Before we met our 10 Kasana students, we used to say “we sponsor 5 younger kids and 5 older kids”. However, after meeting the 3 oldest, we can no longer call them “kids”….they are Godly young men who exhibit such Christ-like characteristics! Although I did nothing to raise them, I felt motherly pride at even being associated with such amazing young men! My heart swelled with pride as Kiweewa stood up front, interpreting the church service into Luganda and as Joshua slam-dunked the basketball and as Zziwa  showed us around the woodshop at the Vocational School.

My heart melted as I watched Joshua snuggle the babies at Hope House. My heart soared as I watched their 3 “older brothers” lovingly interact with my two children, Jonas and Alea. It is such an honor to sponsor these young men who are so talented, skilled, hard-working, others-focused, giving, loving, kind, courteous, polite and humble (I know that list is really repetative, but I can’t help gushing!) We are so impressed with how New Hope is raising their boys to become Godly leaders, loving husbands, caring fathers, and contributing community members.

Anissa and Alea enjoying real African tea with their 5 New Hope girls!

Alea Haywood (age 10) loves tea parties. She loves all things pink. She loves fancy dishes and pretty napkins. So it was only natural for her to want to have a tea party with the 5 girls we sponsor through New Hope. She figured that is was rare for them to have something “fancy” and special just for them, so for months before our family left for Africa, she had it all planned out. Into the suitcase went a sparkly pink tablecloth, floral napkins, lace doilies and pretty paper plates.

The big moment finally arrived when we had a “girls only” day with all 5 of our sponsored girls. Our menu included passion fruit and mango gifted to us from families of the day students we sponsor, cinnamon sugar tortilla chips made by Kiweewa Christopher who we sponsor (David Family), mango jam (that we helped make and bought from Pacific Family) served on mendazes that we bought from Kato Joshua’s canteen (who we also sponsor) that he bought from the David Family.

For drinks we served little glasses of strawberry Fanta (for the pretty bubbles) also bought from the canteen and, of course, hot African tea with milk and sugar from the guest house! I loved the fact that all the food was made by, given to us by, or bought from (to help support) African families through New Hope! Not only did it make the tea party authentic, but it also made it feel like a community event! We have learned that most girls in Uganda tend to be less talkative, so though the chatter was minimal at our tea party, smiles were plentiful as we all enjoyed our delicious treats! Love and warmth abounded around the table that day as we reveled in the gift of just being together!

Anissa Haywood (mother of Alea), Lake Geneva, WI

The girls all showing their finished products (headbands, necklaces, and bracelets)! Now they're ready for the Tea Party!

Alea Haywood (age 10) loves to sew and make crafts. For months before her family’s trip to New Hope to meet the ten students they sponsor, she was planning ideas of activities she could do with the 5 girls. She had recently learned to finger knit (with yarn) and thought that would be a fun craft for them to all do together, so she packed a bag of different colored yarn to bring along. On their “girls only” day, Alea taught them all how to make headbands, bracelets, and necklaces by knitting with their fingers. All 5 girls were very focused on their work and proud of their finished products. They loved learning a new skill and making something pretty that they could wear to the fancy Tea Party Alea had planned for them!

submitted by her mom, Anissa

p.s. We told one of the girls it would be a great craft she could teach the rest of the girls in Calvary Family, and they could make headbands to sell as an extra business!

Anissa & Alea with the 5 beautiful young ladies they sponsor

Joey Haywood, a 3rd grade teacher in Lake Geneva, WI, graduated from grad school in Dec. 2007. With the raise he got from

The Haywood family with their 10 Kasana Kids!

earning his Master’s degree, he decided to start sponsoring our 10 “Kasana Kids” in January of 2008. It is amazing how quickly the love grows from simply praying for and writing letters to them. Before leaving on our trip (which involved 2 weeks in Kenya, a trip out to Musana Camps, a visit with UCF in Kampala, and 2 weeks at Kasana), people would ask our son, Jonas (age 8), what he was most looking forward to about going to Africa. Without fail, he would answer “playing football with Zephaniah and Isa” (the 2 younger NHU boys we sponsor).

Ironically it was football (soccer) that stopped us from meeting them the first time we tried coming to Africa (the 2010 World Cup spiked the airfare and we couldn’t afford to buy plane tickets for our family of 4). We were overwhelmed with gratitude when God graciously allowed us to come this past summer (2011) and finally meet each of the amazing children we had grown to love over the past 3 1/2 years! What joy it was to hear their voices, hold their hand, hug them, laugh with them, worship with them, pray with them, eat with them, and play with them!

"Brothers from Another Mother" but united by the same Heavenly Father.

It was truly a dream come true! Now that we better know their personalities and have gotten to know them on a much deeper level, our letters and prayers will be so much more personal! The 10 days went way too quickly and was simply not enough time with our kids; we are already planning when we can come back for the whole summer. As heart-wrenching as the good-byes were, we know it was really a “see you later”….

About the author:
Joey & Anissa Haywood currently reside in Lake Geneva, WI (they are from Indiana originally and have lived in Oregon & Alaska previously).  They attend Andrea Spark’s (Musana Camps) home church. They celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary  (June 2011) with a 5 week mission trip to Africa (2 weeks in Kenya, 3 in Uganda) along with their children: Alea (10) and Jonas (8).  Joey is a 3rd grade public school teacher and Anissa is a Sign Language interpreter in the community (prior to having children, she was a Deaf Ed. teacher).  They enjoy traveling (via road trips in their little car and tent camping) around the U.S. to see God’s amazing creation. They are a very mission-minded family, striving to raise globally-minded children and making intentional lifestyle choices so they can use the abundance God has given them in the U.S. to bless those less fortunate in 3rd world countries.  They can’t wait to return to Africa to revisit the children they sponsor in Uganda and Kenya!

December 2010 New Hope Uganda Sponsorship

Thanks to all of our sponsors for your partnership in the transforming work God is doing in the lives of New Hope sons and daughters. Thanks also to those who are helping support the New Hope Staff who give of what God has given them to these children. There are still more sponsorship opportunities so we encourage you to tell a friend:)

Kasana Children’s Center Basic Child Sponsorship
We praise God that 366 our Kasana Children’s Center children are sponsored. We have 10 who do not yet have sponsors.

Kasana Children’s Center Post-Primary Child Sponsorship
We praise God that 38 of our secondary and post-secondary children have second sponsors. 101 do not yet have second sponsors.

Kobwin Children’s Center/Amuria Child Sponsorship
We praise God that 18 of our children at Kobwin Children’s Center are sponsored. We have 4 children who do not yet have sponsors. We praise God that 7 of our children in Amuria are sponsored. We have 7 who do not yet have sponsors.

Baby House Sponsorship
We have 20 sponsors for the Baby House. We could use 10 more sponsors to meet the current Baby House costs.

New Hope Uganda Staff Sponsorship
We praise God that 19 of our staff have sponsors. We have 65 staff who do not yet have sponsors.

 Family Group Sponsorship
We praise God for our seven Kasana Family Groups. Each of the 7 are in need of sponsorship.
We praise God that our Kobwin Family Group has a half sponsorship. We have a half sponsorship remaining.

We praise God for the many sponsors who God uses to help New Hope bring the Fatherhood of God to the fatherless each day. There are still sponsorship opportunities available.

If you are a sponsor or are considering becoming one and have questions about how the sponsorship funding is used in even more detail than is on our website, please contact us and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Kasana Children’s Center Basic Child Sponsorship

We praise God that 372 of our Kasana Children’s Center children are sponsored. We have 23 who do not yet have sponsors.

Kasana Children’s Center Post-Primary Child Sponsorship

We praise God that 31 of our secondary and post-secondary children have second sponsors to help meet the higher costs of post-primary education. 117 do not yet have second sponsors. We have an especially large need among our sons and daughters who are currently attending university or vocational school or will be starting this September.

Kasana Children’s Center Hope House (Baby House) Sponsorship

We praise God that we have 17 regular sponsors of Hope House.  13 more sponsors are needed to fully fund our current operating costs.
Note: These costs can and do change as we take in more babies and when we move into our new Hope House (currently under construction) this number will increase as we will be able to care for more babies.

Kobwin Children’s Center/Amuria Child Sponsorship

We praise God that 19 of our children at Kobwin Children’s Center are sponsored. We have 2 children who do not yet have sponsors.

We praise God that 11 of our children in Amuria are sponsored. We have 3 who do not yet have sponsors.

New Hope Uganda Staff Sponsorship

We praise God that 19 of our staff have sponsors. We have 65 staff who do not yet have sponsors.

Family Group Sponsorship

We praise God for our seven Kasana Family Groups. Child Sponsorship primarily covers education costs, and that even with growing much of our own food, there are still significant costs to raise a family of 16-20 kids. In light of that, we have recently started our Family Group Sponsorship program. We would antipate that this would typically be taken on by a small group, missions committee or church, but is certainly open to individuals as well. For more details, visit our website or contact our sponsorship office.

Each of the 7 Kasana Family Groups are in need of sponsorship.

We praise God that our Kobwin Family Group has had a recent commitment for half sponsorship. We have a half sponsorship remaining.