Happy Birthday to Three Amazing Kids!

I'm literally JUST back from the US, where I had a lovely but all too brief sojourn visiting family and friends... and I'm still jet-lagged out of my mind, sadly, so this post will be short and sweet - in honor of three ridiculously fantastic kids and their birthdays.

Happy third birthday (on the 22nd) to our gorgeous, vivacious little ray of sunshine, Maureen! 

Maureen as a newborn

With her beautiful smile

In the center of it all,
with Miriam (left) and Neema

Happy fourth birthday (on the 20th) to our tank of a little man, Pray. Without the heroism of Mama Cantate, we might never have made it to this amazing day - we're so proud of how far you've come! Please see our page on "Light Up the Night" to learn about the fire that almost took this bright spark of a boy away from us - and how you can help us to to make sure it never happens again. 

Today, happy and gorgeous little boy!

Baby Pray just after the fire 

Last year, still half baby

And finally, happy sixth birthday (today) to our sweet, smart, and sensitive schoolboy, Ericki - now thriving at USA River Academy with the help of TFFT and his wonderful sponsors, the Butler and Al-Azawie families! Please check out the Education page to read about this upcoming year's students, and to find out how to help them reach their amazing potential.

Strong, confident little man this year

Ericki shortly after coming
to the orphanage

Silly boy last year - trying to get gum
 out of his hair with peanut butter!

 Ericki came to the orphanage as a toddler - his mother died at birth, but his father and grandmother had struggled to keep the family together for as long as they could. Ultimately the economic strain was too great, and they brought him to the orphanage for a better life, a heartwrenching decision. We are launching a pilot project this summer that will hopefully provide a helping hand to families in this type of situation, providing business training and micro-grants to families caring for orphaned children or single parents in danger of having to send a child to an orphanage, with the goal of helping them get on their feet and become self sufficient. More to come on this exciting project, I promise!