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Egypt’s Kids, Music & ‘Pure Joy’ — Crestin Andrews Recalls Serve to Learn
Dear Friends, This "a picture is worth a 1,000 words" entry is one of my favorites because it shows how Serve to Learn gives volunteers opportunities to use their talents to play with, empower, and love the world's greatest kids! Play an instrument? Draw? Tell funny...

Through These Kids ‘I Learned How to Love’ — Nancy Gwany Thinks Back on a Serve to Learn Transformation
Dear Friends, I have some exciting news! Applications for the Jan. 22 - Feb. 13, Serve to Learn trip are now available and are due by Nov. 15. For those of you who have never heard of Serve to Learn, here's what it is in a nutshell: three weeks of service in Upper...

‘I Love These Kids’ — Marianne Sawires Writes About Her Serve to Learn Children
Dear Friends, Pictures are only as powerful as the emotions they convey, and this picture, from the July Serve to Learn trip, is powerful because it conveys the most powerful emotion of all— love. Every year, youth from all over the world meet in Egypt to experience...

‘We Need to Do Our Bit to Give Them the Opportunities They Lack’ — Jessica Hanna Talks About Serve to Learn’s Children
Dear Friends, This summer I traveled around Egypt asking our kids "What would you like to be when you grow up?" "Doctor! Engineer! Pharmacist!" were their answers everywhere I went. Our kids are smart, and they work hard to do well at school — in fact, this "a...

‘We Don’t Need Fancy Shoes or Phones…’ — Jessica Ayob Reflects on Serve to Learn
Dear Friends, A few weeks ago, 25 Serve to Learn volunteers from five different countries came together in Egypt for three weeks to serve, teach, and play with the world's greatest kids! A lot of things happened during those three weeks... including an epic water...

A Woman Who’s Not Waiting for Handouts — And Proud of It
A giant drawing of St. George looms over visitors to Susan's home, but she's not waiting for heroes on horseback to save her family. She's taking her fate into her own hands — she's had to, since the artist, her husband, passed away two years ago. When I first met...

‘Tema Has No School for the Blind’ — And Why That’s Not Enough to Stop One of Our Kids
Dear Friends, To help build a worldwide network of advocates for the children, I visited South Africa June 24-26 to speak at the Annual Global Advocacy Forum of Compassion International. Below is my presentation. It was a great chance to explain our work in 55...

Education, Education, Education — That’s the Key
It's a muggy day in Matay, but no one hesitates to hug and crowd together for a photo. Here in Middle Egypt, girls and young women are used to the heat. It's just another challenge for these participants in the Valuable Girl Project, like coping with run-down schools,...

Empowering Girls & Strengthening Partners, Tamkeen-Style
I'm writing to share exciting news about our work with grassroots community groups in Egypt. This is happening through a new phase of Tamkeen, a Coptic Orphans project that works with these groups to empower young women in some of Egypt's most remote and...

The Libya Martyrs’ Children: An Update on the Difference You’re Making
I’m writing to update you on Coptic Orphans’ support for the children of the 21 martyrs in Libya. This story actually begins 16 years ago, when we met with H.G. Bishop Pevnotios. Most of the Libya martyrs’ children weren’t even alive then. But today, you will find...
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