In Zambia, Samfya Community of Care Providers (SCCP) sponsors over 807 community orphans to attend local schools. Unfortunately, we have quickly realized that attending school does not mean that the students are actually learning! Even worse, SCCP sponsored students typically perform lower than the already poor provincial standard.

But these results don’t surprise us when we think of all the obstacles these children have to overcome. The weight of feeling alone, the drag of poverty against every concerted effort, the lack of quality nutrition and being stuck in a school system characterized by rote memorization all stack up to make the hurdle of success seem insurmountable.

Enter our heroines, Bright Hope Interns, Courtney O’Connell and Heather Cogswell. Beginning in January they worked with SCCP and our Partnership Developers, Mark and Carmen Brubacher, to craft an after school literacy program for SCCP sponsored students in grades 1-5. The program meets two afternoons a week and has started with 15-20 students. Courtney explained the benefits of a small class size, “It is wonderful to get to know these students and give them one-on-one attention, in a culture where children simply get pushed to the side.”

“One challenge is to try to get the students to think for themselves and to be creative. The teaching method in the schools is to simply copy whatever the teacher has put on the board. So, when we ask students to come up with their own answers, they’re just silent!” explains Heather.

The intention of this program is to use creative methods to help improve the students’ knowledge, understanding, and usage of the English language. The students have been using crafts and games to build their phonetic skills. This is essential as all standardized testing is done in English. SCCP hopes these students will have greater success in future years of schooling.

Click here to watch!

Bright Hope is on the brink of unveiling a large campaign to help the poor.

This is like nothing we have ever done in the past - this is Run For Hungry Children BIG!

For a life changing experience make sure your calendar is cleared for October 22-25.

Keep checking in to Bright Hope’s Homepage and this blog for details.

On August 5th, Bright Hope Staff helped package, load and ship a container to Haiti. En route as we speak are: 100,000 meals for a school feeding program, notebooks and pencils for all 2,500 students and that is just for the students!

The schools (a total of 17 this year!) will receive chalkboard paint, a large supply of chalk, along with markers and crayons and that is just for the schools. 89 Bikes were added to the shipment as motivation for the Teachers. All of these gifts will greatly increase the quality of education the students will receive.

For pictures of the Haiti Shipment click here!

But the work isn’t finished yet. We still need help to pack 270,000 MORE meals to go to Haiti.

To be apart of an amazing experience clear your schedules for October 22-25.

Details to follow!

Congratulations to Chad Ware for his 1st place win in the male division at the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon on August 2nd, 2009.
Chad will be running this year’s Chicago Marathon where last year he took 18th place, with Bright Hope International’s Team.
To see Chad’s time click here!

Bright Hope’s marathon team is busy training and raising money on behalf of the extreme poor.
You can be apart of the team by praying for the members: Chad Ware, Dwayne Kennemore, Henry Chu and Mike Wiersema as they prepare to run 26.2 miles!

If you would like to donate to his Firstgiving fundraising page please click on this link.

This week at Bright Hope, finishing touches were made to allow 1,400 children to be fed in the slums of Mathare Valley in Nairobi, Kenya. Henry Chu, one of our project specialist here at Bright Hope, helped in facilitating this project. Read more details about it by clicking here!

On May 16th, 2009 in the towns of Hoffman Estates, Springfield, West Chicago and Woodstock were overtaken by individuals ready to make a difference in this world.

Records were set when 1347 people participated in the 5K Run/3K Walk. Current estimates show that through this event there was $104,626 raised in a bold effort to change the future for orphans and vulnerable children through out the world. For more information on how you can still donate to the race and to see the Race Results go to: www.runforhungrychildren.org.

If you attended the race click below to participate in our 11 question survey!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=p1Fi75XgN_2bhNJtVCzXUYRg_3d_3d

Big things happen every day at the Bright Hope Headquarters. Going forward, we will be posting the significant movements in how we are striving to help the poor, weekly.

Get ready- next year’s race is set for: May 15th, 2010!

In developing countries, the opportunity to attend school means much more than classrooms and textbooks. First and foremost, it represents a glimpse at a future outside the grip of poverty. For many, it means clothing on their back and food in their stomachs, and most important, the chance to experience the love and saving power of Jesus Christ.

The majority of Bright Hope’s projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America include an educational component for children. This is vital in giving children hope and a sense of purpose for their lives. With your help, we are buying textbooks, paying for uniforms and school fees, supporting teacher’s salaries, building dormitories and classrooms, and opening up promising new possibilities for some of the poorest children in the world. These children are no different from our own, except for the opportunities they will or will not have. They have the same kinds of dreams for their future that any child has.

When we speak to them, they talk about becoming doctors, nurses, engineers and teachers. Through their schooling, they start to feel that they may one day accomplish something that will help them to break out of abject poverty and provide for their loved ones.

With your support of our work, we can continue to assist our partners, who frequently operate as the hub of the local school. Children in countries like Peru and Haiti are receiving a midday meal, often their only meal of the day. This meal is critical in keeping children alert enough to learn.

To give to the ongoing work of Bright Hope International, click here.

To watch the Bright Hope Channel on YouTube, click here.

When my plane left Haiti in November of 2006 and landed in Florida, the first thing I did was press the knob that gave me all the clean drinking water I would ever desire.  At home, I hugged my wife and wept as I told her about Haiti where children worked on one meal a day with little opportunity for an education, where there were broken wells, and houses made of sticks and mud.  Yet, I had made many dear Haitian friends even with the Creole/ English language barrier.

I had recently retired from teaching high school and it had always been our my wife’s and my desire to find more avenues to use God’s gifts, talents and skills.  When Mike Rutter from Bright Hope asked me to go to Haiti, I was excited about the opportunity.  I had many soul searching questions including whether Bright Hope and individuals could make a difference in what to me seemed a hopeless situation. 

One of the first things we did in the town of Pignon was to help deliver Hope Packs (small gift boxes) to the children.  As a former teacher, I was deeply moved because all I saw were children with pencils and spiral notebooks. In Haiti, there were no textbooks, and the only tool the teacher had was a worn out blackboard and a piece of chalk.   The children laughed with delight at receiving their Hope Packs, which contained school supplies, small toys, a tee shirt and even a Bible.  Later, a rotary club sent a shipment of Creole/English picture dictionaries that thrilled the teachers.

As I toured the village, I met a man who was doing carpentry work and I handed him a donated hand tool.   Delighted with the gift, he invited me into his tiny Haitian home to see some of his work and meet his family.   There is no welfare system in Haiti and the people are looking for opportunities to improve their lives. 

Our team stayed with Pastor Jephthe Lucien, Bright Hope’s Haiti partner.  Pastor Jephthe is well respected in his church and among the villagers.  He gave me the job of building school desks with the Haitian men.  We communicated through pantomiming and laughter. As a result, God knitted our hearts together.

Another time, returning from a walk in the village, I encountered a woman coming back from a spring with a wheelbarrow full of water containers.  I insisted on doing the job for her while she and her friends chattered and laughed to see an American man doing what in Haiti is women’s work. I’m inclined to agree with my wife who said, “Laughter like music is a universal language.”

On the last day I was there, Pastor Jephthe asked me if I would consider working with him to help build a trade school.  I now have a vision that by partnering with Bright Hope, I can make a difference in what I had at first thought was a hopeless situation. 

By: Larry Schuerr, Bright Hope Volunteer and Supporter

Below - Larry Pictured with some of the new friends he is seeking to help.

We at Bright Hope are excited to let you know that a group of Chicagoland families (pictured above) are hosting their annual Neighborhood Garage Sale, which has raised money for poor children in Africa since 2004. During this event, kids and families donate and sell their used toys, books games, puzzles and stuffed animals. This year’s event will take place on August 22nd and 23rd, 2008, from 9 am to 4 pm. at St. John’s Lutheran School, 300 Jefferson Street, Algonquin, Illinios. Come by and show your support for the kids and families who so generously give of their time, talent and treasure for the at risk children in Kenya.

Please see attached flier!

Toy Sale Flyer