Our lives are so much blended together, that I cannot even imagine myself without HOCT, nor HOCT without myself, nor myself without Mugoya Swaliki and all the good people working every day for this to happen.

Those children… they are not just photos. They are not just names. They are a part of my life and yours, they are endless nights of worry and tears, they are therapy sessions (that I attend), they are milestones, they are moments of joy and happiness.

Basti is deaf and he was once hit by a car; Igalo has hydrocephaly; Igulu is happy that his long-distance mommy has given birth to a baby-boy and he feels he has a brother. They have a story, hopes, and dreams. And this is why, when I give them all my energy, I feel that my life is not in vain.

It’s the beginning of a new week, and I am happy. Work has a good flow, our team is growing, more people are helping me and Mugoya and our sponsors are becoming more and more numerous. HOCT has a high level of trust and I am very grateful for it. 

We have ordered scholastic materials and they will reach tomorrow, they will be distributed to the children attending school. I can’t wait! I have always loved new pens, pencils and copy-books, and that feeling of returning to school and starting a new year. Our school is not ready yet but the children are attending other schools in the village and they are doing well. 

Children love to attend school. They don’t crib about it. They are well aware of the fact that school is their only chance to secure a better future for themselves.

Now that the day is almost done, the food distribution has been completed and the long-distance parents have received their photos; I work until later, to finish the reporting and to calibrate the files and the work for tomorrow. My work is hard, but beautiful and rewarding. I feel that I am giving something back to the world, and it matters.

Today, a lot happened.

We distributed food, we picked parcels from the post office, we called some of the long-distance parents, we talked to the children and we did our best to please everyone.

We don’t always manage that, of course. We don’t always manage to make everyone happy or to please everyone. But we do try our very best, each day.

HOCT is a registered charity, functionning legally, transmitting funds through visible and verifiable channels, following all the Anti-Money Laundering regulations and Counter-Terrorist Financing procedures. We work with contracts, everyone is paid fairly and we do not exploit workers / nor children.

The funds that you send are used to buy food, to pay tuition, medical treatments and anything else you may require for us to get. All our work is carefully documented each day, with photos, receipts, proof and extra-proof.

Sometimes, people would complain that the pictures look more or less the same. Excuse me, we do not have time for photo-shooting, this is not why we are here.

Some other times, people are upset that children do not smile. We do not ask them to, and they should not, if they do not wish to. They should not have to “perform” to get their food.

And finally, some people doubt that those children really take their food home. Well if you are able to make such a statement about my work, then it really means I haven’t done anything good in my life.

But those are passing incidents. Each day, 1000 + people interact with HOCT and our level of trust is high, because we do good, legal, solid work. I am who I say I am. I do what I say I do.

What about you – are you who you say you are?

When you save a little life, you save the world.

When I look back, each day, at the fruit of my work, I can’t believe how lucky I am, to be able to experience such kindness!

Children who have been saved from hunger. Children who have been saved from certain death.

To all of you feeding a child: you are doing what’s right in this wounded world. You are this world’s heroes!

Help One Child Thrive

We put all our energy into caring for children.

Day after day, without breaks, we distribute tons of food, quite literally.

It’s just another Tuesday. We accomplished our aims. You are loved.

What have you accomplished today?

We have worked hard, and we have loved much.

I love Wednesdays. It feels like I am in the very middle of things, surrounded by piles of hard work and plans that are about to be accomplished. Work is progressing well on all plans and we are growing steadily.

I love to look at my life in a similar way, and to see the fruit of all my efforts: children who have food, education and medical assistance; joyful efforts made by good people; generosity.

Life is beautiful.

It is a cold January day, but we worked with love and gratitude. Our beautiful children received food, wrote letters, spent time with us and read books from the library.

We registered new children in the program, and two more lives were saved.

We extend our deepest gratitude towards all HOCT friends and family!

Cold, cold, cold weather today, so we struggled to keep warm by working with vigor and good energy.

We are grateful and happy that our work goes on at a steady pace.

I am very grateful to my coworkers, Mugoya Swaliki for all the super-logistic work and distribution, and Mihaela Stoica for the beautiful media she does.

I am lucky to have the most beautiful children and the most perfect team!

Dear ones, another week of hard work has reached the end. We worked well and accomplished a lot today. We saved 5 more lives and I am glad and grateful that people trust HOCT and come to us in such great number.