With Thanks! CDO update

December 15, 2011

Thanks to your generosity, $1700 was donated to CDO. I am touched, and the folks at CDO were even more tickled.

I can report that the money was spread over several projects they’ve got going on.

Desks were bought for a new classroom to support their expanding English teaching program. Since we were here 5 months ago, we all can see a huge improvement in the kids’ English communication skills. They are in the process of further developing their English instruction program to include kids from the local community. I am in awe, that with everything they do, they are still finding a way to give back to the local community.

The back of the property has been plagued with no drainage, resulting in a standing water issue. Some of our donation was therefore used to purchase piping to re-direct the water into the local river. This will decrease the mosquito population, and will increase the play area for the kids.

One of the major goals of CDO was to give the villagers (the parents and other siblings of many of the kids at CDO), a better future. As I have mentioned before, the situation in the village is bleak. As former refugees from the years of conflict in this country, these people have been forgotten. CDO and the villagers have been working for a while now trying to secure some land to call their own. Recently 5 hectares of land was purchased and donated to CDO. This will allow them to proceed with an agricultural project which is exciting in many respects; it provides land for a community centre where a school can be built, and the project itself will provide employment for the villagers; two very important factors for building a viable community. A significant portion of our donation has been earmarked for this project, specifically for clearing the land (all done by local labour), in preparation for the arrival of livestock.

So I am pleased to report that the money was used to fund a variety of projects that will benefit the immediate needs of the children, the local community and the long term planning of building a better future for these families. Unfortunately, I am not able to include photos of these projects, since we’ve experienced some technical issues, but I will post some once we are home.

With many thanks,
The Schplatts