Give A Child Life

Enough to Eat

Over the past few weeks, infant care in Kiandutu has taken a new turn. Two days ago infants between six and twelve months old began receiving a hot, nourishing daily meal...courtesy of GCL friends like you. In homes where mothers scrape by on odds and ends and a decent meal is hard to find, the right nutrition can make a huge difference. Chronic hunger at this age affects brain development; lack of sufficient food can make it hard for a child to ever learn or control emotions like anger.

Starting this week, GCL is providing meals to infants at three day care centers. We're also fixing hot meals for young children brought by their mothers to a central location. The goal is for every young child in Kiandutu to have enough to eat.

 Debbie

Looking For Her Children

This just in from Kiandutu, Kenya....

 

Last week on Wednesday, 9th May 2012, three of Bernice Wagui's children got lost while at their home inKiandutu. Dennis (11 years) together with Dorothy and Harriet were playing outside with their neighbor's children. The neighbor kid, also about 12 yrs old,suggested that they go visit his dad. Dennis did not hesitate and the sisters followed him. They boarded a matatu along the Thika - Garrissa road and headed for Kitui several kilometers from Thika.

When night came, Bernice started looking for her children with no luck. She spent the night worried. The next day, the dad of the neighbor's kid called from Kitui saying the children had arrived safely. GCL provided busfare to Bernice (kshs.1000/-) to go find her children. That night the village elder Gerald called to inform me that they are back in Kiandutu.

It is still a mystery how such young children boarded a matatu with no busfare and traveled many miles. Bernice is thankful that at least she found her children-though hungry and unkempt- she says she has learned a great lesson from the incident.

Carol

Kiandutu Program Manager

A Good Sense of What We're Doing

Recently a group of GCL friends gathered at the local community center for an in-depth look at our work. I was deeply moved as I worked to compile the media for the event. It always is hard to bridge the gap between words and pictures, especially when describing sick and dying children. In the presentation, I was able to show the places where we worked and tell stories about the children and mothers they were seeing on the screen. Our discussion went far beyond the superficial. People asked about infant feeding and child care. They wanted to know about the water project in El Salvador. They got a good sense of what we are doing and why. Seven more children in El Salvador now have sponsors as a result.

Next weekend we're going to follow up with our first major fundraiser--a garage sale at the home of a donor (and close friend) in Laguna Beach. The garage sale has personal significance...I am clearing away items accumulated during 20 years of global travel, as well as items that have been in my family a long time. It is a cleansing. And it makes me glad to think that my "goods" may make other people happy, while helping raise funds to feed hungry children around the world. All of the proceeds will go to GCL.

If you can stop by, we'd love to see you. The garage sale is Saturday, April 21, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 841 Fen Way, Laguna Beach. Park near the high school and walk a few steps up the hill. We'll be there!

Hope to see you,

Debbie

 

 

Now Allen Knows His Way Home

Remember Allen, the first boy we rescued from Kiandutu? A few weeks ago, he returned to his grandmother's. After living in a Center with electricity, clean clothes and lots of other children to play with, being with his grandmother and family again was an adjustment. Give A Child Life sent Allen to nursery school and here's what happened....the poor boy got lost four times. Once he disappeared for the entire day. Someone finally took him to the police post at night. In the slums, "streets" are only mud paths that wander among the houses. For a child trying to find his way from home to school and back again, there are no clear markers. Who would have anticipated this? Now Allen knows his way home. And he won't get lost again.

 

Debbie

 

Allan is Now Back With His Family!

 

Note: Three years ago, Give A Child Life found Allan near death at his grandmother's home. With his grandmother carrying him, we took him to a center where he could stay and get food, medicine and other help. Carol, the GCLK program director in Kiandutu, recently updated us on  what happened last weekend.

Baby Allan is reunited back with his family!

News from the elders at Kiandutu came on Monday that baby Allan has been brought back home.

Yesterday I visited Allan at his grandmother's house – Zabina Zaumu- and found him playing with his toy car. He had been bonding with the grandmother and he was so happy though he left the place while still so young.

He is a happy, healthy baby!!

GCL K will continue to assist Allan now that he is back with his family. He will be joining Kiandutu Juniors School nursery level.

Carol

Small Actions Make Huge Differences!

When I was in Kiandutu a few weeks ago, I didn't think Cecilia would make it. She looked so pale and thin. You could hardly tell she was pregnant--even though she was due to deliver any minute. A few days later, she had a lovely baby girl. Look at her smiling! One reason is because GCL provides child care for her two children under age 5.

The same day I saw Cecilia, the village elders asked me to fix the house of another GCL member, Beth. It needed only a few simple repairs to prop up the walls and fill the holes.

Often it's not the big actions that make the most difference. It's the small ones. $3 a month for child care; $3 to buy small bags of flour and beans for dinner; $45 to shore up a house, etc. What matters is that GCL is on the spot when children have a need. Working with Kiandutu's village elders, GCL helps within the hour. Isn't it nice to be a part of it?

Debbie    

 

Choose a Child to Help Today.

Today, the El Zaite Children’s Center reopened for 2012 school year. Forty one little boys and girls came through the colorful gates this morning-- some eager to see their classmates and teachers again, others nervous about this new environment. Most of the students coming here for the first time are far behind children in the U.S. of the same age. When they come to the Center, they know nothing. On the first day, several cry. Many have never seen a book before, don’t know how to hold a pencil and can’t understand instructions.

These little boys and girls will learn. Slowly but surely, they’ll gain the skills and knowledge to prepare them for the first grade and the years beyond.

For some of the poorest families in the world, today is filled with hope and promise. But they need your help.  By sponsoring a child, you can provide a desperately poor little boy or girl with nutritious food, medical care and an early childhood education— all for only $25 a month. You can give a child the chance for a real future.

Please, go to www.giveachildlife.org/sponsor and choose a child to help today.

Just Arrived in Nairobi, Kenya!

What a great way to start the New Year! I just arrived in Nairobi from Los Angeles. This afternoon Charity, Carol and I met with the village elders in Kiandutu, as we do on each of my trips. They were so grateful for what we are doing for their young children. The highlight of the afternoon were remarks by the government's Assistant Chief for Kiandutu--George Muniu. He said, "Your organization has been a great help. Before children would go for days without food. Today if a child is spending a night without a meal, it's only because the parent has not asked for help."

We are making a difference for the little ones here--thanks to caring people like you.

Debbie 

She Worries Constantly About Caring for Her Children.

Rose Nungari has four children: three under six and one nine-year-old who is deaf. Since she and her husband separated in 2010, she has not been able to provide even the most basic necessities. They have all stopped attending school because she can't afford the fees. Her three-year-old daughter is weak and malnourished. Her youngest, a two week old baby, has no clothes. Both girls have bug bites covering their bodies, but she cannot afford mosquito nets. She lives in a one room house that her neighbors are letting her use, but they have no furniture, bedding or cooking supplies.

She worries constantly about caring for her children, but she maintains hope. Once her youngest is about a month old, Rose will be able to carry her on her back while she looks for work. Until then, each day is a struggle to provide food for the children. Right now, she does not even have sufficient breast milk to nurse the baby.

GCL has provided emergency food for the family and is working on a long term plan to help them.

 

Just Returned from El Salvador.

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to El Salvador. Here are a few updates:

1. The flooding did not leave hugely visible scars, but it did wipe out the crops, particularly the corn and beans. Many of the families at the Center have small plots a few miles away where they grow food to supplement what they can buy. This food was destroyed. Hunger will be a problem until they can grow new crops. Right now, they are worried about getting the funds to buy more seeds.

I became concerned after seeing some of the children. One girl in particular had lost a lot of weight. She had amoebic dysentery.  The flooding created additional water contamination because of the run-off. I asked Carlos to set up a five week program giving a healthy lunch with meat to the 12 sickest and hungriest children while the Center closed for the holidays.  

2. Water in general continues to be a serious concern. The government has started putting in a system in a nearby neighborhood; El Zaite is next on the list. But we can only believe it will happen once it starts. Carlos and I decided to buy 13 water filters sold by Cortaid, a nonprofit organization in El Salvador. We'll give 10 to the families with the children suffering most often from dysentery/diarrhea and put 3 in the Center: 1 in each classroom and 1 in the kitchen. When the children arrive at the Center in the morning, they'll dump the water they bring into the filters and in an hour or so, they'll have clean water to drink. This will help them get used to water filtration. We plan to track whether the children’s health improves.

3. The 900 books we distributed last spring made a huge difference. For the first time, all of the children graduating from the Center are entering kindergarten already reading. Parents described how the books "opened up their children's imaginations". I found the books in the families' homes, usually on low shelves where children could reach them easily. They clearly were much used. On this trip, I brought three huge suitcases filled with books for children starting at the Center in January.

4. The Center is doing an excellent job tracking the children's progress. While there, I picked up the post-development assessments done at the end of the year. I also collected post surveys from parents and older children who received books last spring.

Overall our program seems to be doing very well, and we identified other areas for expansion in the next year. More to news to come soon.

Warmly,

Debbie