Read July's Update
August 2009 Update by Jessy
Hello everybody,Like last month, there is a small delay on the update. On August 15th I went to Benin for a four day visit. I ended up being there for over two weeks, because I fell ill with a gastro-intestinal infection. As I am writing this I am unfortunately still not feeling 100%. But the most important thing is that all the children are doing well and I am back home since about two weeks.
While I was in Benin, Fiona, Sasha, Olawunmi and Charlene took over at the home. We talked to each other frequently and I have to tell you; I did not worry for a second while I was away. The girls did a great job on managing the home and of course Edem was there to support them. Coming home was wonderful. Edem came all the way to Benin to pick me up. He brought me cards and jewelry that were made by the children. The next day we went back to Kpando. The welcome was warm and I am very grateful to be part of this beautiful family!
Children; Bright received successful treatment for a skin infection. Small Wisdom got treated for malaria and diarrhea. The latter was not successful, so we took him to MMCH for a second time. He seems to be lactose intolerant, so we changed his diet. Wisdom is now eating small amounts of lactose free formula and more local food every day. We try to keep his iron intake low and he does not get spicy food. The change in diet was successful and he is doing a lot better. Junior was treated for malaria at the end of the month and he is doing fine now. Besides these three hospital visits we had a lot of stomach pains last month. These pains were caused by an overdose of papayaís since we got two big loads (read: hundreds) of them from the papaya farm.
As I told you in the last update, the children were enjoying their holiday. As a result we had both visiting children and children that left us for a while. With the neighborhood children around, the number of children increased significantly sometimes. Christopher, Julietís younger brother, is staying in the home during the holiday. Minua and Nancy went away for two weeks to spend time with their grandmother.
In the first two weeks of the holiday we didnít only clean the whole house, but we also replaced the broken bed nets and we started to fix and replace the broken clothes. In the third and fourth week the focus was on tutoring. The volunteers did as much tutoring as possible and every day they sat down with some children. While the older children worked on subjects like math and English, the smaller children got read to a lot. Next to the tutoring, the volunteers did quizzes, dancing and arts and crafts with the children. Thanks to the latter I got the beautiful drawings and jewelry in Benin and an enormous painting to decorate my home in Kpando.
On August 12th we celebrated Julietís birthday with macaroni and cheese. She is 14 years old now. On August 23rd the children and the volunteers celebrated the birthday of Mabel, one of the matrons. Everybody danced and there was a toffee party.
One more thing I would like to share with you is the fact that Asantewa is almost totally potty trained. She has been cleaning the potty after use and now and then she will go to the normal toilet. We still supervise her, but she is doing a great job. We are very proud of her!
Sponsored women and children; Rita, one of the sponsored women in Nkunya is refusing ARV treatment. We are monitoring her closely and we will try to bring Rita, her sister Eunice and daughter Ruby to Kpando for rehabilitation. We are now sponsoring Geoffrey, Small Emma and Gabrielís father. The sponsorship helps him to farm and as a result to take care of his children. We are also sponsoring Selina, Emma and Gabrielís mother, in selling fresh fish. Mawuse and her son Daniel from Kpando Fesi receive sponsoring for the sale of kanami (fried fish). On August 12th Daniel got admitted to MMCH because he was vomiting blood. He stayed at MMCH for two days, received treatment and is doing better now. After staying at HardtHaven for two weeks, Mary, the girl from Kpevetor, went back home on the 4th of August. Anita, who has been staying in Kpando with her mother to recover from typhoid, went back to Amedzofe at the end of the month. She is preparing for Rijnbeekís boarding school in Have, where she will start this September.
Projects; We are currently setting up a community resource and empowerment center for the Kpando district. This information center will operate under the name UNiTED and is located in Kpando in the street across from Margret Marquat Catholic Hospital. UNiTED stands for Unifying Neighbours Through Education and Development. The goals of the center are: to act as resource center providing information on among others education, community development and health related topics; to link community development projects with international volunteers and funding opportunities; to support the volunteers in their work. You are most welcome to pay us a visit at any time. When UNiTED is finished you will receive an invitation for the official opening. We are also setting up projects to cooperate with universities in the Netherlands. In the beginning of next year we will receive an intern from the master International Public Health that will conduct a research on the health care needs of the Kpando district. We are trying to get in contact with universities that have masters in engineering. We would like to cooperate with them to help the community of Dafor by designing and constructing a bridge between Dafor and Agbenorhoe.
Volunteers; August was not as busy as June and July, but we still received a lot of help. On August 3rd Gregory arrived. He stayed for one week. On August 5th a group of Swedish teachers visited the home. They will send a group of their students to come work at HardtHaven and in different communities in October. On August 9th Olawunmi and Charlene arrived. They have stayed at the home for two weeks and have been helping out in the home, especially by tutoring the children. On August 13th Sasha arrived. She will be staying in the home for four weeks and she has been helping out in the home, working close together with Olawunmi, Charlene and Fiona. On August 21st Sarah arrived. She has been here last year and will be staying for six months this time. She will be working at the school for children with special needs.
Donations; Gregory brought us stuffed animals, clothes, shoes and candy. Next to that he sent the children a package with dvdís when he was back home. During their visit the Swedish teachers went to market and brought us back a large amount of food and new slippers for all the children. Olawunmi and Charlene brought us babywipes, diapers, hand sanitizer, gloves and clothes. Justin donated candy and toys he received in a package. On behalf of the children I thank you for all the donations!
I have saved the best for the last and would like to end this update by telling you that on August 14th the judge granted the care orders for all the children that reside in the home. This is something Edem has been fighting for since 2007!
Thanks for reading this update. Once again I would like to stress that suggestions, questions and commentary are always welcome. I wish you all a very good week!
Best regards,
Jessy
Read July's Update