Birthday Party in Maseru

August was Women’s Month in Lesotho.

As part of a celebration of the role and work of women in Basotho society, Hilda and the children were invited to attend ceremonies in Maseru. While there, a local woman decided to celebrate her birthday with the children of Rachel’s Home. It was a beautiful day and the children enjoyed themselves. Instead of receiving gifts, she chose to give to the children. This generous act gave the children a rare and special day of joy.

Hilda frequently finds herself at the front door of the orphanage confronting a pair of police officers. They often have a child in tow that they are hoping Hilda will take in. Recently a pair of Police women showed up at the orphanage. They didn’t have a child. Instead they had brought gifts for the children. God had touched their hearts reminding them that they too are mothers and that these children have nothing. Along with the gifts, they brought instruments and food. The day was filled with music and laughter.

These are the moments that change lives.

Hilda's Birthday Party

We praise God for life!

August 28th was my birthday. So much has happened and God has blessed me in so many ways through the years that I could write a book!. I am 38 years old now. My heavenly father has blessed me and my family in so many ways. My birthday was a wonderful day, one of the happiest days at Rachel’s Home that I can remember. I received lots and lot of handmade cards and pictures. Somebody recited a poem that brought tears to my eyes. They were tears of joy.

My chldren here at Rachel’s Home make me so happy and I can’t imagine life without them.

God Bless!

Currently, there are 50 students in the school and 4 teachers. We are also sponsoring 7 students at boarding school and 4 students at university. One student is in a gifted program and hopes to become a doctor. Our first student will graduate university next year with a degree in nursing. This will have such a positive impact on Lesotho as the next generation begins rebuilding a country devastated by AIDS.

As sponsors, we provide tuition as well as money for housing, food and expenses. Without Central Presbyterian Church’s support, education would be unattainable for these young people and they could only look forward to a bleak future.

We also continue to support the orphans at Rachel’s Home by providing milk, bread, peanut butter and vitamins. Sometimes this is the only food they receive in a week and so it is vital to their health.

Unfortunately, Hilda’s health is not good and she needs surgery. A temporary manager must be found to run the orphanage and school while she is recovering. We hope and pray for her and her health. Hilda is the backbone of Rachel’s Home and she needs to be strong.

Please pray for Hilda, Godwill and all the children. We are making a difference in so many lives. The orphans we help now, will continue to help others as they become educated.

Thank you for your support.

Sharon with the Kids

Sharon & Jane are from opposite ends of Canada. They know each other and us only through their and our involvement with Rachel’s Home.

Sharon is a retired person with many years of experience with international aid projects. She stumbled across Rachel’s Home in her travels after her retirement. The children grabbed hold of her heart from the moment she met them. From that point onward, she was committed to doing whatever she could to help.

She returned to Rachel’s Home in December 2010, where she plans to spend several months helping Hilda and the children get through Hilda’s surgery and recovery.

Sharon is keeping a news blog of her work at Rachel’s Home and we will try to keep you informed with links to her blog.

Jane & her husband adopted Makalo in the fall of 2010. Since, then Jane has continued her involvement in Rachel’s Home. Jane’s efforts on behalf of Rachel’s Home, led her to a local NGO in her home town in BC. Among other things, they provided the funding for a special Christmas dinner for the children.

Rachel’s Home still struggles to make ends meet; but, our efforts along with those of our friends from across Canada are making a difference.

With your prayers and and your support, we can make a difference in the lives of these children. We can produce leaders and role-models from among them and we can give Lesotho what it needs most. Young, educated, committed and caring Basotho who understand their people, their country and its problems and who have to tools and skills they need to make a difference.

Sharon’s Blog:

• January 2010 – Rachel’s or Hilda’s Home?
• February 2010 – Just Clowning Around
• December 2010 – Lame in Lesotho
• December 2010 – Celebrating Christmas with the Children
• January 2011 – A Progress Report

Please pray for Godwill, Rachel and the Children. Let’s fill those envelopes in the In-And-Out box. They need the supplies more than ever.

What a transformation!

It’s hard to imagine that, the basic cinder-block structure that we built could be transformed into such an inviting structure for young children to come to learn. We will be returning to Rachel’s Home in March of 2012 to improve the accomodations.

In the mean-time we continue to support Rachel’s Home through our vitamin program, our in and out boxes, our sponsorships of Libuseng, Moloshane & Tsepang.

Please, help us help the children of Rachel’s Home.

I know, I’ve asked you to do this once before; but, this is the reality of Rachel’s Home.

The measles outbreak at Rachel’s Home is a serious problem. These children are under-nourished and they have compromised immune systems.  There is no way to isolate a sick child from the rest of children. The situation is further aggravated by the food-shortage that Rachel’s Home is facing.

We’re looking forward to summer vacations and summer picnics and barbeques. They are are headed into winter. The flu bug last fall was for them, late winter and early spring. This time they still have the long hard winter ahead of them.

So, what can we do? The problems are so big and we are so small.

God wants us to pray; but, he also wants us to act. He wants us to reach out and help them through the crisis. How? We can make sure that they have the resources that they need to cope until they can get back on their feet. Once we have done this, we can look to the future to see how we can better equip them to prevent or at least manage events like this. This is what we’re doing at Rachel’s Home. We are helping 43 children survive.

We are doing this by providing Godwill & Hilda with the tools that they need.

• We are supplying bread.
• We are supplying peanut butter.
• We are supplying milk.
• We are supplying multi-vitamins.
• We are also supplementing their food supply in other ways

God has blessed us with a comfortable life, a life of abundance, a life of privilege.

It’s a huge responsibility.

Let’s make sure we live up to it. Let’s make sure we give these kids a fighting chance!

The Penny Project

There is a great need here at Rachel’s Home. We are experiencing an outbreak of measles. Although our children have been immunized we are still seeing new cases. We need prayers as many children in Lesotho have died as a result of measles.

No one has died at Rachel’s Home. Eight of our children have contracted measles. Five have recovered; but, three are very ill and one remains in hospital. In the morning we will take another child to hospital. We cannot take the child tonight because it is very late and we don’t have transport.

We need your prayers as this is getting out of hand. The sick children need to be separated; but, we don’t have a room for them.

Please trust with us and may the Lord Bless you as you serve Him.
Hilda

A note from Elsie

This problem is not confined to Rachel’s Home, or even to Lesotho. The measles outbreak is affecting the whole of Southern Africa.

Please pray for the children