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.
This week we celebrated one of our graduates, enjoyed our community, and had some fun!
Don’t forget to scroll all the way to the bottom to see our photo of the week!
Save the Date: Evenings of Hope 2019
Save the date for an evening of hope near you!
- Friday, September 27 in Kelowna, BC
- Saturday, October 5 in Ladner, BC
- Friday, October 11 in Ottawa, Ont
- Saturday, October 19 in Newmarket, Ont
- Friday, October 25 in Vancouver, BC
- Saturday, October 26 in Langley, BC
- Friday, November 1 in Comox, BC
And more dates to come!
Bulale (Tanzania): Outdoor Play!
At VOH Bulale our children love break time when they get to play outside! We know it’s important for children to have a break from studies so they get time outside in the fresh air and time to exercise and play!
All of the kids love playing on the playground and playing various outdoor games. Our teachers are always close by to make sure that everyone stays safe while having fun.
We know our kids will learn better and perform better in class if they have time to play outdoors, which is why it’s an important part of the scheduled daily activities at the site.
Bwiza (Burundi): Cross Church Team
At VOH Bwiza we are excited to welcome a Canadian team from Cross Church, Winnipeg. They have been working hard this past week with our children’s leaders, equipping them to know how to best deal with children of different ages.
The team is teaching us how each age group has its own unique needs and interests and we need to know our children and their minds in order to help them effectively.
It is very important to make our lessons interesting, to repeat the important parts of what we are teaching them, and, at times, to transform parts of the lessons into songs so that they are fun to hear and easy to remember!
Chongwe (Zambia): Member of Parliament Visits
This week at VOH Chongwe, Honorable Mwakalombe, a member of our local parliament, visited VOH Chongwe!
During his tour of the site, he was impressed with how the children and the facility are looked after. He encouraged the management and staff to continue their good work and encouraged the children to work extra hard!
He also pledged to continue offering support to the Village in any way possible. One way he showed support during his visit was by donating 30 blankets!
Kitwe (Zambia): Biblical Skits
This week at VOH Kitwe some of our children put on performances based on the Bible. During our chapel services, students from different grades have the opportunity to minister in songs, scripture reading, and skits.
This week our grade 10s did a skit on how they can encourage each other and pray for each other in times of trouble and sickness.
Our staff were happy to see how the children are taking part in our chapel services!
Malawi: Sports Club!
This week at VOH Malawi the kids have been having an exciting time in Sports Club!
They’ve been learning how to work together doing relay races. Relay races are great for children as they teach them teamwork. In a relay race, each child has a role and each role is equally important in the successful completion of the race. Friendship strengthens as they cheer each other on and encourage one another to perform their best for the benefit of the team.
The children had to race with various obstacles like holding balloons between their hands or legs, carrying one of their team members, or balancing a bottle cap on the end of a plastic utensil!
Maramvya (Burundi): Visiting Gyovin’s Family
While the children are on school break in Burundi, here at VOH Maramvya we take this opportunity to visit our students in their family homes to see their lives and care outside of VOH.
Among our visits was Gyovin. He is six years old and lives with his mother and his older brother. When we arrived at their home, his mother was doing construction in the neighbourhood. She told us that she does this kind of work and gardening so she can earn enough to feed her two children and pay the rent.
We were so pleased to see that Gyovin is happy at home and is being cared for. While we visited, he was busy playing with cars he had made of cardboard. He is thankful for his mother and he wants to become a businessman when he grows up so that he can help her provide for their family!
Mongu (Zambia): Health Week
This week at VOH Mongu is school health week. During the week we weigh and measure the children, distribute deworming medications, check eyes and ears, and check the general health of every one of our students.
We were so encouraged to see the number of cases of undernourished and malnourished decreasing amongst our children and to see that our feeding program is having a real impact on the health of our students!
Not only are we doing school health this week, but we are also taking updated pictures of all of our students! We love taking updated pictures so we can see how much they are growing up every year!
Mwanza (Tanzania): Back to School
With school vacation over for the term, our VOH Mwanza teachers and students headed back to the class a couple of weeks ago. Everyone has returned excited for the new school term and all that it will hold.
The teachers are working together to create strategic plans on how they can best teach our children and help them be successful in their studies.
The children are enjoying their studies and all of their school activities. We are thankful they are happy and healthy!
Zimbabwe: Tapiwa Graduates!
At VOH Zimbabwe we are celebrating the graduation of one of our students from University! Tapiwa graduated from Midlands State University with a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Psychology.
Tapiwa’s success is exciting as it speaks to our vision of giving every child an opportunity to have hope for their future.
We held a celebration for Tapiwa with singing and dancing. Tapiwa shared how grateful he is for the assistance he’s received from VOH. He is one of the many testimonies we see of the goodness of the Lord and kindness expressed by our sponsors and friends who are dedicated to making sure all VOH children have a future.
Tapiwa is also an encouragement to our other young people. His story shows them that when one does not give up, victory is certain. We celebrate with him!