Bearing Fruit

Back in July, I received this message from the FOVC Ethiopia Director

Hello Tamara, We are distributing cows and sheep to the beneficiary widows tomorrow. Thanks for the great effort you and Ryan have done for the widows and their family in Shanto and its area. You will have more details through the CHC I think after tomorrow. Tomorrow is a great celebration for our children, widows and community as it is the end of the school day besides to the distribution of the animals. Thanks again!!!

The day after the distribution of livestock, I received this official report from Children's Hope Chest:

Shanto distribution was completed on Saturday July 6, 2013. There was a great ceremony in the presence of  local Government officials, Woreda and Zonal, heads of Bureau of Education, Finance and Economic Development, Children and Women’s Affairs, and the Agricultural Bureau.

Thirty-five cows and 35 sheep were distributed to 35 widows in the community (connected to the CarePoint).  The screening was originally done for 31 widows out of the total 35 according to the proposed plan. However, the type of cow to be distributed was changed to local cows within the region. The purchasing price for each cow and sheep was lower compared to the original budget. Therefore the IGA committee at Shanto increased the number of participants to 35, this was according to their objective to include all of the widows connected to the care point in the IGA program. With this conclusion participants received one cow and one sheep. During the handover ceremony all participants were given support, and made known of planned follow up and support in every direction for their future. The widows were praising God, blessing and giving thanks to the donor community, singing with shed tears. The attached pictures show the sample for the distribution of both cows and sheep. The animals were given by Government representatives. During the ceremony and distribution, an introduction about how the selection was done, the back ground of the widows and their families, and the objective of the IGA program was relayed to the audience. Oh, thank you Lord for YOUR timing and for allowing us to see this project to fruition. Thank you dear friends for helping to make this program a reality.  This is changing people's lives!  Thank you for your grace, patience, and understanding during this lengthy process as we transitioned to Children's Hope Chest.