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