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I
f you shop on Amazon,
you can now visit
and select International Children's Network as your charity. Anytime you purchase eligible items through Amazon Smile, %.5 of the price will be donated to ICN.
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Check out
Matsiko's Facebook page
for all choir updates, videos, and information on the coming theater production in Liberia that involves many of the past Matsiko children.
In order to help us stay in contact with you, please let us know of any changes to your mailing address
or email address.
If you would like to help ICN/Matsiko with our most pressing needs, please
email
us!
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INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S NETWORK
MATSIKO WORLD ORPHAN CHOIR
PO Box 7695
Covington, WA 98042
253-632-8181
[email protected]
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2018-2019 MATSIKO TOUR HAS BEGUN
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 23 children from all corners of the world have arrived to begin the next Matsiko World Orphan Choir USA Tour! Performances started on October 1st, and they will be traveling around the US until September 2019. Each child on the team has been selected from Liberia, Peru, India or Nepal to be an ambassador for the vulnerable children in need of sponsorship. They are all so excited to meet you and to bring hope to the 600 million orphaned and at-risk children worldwide. We are always looking for people to help set up accommodations and performances. If you would like to see the choir in your community, send an email to [email protected]. To see tour dates and locations, check out https://www.matsikochoir.com/2018-2019-tour-schedule. |
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BROADWAY TO AFRICA: BEYOND THEATER
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A HEARTFELT THANK YOU to all who donated towards the Broadway to Africa to Fight Poverty theater project. Because of your support, we were able to bring a team of highly skilled Broadway professionals from Broadway Artists Connection to Liberia. The children spent months auditioning and rehearsing at the ICN Center of Liberia before the artists arrived in full force to bring the production of The Wiz Jr. to life.
 Ten days of all-day rehearsals, mentorship, and plenty of fun not only gave the children of Liberia their first experience with theater, but also another medium of expression and hope. Since this was the first theater production in the country of Liberia, the venue was packed with excited parents and members of the community. Although the children were nervous, the crowd welcomed every song and line with their enthusiasm! The children gained more excitement and purpose with each line, and the production became something much bigger than they ever could have imagined!
Imagination is hard to come by in conditions where poverty and despair run rampant, but it is a vital tool to see a better future. Thanks to Broadway to Africa, Matsiko, and other such opportunities extended through ICN Centers, children can exercise this imagination towards hope and inspire their families and communities to do the same. Much like the journey of the Yellow Brick Road, we all find that we have what we need within us, we just need to journey together. What we have seen through this work in the community is that hope has a way of catching fire and igniting change in an entire region. Thank you for being part of this work!
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LET THEM BE CHILDREN:
ICN'S FIGHT AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
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Through the years of working with vulnerable children in high-risk and high-poverty regions, ICN has increasingly encountered a challenge in the regions where we offer sponsorship: Human Trafficking. Human trafficking is often associated in the media with kidnapping. But we have found
over the past several years that the majority of trafficking happens within the family. Parents cannot afford to readily keep their children in school or pay for their basic needs, so they sell them to a more affluent family in hopes of a better life for the child. In most circumstances, the people buying
the children are harsh, neglectful, and abusive towards the children. This year for Giving Tuesday, ICN focused on providing ways for children and their families to avoid this situation at all costs. The Let Them Be Children Campaign is about fighting for every child to have their childhood
and to carry their hopes for the future. Stay tuned for more updates on how you can be involved in fighting against Human Trafficking this holiday season.
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UNIVERSITY SPONSORSHIP SPOTLIGHT
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 Ursula Teresa Taco Sarayasi is a bright young lady in ICN's sponsorship program who is deeply interested in helping the children of Peru. She has seen firsthand the challenges that the children of the Colca Canyon face, including trafficking, abuse, family instability, and generational alcoholism. She is currently studying towards a degree in Psychology to help these children overcome the traumas they have faced in their young lives. Her hope is to empower children to be resilient and tenaciously pursue a better future. We are still seeking additional sponsorship for Urusla so that she can complete her degree and help the children of Peru. If you are interested in sponsoring her education, please email us at
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WAYS TO GIVE
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As the holiday season approaches, you may be thinking about doing some yea r-end giving. Please consider ICN and Matsiko as you make these generous donations. There are many different ways you can help, including buying Christmas gifts for the Matsiko kids to enjoy as they celebrate in southern California, helping meet the needs of the choir as they are travelling, giving extra support or gifts to your sponsored child, or simply giving to our most needed projects which include building after school centers and digging water wells to provide clean drinking water. Donations can be made on our website at www.matsikochoir.com/donate or by calling our office at 253-632-8181.
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CHRISTMAS WISHLIST
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 If you would like to send a gift to your child or another child in need this Christmas, please do so here:
ICN Staff Members in each home/village will purchase and deliver a special gift to your child. Some children's homes do not allow unequal distribution of gifts. In these homes your gift will be used to give all the children a special Christmas gift or event. |
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We cannot thank you enough for your continued love and support of the children. We are able to continually offer new opportunities for our world's neediest children because of your life-changing support. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Don Windham
INTERNATIONAL CHILDRENS NETWORK
MATSIKO WORLD ORPHAN CHOIR |
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