July 15-21, 2013

The following is a description of what has been accomplished by the NGO during the week of July 15^th through 21^st, 2013

CHILDREN’S VILLAGE

This week at the Igoda Children’s Village we went through the complete cycle of emotions that can happen at this center. On Monday the 15^th a very malnourished infant who had been brought to us had passed away at a private Hospital. We had thought that Faumia had turned a corner for the better after she was transferred to the private Hospital and showed signs of improving. Unfortunately, her body couldn’t fight off the illnesses she had contracted as we awaited her results from her infant HIV testing. We never received the result, but it appears as though she most likely was HIV positive. Her funeral was Monday and was attended by Rehema Mgimwa (our head house guardian at the Children’s Village) and the care-givers from the NGO's Health Department that tended to Faumia while she was in the Hospital.

Dismas Makonye had a happy going-away party on Sunday. Pictured next to him is Isaya Mwila (his House Father while at Igoda Children's Village,
 a Village leader, and his Mother. 

On the other end of the emotional spectrum, after returning from the funeral, one-on-one interviews started with all of the older children who had returned from the village after a two-week stay in the surrounding community either with relatives, or with foster families. It made us extremely happy that the children were able to learn some lessons about life in the village before moving there full-time one day in the future. In fact, two older boys are ready to return home after this trial period, and this Sunday (21^st) we had a going-away party for Dismas Makonye who will be moving back home to live with his Mother. Dismas and his sister Matrilda moved to the Igoda Children’s Village as their Father had passed away and unfortunately their mother had re-married a violent man who was deemed unfit to care for them by village leaders. Last year that man passed away, and although Dismas’ mother will be a single-parent, she has a lot of community support, and Dismas himself is doing very well in school- so we are very excited to see this family come back together. For her side, Matrilda, 15, wants to consider her options a bit longer, as she says she wants to be sure of a way to keep the right friends while she continues her education- and she said she wants time to consider how to do that if not living at the Children’s Village.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Income Generating Projects

Longinus Ngonyani, the sewing teacher of our ‘Threads of Hope’ sewing class, traveled to a high-traffic trading town called Makambako this week to buy materials for curtains to be placed at Mdabulo Hospital and the Igoda Community Hall. The sewing class has really taken off this year, and we are hoping to see more projects like this one that are completely self-sustaining. The class offers a service to girls and women who for various reasons have not been able to complete formal secondary school. The students pay school fees, and at the end of the two-year course are given a sewing machine to start their own business/livelihood in the community. This project was started with humble beginnings by an initial donation of the first sewing machine given by Dr. Garth Myers, and his daughter Phoebe, and his since been supplemented by sewing machines sent from the UK, and other machines donated by a local phone service provider (Airtel). We are excited that these contributions are being put to great use!

'Threads of Hope' Sewing School teacher Longinus Ngonyani
with a great new product!

HEALTH CARE

Mdabulo Hospital

Plans were made for the re-roofing of some older in-patient wards at Mdabulo Hospital that have started to fall apart. The funds for the roof come from a generous donation from Kowloon North Rotary Club of Hong Kong. They have been great supporters of the projects here in Mufindi, and we are very grateful for their tremendous support!

Also this week, many items were transported to Mdabulo that will be very useful for the Hospital. These items have been painstakingly collected over the years by Marion Gough who visited various health centers in the UK to accumulate items to send in containers to the project site. We are excited that with construction of the functioning wing of the Hospital now complete we can deliver these valuable items to help serve the people of Mufindi.

Home Based Care

Stacey Droll made her final Home Based Care village visit this week to the village of Ilasa to work with the Home Based Care volunteers there who showed her the work they have been doing- helping patients, and following up on those who had not appeared for HIV treatment at Mdabulo CTC. Stacey will be moving on soon as her Peace Corps contract is coming to close. She has left her indelible mark on the Home Based Care program in particular, but will be missed by everyone at the NGO, and in the community.

Foxes' NGO/Peace Corps Volunteer Stacey Droll
having fun with Nurse Kabonge of Mdabulo Hospital