Though Sadio suffered a mild stroke in July, she's back on her feet, fully operational once more, and sends her thanks to all of you who sent her their speedy recovery wishes.

During the summer, Sadio extended Ussoforal's reach to Takoma Park, Maryland where she taught African Dance at the Head Start program for elementary school children. She also organized a children's benefit workshop in Boston.

Throughout the summer, friends and workshop participants generously contributed clothing and school supplies for the Ussoforal children in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. 22 duffle bags of contributions have been shipped to Dakar, Senegal, and Sadio is currently in Tanzania on her way to Dakar where she will distribute the donations among to children in Dakar, Ziguinchor and Bissau. The University of Dayton, where Sadio's daughter Marie starred on the women's basketball team, also contributed 42 basketballs for the kids!

In addition, Sadio received direct sponsorship donations to cover the school fees for 20 Ussoforal children. Just $50 to $100 allows a child to attend school for an entire year, but even this small sum puts school out of reach for many children. So your sponsorship donations are all greatly appreciated.

Ussoforal in Bissau continues to conduct 3 adult literacy classes with 20 participants per class, the large majority of whom are women from the Plack 2 neighborhood. 6 volunteer teachers provide the instruction, 1 of whom participated in a Training of Trainers course offered by the Portuguese Cultural Center as a gesture of support to Ussoforal. 3 drumming and dance instructors also volunteer their support to Ussoforal in Bissau, one of whom has traveled from Senegal to strengthen the cultural exchange between the 2 countries.

Adult literacy classes continue to be conducted in borrowed classrooms, and the drumming and dancing classes still take place in the courtyard of Sadio's house. So the construction of the Ussoforal Social Center still remains a top priority for the group's further development. Any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated, as would any contributions to cover transport costs and additional didactic materials for the volunteer instructors. Every little bit helps a lot.

And if you are looking for a meaningful and highly satisfying African experience, Sadio would be thrilled if you could come and join her in her work with the children, for howver long your schedule would allow!

Sadio is soon to begin preparations for Ussoforal's 10th annivesary on March 30. Many local performers have already pledged their participation to support the group and to help make the children's dreams come true. You'll be hearing more about this in the next project update.

Thank you all so much for your continued support!

From January through April this year, Ussoforal's founder, Sadio Diatta Rosche, was in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. Over the course of the last 2 quarters of 2008 while in the United States, Sadio collected a quantity of donations from benefactors in the Washington and Boston areas in the form of clothing and school supplies which she had shipped to the project sites. Other contributions were in the form of sponsorships for specific children in the group to cover their school fees and other essential expenses. Sadio's stay in Africa was the opportunity to distribute these contributions, and to deliver the sponsorship contributions hand-to-hand to the children's parents, or to pay their school fees directly.

GlobalGiving donations helped to cover some of the cost of shipping the school supplies, and also made it possible for the group to expand the number of adult literacy classes provided to the children's parents from 1 class to 3 classes. It is the project's hope to be able to have a locale of its own rather than depending on borrowed space in a neighborhood school, but in the meantime, GlobalGiving's generous subscribers have made it possible to cover the transportation stipends allowing the volunteer teachers to provide the instruction.

Ussoforal officially came into being on March 30, 2000 when it was formally recognized and registered by the Government of Guinea-Bissau as a non-profit, non-governmental organization. So this year marked the group's 9th anniversary! It was celebated in style with dance performances by Ussoforal's children and numerous popular local singing artists who performed free-of-charge to show their support for the group. It was an opportunity for friends, family and neighbors to join together in the name of helping to make the children's dreams come true. The 10th anniversary next year, with your continued support, can only be an even bigger success.

On behalf of Ussoforal's children, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The children of Ussoforal have been busy performing since last project update. The 8th anniversary of the group brought together artists, diplomats and other supporters on March 29 and 30 to encourage the kids and to have a great time. Other performances include the European Union Headquarters in May, World Childrens Day June 1 at a local school before over 500 spectators, the French Cultural Center in July, and United Nations Development Program headquarters in October.

11 large duffle bags of school supplies and clothing donated by US-based supporters of the group were delivered to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. An additional 24 bags are on the way, all generous donations from individuals. Monetary donations received through Global Giving are covering some of the transportation costs.

In a newly-initiated activity, 67 women have enrolled in adult literacy classes organized by Ussoforal. The classes are currently being held in borrowed space in a local school pending the construction of the community center for which funds are being solicited through this Global Giving site.

Ussoforal's founder, Sadio Diatta Rosche, will soon return to Guinea-Bissau to gear up for the group's 9th anniversary on March 30, 2009, which will be commemorated with dancing and music from the children and guest stars on March 28 and 29, 2009.

8 volunteers provide their time as literacy teachers, dance instructors for the children and keeping the activities going. Another priority therefore is to generate funds to at least cover these volunteers' transportation to and from the Ussoforal sites.

So Ussoforal calls upon all of you to help support them through contributions toward
1) covering school fees for the children,
2) construction of a modest locale for the literacy classes and for dance rehearsals during inclement weather, and
3) reimbursement of the volunteers' transportation costs to encourage them to continue.

Thank you all very much for helping make these childrens' dreams come true!

The founder of Ussoforal, Sadio Diatta Rosche, returned to West Africa after several months in the United States promoting the Ussoforal Group. After spending January in Senegal, she has now arrived in Guinea-Bissau.

Sadio brought back 9 huge duffle bags crammed with clothing and school supplies donated by generous contributors primarily from the Washington and Boston areas where she was promoting African dance and Ussoforal's community strengthening activities. These donations are now being distributed among Ussoforal's children in Ziguinchor, Senegal and the Plack 2 neighborhood in Bissau. In addition, Sadio has been hand delivering cash sponsorship donations for specific individual children chosen by US benefactors directly to the families to be applied toward school fees or other basic necessities.

March 30, 2008 will mark the 8th anniversary of the Ussoforal Group, and Sadio is now busy making preparations for the commemoratory celebration that will be held March 29 and 30 - confirming commitments from the local artists who have volunteered their time to perform, and contacting the numerous government and international organizations who will attend (and contribute).