Hi Everyone,

Time flies and it is hard to believe that I haven’t written since May.

June 16th was the Day of the African Child and we had a wonderful night of comedy at the Ottawa Little Theatre featuring three comics with Arthur Simeon a very funny comedian from Kampala, Uganda,  as our headliner.  The evening included a silent auction, a beautiful glass art display, tea tasting and a live auction with the incomparable Dave Smith as auctioneer.  It was our first major event and even with the inevitable growing pains, the evening was a great success.

Wonderful things are happening for Pearl Children in Uganda.  Our huge shipment of ARVs was distributed by our local agent Bernard Kibirige of SAPH Uganda.  We had live coverage by NTV Uganda just days after they covered a protest of HIV/AIDs patients not getting the medication that they need. You can view both NTV videos on our Facebook page and they will soon be available on the website.

I’ve seen many ads on tv, etc. asking people to give money to the sufferers of famine in the horn of Africa. This is a wonderful act of charity yet… it is only a temporary solution. CFPC gives the gift of hope, not desperation. We encourage our donors to support sustainability not dependence. All of our projects support this goal- keeping the children healthy with necessary medication. Our HIV children can live healthy productive lives with regular doses of ARVs, mosquito nets protect against deadly malaria, and clean water keeps away parasites that cause disease.  These initiatives and others, like the Afripads for girls afford the ability for our Pearl Children to stay in school and get an education. We are asking for donations for Afripads again as the new term will start next month and the girls will need them so as not to miss classes. They are $6 per kit and last for a year.  As long as they can stay in school they have the chance of a brighter future and will eventually have the resources to come back and help the Centre that took care of them grow even more.

Other initiatives include our farming projects. The cow, Daisy, generously donated by Par-Med Inc. recently gave birth to a healthy bull. The caretakers are very excited and expect to breed her again in the near future. Canada, the cow donated by JeuneEve Esthetics, is also pregnant and expected to give birth shortly. We hope that this is the start of a successful farming project. See our website to donate goats, cows, or chicks.

Our Par-Med poultry farm is also becoming a big success as the phase two chicks continue to grow. The first phase is already providing fresh healthy eggs that are both nourishing for the children and providing another commodity to sell at market.

Uganda is being affected by the food shortage as the shilling drops and food prices rise. The children have planted some of their staple foods on the school grounds in addition to what Bossa has planted on the land we purchased two years ago for this purpose.  Until harvest, we will need to help them with food, but they are definitely on the way to sustaining themselves. Although this project will take some time, we are seeing successful results already.  At harvest, they will have pineapples to sell at market. Pineapple grows well in the soil in Jinja and there aren’t many pineapple farmers. They also have maize growing which is a main source of food for the children.  Our website is currently undergoing changes, however, on our donations page we have a section for donors to contribute to the food program. Please take a look when you have a chance. Our money goes a long way in Uganda. Even small donations will ensure that a number of children are fed.

We are looking for three or four corporate sponsors to purchase land for the children in order that we can eventually build them a permanent home. We are getting the land at an incredible price since we will be building a dispensary (clinic) for the village. The land will cost us $15,000 CAD. Once the land is purchased, they will immediately start building with local material until such a time that we can raise money for permanent sustainable structures.

I’d like to welcome all our new volunteers on board. Your presence is helping to create positive changes in the charity and in the children’s lives. I encourage anyone who would like to make a difference to join our team.

We will soon have beautiful donation cans available for your stores or offices. Please let me know how many you would like and we would be happy to drop them off. Remember every penny counts!

We are starting an innovative new project with another Canadian charity. RunForLife is a charity that connects schools in Canada with schools in Africa, through the use of Blackberrys.  Blackberrys will be sent next week to both our Pearl Children Primary school and Hadassah primary school enabling them each to link to a school in Ottawa. Through this project, children in Ottawa will receive pictures and blogs and learn about the lives of the children in school in Uganda. In return, the children in Uganda will learn about the school children’s lives in Canada. We hope this program will lead to support from these Ottawa schools, creating a successful partnership and encouraging the children in Uganda to endure in difficult times, stay in school and have a chance for brighter future.

If you are on Facebook, please join our Facebook page- Canadian Friends of Pearl Children. You can also find us on Twitter, You-tube and LinkedIn. Please see our website for more information.

Warm Regards,

Dvora
Dvora Rotenberg
Executive Director
Canadian Friends of Pearl Children