change the truth update

Good things continue to happen! The Change the Truth fund has grown to the point that we are ready to make our first contributions to St. Mary Kevin Orphanage Motherhood. I asked Michael to send me the names of six students who are ready to begin or continue secondary school (this level involves kids who are 12 – 16 years old) but cannot afford the fees. He has given me their names, along with a commitment to following their progress and keeping us abreast of their situations. We will make our first grants, thanks to the generosity of you, the readers of this blog. You are to be congratulated. This is an accomplishment I never dreamt would happen quite this soon! I am extremely grateful for your interest in and enthusiastic support of this project. You and I can only imagine the excitement and hope that these six children will feel because we simply got together and decided to change their truth. I only hope that many, many more children will benefit as we move ahead.

I am busy printing the photographs for the April exhibition. The show will open on April 27th at the Leopold Gallery, which has just announced that it will be relocating to the Brookside area of Kansas City. I am thrilled that the show will be in my own beloved neighborhood. We are planning a wonderful opening reception, including a performance by a local group of African drummers and the sale of beaded jewelry made by the children of St. Mary Kevin’s. A portion of the proceeds of all print sales are already committed to the Change the Truth Fund.

Susan, a filmmaker from Minneapolis, is headed to Uganda in three weeks and has graciously committed to spending a day at St. Mary Kevin’s to create some footage of the grounds, the children, the teachers, etc. for use in the fund raising presentation I’ll be putting together this spring. She will also take pictures of the children who have become pen pals to many of you. I’ll be sure to get those to you pen pal correspondents in late February! She will also take pictures of and speak with the children we’ll be sending to secondary school. I think it will be nice for us all to be able to see these children’s faces and to hear their stories. I think that what you will find so inspiring about them is that what they want, more than anything, more than an electronic gizmo, more than a car and more than cool clothes is a clean, pressed uniform, some books and the opportunity to learn.

Please consider sharing information about Change the Truth with someone you know who might be interested in learning more about the orphanage and how to help out.