Dez & Al meeting Ann after 4 years
This past April, Desiree Daniels and Al Sodaro, headed to Kenya to finally meet the girls that they have been supporting for the past four years. Desiree is also an MFFO Board Member. It was an amazing experience for everyone. We are so very excited that they are heading back next week. And trust me, so are the girls in Kenya.
There is so much to say about your first trip to the home to see the girls, but no one has ever explained it quite like Al himself. This video was prepared for the attendees at our Gift of Education Fundraiser this year in Gaithersburg, Maryland back in October. Please take a moment and listen to Al tell his personal story.
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Thank you Al and Desiree for loving the girls so fully and proving to all of us once again that love is never limited by distance or time. Please give each and every one of them a hug from all of us… volunteers, sponsors, donors and friends.
Tell them we love them all and hope that they have a wonderful holiday and new year!
Safe journey my friends.
If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
Mother Teresa
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We have WONDERFUL news.
At 8:15pm on Thursday night, we received news that our eldest girl, Mary, was accepted to Nairobi University!! She will be studying International Relations and she reports on October 5th.
We couldn’t be more proud.
We, at MFFO, met Mary when she was entering High School. It’s amazing how the time has flown by and here she is, all grown up, and heading to College.
Mary has worked so hard over these past four years. We also know that none of this would be possible without the tireless efforts of the staff at Saint Monica’s. Perpetua Gatome, the director at Saint Monica’s, has been an inspiration and motivator for higher education. We know that she has played an integral part to all of this, and we are forever grateful!
We love you Mary and good luck in your studies!
With the drought in East Africa, our food costs have increased in recent months. It boggles me that even with the cost of food rising, the comparison between my food bill here at home (that feeds eight) and at Saint Monica’s (34 girls, 4 employees and daily local volunteers from the University) are about the same. On average at Saint Monica’s, the food bill is approximately 80,000 schillings a month. That’s about $1000 – $1200 a month, depending on the exchange rate.
The math is insane… that’s about $25 to feed one of our girls for the ENTIRE MONTH!
Our girls now receive fresh fruit and veggies daily. The best part is you can SEE the difference. They are growing like weeds! It’s an amazing thing for me when I go back and they have grown INCHES in just a few months. Food, fuel, nutrition, is an amazing thing. Their bodies grow and their brains function better in school. I LOVE IT!
$25 a month – $300 a year to feed one girl. It’s that simple.
If you would like to help and become one of our Orphanage Food Program Sponsors, just head over to our MFFO DONATE page. When you see the simple math… you understand that every dollar helps!
One of the most amazing things we can do when we have a volunteers in Kenya is the ability to Video Skype with the girls in Kenya at Saint Monica’s. There is nothing more amazing than seeing their beautiful faces and hearing their lovely voices on my computer. It’s the perfect way to wake up in the morning and having the ability to say “goodnight” to them with my morning coffee!
So I wanted to say “THANK YOU” to Jen for video skyping with us this morning and to my dear friend, Sube, for supplying Saint Monica’s with internet access.
We wouldn’t be able to do this without you two! THANKS AGAIN for making my morning just wonderful!
This is Lydia playing on the new monkey bars that were put in the home this month! We just love the bright colors. We know that these will be used ALL the time during the girls down time.
We are so blessed to be able to give the girls an environment where they can just play and finally be children! We are so grateful for all our donors and our friends in Kenya who help us with the girls at Saint Monica’s.
Thanks for making this possible!
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WOW! We just wanted to say THANK YOU to our friends Lisa Heindel and Jennifer Ryan for the 720 clothes pins and 240 pens that they donated!
Our very own Jen Wall will be heading back to Kenya next week to deliver them to the girls!
Thanks again Lisa and Jennifer for the continued support and have fun in Kenya Jen!!
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One year ago today, the world was blessed because an amazing little boy, Gianni Baker Sodaro, was born. For the next four and half months, his parents, Al and Desiree Sodaro, their family, friends, and the amazing staff at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, witnessed his strength and determination. He touched the lives of hundreds of people. Even after his passing last December, he continues to touch people all over the world.
We at Mothers Fighting For Others were blessed to receive an anonymous $5,000 donation in Gianni’s honor. Our donor was touched by the Sodaro Family and their love and dedication to MFFO and the girls at Saint Monica’s Children’s Home. By honoring them, they knew they could help shape the lives of our girls in Kenya.
We are all truly thankful to them.
Gianni brightened the world with his amazing blue eyes. We are reminded everyday when looking up at our bright blue sky that we are all blessed and better to have known him. Thank you Dez and Al for sharing your son Gianni with us. We will honor his life today by changing and creating better lives for the girls at Saint Monica’s.
We love you.
We are excited to announce that this years Gift of Education Fundraiser will be on October 15, 2011.
It will be in Gaithersburg, Maryland once again.
If you have any questions or would like to join us for the evening please contact Audrey Forshey at AudreyForshey@gmaildotcom.
More details will follow in next few months. Thanks again and we hope to see you there!