August, 2007
- A hospital has offered medical and dental treatment for the kids. The main director of this hospital came to visit us.
- At the end of August we started construction of the Professional Courses building, in the area behind the school. We will offer these courses to the parents, as an opportunity to leave the drug dealing, the streets, etc.
We have the person who will teach the parents about baking.
- The American School of Campinas donated 5 boxes of new books to us and said they want to do much more.
- The Institute now has a physiologist visiting there twice a week. Her post-graduation thesis will be based on the Institute. The university requires her to be a volunteer.
- The school also has a psychologist for the parents.
- The Labor House (pregnancy care) will also be a small clinic. It´s our next construction project.
- We are registering the Institute with City Councils. This will expand the network of those who are able to help the Institute. One of the Councils is really surprised that we are one of the first institutions that are taking seriously a new federal law that wants institutions to work not only with the kids but the families as well.
- One of the best beauty salons will send 6 of their professionals to the school to provide hair cuts and other treatments. The manager of the saloon volunteered to wash all the hair with a special treatment shampoo. We think this is a great opportunity because they will come to the school every month , and also, they can share with their costumers about the school.
- We received a second free surgery from the best stomach surgeon of Campinas. It seems he has been enjoying working with us.
September, 2007
- Pastor Paulo Freire and 120 children from the Institute participated in the Independence Day Parade on September 7.
- Emerson held the Institute's first choir rehearsal on September 15. The children were very excited.
- Reporters from Campinas TV station EPTV visited the Institute for an hour. They interviewed some of the children and filmed our facility and construction. They thought it was interesting that we are trying to give whole families a new opportunity for life, not only the kids.
- Brazilian families and friends can help the slum's school by participating in a creative fund-raising project. In December of 2007, each of the 120 families that are willing to help can receive this little safe shaped as a Christmas decorated house where there is a space to insert coins. Then, this family or individual can keep the safe for one whole year to put coins or bills inside, according to their possibilities. In December of 2008, we will collect all the safes. This will help the families understand and learn more about commitment to the kids. The verse writen on the front is: Matthew 25: 35a and 36: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink...I needed clothes and you clothed me"
- The institute of the local TV station has donated a computer.
October, 2007
- The University has confirmed it will start providing dental treatment for the kids on October 18 and 19.
- A local company, Eaton, has donated 500 kg of food for the school. We won´t have to buy rice for 2 months, beans for 1 and 1/2 months, sugar for 1 month, a specific kind of wheat for 1 month as well as other things.
- A large supermarket in Campinas, ENXUCTO, has donated 62 litres of ice cream that will be given to the children on October 12 when they celebrate Children's Day The electricity company CPFL donated 240 boxes of milk and small souvenirs for the children.
-
We had a great Children´s Day. The program prepared by Pastor Jair, his wife Fidalma and a group of volunteers was great. They arrived at 8:30 am, made a special breakfast for the kids and then started a Christian program with songs, choreography groups, puppets, and much more. At around noon, the lunch and ice cream were served. It´s great to see the joy on the face of those kids. And another part of the special program took place. At 2:00 pm , they received a little souvenir and went home with a big smile on their faces. There is no way to stop thanking God.
- The Institute appeared on Campinas TV station EPTV at noon on October 13. The newscaster said the Institute is changing the situation for children and families. The video clip can be viewed by clicking here.
-
The College Sao Leopoldo Mandic sent the Graduation Coordinator, Flavia Floro and her student, Camila last Friday afternoon (Oct 19) for our first day of dental treatment. They have such open heart for community service, amazing! The kids behaved well, had fun. Just one kid cried a little, but in the end , she let the dentists check her teeth.
-
The missionary Amy Simmons started teaching English last Saturday (Oct 20). The kids learned simple phrases of introduction and a verse , John 14:06. It was great to see them repeating in English: "Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life" Praise the Lord!
November, 2007
-
God continues to bless us! We received 3 computers from Numero 1 Informatica, a store in Campinas. Also, 2 more computers were received from Pastor Andre Juliano and Fabio. The Kids Department of our church donated 120 bags of souvenirs for our kids, including a colorful book sharing about salvation.
Today, I received 5 big bags of used clothes to be handed out for the families.
- The University in Campinas donated 1000 diapers and 150 toys to the Institute.
- The Department of Education met with us and is considering our request for financial support for
- the adult Professional Courses,
- a program for Teen Pregnancy,
- the Full-time Education Program and
- a Program for teaching reading and writing to the people living in the slum.
- On November 12 eight children from the Institute were taken to the Dentistry College to complete their dental treatments.
- Last week twelve girls from the Institute were excited to give their first presentation at a local church - a choreography of music about the plan of Salvation.
December, 2007
- The BIG supermarket in Campinas invites customers to sponsor 30 children for clothes, shoes and toys this Christmas. The supermarket will sponsor any kids who are not sponsored by customers. All the children will receive their gifts at a party in two weeks.
- December 8 -
Today we had a big rehearsal for our Christmas presentation. We practiced our main songs and choreography with the team of musicians that will be helping us, including Emerson and our Leader of Music, missionary Beth Johnson. After the Christmas reheasal we went to a meeting with the parents at the slum school. We shared a portion of the gospel and some thoughts about our presentations. We also wanted to get a list of names and ages of people that will be with us on December 24th. God blessed our Saturday in a very special way!
For our Christmas meal, we have been receiving some donations. Last Friday, a college donated 167 kgs of food and also the coordinator gave 5 of our students a month of professional courses for free. God is great!!!
- December 14 - The children gave an exciting evening Christmas presentation at the 'Arautos da Paz' Square in Campinas. They sang 2 songs; 5 boys performed a street dance; 12 girls performed a choreography and 2 girls recited little poems. Missionary Beth Johnson was leader for the whole program; Thalita Ubiali for the choir and Sara for the girls choreography and boys street dance.
- December 24 - Many came together to provide a Christmas lunch, a performance in the church, as well as toys and groceries for families of the community. A big thank you to Pastor Paulo, Samuel and the Diacons, the Guimaraes family, Beth Johnson, Thalita, Sara, Andre, Fernando, Fernanda, Bruna, the BIG supermarket and many others who made this a special Christmas for these families.
January, 2008
- January 12 - We had 127 volunteers from the church and 14 children from the Institute spend the day helping at the BIG supermarket in exchange for a donation of food and toys for the slum school. The children made 3 short presentations at the front of the store and it had a big impact on the customers. Later, the children went to lunch at MacDonalds which was very special because most of them had never been to MacDonalds before. More than 500kg of food was donated as well as many toys. Another grocery manager saw our work and wants to help as well.
|
|
