A charitable organization established by a Finnish woman received the President’s Export Award. Caring Hands was established by a Fida International missionary, a Finnish-Canadian woman named Milla Happonen. The paper jewelry Caring Hands produces bring self esteem and creates a source of income for HIV positive women. The award was presented by Uganda’s president, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Friday, October 3, 2008 in Kampala.

An update we received from Milla Happonen of Caring Hands in Uganda:

The trip to Cairo was incredibly fascinating. We can read books about it, check the Internet for a country profile, or learn its history but it’s the people and their stories that bring it to life and made a big difference.

An e-mail we received from Milla Happonen of Caring Hands in Kampala, Uganda

Please pray for Bettina Marayag, our International Conference Director, as she travels to Cairo, Egypt August 21–27, 2008 to have pre-conference meetings with church leaders.

This is coming to you from Kampala, Uganda where Maureen, Charles and I have returned after a week’s community development meetings in the northern city of Lira, population 60,000. We have been fostering relationships with many of the locals through the Pentecostal Church of Uganda (PCU).