Dear Sponsors and Friends
We pray this letter finds you healthy and well. We are wishing you and your families the absolute best as we prepare for the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas season. Through the grace of God and your unwavering support, we continue to assist those who are struggling in Africa and beyond. God is so good. Here is an update on our work.
Covid update and impact: Covid has had an impact on each of our African countries. In some countries, such as Burundi, reliable information about infection rates and deaths has been difficult to obtain. Several of our children and their families in Rwanda were infected and some were hospitalized. There were temporary school closures, along with business and travel restrictions in all program areas. Despite these challenges, we are happy to report that our kids are all back in school and doing well.
Financial Report for the third quarter of 2021: We are entering the last quarter of this fiscal year with our total income and expenses nearly balanced. Funds raised through sponsorships have not been adequate to cover program expenses for the respective countries. However, we are close to covering expenses thanks to year-end giving and generous donations to the general fund. Without the general fund donations, we would be facing service cuts to children and families. This is especially true in Burundi, where changes in government bank exchange rates have raised our program costs by approximately $1000 per month over and above our sponsorship revenue. Our total income for the first three quarters was $57,283. Our revenue from general donations was $13,129 and the rest came from sponsorship. Total expenses for the period were $57,590.
Country reports and needs:
Project Burundi: 63 children sponsored. Over 200 children are served through the Hope of Africa School. Two young adults are in college, and one is in technical school. Income from sponsorship through September was $18,689 with a program expense of $28,880. The entire $10,000 deficit was covered by general fund donations.
Burundi needs: Burundi is our most costly program overall, but it is also one of the most cost effective. We are funding an entire school, providing a hot meal a day for nearly 200 students and providing extra care for our sponsored children.
How you can help: Please pray for Burundi. New national banking regulations have been costly. Burundi remains one of the poorest nations on earth. One positive note is that the new government has pledged to address widespread government corruption and poverty.
We have set a goal of increasing sponsorship in Burundi by at least 15 children by the end of this fiscal year and hopefully by another 15 in early 2022. Please consider referring a friend or family member to help with sponsorship. Your support is transforming lives.
Project Rwanda: 36 children are sponsored. We have eight sponsored children in college, 11 in secondary school and 17 in primary school. Total income from sponsorship through September was $21,851 with a program cost of $23,972.
Due to the ages of our children and the cost of living, Rwanda continues to be our most expensive program per child. Rwanda also provides the highest level of care. It takes three sponsors to cover those in college and two to cover a child in secondary school. Several of our children in Rwanda in college or secondary school have only one sponsor. Thankfully God has continued to provide the extra coverage through general fund donations.
Special needs in Rwanda: Some of our young adults in college and in secondary school need an additional sponsor. Other disadvantaged children are registered with Baho Community hoping for a chance to change their lives and obtain an education.
How you can help: Pray for the children of Rwanda and our young adults in college. William Ngabo, from Baho Community in Rwanda will be in the states for the month of November trying to find sponsors for young children with special needs and additional sponsors for those older kids in our program. Please consider referring a friend or family member to help out.
Project Kenya: Children served three with two children sponsored. Program cost to date was $520 (an additional cost of $850 in October) with an income of $1232. With greatly improved accountability, we are open to taking on additional families in Kenya, should the Lord provide.
Project Uganda: Children served is four with three fully sponsored. We are looking for one more sponsor in Uganda to cover a child whose sponsor dropped recently. Uganda income was $924 (an $600 additional pending) with a program expense of $1500 (as of October 4).
Project Peru: This project has been completed and was a miracle for many. We raised over $20,000 in late 2020 and early 2021. As of the end of September we have assisted in providing medical treatment for over 9,500 covid patients in the Amazon region of Peru. The accounting was excellent. Funds covered medicine, nurse salaries, and transportation for the medical team.
Christmas and year-end giving. We will soon be sending out a separate letter inviting sponsors to give Christmas gifts to their children. The final date for Christmas gifts will be December 7th. Should you be willing to make a year-end contribution to Hope Milele Africa, that would be extremely helpful. As you can see, without general fund and year-end giving we would be forced to cut services. We are all volunteers on the US side of operation. Apart from the school in Burundi, all administrative costs in Africa are limited to 15% of total budget. You will not find a more cost-effective nonprofit for your investment. Thanks for blessing our children.
We are wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and blessed Christmas with thankful hearts.
Board Members: Neil Church, Arden Lites, Jerry Lites, Theresa O’Connor, Patrick Parks and Shayla Teixeira.