Dear Friends of The Global Village Children’s Project,
“Ah, Spring at Last!”, when the snow melts, the crocuses begin to poke their heads so tentatively above the surface of the earth, and when my mind inevitably turns once again to this old familiar poem …
“Spring has sprung.
The grass is riz
I wonder where
The tuition funds is!”
But hey, before I start reaching out to you once again with my begging bowl in hand, I would like to invite you to celebrate with me some wonderful news! The Loretto Community has again come through with generous support for our work! This time, in particular, they have given the GVCP a $5,000 grant toward replacement of our old truck – which sadly had a full engine “heart attack”, not too long ago that, regrettably, proved to be fatal. The catch – an appropriate one – is that we can only use these funds toward replacement of our recently deceased vehicle. But $5,000 falls far short of being enough to purchase a car in good shape that will last for years to come. We have a fine used van – see below – in mind for purchase. However, it will cost us $10,000 total. So this is kind of like one of those “Matching Grants” that you always here about, when NPR is having one of its fundraising drives!
However, before we can even think about purchasing a replacement vehicle, raising upcoming tuitions for each of our young people has to be our top priority. So let me tell you right where we stand at this moment.. Tuition – totaling $7,600 – will be due at the end of April for our seven high school students,. University tuitions for our eight college students – four of whom will be starting their freshman year this summer – will be due in July and will total $16,000. Beyond that Loretto grant, as of today, we have $479.97 in our checking account and an additional $520.03 would go a long way toward covering costs that will most certainly arise over the coming weeks while all of our students will be home on their spring break, prior to beginning their upcoming school terms.
One of our high school students, Blessings, has a committed sponsor. So in this mailing I am not going to talk about her, but rather I will tell you a bit about three of our other high school students. Then in a few days I will tell you about the remaining three students. (Just don’t want to overload you with too many student bios all at once.) In my subsequent mailings over the coming weeks I will tell you about each of our college bound young people, as well. All of our students’ stories can be accessed right now, however, at our website at this link: Student Tuition Campaign Goal if you prefer an overview of the GVCP road ahead for the next few months.
All donations, of any amount, will be gratefully appreciated and put toward our most immediate remaining tuition needs of $6,600 (since tuition for Blessings is assured) and our ongoing operating expenses. However, if you may want to guarantee school attendance for one of our kids in particular, a specified full term donation on behalf of the student you choose to support, will be deeply appreciated.
Ella – (Girl in the far rear) is 14 years old. She will complete high school in the winter of 2029. Ella’s dad died prior to her birth. After she was born, her mother developed serious mental illness. When Ella was one and a half years old, her mother abandoned her in the care of her elderly grandparents. When she was two and a half years old, Global Village Children’s Project heard of her complicated needs and soon she started living with our director, Anne Muyanga. Ella has grown into being a very bright, responsible and beautiful young teen who is looking forward to becoming a university student in 2030. She is on the school basketball team, and enjoys gardening, among other activities. You can get a glimpse of a much younger Ella on our website, if you scroll down on this page of our website to the photo – captioned “Time to gather crops that are ready to be harvested” – of her and her brother Eli each carrying a load of bananas they have just harvested. Despite the long path that will lie ahead for her, Ella plans on training to become a neurosurgeon.
Ella’s current tuition due is $1,300.
Eli – (Boy in the middle of photo) Eli is 16 years old. He is in his fourth year of secondary school. He will be completing high school in the winter of 2028. Eli’s dad died when he was one and a half years old. His mother walked away when Eli was not yet three and left him and his sister Ella with his elderly grandparents. Shortly afterwards, the Global Village Children’s Project found him. Soon thereafter both Eli and his sister Ella began living with Anne. We quickly recognized Eli to be such a brilliant, hardworking young boy! He enjoys all kinds of chores, including gardening. If you scroll to near the bottom of the page when you link here, you can see a photo of Eli when he was a bit younger, planting a tree while participating in a community service project. Eli aspires to become a heart surgeon.
Eli’s current tuition due is $1,300.
Josh – (Boy at end of row, students’ right to left) is 17 yrs old and in his fourth year of secondary school. He will complete high school in the winter of 2028. He plans to join university level training in 2029. Josh’s mother died when he was a year and a half old. He was taken in by his elderly grandparents. At three years old, the GVCP welcomed him into our family and enrolled him in school. Josh is a brilliant, curious and very practical boy. You can scroll down on this page to see an earlier photo of Josh as he worked on a school assignment utilizing one of our donated computers. Josh has a knack for repairing all sorts of gadgets and devices, skills that suggest he has chosen his professional aim well! Josh looks forward to attending a university in 2029 and aspires to become a software engineer.
Josh’s current tuition due is $1000.
So, that’s my pitch for today friends. More to follow in a few days. Your Tax Deductible Donation can be made via our website at this link: Spring Tuition Fundraising Campaign.
Alternatively, donations by check – saving us a processing fee – can be sent to “Global Village Children’s Project”.
To this address
Global Village Children’s Project – c/o Chris Gruener
85 Floral Street
Newton Highlands, MA
02461
Thank you, as always, for your generous spirit and your kindness toward the young lives we are – together – helping to thrive.
Christopher
Christopher Gruener
GVCP Board Member
(617) 965-6552
PS – We still have some of the lovely fans, like the one pictured here, that Anne brought with her from Uganda last year. This school term we are offering a fan as a “Thank You!” for those able to offer a gift of $100 or more by check thereby saving us those pesky “Processing Fees” – that really do add up. When you send your check, please do add a note saying “Yes, I would like to have one of ‘Anne’s Fans’ and here is my mailing address.”
