Food for Mamma Josephine's orphans and milk for the babies!

My favourite part of running the 'Congo Orphans Trust' project is when I receive an email from one of my colleagues in the Congo who has taken all of your generous donations and done something wonderful with it like buy food for orphans or milk for hungry babies.

Check out these photos of food being delivered to Mamma Josephine's orphans, the receipts which I get sent so I can keep track of spending and a wonderful homemade thank you sign.

The children have been given rice, beans, potatoes, sugar, cassava, soja, oil, and firewood to cook on.

One of the twins is still in hospital but this little one can enjoy a nice bottle of formula.

Milk time!

Receipts showing what they spent the $300 on.

Although it says THANK YOU HANNAH, it should really say THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU!!

We still have $1,200 remaining which is going to be used to fund a soap making project at the orphanage that the older children can get involved in so they can begin to support themselves by making and selling soap in the local town and using the profits to buy food for the orphans. More information and photos of that project to follow.

Hannah x

Over £1,000 raised to help children at Mamma Josephine's orphanage

Donations have been flooding in all week following the news that Mamma Josephine had suddenly passed away leaving 35 orphans without anyone to take care of them or buy them food. It has been such a sad week but I'm so pleased to announce that thanks to all your generous donations we have managed to raise just over £1,000 to buy food for the children and to fund a soap making project that the older children at the orphanage can get involved in, with supervision from Philippe and Maajabu who work for an NGO in Butembo and Jean Claude who is a local chemist.

Projects like this are of great worth in the Congo as it is important for orphanages to find ways to support themselves rather than replying exclusively on foreign donations to buy food for the children. Also, many of these children will struggle to get jobs once they are old enough to leave the orphanage so work experience from being involved in projects like this will be a real advantage for them.

Once the project is up and running I'll post some photos but in the meantime I'm going to send them some money to buy food for the little ones and milk for the babies just while they get through this very difficult time.

Thanks again for all your support and incredibly generous donations. None of this would be possible without your help!

Hannah x

Mamma Josephine sadly passes away...

Almost a year ago today while I was visiting orphanages in the Congo I was fortunate enough to meet an incredibly brave, strong woman called Mamma Josephine who, despite having almost no money, had taken 50 orphans into her home to look after them and feed them and send them to school.

Such was her devotion to the needs of orphans that recently, upon hearing that 2 babies (4 month old twins) had been found in a field next to the body of their mother who had been killed by rebels, Mamma Josephine took these babies into her home and promised to care for them along with all her other orphans until they were old enough to take care of themselves.

Sadly, Mamma Jospehine passed away suddenly last week and now these 50 children, including the 2 babies, are orphans once more and have no one to take care of them. We are raising money to buy food for them while they try to find someone else to take care of them or find new homes for the babies and the youngest children. We will also help to cover costs of medicine for those that are sick.

Here is a photo of Mamma Josephine with some of her children last year. The men in the photos are with local NGOs who help us to support not just this orphanage but many others across the Congo.

Here is a photo of myself, Mamma Noella, Roda and Mamma Josephine at a clinic for disabled clinic in Butembo last year. Mamma Josephine was a quiet lady who rarely smiled but I remember her face when we delivered food, school supplies and mattresses to her and her children and she lit up like the sun!

Goodbye Mamma Josephine. You will be missed. May you rest in peace safe in the knowledge that we are watching over your children.

xxx

Food for Mamma Noella's orphans - best baby shower gift ever?!

For the last few weeks Mamma Noella and baby Roda have been very sick so they haven't been living at the orphanage and the children haven't had anyone to look after them or bring them food. We decided to ask people to donate money instead of gifts for my sister's baby shower and thanks to some of her generous friends, we were able to buy food to feed some hungry tummies at Mamma Noella's orphanage in Beni. Mamma Noella and Roda are still sick but getting better which is great news!

Thanks everyone!

Mamma Noella’s orphans go to school!

Hi all,

I'm sorry for the lack of updates over the last month but taking on a new full time job has meant that I have very little spare time to update the blog. That doesn't mean that we haven’t been busy helping orphans in the Congo though, in fact, we have been incredibly busy buying school supplies for Mamma Noella's orphans, paying their school fees and enrolling them in primary and secondary school.

Thanks to my friend Kakule on the ground and our wonderful driver Roger, all of the children at Mamma Noella’s orphanage who are old enough to go to school are now enrolled and attending school thanks to all the generous donations through the sponsorship program.

Here are some photos of the children receiving their school supplies…

Photo of school fees being paid...

And here are some photos of the children in school…

Meanwhile, back at Mamma Noella’s orphanage Roda is looking healthier than ever and although she cannot walk unaided yet, she is getting stronger every day thanks to her continued treatment and regular visits to the clinic in Butembo.

Of course, none of this would be possible without your generous donations and continued support so thank you all so much!

Hannah x

Mamma Noella gets a sewing machine!

Thanks to all the support and generous donations to Congo Orphans Trust we have managed to be able to buy Mamma Noella a sewing machine so she can make clothes to sell and generate money to buy food for the orphans that she looks after.

Here is a photo of Mamma Noella checking out her new sewing machine!

Her first task is to make school uniforms for all the children from the blue and white material that we also bought her. She doesn't have long as the children go back to school soon!

If you would like to make a donation to Congo Orphans Trust so we can continue to help orphanages in the Congo to support themselves by starting projects like this then visit our website at www.congoorphanstrust.org.

Thanks!

A new organisation and a new website!

Following my trip to Congo earlier this year, I have spent the last few months creating a non-profit organisation called 'Congo Orphans Trust'. This organisation will continue to raise awareness of the situation for orphans in the Congo as well as provide more information about the projects we are working on and how people can get involved and help us.

Today I am very pleased to announce that the website for the organisation has finally been launched!

www.congoorphanstrust.org

Please visit our new website to find out more about the organisation, the situation in the Congo, where and how we are helping orphans and how you can donate supplies or sponsor an orphan online.

Over the next few weeks I'll be posting more information about upcoming fundraising events that you can get involved in or donate money to and as always, will be posting regular updates of how we are changing lives for orphans in DRC.

Thanks for all the support!