Welcome Sponsors!

I'm about to send our first official note to thank our sponsors, along with this picture of 8 of our 11 sponsored children. The kids just got done with their exams, and I'm waiting to hear from Paddy to see how they did. I know Faridha, the child Mark and I sponsor, finished fourth out of 50. (I can't help but feel a little proud!) But given the type of trauma so many of our kids go through--war, AIDS, death of parents and siblings, living on the street--we're thinking of other ways to measure their progress as well.

For this Saturday morning, I'm content with seeing them smile. Hope you are too.

A Note of Thanks

As Emily Post would say, there's nothing like a handwritten note to let others know you appreciate their efforts.

You can imagine how happy I feel--we all do--when we see some progress from our small base of sponsorship. For me, this type of interaction forms the foundation of i.HUG. It's about that one to one connection, the ability to know who and where your money is going....and then of course, really being able to see the fruits of your efforts, even through such small gestures such as notes like these.

Blogger's etiquette

I have never blogged and am not sure about the etiquette. It looks easy when Joanna does it.

So, I just wanted to tell you all about a very happy moment that happened on Saturday. There is a little boy in a village in Uganda. I first met him in 2001. He was a strong healthy child but when he was 5 he cought polio from some water he drank. Over night he became very weak. When I met him in 2001 he was unable to walk. One side of his body was twisted, both his leg, foot and hand.

A friend of mine from England contacted me in 2003 when I was living in Uganda and asked if I knew of any child he could sponsor. I immediately thought of this boy. The sponsorship started and it made a big difference to the boy and his mum who is a widower. In 2006 my friend, became more and more interested in the life of the boy he sponsored and decided to give up his job in London and move to the village where his sponsored child lives. This village has no running water and no electricity. My friend decided to live there for 3 months and work at a local school as a volunter teacher. But his main aim was to take his sponsored child to physical therapy and help his family to help him with the physical therapy exercises. Every day he went and did the exercises with the boy. Then when the family were confident he went less frequently and they did the exercises with him. My friend still lives in Uganda but no longer in the village. I spoke to him on Saturday and he told me that the child he sponsors can walk. For 5 years he has not been able to walk and now he can. He still has a long way to go but this is just amazing.

All day I have been feeling like I am walking on air. How great that people come together and each does their part to make things better for those who cannot do it alone. Witnessing the reality of changed lives furthers my determination to stand with those children who need so much more than they currently have.

The Little House that i.HUG Built

I love the feeling of movement. Of energy. Of momentum forward.

And right now, that's what we got.

Thankfully, Jane decided to forgo her second masters (she's smart enough, really), and become our first full-time i.Hugger. She's just been back from India a few days, and already, she's pushing everything along. In the works: mini-fundraisers to schools in England where Pastor Paddy spoke about the problems in Uganda; a pamphlet; a curriculum for the new school; not to mention this nifty graphic--we get to fill in the boxes when we raise money.

We decided this was the absolute base amount we can open the school with. It includes things like 6 months rent (what we have to put down) and two months teachers' salary. To me, it seems like way too little. But when Jane tells me about the cost of things in Uganda, I begin to see that she's right.

Small steps along the journey

Back from Florida, and my grandfather's funeral, just a few days ago. Man, did that wipe me out. I think I could deal with my own emotions, it just breaks my heart to see my mom and my grandmother suffer through the pain of their immense loss.

I started to think about the idea of picking up the pieces. After all, it's one thing when your grandfather dies. It's another thing when a country's young babies are going hungry, going sick, again and again. When I was in Uganda, I saw a small coffin for a child. And it is that sight, and the thought, that really make me want to push forward i.HUG as a group, and our mission to kind of save these kids.

I know that sounds strong. And, certainly, there's no full-proof plan: a child Jane sponsor's ran away, again. But it's amazing how just looking after a child on the fringe can do so much.

That's a long way of saying I sent in the draft of the 501c3 for the lawyers to review. One step closer.