As the year draws near, it is time to take stock. What a year it has been, yet again full of surprises but never without hope. Yet again we took steps well out of our depth and are overwhelmed with emotion of the impact we had on the lives of the children. Yet again we dedicated heart and soul (and many many hours) to the little (and not so little ones) in Mozambique.

This year, I thought I would bring the financier in me and share a few numbers. Let’s stop for a moment to picture 2022 for our Sponsored Children:

• 12 thousand family baskets
• 60 thousand kgs of rice
• 20 thousand kgs of flour
• 12 kg of beans
• 24 thousand soap bars

With a mission so difficult, the end is not always near. We are working every day to tool each child and family to break the cycle of poverty. Through education and nutrition, we believe this will be possible one family at a time. With this long end in sight, we spend a lot of time thinking about what else we can do, and too little thinking about the lives that are already being changed every day.

Changing lives is precisely at the centre of our actions. And for that, we have also changed ourselves, grown as a team, pushed ourselves further. We launched one of our largest projects feeding 1500 children 3x a week. We lost a bit of sleep on it, but here is the outcome:

• 120 thousand meals provided at São Vicente School
• School absenteeism went from 11% to 2% in only 1 year
• 150 thousand meals provided at Santa Luisa Marillac school

The list goes on as I go through each program – after-school support, pre-schools, uni scholarships, HIV center, housing. I won’t get stuck on numbers.

Through our 18-year history, we focused on one story at a time. But the bigger picture reminds us of the large number if lives we are changing. Stories are behind every single number, and with your help, we will have many more to bring in 2023.

For now, it is time to celebrate, time to be grateful. For all of you that were there with us this year, thank you. Thank you to our team, our donours, our partners. Thank you for our children and families, who make our work worthwhile as they fight for their own chance in life.