Daniel, Eli, and Micah aren't afraid to ask you something. Please hear them out!

Greetings, friends and family. The purpose of this post is to inform you about a project that we are raising funds for. As many of you know, our family is spending this year in Ethiopia. We volunteer at a local childcare project, named Operation Rescue Ethiopia, which helps disadvantaged children and their families. As our time in Ethiopia is coming to an end, we boys plan to raise money for basic necessities that will help families and make their lives easier.  

While we were visiting some of these families’ homes recently, we noticed that most families live in cramped conditions in one room.  There is hardly any room for one bed or mattress.  Many homes have no regular access to water, and all the possessions are crowded into a corner of the room with containers for water storage.  

It was hard to know where to start helping, but we noticed that many families either had no electricity, or very dim lights. This makes it difficult for children to do their homework, which can lead to poor grades in school. Therefore, we would like to give these families d.lights, or solar powered lights. These lights will allow children to do their homework at night, and will give families enough light to do many things a little more comfortably.  In town we noticed that d.lights can be purchased for $8-$10 each.  These are popular solar lights and are even used out in the country-side where there is no electricity at all.  A few years ago, Daniel raised enough money to buy D-lights for about 100 homes in Tanzania (with our grandfather's help), and those lights are making a big difference in the kids' lives.  Here is the website, if you want to check it out: http://www.dlight.com/

As well as having no electricity, many children at the project have very little clothing, and the clothing that they do have is often ripped or torn. So we would also like to raise money for clothing for children. 

If you would like to support our project with a donation, you can donate through Fields of Promise, a U.S. charity that partners with Operation Rescue Ethiopia. You can make a tax deductible donation at: http://www.fieldsofpromise.org/?page_id=72 — please add an instruction noting that the donation is for “Woodward family project.”

If you would like, you can also sponsor a child on an ongoing basis through Fields of Promise, at the same web site.

Because we have spent so much time with the kids and with their social workers, we know the difference donations make in their families’ lives.  We promise, your donation will be very valuable.

Thank you so much!

-Daniel, Eli, and Micah Woodward

Here are some pictures from some of our home visits:

Eli and Micah follow Teame, a social worker, into an "unfinished home".
Home builders in Mekele often pause their projects for long periods of time,
during which they rent out unfinished spaces (usually just one room) to families.  Many of Operation Rescue's children
live in homes like this.

Even in an unfinished home with very little furniture or food,
the hosts always offer the social workers coffee.

Inside an unfinished home.  This was a larger one, many are much smaller.

Micah and social worker Merid visit a finished home.  Most homes
have only one bed, but multiple family members.

Often the rent for a room in town is very high for the families ($37 per month).
So some families live outside town in traditional homes.  This usually means the children
have a long walk to school and to ORE.

Thanks for reading, and remember, You can donate at: http://www.fieldsofpromise.org/?page_id=72 — Remember to add an instruction noting that the donation is for “Woodward family project.”