Happy news from Naume and Rebecca in Uganda. We received their first term report cards and some great photos from our contacts, Robert and Rose. Naume is doing so well in school and is very happy and proud to be able to attend. Her report card shows her ranked 5th out of 24 students! In addition, she wrote letters to every one of the National Honor Society students from Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy. We sent all the letters off to the students, who were delighted to receive them. Connecting all these students has been one of the most wonderful things we do.

Rebecca is not doing quite so well in school, but our contacts tell us that she is very happy to be attending and wants to continue. So we’re very happy about that. We received a couple of wonderful photos of Rebecca with her mom and sister, and it’s nice to see a bit more of her life.

Rebecca’s mother and sister (click to enlarge)

Rebecca is growing up so fast! (click to enlarge)

In addition, Robert and Rose sent us some photos from the end of term sporting event that they held at the school. In Rose’s words: “On the 12th April, we had a wonderful annual sports event in which the girls participated. God blessed us with prefect weather despite this being wet season! A US company (MSH) gave us a donation of shoes for all kids between 3-9, another lady donated quality Nike socks and bags! All these were given to the kids as gifts at the sports event! The kids were very happy, their parents too were very delighted! Parents turned up in droves to cheer their kids and to actually partipate in parent races and 5 of them were judges.”

Grabbing the prize at the end of terms sporting event (click to enlarge)

Barefoot races (click to enlarge)

Everyone proudly showing off their new socks (click to enlarge)

A proud recipient of an award (click to enlarge)

Finally, the best news of all: in February of 2015, Miracle Destiny High School will hold its first classes! They hope to break ground on an 8-acre parcel of land they bought recently to build the school, and their top primary class will be sitting for the national exam this November so they can enter high school next year. This is wonderful news; when Naume and Rebecca are ready to enter high school, there will be one close by, run by the same people who run their current school, and they will be able to continue with their studies. Congratulations to Pastor Robert and his wife Rose, for their hard work and vision to help the children of their city continue with an education!

We also heard from Aarti in India. Aarti sent us a wonderful photo of her and some of her girls, wishing us a Happy Holi Celebration. Holi is an ancient Hindu spring festival also known as the Festival of Colors or the Festival of Love. Everyone paints themselves with bright colors, wears bright clothes and swarms the brightly decorated streets with song and dance, play and music. We think this sounds like an excellent way to celebrate the turning of the season!

Aarti on the right, with her girls all decorated for Holi (click to enlarge)

Aarti also sent us some news about our student Guddi. She says that Guddi is trying and working very hard, but she has gotten caught up in some of the health issues being suffered by her family. Her uncle recently got very sick, and this has affected the whole family, including Guddi. It’s hard to study when you are not feeling well, and even more so when you are caught up in the surrounding dramas in your life. Aarti is optimistic, and we wish Guddi a speedy recovery for both her and her uncle, so that she can continue with her studies unencumbered.