Food

We need food.

HOCET has grown like, well, like a bubble and many, many, many more children than was originally imagined are being served and this is wonderful.

However, for all the growth, for the all the buildings, for all the "programming" and for every campaign to meet some unique need respective to growth there is one thing we have neither a targeted campaign for or any real commitment: Food.

One thing I have realized during my time here is that the churches, at least those from abroad, is really where it's at if you want to generate a lot of funds to help some far-flung place. Sure, you can get the secular world to huddle together around a romantic notion or an emergency; you can get half the world to donate $70 if you give them a concert. But if you really want a volunteer team who's supported, who can command a use of funds in a moment's notice, who can get their expenses covered regularly by a single request to their loved ones: seek ye the Evangelicals.

However, from church support here, it seems that, while everyone has a heart for supporting the mission and work of the orphanage, not one, so far, seems able to produce a commitment. That the country is poor, that just about every church is striving for a building of it's own, for a larger building, for another building... that there are unique challenges every church must face to truly serve its congregation - these all stand as very real pressures on overall ability to give. But it seems to me that, for churches in our community, to have a small donation, every month, to meet food needs for HOCETs population, this should not be impossible.

...so what does HOCET do to make this happen? Well, grow more slowly, for one. But that's in the past. Perhaps by making the churches in their community A Part of the HOCET community with something that generates just this thing. A document with HOCET at the heart and churches listed around it with a goal amount, displayed in food amounts and cash figures, might be a truly worthy campaign to conduct. The pastors could present this to their congregations or superiors if they felt it was completely within reason.

What I want them to understand is that their commitment to an annual campaign does not, in fact, endeavor to offer sustainability for the needy. Especially when that campaign is generally targeted around the holidays: an overabundance of perishable food items in November and December, unfortunately, does nothing to feed a child in January. To supplement our pantry our founder - and each of them knows this - spends time every month trying to secure an invitation to a church for a concert by our Youth Choir. Our children are literally singing for their supper. Currently, this is the only sure-fire income-generating venture HOCET can conduct regularly.

If 12 churches committed to meeting food needs for one month of the year, each a set month every year, we could be fine. If 10 churches committed to donating food or money - a much smaller amount of either - every month... well, then our Choir could perform merely out of love rather than from need for what has been given like children performing for their parents.

I'm not the first to think of this here at HOCET; Hezekia has tried in his way and one reason for failure might have been from lack of follow-up and from any real relationship (these churches are close but HOCET has no regular presence in any one of them). Now we're improving email communication and updates, at least, and I figure we should try again.

Every time we talk campaigns, as soon as we've settled on some, I hear, "the children have no food. We have no money", and it's true. Some think finding money for something else will take away a burden but securing yourself a year's supply of socks will never yield you a sack of beans. We get by but, enough, this isn't something for the foreigners to provide: Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Kinondoni, you must feed your children.

~aB