Much to Celebrate.

On Sundays I meet Emerthe and about twenty girls ranging in age from about 10 to 16 who either live on the street or who have found temporary homes. These girls hardly speak any English and often laugh at me when ever I speak or do anything. Last Sunday was a BIG day. It was the first time for me to actually instruct them in soccer and they received cloth donations from some girls from the Netherlands. It was like Christmas. During soccer I just had them do a few passing drills and had them work on controlling the ball. Many of the girls just laughed at each other. Plus, trying to play soccer in sandals is quite the challenge, so I think they will be better once they finally receive a pair of sneakers. After practice we distributed clothing. Each girl was able to receive two items, either a pair of pants and a shirt or a sweatshirt and a shirt. It can get very cold at night here, so many of the girls do not have something to cover themselves with. The girls were very excited to receive their clothing since it will be one of the few things they own. Another celebration will come in the next week or so when they each receive a pair of shoes. Through the fundraising done in the U.S. I was able to contribute 33,000 franks, which is about $66 USD or about $3 per pair of shoes. Only 11 out of the twenty girls will receive shoes, but it is a start and at least some of them will be able to play soccer with closed-toed shoes. The other girls, Emerthe, Odette, and I are really hoping to find funding to create a sowing shop. We are currently in the process of submitting a proposal to the Netherlands government who is interested in helping to fund the sowing project for one year and get it off it's feet.