The return to Liberia

Arrived back home last night, time-warped and a little foggy from a head cold, but glad to feel that familiar sticky heat hit me as I walked off the plane. Not to steal the thunder from those who've stayed on the ground working so hard, but I have an exciting update.

Those of you from Minnesota who gave generously and urgently to the latrine project at Mother Wleh's, you'll be happy to hear that it's just getting the finishing touches now. The very loose beach sand apparently posed some new challenges to Matt and his crew, but they overcame (as they always do) and have turned out one of the handsomest latrine and shower blocks in the whole country! As soon as it's painted this weekend, I'll be sure to post photos of the whole process for you to see. Thank you all so much for your quick response to that appeal!

Having the benefit of contrast, I must tell you that the field team desperately needs another vehicle--a pickup truck! With only one (14 year-old) SUV for the 3-6 people on the ground to share, we're having to depend more and more on taxis and commercial trucks for transporting materials. (To give you an idea, the other day we were forced to pay $30 to transport 15 bags of cement and a few longer pieces of wood just down the road to one construction site!) With our own pickup, we could save hundreds of dollars every week on transportation, and make sure that we can move ourselves around from orphanage to orphanage, too.

Please pray with us that God will provide the resources that we need in order to be effective in the field. Please also continue to pray for health and encouragement for the children at Mother Harley's, whose roof is leaking all over them, daily and nightly. God bless you all, and thanks for your continued support.

Malaria Season

According to the CDC and WHO, malaria affects over 350 million people each year, and causes about 1 million deaths, mostly in African Children. As rainy season approaches, malaria becomes much more of a threat. Last year Orphan Relief and Rescue treated dozens of children for malaria. This year, we're already starting to see cases. I've treated 4 kids this week. We are prepared to test and treat the children, but we want to do more.

Let's prevent malaria before we have to treat it.

This week we've been going to all the orphanage homes we have contact with and assessing their mosquito nets. Where they are torn, we are encouraging repairs. And where they are missing, we would like to provide them. It's going to take over 150 more nets to protect all the children we work with. Nets cost 6USD, and cover 2-6 children. For ORR to test and treat a child with malaria it costs a little over 2 USD. Would you consider a donation to Project 23 to help cover the cost of prevention, and potentially save lives?