<![CDATA[FOVC - Blog]]>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:22:44 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[It's Official!]]>Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:19:55 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2012/02/its-official.htmlWe received our determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service today. It's official: FOVC is a 501c3 organization in the US.

Yippee! ]]><![CDATA[The Wells Are Complete!]]>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:02:06 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2012/01/the-wells-are-complete.htmlWater is Life International deployed to Shanto this week and finished the wells. Yea! It has been a long road, but what a great outcome. Desalegn says the drought has become very serious. We are so thankful that clean and adequate water has final come to Shanto.

To everyone who played a role in bringing this life-changing and life-saving change, we say thank you!

(Pictures to follow!) ]]><![CDATA[Melkam Addis Amet! (and a wells update)]]>Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:47:34 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2012/01/melkam-addis-amet-and-a-wells-update.htmlHappy New Year, World! At FOVC, we are busy completing our planning for 2012. We look forward to sharing our plans and vision for this year with you. In the meantime, here's a quick review of some of our major accomplishments in 2011, our first full year of operations:

•Funds raised and three wells drilled in Shanto (will be completed and operational January, 2012)

•Shanto orphanage building completed (thank you, EOR!)

•HOPE Child Sponsorship Program: 65 Shanto orphans, 15 Dale orphans, 3 Borcha orphans currently sponsored

•Over 250 children, community members & FOVC staffers in ET vaccinated and receiving regular medical care

•32 Shanto widows (and their 140 vulnerable children) involved in Widows Hopes program: o   Livestock for Widows = 8 
o  Handcrafts for Widows = 8 
o  Crops for Widows = 8 
o  Small Businesses for Widows = 8 

•Full and nutritious meals served to Shanto orphans six days per week (20,280 meals to be served in 2012)

•65 orphans and over 70 vulnerable children attending FOVC’s Kamfourd School of Excellence in Shanto, year-round, six days per week

•Website created; Facebook and Twitter presences established

•Three focused Teams, totaling 47 people, traveled to ET in 2011

•Approximately 1000 individuals and organizations supported FOVC financially in 2011

•Local governments in Ethiopia donated land for Shanto library, three wells, Shanto medical clinic and Dale Feeding and Child Care Center / Widows Cropping site

•FOVC is registered in the State of Colorado and 501(c)3 application submitted to IRS. Directors and officers appointed, organizational documents and plan approved and in place.

•Salaries paid for 25 FOVC staff in Ethiopia over the entire year...a first!
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And finally, some great news about our water wells in Shanto:

WILI will deploy to Shanto the week of January 16, 2012, to install the electric pump and tank/stand for the deep well at the FOVC compound, and to drill two additional wells in the village. Clean water is coming to Shanto THIS MONTH!

We wish you all the best in the New Year. We would love to read your thoughts and comments below!

With love and thanks,
Lory
(Lory Howlett, FOVC President)
]]><![CDATA[A Beautiful Christmas Wish from FOVC Supporter Betty W...thank you, Betty!]]>Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:13:30 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2011/12/a-beautiful-christmas-wish-from-fovc-supporter-betty-wthank-you-betty.htmlWe often see smiles when someone wishes us a good day, gives us a hug or a special treat or gift.

But when you come from a lifetime of poverty like those FOVC serves in Ethiopia, a smile has a meaningful story behind it.Like....

-The first time you have a clear glass of water, free from disease causing bacteria
-The first new outfit of clothes
-The first blanket you ever owned
-A daily nutritious meal when you used to eat every few days, if then
-A gift of animals to feed your family
-Learning to grow crops to provide food-A micro-loan to start a cottage business
-Fair wages for your coffee, baskets or jewelry
-An education for your future
-Medical care when there was none before for people and the animals

These are the smiles made possible by FOVC! These smiles are the best Christmas gifts ever!Thank you FOVC for making it possible!
]]><![CDATA[Important Request for Prayer and Encouragement for Dr. Jo]]>Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:27:24 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2011/12/important-request-for-prayer-and-encouragement-for-dr-jo.html
From FOVC President Lory Howlett: To All of our Friends and FOVC Supporters,

Please see this note below from my dear friend and our beloved Board Member and Officer, Dr. Jo Bruce:

Dear all,
 
First of all I would like to apologise for not fulfilling certain aspects of my role recently. I treasure my position with FOVC and love each and every one of our children, widows, staff and families.
 
After feeling generally under the weather for a few weeks now, this week I learned I have Papillary Thyroid Cancer.  I will have two surgeries and will start chemotherapy in January.
 
During this time I will be off work, and hope to use some of that time to pull my weight more with regard to FOVC.
 
I would simply ask for your prayers and understanding during this time.
 
I wish you all a very Happy and special Christmas. It is a privilege to know each and every one of you.
 
love
Jo x

Hello, it's Lory again. 

You may be aware that our beloved Dr. Jo has been through MORE than her share of trials and struggles in 2011. She is suffering and I know she would appreciate your warm thoughts and prayers. FOVC Leadership is a close and tight-knit group, and we are all carrying Jo's burden, too. 

FOVC's plans and work will continue, and we appreciate your prayers, love, support and encouragement, and your continued love for and investment in the FOVC kids and communities we serve. They need you so much!

Please leave a note of support for Jo here on this blog, or on the FOVC Facebook page. I will post regular updates here on the site and also on our Facebook page. She checks both sites regularly and I know it will mean the world to her to be aware that you are standing with her and with FOVC.

With love and thanks,
Lory ]]><![CDATA[World AIDS Day -- a message from Ingrid Olson, our HOPE Child Sponsorship Coordinator]]>Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:17:35 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2011/12/world-aids-day-a-message-from-ingrid-olson-our-hope-child-sponsorship-coordinator.htmlI have to be honest, I have never paid attention to World Aids Day before. 

But this year is different. Why, you ask? Because in August, I became the HOPE Child Sponsorship Coordinator for FOVC, and I was faced with the reality that many children on my list are impacted by AIDS. 

Of the 100 FOVC children in our HOPE Child Sponsorship Program, 74 have sponsors!  Of the 26 are not yet sponsored, at least 8 have been orphaned by AIDS. Several of them have been double-orphaned by AIDS.

So World Aids Day has a whole new meaning to me as I work to find sponsors and raise money to help educate, clothe, feed and provide medical care for these innocent and precious children. On this day of awareness, would you considering sponsoring one of these precious children?  E-mail me at Ingrid@FOVC.org for more information about sponsorship. 

All of the children pictured below are from FOVC's new project sites in the Sidama villages of Dale and Borcha. I would LOVE to get these 8 children sponsored today!

with love and hope for the kids,
Ingrid

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Biniam, Age 11.
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Messay, age 12.
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Girum, age 7.
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Elisabeth, age 6.
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Girum, age 7.
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Helen, age 6.
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Milkiyas, age 9.
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Tayech, age 12.
]]><![CDATA[Update on the Feed Hope Journey to Ethiopia]]>Sun, 06 Nov 2011 14:32:03 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2011/11/update-on-the-feed-hope-journey-to-ethiopia.htmlDear friends...I apologize for taking so long to update the blog...but one of the details we forgot to exchange was the information I needed to post blog updates.  Therefore, for any of you that follow the FOVC pages on Facebook, I've been trying to post a status whenever I can there.

Anyhow, much good has been accomplished on this trip, though no matter how much planning and advanced preparation you do stateside, everything in Africa happens in "Africa time."  Which means that Lory and Jo are extending their stay to make sure all the food gets to the people who need it.   The work in Shanto has gone pretty much according to plan, but the team was shocked at the impact of the famine with the kids in Dale and Borcha.  Lory and Jo have been spending quite a bit of time there working to secure needed resources and provide the needed medical care.

As many of you know, Tamara Buitenwerf (our agricultural director) has gone and returned from the journey.  I urge you please to check out this link to her blog (http://journey4hope.blogspot.com/2011/11/starvation-is-real.html) as there is no better testimony to the impact of all the giving and support that has gone into this trip than her accounts of what she saw and experienced. 

I'll post more later, but for now, Tamara has done an incredible job of describing not only the accomplishments of this trip, but also all the hard work of Desalegn, Tutu, the FOVC widows, the teachers and staff of FOVC, and all the other incredible people that have come along side FOVC in the communities of Awassa, Soddo, Shanto and beyond that are working together to make lasting impacts.  We here stateside can share our resources, but its through the hard work of the people in the community that lasting change is made.

Dave
]]><![CDATA[Another Fantastic Video!]]>Fri, 14 Oct 2011 04:38:53 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2011/10/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit4.htmlRemember MB's Virtual Baby Shower? .... the one that raised so much money for FEED HOPE? Well, here is a a beautiful video that tells the story! Enjoy!
]]><![CDATA[FOVC joins www.povertycure.org network!]]>Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:15:07 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2011/10/fovc-joins-wwwpovertycureorg-network.html
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FOVC is excited to be a partner of PovertyCure, a new initiative that champions the creative potential of the person and seeks to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that fills the developing world.

PovertyCure seeks to shift the emphasis:
  • From aid to enterprise
  • From poverty alleviation to wealth creation
  • From paternalism to partnerships
We often ask, “What causes poverty?” But the real question might be, “What causes wealth?”

PovertyCure is about re-thinking our assumptions. It's an international network of individuals and over 100 organizations committed to a vision that recognizes the dignity and capacity of people to create value and prosperity for their families and communities. We are proud to be among the partnering organizations!

At FOVC, we are all about empowering, sustainable solutions. Everything we do offers long-term HOPE to the people with whom we work in Ethiopia.

We hope you'll visit the PovertyCure website to learn more.

Thanks for standing with us and supporting us and helping us champion and implement our goals. Really great things are happening at FOVC. Our plans for 2012 will knock your socks off!

Thankfully yours,
Lory

(Lory Howlett, President FOVC)

PS -- Here's a video by PovertyCure...enjoy!
]]><![CDATA[GOAL!]]>Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:00:56 GMThttp://www.fovc.org/1/post/2011/10/goal.htmlYes, it's soccer season in our household....but I'm not talking about Bereket's skill on the soccer field.

I am proud, thrilled, delighted and humbled to announce we passed our FEED HOPE "Dream Goal" yesterday.

The dream goal was $30,000. Because of your support, the trust you have placed in FOVC, and most importantly, your love for the children....our FEED HOPE fund-raising total climbed to

                                                                $31,184!

We also learned that many of our relief supplies are costing less than we expected. Which means we can provide hope and relief to even more families in the villages we serve. We promise to continue to do our best, to remain accountable to our supporters and to deliver more love, hugs, help and HOPE than you can imagine.

With humble thanks and love,
Lory
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