Giving Tuesday 2020 - A Wish for this Child-Headed Household

 

 

This "Child-Headed Household" in Uganda is held together by two teenage sisters looking after their younger siblings. Their mother is deceased and their father abandoned them. Well, those smiles are there because of your help, and this precious family is now the focus of our #GivingTuesday mission!

 

Maria and Olivia - 15-year-old twins - have been raising their five younger siblings on their own since February. The younger children are Fiona - 13, Charlotte - 9, Stella - 7, George - 5 and baby Leo - 11 months. Since they've been living alone, all of the children dropped out of school, one was trafficked (she's just been located and reunited with her siblings), and the seven and five year old have been threatened with kidnapping. The youngest was placed in an orphanage three months ago, after being treated for severe malnutrition, and the orphanage has agreed to resettle baby Leo, back with his family in two months! Because of our donors recent support, our partner organization has reunited Fiona (the sister who was trafficked) with her siblings, hired a live-in caregiver to keep the kids together, provided new bedding, clothing, food, and essentials, and installed steel doors and windows to keep the children temporarily safe.

After a full evaluation, it's been determined that their house is - tragically - not repairable. Not only that, but we'll need to provide for a plot of land for them to build upon. Because of the outpouring of support from our initial plea for this family, along with support through our Facebook Holiday shop, we've already raised $4,000 for this project, which means that we only need to raise $6,500 to make this happen!

 

Will you join us in giving these children new HOPE on Giving Tuesday? Your involvement is critical to our success in funding this new house for these children. Thank you!

 

Cost breakdown: House: $4,998, Kitchen: $405, Latrine: $473, Tippy Tap: $27, Rain Water Harvesting: $540, Solar Power: $270, Plot of land: $4,000

DONATE HERE

 

Stories of YES #58 - Our Plan "A"

 

In our twelve years of marriage (pre-Millie), we were asked often, “When are you going to have kids?” When I was younger, I remember saying, “If we have kids, we would like to adopt” but I was conditioned that this statement would be met with negativity and judgment. So, we learned to keep our dream private. By the time we were ready to grow our family, we had an immense amount of anxiety over making our announcement. And we received a widerange of reactions. While some were very excited for us, we also received a lot of uninvited questions...

“Why would you want to do that?”
“Can you not have your own kids?”
“You think you can handle a kid with special needs?”

Anyone who has adopted knows what I’m talking about. These responses seem to be very common. With every similar comment, I felt I was hearing a child - my child - wasn’t worthy. When you say “YES” to having a child, you open the floodgate to an endless amount of worry and outcomes, whether you are adopting or having biological children. We wanted to have a child and a child needed a family, it seemed simple to us. We had love and a home to give, so we did just that. We, in no way, felt attached to the idea of having biological kids, so why would we try? There should be no shame in that.
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As far as having a child with special needs, we felt that it would just be a different path in parenting - one we felt we needed to take. There seems to be these stigmas attached to adoption that I wish we could squash. In adoption - and in life - I feel it’s only necessary to listen to your heart and your partner. Those are the only true things that matter. There is no wrong path in choosing to adopt - every child deserves a family.
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I guess I’m hopeful that by being so open and honest, someone may read this and know that adoption doesn’t need to be their "Plan B". And others may be more aware of their own reaction when hearing the news of a friend that is pursuing adoption. It’s a decision that no one takes lightly. The adoption process involves much soul searching, discussion, and a tremendous effort goes into this journey. Only encouraging things should be said about that.
- Christine Deason