Child sponsorship update from Francistown, Botswana

Update for child sponsors from the SOS Children's Village Francistown, Botswana from Winter 2007

Dumela (greetings) from a sunny Botswana where we are already experiencing warmer mornings and lovely hot, near Spring days. As always we all hold much hope for the anticipated summer rains… Right now the entire country is very dry, dusty and with little green and even less vegetation for the cattle and wildlife.

Our SOS Village Francistown is fortunate to have a good borehole that is used for watering of the gardens which continue to produce a steady supply of vegetables for the families. The vegetable gardens are for many children a great “source of pride” as some spend many dedicated hours in cultivating their family’s vegetable patch… a source of inspiration is when every so often a surprise award is given to the house with the most abundant garden. Spinach, beetroot, onions, cabbages are some of the more successful vegetables that we grow.

Today in the Francistown Village there are 231 children and youth - with sadly, almost no room to welcome new children in need. Available space is now dependent on our youth becoming self-supporting and leaving our care.

Children learing for the future

Youth moving to independence is a more frequent occurrence due to the fact that Francistown has been in operation for 10 years. This is a rewarding phase for us as many youth who have completed formal and tertiary education are securing work and becoming self-reliant. Right now we have youth attending good Skills Training Centres and doing courses such as Bricklaying, Carpentry, Horticulture and Home Crafts. With these acquired skills finding work becomes easier. We are also proud to have six youth from our Tlokweng Village attending Universities and Colleges in South Africa – not only are they proving themselves academically but also they are coping with independence.

Aaah – what photo to send to you… always a challenge? You’ve possibly heard of the popular pastime “making of wire cars”. Children spend hours manufacturing these well designed and ingenious automobiles. The rewarding time comes when they get put to the test and car races are held. The enclosed photograph shows such an occasion with the children running, using the path that leads through the centre of the Village for their race track.

Thank you for your good support that enables us to provide children not only with a home, family, food and education – but enables them to have fun racing cars!

Yours sincerely

Kathy Ferreira
Sponsorship