Every one has an opinion

This campaign we are doing is just a part of moving forward at A Future and a Hope. We are excited about this journey ahead, and it is all part of doing what we do to care for orphans and help locals in Kenya.

It is interesting to note that during this campaign, for some reason so many people are giving us feedback as to HOW we are supposed to do this fundraiser. Everyone has ideas. We actually appreciate that people want us to succeed and care enough to give their helpful tips. But most of the ideas are typical of the advertisements that pull on people's emotions. I find some of the ideas sad, and some just not our style.

For example: One kind hearted person feels that our campaign is too 'happy' and we look as if we aren't suffering enough. He suggests we take photos of our Kenyan daughters looking drab and sad with dirt on them and really playing the 'poor orphan' side to manipulate people emotionally in order to have people give.

He even was kind enough to put a video together with stock photos to get his idea across. I felt grateful that he took the time to do the video, and being the people pleaser that I am, I didn't want to crush his efforts. I informed him it is not our style to do that sort of thing, but maybe, I could send him some pictures that he could try to work with...*

I tried to get some photos for him... but the reality is... we take pride in the fact that our children at a Future and a Hope, which is also our personal home, are looking GREAT and are healthy, happy, well adjusted people. They do NOT look like the kids they were when we took them in 8 years ago.

Even our animals are happy! They came to us skinny and sick, just like our children, and now are healthy with meat on their bones. We are raising funds to expand their enclosures before they get overcrowded, not after the fact.

So faking it just to manipulate people won't work for us. We are REAL. If you don't want to see healthy happy children, then give to a corrupt orphanage some where where the owners are taking the funds instead of giving it to the children in good food, clean clothes, fun activities, and good education. There are plenty of corrupt orphanages out there. Trust me, we rescued two of our orphans-no-more from such homes.

But just for a bit of fun, here's our attempt at getting sad photos:

I asked them to sulk...

And they all got the giggles!

 

Here they are trying to be solemn, but... they still look happy.

If you ask my children how desparately they want more electricity, being the modern teens that they are, you better believe they want it! Not to mention a shower, bathtub with a bath room, floors, and I even included a few clothes for them in the campaign. They want this as much as ever.

Now, this photo was just how I found Butterfly. The state of her feet and you cannot see how brown her previously white shorts are... well, this is REAL. We really DO struggle with our dirt floors, limited electricity, and lack of plumbing.

But that doesn't mean we have to whine about it.

We just do what we have to do. In the mean time, we encourage ourselves knowing that folks out there really do care and hope with us that we can have healthier, cleaner, more efficient living conditions for ourselves and for the animals in the near future.

It is the next step for us on The Shire at A Future and a Hope. So we are doing a campaign to move forward!

It helps a great deal when people share our campaign with others, too.

 

*FYI, friend who wants to do the video, we can still work on it, just change the focus from desparation (many times I feel desparate, but I don't want to portray that), to this is the next phase for A Future and a Hope, and we are moving forward.