New children, new needs--

This is Harouna. He is 10 years old.

Harouna was born in Burkina but since a baby, he has lived in the Ivory Coast. Just recently his mother and step-father returned to Burkina to live and this week Harouna's mother signed papers at the courthouse, abandoning Harouna.

Harouna's story is heart-breaking but he is a little boy with great courage.

Harouna's mother and father are cousins. The mother was able to hide this fact while living in the Ivory Coast but the problem surfaced almost immediately when she returned to Burkina. Even though her husband is willing to keep Harouna and to care for him, the mother's family will not allow Harouna to continue to live in their village. Feelings are so strong that words like 'we never want to even hear the name of the child again' have been used.

So, Harouna has become a part of our orphanage family and as his papers are completed we will look for a permanent family for him through international adoption. He is small for his age but seems to be in good health.

Please pray for Harouna!

New Special Needs Child--

This is Karim. He is 10 years old.

Karim is totally deaf. He was not born deaf but lost his hearing as a result of a high fever caused by meningitis at about 2 years of age.

Karim's younger brothers and sisters had been sent to school so this past year Karim decided that he would also go to school. And, Karim just showed up in the first grade class of a small village school about 30 kilometers from Yako.

Karim's teacher told him to go home because he was not enrolled in school but because Karim could not hear what he said, he just stayed in school! After a short time in school, the teacher figured out what the problem was but also saw that Karim was very intelligent. Together they found some simple ways to communicate. Unofficially, because he was not actually enrolled, Karim completed the first grade and he made passing marks.

This past week, Karim's teacher contacted us asking if there was any way that we could help Karim. We sent them to Ouagadougou for a hearing test at the deaf school and an evaluation for enrolling in first grade in the Fall.

Karim has a place in school and the family in Ouaga who has cared for another of our children, Yemba, who attends the deaf school, has agreed for Karim to come and live with them during the school year.

Now, the one thing remaining is to find the funds to send Karim to school and to pay a small monthly amount to the family caring for him. In total, we need $540 per year to send Karim to school. If you would like to help to with this need, please send your contribution to Sheltering Wings and put a note with it saying 'Send Karim to school'.