KCCW - "Kids CAN Change the World!" Our young volunteers at Help Uganda Kids have done so much! Not only have they raised funds for projects at the orphanage, but they have inspired other children to join us in experiencing the joy of helping other kids who are less fortunate.
An early introduction to humanitarian work does many things for children.
Our primary purpose is to help other children to feel the joy that humanitarian work can bring to them.A few rewards we've noticed are:
1) It gives them a greater understanding of their world.
2) They develop a concern for the well-being of children who need our help and our friendship.
3) They gain a terrific sense of empowerment! They begin to realize that kids can indeed give hope ...and can actually change the world for the better, one child at a time. And half a world away... that child may write back to them and share their dreams.
During these past 7 years, we have had some wonderful participation from youthful volunteers. They have spent many hours on projects raising funds for our orphans. Together, they have raised more than $8,000, for our children in Uganda... They have personally directed their funds to buy pencils, paper, books, food, and malaria medication. Their efforts have produced mosquito nets for the bed of each orphan,thus reducing their chances of being bitten while they sleep. Our kids here in the U.S. love knowing that by their efforts, they have helped to change the lives of many orphans.
Our original Kids Action Team member, Jori, now age 21: Before our first trip to Uganda, March 2010, Judi's grandson Jori, (then 11) raised over $2000 with his own fund-raising projects. He then traveled to Uganda with Judi and his Mom (Judi's daughter Christie.) While there in Uganda, Jori loved playing soccer with the orphans, and they never tired of asking him about life in California. With the money he had raised before his trip, Jori bought shoes for all 35 kids at Hope Home, mosquito bed nets for their beds, and a bicycle for the home. (The bike makes it faster for the caretaker to ride out to gather food for our two cows and the teachers use it to ride into town. There are no cars at Hope Home.)
SCHOOLS PROGRAM
We have just started our outreach to schools. Do you know a class that would like to hear about our program and how they can get involved? We have found that most all children have an innate desire to help others.
When introduced to the needs of children in other lands, the children we have spoken with in their school classes immediately want to know how they can help. We only give them a glimpse of the good they can do; then both the excitement and the projects come from them. They are eager to communicate with these children who are the same... but very different from themselves. They write and receive letters, draw pictures and sometimes start projects like a penny collection jar in the classroom. (They always say that they would like to send all their outgrown clothes to their new friends who have so little! When we find someone going over, that person always take two big suitcases full of clothes for our Uganda kids.) A few years ago, two boys in a third grade Montessori class wrote a play and charged all the parents to come see their production! They raised $200 for the Uganda orphans. Other kids here have done a bake sale.
DO YOU KNOW OF A SCHOOL CLASS WHO WOULD LOVE TO KNOW ABOUT OUR
KIDS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD PROGRAM?
Let's share our ideas!
Just email Judi: judi gentry@HelpUgandaKids.org
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