July 2022 Newsletter
Hello Nyayo Family!
It has now been a year and 1 month since we first began funding our first two sustainability projects, the cattle herd and piggery. To date, we have a cattle herd of 1 bull and 9 heifers and a piggery of 16 pigs! We cannot believe the growth of both projects! We have also finally confirmed a booked 11 tickets to Uganda in October to spend a week with our kids at Ibonde and Jinja Children’s Home. To say we are excited to see these people and projects is an understatement. Before we get into those updates, we want to introduce you to our child of the month!
Greetings From Uganda!
This month we would like to introduce you to Hunter (bottom left)! This little boy doesn’t actually live at Ibonde or Jinja Children’s Home. This little boy lives in one of the mountain villages near Ibonde and is in the area that some of the orphans come from. Gordon and his family will check in on families in these villages from time to time because the kids can be in pretty poor conditions. For instance, when Gordon came across this boy he didn’t have any pants or underwear. They help where they can.
Hunter (bottom left)
July Giving Report
Donors gave $3,882.52 towards Basic Needs this month! In addition to this, we had several donations towards the heifer, mosquito net, chicken coup, and mission trip campaigns. We were able to allocate money for 5 new heifers, 2 new mosquito nets, and a down deposit on 11 airline tickets for our mission trip to Uganda in October! You’ll also notice that we also have hired a CPA to help us with our taxes (what a God send). A summary of funds raised and allocated in the month of July can be seen in the graph below. Please click Monthly Financial Report for a full detailed breakdown.
A special thanks to our regulars and one time givers for July’s allocation:
Cindy Dorsainvil, Arman and Leslie Jahandarfard, Curran Hyde, Angi Keel, Josh Cornett, Brandon and Mahalie Todd, Jacob and Amanda Patterson, Joyce McConnell, Alex and Michelle Moore, Taylor Sutton, Sebastian and Eun Joo Tarchala, Ryan and Sydney McKenna, David Phillips, Cayce McAlister, Sierra and Sam Smith, Taylor Handley, Christan Yarbrough, Lydia Foutch, Stacey and Early Sutton, Lauren Russo, and Armin Jahandarfard.
And a big thank you to KODA Technologies on their generous donation! The cattle are big ticket items so we really appreciate their support in specifically helping towards that campaign.
Thank you all, we truly would not be close to meeting the needs without your help!
What’s New?
Five new heifers purchased with funding from KODA Technologies!
The new heifers joining the rest of the herd!
If you recall, in June we applied for and were approved for $6,600 from KODA Technologies to purchase 5 new heifers. This month, Gordon was able to purchase the new additions to the herd. It is quite amazing to think that a year ago, we had just purchased our first bull and 2 heifers. We now have a herd of 10 cows! Below are pictures of Gordon, Sam (a volunteer caregiver at Ibonde Children’s Home), and some of the kids of Ibonde Children’s Home welcoming and tending to the new cattle.
The one picture above (first column, last row) and the video below show one of the kids spraying the herd with medicine to prevent parasites. This occurs every 2 weeks. They also give the cattle cow salt and other medicine to de-worm them. We are so grateful that they put so much care into your investments and the health of these animals. We did not ask them to do this, this is simply something they knew to do. This is further reason why we believe it’s important to include the caregivers in the decisions on what sustainable projects to fund, as they have experience in the projects they suggest.
7 new piglets also purchased!
Seven new piglets were also purchased in July and added to the piggery (six pictured). Since June 2021, we have purchased 16 piglets!
Planning for a mission trip to Uganda is underway!
We are officially booked to take a mission trip to visit the kids at Ibonde and Jinja Children’s Homes in October! We will be departing America on 22 October and returning on 1 November. Michael and Hunter will be leading 9 other people to meet up with Gordon and his family to put on a week long Vacation Bible School / Camp for the kids. Almost all of those going either are regular donors and/or join us in our weekly bible studies. Hunter and I are excited to reconnect with Gordon and the others but we are even more excited for those who have only heard us talk about these people. We will continue to update you here on progress and ask your prayers for God’s guidance as we continue to plan the trip.
Bible Study
Weekly Zoom Studies
Please reach out if you’re interested in joining our bible studies via zoom every Monday at 7pm CT! We welcome anyone who wants to learn more about Jesus, even if you just wish to keep your camera off and only listen in on our discussions! We like to keep it light and informal as we have casual conversations about the various chapters we read throughout the Bible! Currently we are studying the book of Psalms.
Peace and blessings,
Michael, Gordon, and Hunter
