Give A Child Life

Update from El Salvador.

We just received an update on the hurricanes hitting El Salvador from our program coordinator:

Today we have finished a survey of the people who have lost their crops, and the funds you sent will go to purchase emergency food and medicine for them. More than 65 families are in desperate need.
Each family will receive a bag of food, which costs $12.00, containing 5 pounds of beans, 5 pounds of rice, 5 pounds of sugar and 5 pounds of powdered milk. The remaining funds will pay for medical treatments.

I have received your contribution of $1,500, and we will try to deliver food to families on Thursday. We are waiting a little longer so that we will have minimum problems with the food distributions. I will send you photos of the delivery.

There is still an incredible amount of rain throughout the country. It rained for nine days without stopping. Classes are suspended until further notice under provisions of the Ministry of Education.

Carlos

As of Monday, 32 Salvadorians had been killed by the storm. Forecasts show that the rain will begin again tomorrow and should continue through the rest of the month. It’s hard to say when the children will return to school and the parents to work. But thanks to support from Give A Child Life, at least they will have a little something to eat and those suffering from dengue, bronchial infections and other illnesses will get the treatments they need.   

 

State of Emergency in El Salvador.

Hi Debbie, 

We haven't been about to work with the children for three days. It rains day and night. There is not access from San Salvador to Zaragoza. There are landslides, the electrical system is gone and roads have collapsed. The center may be flooded. We are waiting to see.

The government has declared a state of emergency in seven departments, including Zaragoza.

Our children's families have lost their crops of corn and beans and small animals. We have children with bronchitis, flu, fungus and the growth of dengue due to rains and low temperature.

Carlos

Children's Center, Program Manager

 

Brief Update.

Just a brief update to let you know that we're revising the website--expect some changes in the next few weeks. In El Salvador, the children are preparing for end of the year testing and the culmination of the reading program. I'll be heading down there in early November to take new book backpacks and see how things are going. In Kenya, we're starting an infant feeding program and almost doubling the number of children sent to child care. Needs are growing, as food prices skyrocket and work for mothers becomes harder and harder to find.

Finally, here's a quote from Victor Frankl, the Nazi prison camp survivor. In Man's Search for Meaning, he wrote: "The true meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man or his own psyche, as though it were a closed system." 

Have a good week.

Debbie