News Archive 2012

OFA staff were on the ground in Kenya and Uganda this month. They visited our partners CSMA and YPPCC and also met with the Programme Manager of our newest partner, Christian Outreach for Community Empowerment and Development. The trip was a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of the current issues facing our partners and hold discussions on plans for the future. We'll focus on the latest news from each of these three partners over the next few months.

During the trip we received news from our partner in Sierra Leone that one of the children there was seriously ill. Kandeh (above right) needed emergency surgery to remove a growth in her stomach, without which the doctors gave her three days to live. Thanks be to God for the kindness of a widow, who offered her house as collateral for a short term loan of the money needed for Kandeh's surgery. OFA was able to make an emergency transfer of funds from Kenya just in time before the widow's house was seized by the bank. Kandeh's surgery was successful and she is recovering well.

During the site visits undertaken in January, one of the needs we encountered everywhere we visited was for school fees. So many children are unable to attend school because of the costs involved. OFA has been able to provide assistance that has enabled 37 orphaned children in Kenya and Uganda to return to school this term. We have provided help with tuition costs, boarding, uniforms, school supplies and other educational-related expenses. We are working with our partners to find sustainable ways to fund attendance at school. The photo to the right, provided by our partner CSMA in Uganda, shows some of the children in their new uniforms.

The Kibera Slum is one of the largest slums in the world. In January, OFA staff visited our Kenyan partner YPPCC's sewing school, located in the heart of Kibera. An estimated 50,000 orphans live in the slum - alongside raw sewage, unclean water and the threat of violence and abuse. Josiah and Judith Sellangah, the directors of YPPCC, share our desire to expand their ministry in Kibera and we are considering the possibility of purchasing land to develop YPPCC's sewing school/business and build a school for orphans. Please pray for Kibera and the members of our staff involved in exploring this project.

At Orphangages for Africa, we place a strong focus on developing micro-enterprise initiatives with our partners. Our partners currently operate a number of micro-enterprise businesses, set up with the help of seed funding from OFA. In the first few months of 2012 we are encouraged to report that five of these businesses have generated combined profits of over $2,500. The businesses include YPPCC's Sewing and Tailoring Institute (Nairobi, Kenya), CSMA's Computer Training School and agriculture projects (Uganda), and EHFC's goat farming and water selling initiatives (Sierra Leone). Profits have been used to pay for school tuition, feeding programmes, and provide textbooks, shoes and supplies for the children.

The foundations have now been laid for our partner Shelter for Orphans Ministries' new school in the Copperfield Province of Zambia. The new school building, which is being funded with assistance from OFA and local businesses around Kitwe, will provide a purpose-built facility from which SOM can continue to offer free education to over one hundred orphans and vulnerable children. Owning their own building will make a huge difference to our partner as it will relieve them of the financial burden of renting their premises. We thank God for His provision of the land and funds to build this school!

In March this year we provided our newest partner, Christian Outreach for Community Empowerment and Development (COCED), with a grant to help them start a cabbage farming micro-enterprise. COCED grew the cabbages from seed and encountered some difficulties a few months ago when hailstones destroyed a number of the seed beds. The seedlings have recently been transplanted into 13 plots and we are pleased to report that the cabbages are growing well! "We have a high hope of success. In most plots the cabbages are healthy" says Rev John Masinde, Director of COCED. Please pray with us for a good harvest of cabbages in a few months time that will help meet the needs of the children at COCED.

OFA-USA has taken on a new partner this month: Centre Elembo. The centre is located near Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It runs an orphanage for 61 children as well as a school for approximately 300 children from the local village. Please keep OFA-USA and Centre Elembo in your prayers as they develop this new partnership and have the opportunity show God's love and care to more children.