We want to welcome Khusbu Pariyar, from Dhulikhel, Nepal. Khusbu is 11 years old and in 4th grade. She comes from a challenging family situation, and we are hoping that she will thrive in school with a little help and a little extra tutoring. Please read more about her on her page. We are excited to have Khusbu as part of the family!

Here are some other bits and pieces of news that we have received lately.

• We heard from Ashley in Nicaragua, and all the girls there are doing well. Michel is still on track to graduate this year, and Christa is still planning to go visit for the graduation.
• Excellent news from Nicaragua: Fatima is still studying, on her own! If you recall, she left school last year to find a job in Managua, but that didn’t work out, so she came back and tried to re-enter school, but they told her she would have to repeat her fourth year of high school. We told her that if she did that on her own, we would support her through her last year of high school and pay for her graduation costs. So we are delighted to know that she is still in school!
• Also from Nicaragua, Teresa had a little boy named Mateo by C-section in May. Despite that, SHE is still studying in school as well! We are very proud of her for continuing on with school even though she has a baby. Although we would have preferred she not get pregnant before she finished school, we are so glad she’s continuing on, and we will look for ways to help her as she continues.
• Achecaina and Bencille have finished the school year and are in summer break. Bencille is still struggling a little, but she is still doing well enough to pass to the next grade. Achecaina is doing very well! We will post their letters when we receive them.
• We received some wonderful photos from Linda Maria in Honduras. Please check out her page to see them. She has graduated from first grade and will be entering second grade in August. We can’t believe how fast the time is going!
• We received some sad news that Maria in Guatemala has decided not to continue this year. We don’t know what happened, but her sister says that she is having some personal problems and has every intention of returning to school, but can’t study now. So we are going to keep her on our site, in the hopes that she wants to return next year and that we can help her again. She is a very special woman, and we want to be able to help her as much as possible.
• We also received a wonderful video from Anna in Guatemala, as a very adorable Valentina is interviewed by her teacher. Valentina is apparently doing really well in school. Anna says she’s a “perfeccionista.” Please check out her page to see the video.
• Finally, from Tanzania, we have some wonderful news. Jeni A and Jeni J are both doing incredibly well. Jeni A’s scores on her midterm exams would place her in Division 1, and those of Jeni J would place her in Division 2! As you might guess, these are the two highest divisions, and we couldn’t be prouder. And we are especially proud of Jeni J, who suffered from the school she was in prior to this, and even had to repeat a grade because the teachers really didn’t know how to teach and help. She is obviously in a much better situation now, and she is shining!