Happy Newish Year

Greetings from sunny (today) Novi Sad, Serbia. After the double Christmas/New Years Holiday craziness things have settled down a bit. Tho’ the weather cannot decide if it is Winter or Spring. We have had days where it would snow in the morning, be in the 50s in the afternoon, rain, then snow again that night. There are only 50 days until Spring arrives, not that we are counting.

So, what’s new over here?

On the personal front, we just celebrated our 8th anniversary of living in Serbia. Serbia now ranks 2nd in the list of countries we have lived the longest. The UK has moved to 3rd place.
Speaking of anniversaries…we also celebrated our 45th (Sapphire) wedding anniversary!!! Wow!!! Who would have thunk it?? Mary gets most of the credit. We have planned a get-away later this year to celebrate. (nudge nudge wink wink)
We also had the opportunity to attend our 2nd eldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in Nicaragua and join in the celebration of the two birthdays for our two now 13-year-old youngest granddaughters.

What’s happening with Propel?

Our newest team member, Maja, is a Godsend! She has effortlessly become part of the craziness and fun. Having Maja working with us has not only reduced much of Mary’s workload, without her we would not be able to handle the growth spurt through which we are currently going.
Speaking of growth spurts…a look at the current list of students can be seen as very exciting or very, very, very frightening!

o Right now, Propel, has touched the lives of 264 students. Some have aged-out, some have graduated, sadly some have dropped out.

o There are 187 students registered with Propel who are currently in school. Of this group 53 need sponsors. More on this later.

o Looking forward – there are 26 students who will start school in the next year or two.

o When we started in 2016 with only 4 students, we had no idea there would be growth like this.

There is one other significant number…right now there are 23 Propel-registered students in 8th grade. What makes this important? High school is not mandatory here. For most students, especially girls, this is where their educational journey ends. It may not sound like a big deal, but with a high school diploma the opportunities for a better job or career are greatly increased. Of those 23 kids, 5 are in need of a sponsor.

We know many of you who are reading this already support Propel in some beautiful, wonderful way. Who do you know that is like you? Because, people like us, do things like this…These five students need your help…would you share about your experience with Propel, be their advocate and find them a sponsor?

Just click on the student’s image to access more info.