THE GIRLS AT HOME

As we have been visiting our beneficiary families, we thought we should bring you some images of what our children do when they are at home. Its holiday time now and the children get to assist at home with a number of chores. We encourage the care givers to allow the children time to rest and play, but its also an opportunity for more parent-child contact. Through that the child learns several life skills which prepare them for adult life.
The boys normally help in fetching water(most families dont have running water at home and have to fetch from a common source some metres or a kilometre from home), grazing the animals esp goats and cows if any and fetching firewood for cooking.
The girls normally assist with taking care of younger children at home, preparing and cooking food and some light chores around the house.
Below is DEBORAH MANIRIHO peeling potatoes for dinner at her home. She is a hard working girl and the mother has only praises for her...

MIRIAMS HOUSE

Greetings from all of us here at FALCCO!

We are in mid term here and our children are reading hard. They have recently written to their sponsors and we hope your letters should soon be at your door.

In this time, we have set ourselves to intervene in a housing emergency of one of our families.
Our girl MIRIAM CYIMPAYE stays with her grandmother (pictured here) in a house that has been there since the eighties. The house has grown old and has started to bend over, threatening to fall down.
The old lady told us the roof leaks whenever it rains.
FALCCO doesn't build houses for our beneficiaries, but we consider this an emergency situation that recquires urgent attention. We are trying to talk to friends locally for contributions towards the construction of a new house for Miriam and the old lady.They have told us the house would cost about $2000.

Anyone interested in making a contribution will be highly appreciated. Please send us a mail at falccokisoro@hotmail.com and we will guide you on how to proceed.
Thanks.

Field fellowship

Had a good time interacting with our children after a hectic first term. They are now in holidays and we caught up with them in their community to discuss their term and know how its going at the school. Each child shared their story of how the term went and we discovered that there is transformation taking place not just in their academics but also in their behaviour. Some are now better able to state their ambitions for the future. There was a general improvement though some need to improve in some subjects.
Generally, they reported that the teachers are good and they care for each of them individually. We will follow up on the areas that need improvement with their parents/guardians and the school.

Testimony Time

We are doing a series of home visitations with some of our new volunteers. In these visits, we have tried to interview the families about the impact that FALCCO has had on their lives so far.
We first headed to the home of RICHARD MANIRINDE and spoke to his mother.

She gave us a picture of how she and her son Richard, together with the whole family have benefited from the program. Here is a translation of her testimony:

" I thank God who brought this program to us! I had lived a desperate life trying to sustain my children single handedly. Though my husband is working in the city, he doesnt send us any support. However, i have been greatly encouraged by the parental care and advice i have got through FALCCO since 2009.
My son Richard had almost dropped out of school because of very poor study conditions. He would go early on an empty stomach and sometimes return home for lunch and find no food. This had demoralised him and his perfomance had dropped considerably.
However, through the support of FALCCO to him, he regained interest because of the assurance of school fees. His perfomance has also greatly improved. He now takes lunch at school and is able to concentrate.

His behaviour has also changed positively. He is now focussed and the advice he gets from the project staff is guiding him towards a more disciplined life.
Furthermore, i was in the first group that got a goat through this project. It has boosted my income since then because it produced and i have more goats now. I also sold off one and added the money into my small business which is helping me to take care of my family.
Thanks a lot our sponsors"

CLASS TIME

It was great hosting our Swedish coordinators, Linn Hultin and Linnea Larsson, for 5 days. We visited some families, our office and the school where our children study. The school is a private school in the village where most of the children live. It targets low income earners and offers a package of improved educational services while keeping it affordable for the poor families that cant afford the more affluent private schools in town.

When we first met our children, they were studying in government schools whose standard is very low. They offer no lunch at school and most of the children would study on an empty stomach as their families could not afford a daily lunch for them. Additionally, it was exhausting for them to walk the long distance home for lunch and come back to school for the afternoon classes. Most of them also did not have school uniforms. However, as a result of this sponsorship programme, they now are getting a better quality education, they all have school uniforms and get lunch and break porridge at school. This has greatly increased their morale to study.

This term, as we continue to invest in the holistic development of the children that are presently in the programme, we have started on an expansion programme to enable us reach more OVC households and increase our impact in the community. Our work is now acknowledged by the local leaders who have appreciated the transformation in the children's lives.

We continue to greatly appreciate our sponsors and partners that have enabled us to reach this far. We believe that alone we can do something but together we can do great things.
We are now seeking sponsors for the new children that are being registered in the programme. Their photos and profiles will be posted here in a few days. With $30 per month you can sponsor a child and give them a better education to secure a better future. The package also includes empowering the household with an income generating project; health improvement, and spiritual/social development programmes for the children.

Here are some class time images from our visit at the school.

TOWARDS SELF-SUSTAINABILITY.

As we have mentioned before, we don't focus only on the individual child in our child development strategy. We do our best to encourage, and not diminish, the role of the parents/guardians in the holistic development of their children. We believe that the ability of the parent/guardian to provide care, guidance and protection to the child is key to the success of our efforts and the sustainability of our achievements in the child's life. Hence, boosting that ability is an integral part of our child development model.
This month, one of the families we have focused on is that of our boy GODSON NSABIMANA. His mother, pictured below, has recently undergone an operation which has left her weak and unable to carry on the strenuous work that she does to take care of her five children. She can no longer dig to earn income until she fully recovers. Hence, we thought it necessary to support her to do a simple home business which does not recquire much physical effort. After discussing with her, we settled for what is pictured below. She sits at the small market near her home and sells foodstuff. Sometimes she gets someone to sell for her. This is just the beginning. We hope, as she gets stronger, to help her strengthen and enlarge the business.
This will benefit not only the registered child but the whole family hence an improved domestic environment for the child to grow and develop.
We continue to pray and plan for bigger income generating enterprises but we just have to start somewhere.....

A NEW START FOR A NEW HOPE

Welcome to yet another season of study and labor here at Falcco. The children are back to school for the 1st term of the academic year.

We are glad to report that last year was a landmark year because one of our teenagers, Munezero Jackyline, completed her two year tailoring course and is now in the process of getting self-employed. We met her as a school drop out without any hope of a better life. Now her transformation is undeniable. She is happy, more outgoing, and is making meaning of her life with the skills and exposure she has acquired. More of her story will be coming up soon.

Below pictured is another transformation story in the making. Geoffrey Nizeyimana started school quite late and somehow failed to fit in with the much younger class mates in primary school. This led to low morale and a general loss of interest in studying. However, after much patience and counselling, together with consultations with his mother and family, we discovered that he was interested in acquiring vocational skills. We have now put him in a vocational training institution and we are amazed at the change of attitude towards studying. His attendance is regular unlike in the past. He is studying carpentry, which was the course of his choice. In the pic, he is captured doing some practicals.
Many thanks to his new found sponsor and to all that are sacrificing your resources to create these transformation stories.