia, you had donated over 5,000 USD.  Here is a rundown of what all was purchased and completed when we were there.

Kitchen supplies
Our friend Tigist will be cooking for ten 7th and 8th graders three times a week.  Can you imagine how much they will eat?  I only have five, all younger than that and they eat more than Costco can provide.  As we looked at starting this program, we had to stock the kitchen.  A stove was already purchased, so we just bought the rest of the materials needed.

Tigist with the kitchen supplies.

Classroom supplies

Besides the paint and flooring for each of the rooms, the classroom needed to be set up for children to learn.  We were able to buy 10 chairs from our friend Hanah's dad in Nazaret.  They were delivered on time and looked great right next to the five new desks that were built for our classroom as well.

Phil and Endris learned a lot from each other.

The chairs were strong enough to hold us, so we were pretty excited to see them in use!

Sponsor children enjoying a treat.

Office furniture

Within Ethiopia it is very important to keep good records of how things are going.  For this project to succeed we needed to set up an office.  We were able to buy two desks and two chairs for the newly painted and floored office.

Office furniture.

Wash machine

My heart was grabbed by my son's story of missing school because of a dirty uniform.  For the children within this program, this will not be the case.  We were able to buy a wash machine where all the uniforms can be cleaned and taken care of.  All of the students will go home with clean uniforms ready for the next day!

brand new wash machine!

New Roof

I am truly honored to be friends with Phil Hollien.  He is a board member for Eyes That See and a wonderful encouragement to Nikki and I.  When we were in Ethiopia he purchased new tin to be on the roof of the buildings.  You have seen pictures of how much better it looks.  Now, all the work done inside will not be ruined by the rain.  Instead there is a safe, dry place to learn and grow. 

Thank you everyone for all of your help and support.  We'll keep the updates coming!