Dream of a Child » News & Events

Christmas in Acholi Land 2011!

Lori — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:22:51 +0000

Last year our Christmas in Acholiland was a huge success!! We hope that 2011 is exactly the same. Please share this link with everyone you know!

I tuned my radio to my favorite station today and they are playing Christmas music from now until the holiday is over. It is the time of year when holiday music rings through car stereos and shopping experiences are full of jingle bells, decorations and lights bringing a warm atmosphere and new life to homes across America as families gather together. We go on a mission for that perfect gift for our loved ones, and then overdo it just because we can. This is the season of Love, resounding Joy and the season of family.

We reported this last year: Last year the average American spent the following during the holiday:

Gift Recipients
Family members: $431
Themselves: $119.82
Friends: $94.52
Miscellaneous: $43.50
Co-workers: $26.70
Total: $750.68

These are only the gifts we gave. As we all know, there are houses and yards to light up; trees to decorate; cards to write or print, stamp and mail; flowers, food and candy to buy; travel plans to confirm…and on average each American family that traveled spent $2000 for the holiday last year!

As we watch our children open their gifts on Christmas, please remember the 147 million orphans worldwide who won’t receive a gift from a parent, or anyone.

What about the orphans? The children with no family, in war affected areas, children orphaned by AIDS, children who have no idea about Christmas?

You can make Christmas possible for these children!

These are children who suffer daily just through their daily life. As we celebrate this season with our families we must remember those who cannot and will not be celebrating. But we have an opportunity to change that for a few children in Northern Uganda, and you can help!!! This holiday season remember our Acholi children who live in survival mode each day.

Some of these children for the first time ever, will receive the love of God through new shoes, new mattresses and a family Christmas feast!!!

Would you consider giving if your gift didn’t include something that goes under a tree? What if your gift allowed children to rest above the ground cleanly and safely as they sleep on a new mattress replacing filthy rags over mattresses soaked with urine, mud and years of wear? What if your gift allowed children to walk for miles without their feet touching soil. New shoes would bring new life to these precious souls. What if your gift would allow the children to eat until full without worry that there will never be any more??

Only you can help us make this happen for our children! You do not need to have a PayPal account to donate. Simply select Pay by Credit Card Option after clicking the button.

Here is what we need to make this happen:

$250 for the bull (yes a bull) for the celebratory feast They will also dry the left over meat for future meals

Donate a Bull or a Part of the Bull to the Children:

$25 each sleeping mattress per child and caretaker (They need about 30)

$30 for each child to have shoes, clothing and pay for their meals for the next month (there are 35)

$50 for each caregiver that has worked without any pay whatsoever for every single day. This will give them encouragement and allow them to buy necessary items they need for their own lives. (there are 4 of these) Please ask yourself how can you help us make a difference this Holiday for these children? How can we bless the adults that care for them selflessly without pay?

Donate Any Amount to the Christmas Celebration in Acholiland!!

We need to buy the following so any amount of donation can go towards that!:

Bales of used clothing $300.00
Entertainment (we hire a stereo system that will cost us $250.00
Other Food: 1 sack of rice $150.00, cooking oil $45.00, sodas $150.00, potatoes $50.00

Make payable to “Little Miracles International” on the “for” identification line of the check, please write the project name “Christmas in Acholiland” and send to:

Christmas in Acholiland
Little Miracles International
PO BOX 19776
Amarillo, Texas 79114

What in that great list of gifts of American spending each year above, can you give up to give a needy at risk child this season?

The children deserve what we can afford, and we must show them the love of God on this holiday season.

Christmas in Acholi Land, You CAN Help!!

Lori — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:05:40 +0000

Last year the average American spent the following during the holiday:

Gift Recipients
Family members: $431
Themselves: $119.82
Friends: $94.52
Miscellaneous: $43.50
Co-workers: $26.70
Total: $750.68

As we watch our children open their gifts on Christmas, please remember the 147 million orphans worldwide who won’t receive a gift from a parent, or anyone.

What about the orphans? The children with no family, in war affected areas, children orphaned by AIDS, children who have no idea about Christmas?

You can make Christmas possible for these children!

For the first time ever they will receive the love of God through new shoes, new mattresses and a family Christmas feast!!!

Only you can help us make this happen for our children! You do not need to have a PayPal account to donate. Simply select Pay by Credit Card Option after clicking the button.

Here is what we need to make this happen:

$250 for the bull (yes a bull) for the celebratory feast They will also dry the left over meat for future meals

Donate a Bull or a Part of the Bull to the Children:

$25 each sleeping mattress per child and caretaker (They need about 30)

$30 for each child to have shoes and pay for their meals for the next month (there are 30)

Donate Any Amount to the Christmas Celebration in Acholiland!!

Make payable to “Little Miracles International” on the “for” identification line of the check, please write the project name “Christmas in Acholiland” and send to:

Christmas in Acholiland
Little Miracles International
PO BOX 19776
Amarillo, Texas 79114

What in that great list of gifts of American spending each year above, can you give up to give a needy at risk child this season?

The children deserve what we can afford, and we must show them the love of God on this holiday season.

Call to Action: Acholi Children of Northern Uganda

Lori — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:35:42 +0000

Acholi Orphans

I’ve just had the most amazing experience, meeting some of the poorest of the poor, the neediest of the needy and loving on children from the depths of Northern Uganda. I will never forget these little tribal children nor will I ever forsake them in their desperate need. We will immediately begin a sponsorship program with these children and I’ll let all of you know soon how you can help. Their faces will haunt me forever. I bought them 100 kilo sacks of rice, maize beans and posha, soap and salt. They get no meat protein.

I love these children now and I cannot imagine their life without our help. We must do more. They have qualified nurses but absolutely no medicines. My heart has been changed, I’ve seen and I cannot forget.

These children do not go to school, sleep in mud/thatch roof huts, haul water on their heads for miles and yet they are joyful. This by far has been the most humbling trip I’ve ever been on. I want you to know these children and help me pray for them. They are cared for by a community granny and two nurses who love them. This orphanage was founded and solely supported by a 24 year old former child soldier who cannot stand to see the children lost and without someone to care.

They sang and danced and drummed and told song stories to me. Although there was a language barrier the laughter filled the sweltering Ugandan air. They were joyful. Yet they had nothing. They were behaved. They were shy and lovely.

I had a disturbing mail regarding the orphans residing in Pader District. My children are sick.

When I arrived in Northern Uganda what I found there broke my heart. Children tragic victims of dozens of family members adults and children abducted and turned into soldiers, or brutally killed by the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) The AIDS epidemic has also orphaned hundreds of thousands of children there along with the desperate conditions that invite illness. The conditions for the orphans and in the IDP (Displacement Camps) are deplorable. Dirty water, walking for miles for food and water. All are riddled with parasitic infections in their little intestinal systems. No medical care. Everything is filthy. Only means of living is simply to survive to the next day. That is a huge task and almost impossibility each day. Before I arrived the children were maybe getting one meal a day. Yet they were so joyful. When I asked the children if they had questions for me, one raised her hand and jumped up and asked, “mama will you help us?”

Tearfully my resounding answer, yes! I now have 20 children in Northern Uganda.

Little Miracles/Dream of a Child needs your help.

Twenty lovely orphaned children of the Acholi Tribe from 3 and up are in serious need. Total desperation. They have food only for 3 more weeks. (I’ve personally fed them for a month) They have no clothing but what is on their backs, and some of their little bottoms were out of the clothing due to the seams not holding up. Their clothing is ripped apart. They are riddled with various parasites, typhoid, cholera, HIV and filthy situations. Their conditions are worse than you can see on television commercials assisting children in Africa. There are two qualified nurses caring for these children but absolutely no medicine for them to use if the children get sick. They suffer in silence with no one to love them. I’m about to change all of that.

We now have children sick. This is a matter of life and death for them. If they become dehydrated or weak, the nurses must put them on their backs and walk 18 kilometers to help. These children are so very rural.

I will be purchasing first line medical kits to be put together in Kampala, Uganda and then shipped up by bus to the children this week. In these kits will be Typhoid and Cholera medication, Malaria treatment, antibiotics, anti-parasitic medication, anti-febrile medication, fungal cream for infections, first aid supplies antibiotic ointments and bandages and HIV first line medications. I will prepare the children for individual evaluations if I get enough donations.

I also plan on having a mobile ambulance built that they can put on a bicycle so they can get children to medical care quickly. The other alternative we do not want to think about. These children deserve someone’s love and care! Please partner with me!

If you can only donate a couple of dollars this will help so very much. I appreciate anything you can do to help. God bless you all.

Please Donate Now! Your donation will go directly to assist the children and will be tax-deductible. Little Miracles International, Inc. is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization.

You can send an instant payment by PayPal.

You may pay by check: Make payable to “Little Miracles International” on the “for” identification line of the check, please write the “Acholi Orphans” and send to:

Humanitarian Projects
Little Miracles International
PO BOX 19776
Amarillo, Texas 79114

Philanthropy Books Donates 20% May Sales

Lori — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:46:30 +0000

The dear people of Philanthropy Books, a Texas Organization local to Little Miracles International, have chosen our organization to donate 20% of the profit of their sales for May books to LMI/Dream of a Child.

I cannot thank this organization enough for surprising us with this blessing!

Please help them to help our special children by purchasing during the month of May!!

Helping Haiti’s Most Vulnerable

Lori — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:27:53 +0000

In the midst of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, we have posted a live news-feed in the right hand column of our site. Many families have called and emailed, wondering what can be done for Haiti ‘s orphans. We have chosen to join forces with International Child Foundation to support the orphanage Ruuska Village. There are teams preparing to travel and hand deliver supplies and money, the only safe way to transfer money at this time. All your donations are tax deductible through Little Miracles International, Inc.

If you wish to send tax-deductible checks:

Check made out to “Little Miracles International”

Haiti Earthquake Orphan Relief
Little Miracles International
PO BOX 19776
Amarillo, Texas 79114

Your tax-deductible donation will provide food, formula and medical supplies to orphans in Haiti. The need is great. Babies and children are living outside for fear of falling buildings. People are desperate. Everyone is at risk. The Red Cross and other aid organizations are attempting to reach orphanages but in many cases, are not there, yet. Injured children need medical care. Transportation is difficult and looters are stealing fuel. Please help. These children should not suffer starvation after losing their families, and then their orphanages. PayPal will come faster to our agency, but checks are also welcome!!!

Ruuska Village posted a month before the Earthquake. Our desire is to help the children and bring back the joy to this orphanage. All the children at Ruuska Village are safe at this time, however, the current situation is grim.

In order to understand why we cannot assist with adoption of these orphans I am re-posting an excerpt of an article located on Rainbowkids website written by Martha Osborne.

Many people hear of natural disasters in various parts of the world, and want to open their homes and hearts, via adoption, to children who have lived through them. While these well intentions are commendable, it is rarely possible or advisable, at least in the short term. The reasons are simple:

1. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, it is often difficult to ascertain that a child is truly an orphan. Parents may have become separated from their children in the confusion and may be in another refugee camp or just over the border. It is not ethical to place a child for adoption unless it is clear that no parent able to care for that child will be found. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will not grant an orphan visa to a child unless he/she clearly meets the definition of an eligible orphan; eligible orphan status cannot be considered if there is a possibility that a parent could provide care at the country’s normal standard of acceptability and did not purposely abandon or relinquish the child.

2. Even if it is clear that a child has no parent able to care for him/her, good adoption practice requires that attempts be made to place the child with extended family, members of the community, or others in his/her birth country. Intercountry adoption is appropriate only if a child is unlikely to find a permanent, loving family in his/her birth country. In addition, children may need to be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and international adoption may not be in their best interest at this time.

3. Ethical adoption practice requires that a child be considered legally relinquished or abandoned, and then legally adopted according to the laws of his/her country of citizenship. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, a country’s government may be in disarray and what resources are available may be deployed on projects such as providing safe water and food, caring for the injured, burying the dead, maintaining order, etc. Thus, the courts and other entities that could handle relinquishments and adoptions may not be functioning at all, or may be giving first priority to projects in other areas. Adoption cannot proceed in such an environment.

4. In the immediate aftermath of natural or man-made disasters, an area may not be safe for travel. Occasionally, U.S. government officials who review the legitimacy of adoptions and process exit visas are unable to work safely in a country. Moreover, even if staff and families might be willing to travel, civilian air and ground transport to and within an area might be unavailable.

5. Even if a country manages to get its legal system functioning and to identify parentless children, the process is long and thorough. The best interests of children who have been through traumatic situations is to receive immediate care within familiar surroundings. Families wishing to help children during this crisis may best do so by contributing to their loving care through a reputable charity or humanitarian group.

On a sad note, we have learned of one orphanage near the epicenter that has been completely destroyed. We were unable to confirm the name of the orphanage, and will add it to this article once confirmed. Several orphanages are taking the precaution of having the children and caretakers sleep outside in the yards or driveways. There are many orphanages that have been damaged, and are in need of the most basic of supplies, including diesel fuel to run generators, water and water purifiers, food, and antibiotics.

While the need to take in additional children is being considered by the orphanage staffs, it must also be noted that the caretakers of the orphanages are primarily Haitian women who have their own families to care for during this time of tragedy. Fortunately, we are hearing reports of local families coming forward in the less damaged areas to offer temporary care for the children of the orphanages. Though poor economically, it should be noted that the people of Haiti are a warm and loving people who recognize the needs of their community. They are reaching out to one another, offering their homes and care whenever possible.

Currently, the greatest challenge is getting the much needed supplies in and around the country. The easiest and most economic way to do so is to buy supplies in the Dominican Republic, Haiti’s nearest neighbor, and use emergency transport (by air and land) to reach the orphanages. This requires monetary donations, and the coordination of existing in-country charities and humanitarian-aid organizations. In short, donations to small, established organizations that have been working with orphanages for years, is the best way for donations to reach the children in an expedient manner. Most of these orphanages are small, housing from 12 to under 100 children.

While it is not possible to adopt Haitian children who have been separated from their families (due to their undetermined orphan status), there is still much that may be done to ease the suffering of these children. Please donate today through the donation button above or by check.

Sărbători fericite! Happy Holidays from the House of Angels, Romania

Lori — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:35:52 +0000

When Simona Stewart and I began to dream together about the possibility of the House of Angels so many years ago, with just huge hearts, empty pockets and seemingly impossible ideas, we could have never imagined all that we would undertake in the years to follow. I remember the promise I made to her that first day when we decided we would embark on this journey together, that she could always know that I would be there for her, and she returned that sentiment to me. We would step out in faith with this, and know that God would provide for what he wanted to come to fruition. Was that ever true! Because of that, a friendship beyond any measure formed across the ocean to the country of my own children’s birth. A friendship that has a bond of sisterhood with the orphans as it’s very core. I pay tribute to my friend Simona on this ending of a wonderful year full of great deeds and even still, such huge hearts.

The House of Angels would like to thank all of their supporters, donors, volunteers, friends, prayer partners and the staff that work tirelessly for the children so gently entrusted inside it’s strong walls. Thank you for this year of hope, this year of dreams that seemed unreachable, thank you for your support and generosity.

On New Years Eve, it is a Romanian tradition to leave a lamp alight on the New Year’s night until the dawn. This light has shined eternal each year during all of the years of the projects we have done. The light will continue to shine again this new year with your help. Fie ca lumina sărbătorilor să vă rămână în inimi tot anul Toate cele bune! Un an nou fericit! (May the light of the Holidays be in your hearts all year long! All the best! Happy New Year!)

Now HOA shares with you their most extraordinary year in photos:

The Science of Giving

Lori — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:02:23 +0000

My mother was a driving force in my early life of learning to serve and give to others. We were always taking in someone that was in need, giving a bed, a warm meal, sometimes to people we barely knew ate meals and slept in our home. We gave until there was no more. There was no fear or second thought, we always just gave. We had little, but always sacrificed it to share with others. I was raised this way, I am teaching my children to follow. My grandmother was the same, preparing meals for the elderly and faithfully delivering them every day.

It turns out that giving is good for you and your health!! CNN posted a very interesting article this month about charitable giving and volunteering.

If everyone gave time, money, talents or passion, what could that mean for individuals, communities, even the world?

“The power of giving is instantaneous, continuous and eternal,” he said. “When you die, you don’t take what you have.You take what you gave.”

Merry Christmas from Little Miracles!

Lori — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:09:33 +0000

Dear Donors and Supporters,

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. Each and every day we face with extreme courage and faith. We have so much hope for the future for the orphans and families we assist. Without you, all we have done would not have been possible! We pray that one day we won’t need our projects or that there is never a child to be found without love in this world. Until then we will continue to have broken hearts and do everything we can to make lives better.

Thank you for the great year and we wanted to let you know that tax receipts will go out in the first two weeks of January.

We will be posting an update of the Semipalatinsk Window project, Wish Upon a Star and House of Angels within a week.

We are still seeking Volunteers for the House of Angels! Please consider how you can help!

Please see a special Holiday Greeting from Little Miracles.

Merry Christmas and a bountiful and blessed New Year!

Lori Scott

Love Coffee? Love Kids? Help Orphans!

Lori — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:02:51 +0000

Our organization has opened a coffee storefront! When presented with this wonderful opportunity we were thrilled! Please consider buying coffee and making this a part of your giving.

Just Love Coffee Roasters is a company that provides fair trade specialty coffee, while helping orphans left behind and orphans soon to be adopted. Just Love Coffee Roasters is assisting Dream of a Child, by allowing us to sell their coffee to raise humanitarian funds.

The coffee is hand roasted upon order, and hand packed to deliver! They have a variety of different blends, and who doesn’t love coffee? If you or someone you know is interested in buying coffee, we would appreciate it! The coffee club allows us to have a constant fundraiser while you enjoy your morning brew every day of every month. You can also order individual coffees.

Funds from the purchase of these coffees will go to our projects as well as the JustLove projects in Ethiopia. You will be helping orphans around the world. We look forward to your help!

Please retweet if you would like to help us spread the word!

August 2009 Donors, We Are Honored!

Lori — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:26:03 +0000

Without the generosity of our donors, we would never be able to do the amazing things that we have been able to accomplish with the projects we undertake. We have some very long term donors that have been faithful to our projects. We appreciate your continued support. We also have new donors and some that send large and small donations. Please know that no matter your donation, each of you are essential in all that we do!

Wish Upon a Star
Jeanette Dubanowski
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Faragher

House of Angels
Greg and Michelle Smith
Beth Lipton
Susan Berger
Mr. and Mrs. Homer A. Gregory
Nancy Shephard
Carol Jansson
Brady and Anne Woody
Marcia McHenry
Richard and Debra Kruger in Memory of Mary Goodall
Michael Doheny
Gabriela Santa

Kazakhstan Window Project
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Clark

Kazakhstan
Michael and Cara Covert
Robert and Angela Kenner
Susan Knoblauch

Little Miracles International General Humanitarian Fund
Robert and Angela Kenner
Susan Knoblauch
Michael and Cara Covert