December has been a joyful month of celebration, and we had a nice celebration dinner together. Our knitters have made many, many stockings throughout the year. They were so tired! They have also learned a lot about relationships and self-regulation. A woman who has just joined and has been working with us for two months said, “Working with you has given me hope for my life and for my children. I would always like to work with you from now on.”

We have started a weekly youth meeting. We meet with young people every Friday evening, and one of the women is cooking for these meetings because many of the youngsters come right after work or school. The children of the cook also attend our youth meetings, and we are very happy to see their relationship getting closer. We also have one-on-one mentorship meetings with the young people who come. One of them said, “Here I find a sense of security and understanding that I don’t find at home.” We had a New Year’s Eve party together on December 30, and she said, “It was the best New Year’s Eve party of my life.”