Welcome to our weekly news roundup! Here we share stories from each of our Villages about our Programs, celebrations, children, and staff. If you’d like to receive these updates via email, please subscribe to our newsletter.
Missionsfest Manitoba is this weekend!
Stop by our booth at Missionsfest Manitoba this weekend (Friday, Feb 2 – Sunday, Feb 4). Find out more at missionfestmanitoba.org. And thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at Missionsfest Vancouver last weekend!
Zimbabwe: Teaching Innovation through Jewelry Design
At VOH Zimbabwe we equip the children with skills that they can use when they are adults so they will be able to make a living for themselves and their families. The children pictured are making jewelry from rough stones that are around the Village. It’s an ongoing project that we are happy to say started small but is building momentum!
Burundi: Solar Power!
VOH Burundi was blessed last week with a Canadian team from Winnipeg who helped our volunteers and staff in the area of technology. We deal with power outages, which can get in the way of doing our work. The team helped us install a solar power system and showed us how to maintain it so we will still have access to electricity even during power outages. We appreciate all they offered while they were here!
Chongwe: Our Chickens are Thriving!
At VOH Chongwe we continue to use the mobile chicken coops, which we constructed in 2016. We started with only two chickens and now we have so many we are selling some to our staff! The manure when collected is used to improve the soil in our vegetable gardens. We are thankful to our Children and Staff for keeping this great initiative possible by working tirelessly in our garden and chicken projects.
Mongu: New Books!
The VOH Mongu children’s homes were so excited to receive a bundle of new books from Karen Mackie, one of our amazing supporters in South Africa. The young children were so excited to look at the bright, colourful pictures in the encyclopedia and their older siblings had so much fun sounding out the words to them. We love seeing the children grow in their reading skills and be exposed to new stories, cultures, and people in these books!
Mwanza: Welcoming New Children
At VOH Mwanza we have started the year off well and we are happy to welcome over 20 vulnerable children from the surrounding community into our education and feeding program. Most of these children will start in our preschool program and then move ahead into Primary school. They come from poor families in the nearby community who struggle to make ends meet and to send their children to school. Many come from single parent homes or live with extended family members like aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
We pray that through receiving a quality education and healthy meals each day we will bring hope to these children and open them to hearing about God’s love for them!
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