Little Dresses for Africa and Chicken Project

Little Dresses for Africa
There is a project called 'Little Dresses for Africa' and we have been the recipient now of 3 groups of ladies making these dresses and sending them to us. Last September when torrential rains hit Ouagadougou we were able to give 150 dresses to families who had lost everything except what they could carry when the flood waters washed their homes away.

This week, Lisa and Sarah planned a party for the girls in our school and gave each little girl a new dress. The purpose of the party was to teach the girls the value of women in society and to inspire them to be all that they can be 'in Jesus'.

They played games, sang songs, and Sarah taught them the story from Matthew 19 where Jesus said 'Let the little children come to me'. Each little girl also took home a little heart that said 'Jesus loves you'.

Chicken Project
This past year Sheltering Wings was the recipient of a grant from the J Kirby Simon Foreign Service Trust in the amount of $2,500. The money was to build a project to raise chickens and to expand our weaving project.

Last summer, we built a chicken house out of concrete blocks with a concrete floor and a concrete pad surrounding the house. We enclosed the chicken yard with wire fencing. And, we were ready to buy chickens.

We bought chickens 3 times and each time within a few days to a week, the chickens died. One time, they were too small. The other two times, they were not vaccinated and they died. But, the 4th time, we took the chickens from the animal market straight to the veterinarian to be vaccinated. And, after 2 weeks we can now say that our chickens are thriving!

We are now looking forward to our chickens producing eggs for our children to eat.

For the weaving project, we bought a new loom and now have 3 young women weaving. Two of our weavers are now experienced and they are helping to teach and train our third weaver.

Dear Family and Friends, 22 February, 2010

Another new baby in the orphanage!

I would like to introduce David to you. He came to the orphanage when he was just 9 hours old. He was born in Arbole, a small town about 35 kilometers from Yako. His mother is not well mentally and his father is unknown.

Social Action will do an investigation to see if there is anyone in the mother's family who wants David and if not, he will be available for adoption.

Herman has a place in school!

Herman is a little 8 year old who has been blind since birth. We first met Herman in 2008 and began trying to find a place for him in a school for the blind in Ouagadougou. The school only accpets 10 new students for the first grade each year and there was at a 2 to 3 year waiting list to have a place in the school.

But, this year a new school for the blind opened in Ouayaghuia, a town about 70 kilometers north of Yako. And, we were able to get a place for Herman among the 10 first graders accepted in the school.

We are thankful to the Lord for this place in school for Herman. Please pray for Herman as he adjusts and adapts to his new family and his new experiences in school.

Dear Family and Friends, 13 February, 2010

The house is finished! It took just 2 ½ weeks to tear down a house and re-build it. Grandmother and the twins, Mouniratou and Rachidatou are thrilled and are now living in a new house that has 2 rooms, a concrete floor, a door and two windows. They also have a privacy wall on the front and side which was made from bricks that we were able to salvage from the old house.

Grandmother was literally speechless. All she could say was 'thank you so much, thank you Lord'. We also are thankful to the Lord that we could give this gift to this family. Many, many houses fell in this year from the terrible rains and hard winds and many families are still suffering from their losses. But, we are thankful that this one very special little family are now safe and happy in their new home.

A New Baby in the Orphanage

I want to introduce you to Salif. He was born on February 12, 2010. He comes from a village about 50 kilometers from Yako. It is a rather isolated village and the roads between here and there are very bad. Often during the rainy season the roads are impassable with a vehicle and nearly impassable with a moto.

Salif's mother is not well mentally. He was sexually abused and Salif is the product of this abuse. The mother gave birth completely alone and only when the family heard the baby crying did they know that he was born.

Salif's mother is not able to care for herself and she is totally unable to care for a child.

In this culture, the children belong to the father's family. Since Salif's father is unknown, there is no one in his mother's family who is willing to take care of him. Even though the mother is not well mentally, the fact that she became pregnant and gave birth outside of marriage is a terrible shame to the family. And, the family does not want the product of this shame to remain in the family.

Salif's grandfather brought him to the orphanage asking us to take him and to find a home for him. It is possible that Salif will be available for adoption but for now, we will care for Salif and pray over him as we wait for a final decision from the family to release Salif for adoption.

Please consider partnering with us to save the children of Burkina by sponsoring a child from our orphanage or a child from our school. If you would like to make a commitment to a child, visit our website at www.sheltering-wings.org or send me a note at yakorphans@gmail.com.

Love and blessings to you!

Ruth