Two Days Left to Give [Make a tax deductible donation before 2012 is officially over!]

This is a glimpse into Gift's story.
Her Mom died when she was a baby. Her family was unable to care for her. She spent the first few years of her life in an orphanage.
Although she is now back at home with her Jjajja (Grandmother), she lost some critical years at home.
We need you to understand that this could have been prevented. That Gift never had to be placed in an orphanage. She could have stayed in her family. Her family just lacked the resources to make this possible.
We share with you Gift's story because we need it to be real to you.
This is not another batch of statistics or a well-written research article on children living in institutional care in Africa.
It is a story of a little girl who should have never been separated from her family.
This family is one of the many reasons we are launching Abide Family Center.
Why we have come to believe so strongly in the strength and resiliency of the African family.
Why we are asking you to consider making an end of the year donation to help us in the construction of our new property in Bugembe, Jinja, Uganda.
The property that will welcome with open arms and serve families like Gift's.
Because we believe children belong in families, not in orphanages.

We have two days left in the month of December and we are only 4 RAK's away from our goal. This means we need just under $2,000 donated in the next 2 days to reach our goal. We invite you to make an end of the year donation to Abide to support the construction underway on our property in Uganda. If you have been abundantly blessed this year and have some extra money to give. You can donate online here: DONATE TO ABIDE [We use PayPal for donations, which is a secure server]

Abide Family Center is a project of The Antioch Group, a 501c3/nonprofit.  This means your donation is tax deductible.  Make your donation and make sure to claim it on your 2012 taxes before the year is over.

We hope you all had an excellent Christmas and we wish you a very safe and blessed new year. We are so excited to see all that God has in store for Abide in 2013. The most exciting year for us yet!

With love,
Kelsey & Megan
(and the rest of the Abide team)

Christmas Giving

Is your Christmas shopping list left with that one person who seems to have everything? Still stumped on what to give them?

How about making a donation to Abide Family Center in their honor?

Donate on our website and in the comments mention that you are donating in someone's honor and which card you would like. We will then send you one of the cards below that you can give to the person on Christmas morning!

Here in the link to donate via paypal (all donations are tax deductible) 

http://www.abidefamilycenter.org/donate0.aspx 

For a donation of any kind

For a donation of $50

For a donation of $100

For a donation of $25

All donation will be included in our Countdown to Kindness! Keep following on Facebook or the blog

Check out where your donations are going for the Countdown to Kindness

This is where your donations are going. Our new home in Uganda. Complete with a (NEW) wall and gate around the property thanks to your generous donations. Next phase: construction on the actual structure already standing and the building of a brand new structure that will serve as emergency housing for families at Abide !! We can't say thank you enough! God is good.





This is the actual building where Abide's services will be run out of, it's what the photo of the wall above is enclosing. As you can see, the last three units at the far end are not complete. The money from the the Countdown to Kindness is going toward the completion of these units & the building of transitional housing for families without anywhere to stay.

Countdown to Kindness

Join our Christmas Fundraising Event!

Help us get to TWENTY Random Acts of Kindness by December 31st!!!!!
(we do one random act of kindness for every $500 we raise)

1. Watch the video


Countdown To Kindness from Abide Family Center on Vimeo.


2. DONATE

3. Check the blog periodically to see pictures and videos of our Random Acts of Kindness as the money comes in!

3. Share on FB, twitter, blogger, tumblr, pinterest, etc... to get your friends to donate too!

The Countdown:

20. Games collected for kids in inner-city Philadelphia



19. Stocking filled for kids in inner-city DC



18. Box of chocolates left on a stranger's doorstep



17. Free coffee and bagels for four unsuspecting college student

16. Free night of babysitting for some awesome parents

15. Flowers for the amazing Rachelle














14. Chocolate covered pretzels for a studying student

13. Christmas cards for people living in a nursing home

12. Homemade cupcakes for a sweet neighbor

11. A Movie Night Package for a Very Deserving Couple so They can get a Much Needed Night Out (w/ Complimentary Babysitting)

10. Free Car Wash (Complete with Windex'ed Windows and all!)

9. African Fabric Head Wraps for a Random Gym-goer

8. Encouraging/cheesy post-its in random places

7. Quarters at a vending machine

6. Christmas goodies for someone spending the holidays alone this year

5. Meal for a family with a new baby

4. Paying for the person behind us at the drive-thru

3. Leaving extra diapers and wipes in the mall bathroom

2. Doing the roommates dishes

1. Paying the toll for the person behind me

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED!!!

We Love Moby!

I (Megan) am OBSESSED with baby wearing. I love cuddling babies and the idea that I could cuddle a baby even when doing dishes and cleaning and going for a walk is like the coolest thing ever. Also, strollers are really hard to use on African roads.

So, I knew that I wanted to be well-equipped for all our baby caring needs at Abide. I wanted great quality baby carriers on hand for the moms and dads at the center and for babysitting (and maybe future fostering?). So I researched like crazy and settled on wanting a wrap and a soft structured carrier.

For our wrap, Moby very generously donated TEN Moby wraps! They come in a variety of beautiful colors and designs and after the initial overwhelming feeling they are really easy to use. It only took me two or three tries before I had the wrap down and putting baby in and out is super easy. They're a great sturdy material so when baby is in they feel secure and you can confidently use your hands for other chores. You can easily wash them and throw them in a diaper bag when you head out. From my experience babies love them and sleep great safely wrapped up and cuddled up to a caregiver.

So below we have some great shots from the fabulously talented Kate Casaday of our Moby in action:

Thank you Moby! We are officially fans :)

Help Families Stay Together!

So Kelsey and I are back in school and falling into a new phase with Abide that we don't like. Don't like at all. It's when our number one job becomes begging people for money... which is awkward and uncomfortable. 

But we have to do it so here we go!


Become a monthly donor to Abide

We have $115,000 to raise and the best way for us to do that is to get people who will commit to give to Abide monthly. It doesn't have to be a lot... just as much as you can give. 

What can my monthly donation do?

$300.00 Pay our rent each month!

$250.00 Pay one social worker’s salary!

$150.00 Put one family through the program!

$100 Cover emergency housing for one family!

$50 Cover one child’s childcare costs!

$20 Cover transport costs for a home visit!

So how do I sign up as a monthly donor?

It's really easy! Just go here http://www.abidefamilycenter.org/donate0.aspx?count=false and choose "monthly recurring" when they ask. 

Join on this journey... help keep children in families!

Summer Recap

I've been pretty absent from blogging this Summer.

While I did write one post a few months back: here .  I wrote about why I think we disregard the African family for resettlement and family strengthening and instead continue to use international adoption and institutional models as first priority solutions in the care of vulnerable children here.

I've started maybe 6 or 7 other blog posts and can't seem to finish one.  There are many things I want to say, most of it centered around or related to the normal topics we all like to debate within "orphan" care.  [You'll have to excuse me for the parentheses, most of the children we refer to as "orphans" here in Uganda, are not].

But my lack of blogging hasn't been due to a lack of time, rather a growing desire to approach these topics effectively and with an intentional openness.

Being close-minded and opinionated hasn't gotten me very far in trying to encourage change within the "orphan" care community here.

What has it gotten me?  The people who agree with me to agree some more and those who disagree to tune me out and stop listening.

Note: not an effective way to bring about change

What I am going to try instead?

To remember where I started on this journey and all the unique experiences that have landed me where I am now.

When utilized, this has allowed for patience and grace. Something we forget to allow for, regardless of how much we are in need of it.

I am convinced that we can move forward.  It really shouldn't be a matter of which side you are on for issues of inter-country adoption, institutional care, family preservation or domestic foster care/adoption. There is not one solution that is best for every child.

So I am giving those posts-in-progress more time to sit.  More time to pray about how I approach certain topics and an increased appreciation for the various interventions necessary to meet the multifaceted needs of vulnerable children here and across the globe. 

Instead, I will recap the last few months.  Here are some highlights.

We got down to business

Here is the new home of Abide Family Center in Bugembe, Jinja, Uganda!

We signed a 4 year contract to this property. The lease begins June 1st of next year.  Look out Uganda, we're going to be full-time, socially awkward missionaries in 10 months.

We've had so many great meetings with different organizations and gov't officials who have encouraged us and pushed us toward improving our program model.  Simon, a CDO (community development officer) in Jinja, is one of many. 

We offered our first social work position to Adonai.  We are excited to welcome him to the Abide team!   

We worked on our NGO paperwork with our good friend Peter. He has to get a signature or two more and it should be filed and in process within the next two weeks.  This is the paperwork necessary for Abide to operate in Uganda.

We were encouraged by strong caregivers and their families

A woman who is willing to provide care and love to an additional three children after their father died and they were left without any family to care for them.

A mother who cares for 11 children and wouldn't dream of putting them in an orphanage, even after her husband leaves her and takes their cow.  

A Grandmother who adores her granddaughter and her granddaughter her. 

We went on adventures

We drove all the way to Dokolo and back in one day. 

We took the kids to the Jinja fair for lots of carnival rides, face paint and ice cream.

We went on walks and explored the Nile River.  Not sure if we were looking for boats or crocodiles here...

We hiked at Sipi Falls and had the best weekend ever.

Our legs felt like jello for at least two days after but it was so worth it.

We are flying back to the U.S. tomorrow morning.  This summer we accomplished everything we set out to and are so thankful for that.  We have a year full of finishing school, fundraising, continuing to network stateside and soaking up our last year (at least for a while) with friends and family back home.

Learning to trust the One who is in and above all things for the big and the little.

-Kelsey