Bolingo’s Goat Herd Grows
It’s a boy!! Bolingo Village’s newest baby goat, that is.
I’ll be honest; it’s been quite the ride getting to this point. After all, we’re not exactly dairy goat experts. But like always, we embarked on our dairy goat journey with loads of research, trial and error, and prayers. Here’s how we got here:
#GivingTuesday 2021
Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to supporting your favorite causes, and we hope we're one of yours!
This year, we're raising funds to provide welcome kits for new kids we will be welcoming home to Bolingo Village. We currently have space for 40 new kids! We're thrilled to expand the Bolingo family and with your help we can ensure we have everything they need for their transition to their forever home.
For more details on what your gift will provide, checkout the video below.
We'll see you all tomorrow!!
Hobbies of a Congolese Foster Mom
I'll be honest, our foster moms don't have a ton of free time to spend doing their favorite hobbies. I'm sure any mom's reading this can attest to this reality. However, it's so important to us as employers that our residential staff members are as happy with us as possible. That includes ensuring that they have time for themselves to do some of their favorite things.
Monthly Medical Exams at Bolingo
We all know the saying, "health is wealth." That reigns true for us at Global Orphan Foundation, especially when it comes to the kids who call Bolingo Village home. When we were planning to open Bolingo Village, we knew that implementing some form of consistent health care was a necessity. We just didn't know what it would look like exactly. Now, several years later, we feel like we've got a good handle on it. One component of our healthcare plan for these kids is monthly medical exams.
Bolingo Update: 2021 Building Projects
A few months ago, we announced that we were breaking ground on some new building projects in Bolingo Village. We're thrilled to tell you that this building phase is complete!! Here's what we built:
Caring for the Whole Child
Our goal with Bolingo Village has always been to care for the whole child. We're not just trying to house and feed the greatest number of children. That wouldn't be enough. We're trying to ensure that each child is happy. That we're helping them heal from their past traumas. That they're getting extra attention in areas that they need. Caring for the whole child means digging deeper than just a statistic because every child is so much more than that.
Meet Our Foster Moms
It’s no secret that we LOVE our foster moms. They’re part of what makes Bolingo Village work. They nurture and care for the kids like their own, help keep the village functioning properly, and liven the place up while doing it! So, we thought it would be fun to pay homage to these beautiful women who do so much. Enjoy!
Why We Love Plumpy’Nut
One of Global Orphan Foundation’s first programs was a nutrition program that we executed in Congolese orphanages. Through this program, we met Plumpy’Nut and all of its life-saving capabilities.
Expectations vs Reality: Shopping in DRC
What do you do if you need more laundry detergent? You pick up and go to the store, right? Unfortunately for us, it's not always that simple in Congo. Shopping seems like a mundane thing that would be relatively similar no matter where you are in the world but shopping in Congo can turn into a strenuous and frustrating process relatively quickly. Here are the realities of shopping in Congo:
Crops at Bolingo: How It’s Going
At the forefront of our farm plans has always been providing adequate nutrition for the children of Bolingo Village. Secondary to that is creating commerce, through an excess of crops. Through trial and error, hiring three new farmers, an irrigation system, and many strategic planning sessions, we think we’ve concocted an un-BEET-able equation for both an abundance of nutrition and potential for sustainable income.
Meet Papy!
Meet Papy, our head farmer at Bolingo Village. He is a hardworking sweetheart and has been with GOF since before the village was built. We sat down with Papy for an interview to get to know him better!
The Bolingo Kids: A few of their favorite things!
There’s nothing better than seeing the Bolingo kids do some of their favorite things. Since we can’t all be in Congo, we’ve brought Bolingo to you!
Let’s Talk About Snake Oil
What is snake oil and why the heck are we talking about it? That’s a great question. One that we had as well when our Village Manager mentioned it to us as a way to ward off snakes from our property. Yes, we have had some run-ins with snakes at Bolingo Village in Congo.
2 Weeks in Congo
Program coordinator, Kayla Shanks, catches us up on what happened on her two week trip to Bolingo Village earlier this month!
2020 Annual Report
With your help, we were able to accomplish A LOT this past year. Global Orphan Foundation’s 2020 annual report details these accomplishments amongst other ins and outs of our operations for the year of 2020.
5 Reasons You Should Care About DR Congo
What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the Democratic Republic of Congo? For some, it might be extreme poverty or disease. For others, it may be the violence-stricken turmoil in the east. While these are all, unfortunately, accurate depictions of DRC, we feel that it’s time that people learn a little bit more about the country we love so dearly.
Update: Campamento Mi Momento 2020
We have made the tough decision not to have Campamento Mi Momento this year. Our choice is out of an abundance of caution for our campers, counselors, and staff safety.
GOF in the Field: Trip Update
As always, the best part of the trip was seeing the kids play, laugh, and thrive. We currently have 19 children living between 3 homes, and we are happy to report that they are all A-OK!
Campamento Mi Momento 2019
We’ve just returned from another year of Campamento Mi Momento in Nicaragua. This program includes five days in a camp environment where we focus on providing girls with skills of leadership, goal-setting, proper coping, and relationship building. We’re excited to share this years’ experience with you!