The Longest Day

We started out early in the morning to pick up Beyan, the Director for Childcare Foundation, so he could take us to visit his rice farm. The rice grown on the farm provides food for the children at the orphanage, and October is rice harvesting season. Away we went in our taxi! After about 3 hours on a paved road filled with potholes, we turned onto a long dirt road. Little did I know we had another hour to go. At this point I started to question whether we should have come. The taxi we chartered for the day was not able to make the final leg of this journey as the road was badly eroded, so we walked the rest of the way to the village. I really thought we were almost there until we found out we still had a long walk ahead of us to the farm. All in all it took us about 5 hours to reach the rice farm but it was well worth the trip.

Andrew and I were greeted by a small group of hard-working farmers who gave us a tour and took time to teach us how to harvest rice. In addition, they cooked us a meal completely made from food on the farm. We had country rice (which was excellent), with a sauce made from red palm oil and palava sauce (a type of green leaf vegetable), and squirrel which they had trapped that morning. We ate out of a large community bowl, exactly what you would imagine when you think of Africa! Here we were in the middle of nowhere enjoying this exotic meal with a group of new-found friends. We followed the meal with a handful of freshly picked juicy oranges to give us that extra boost for the long trek home.

I honestly don't think I would have gone if I had known it would take the entire day - 10 hours of driving and over 2 hours of hiking in tempatures reaching almost 100 degrees with swamp-like humidity - but it was an invaluable experience. It reminded me how easy we have it, and just how hard-working the Liberian people are! On the trail back to the taxi I realized that each bag of rice harvested must be carried out on the same trail. Our friends must walk an hour on a muddy path carrying over 100 pounds of rice on their heads, only to return to the farm for another load. Then all that rice has to be transported several hours to the orphanage. That's commitment.

Gifty's Big Day!

Wednesday was a big day for Gifty!

Our precious girl was finally discharged from the hospital. She obviously has chronic issues that are not going away until she can get the surgery she needs (keep praying!), but the doctor decided that she is eating well, growing stronger and infection free so she can have a little freedom.
We picked her up from the hospital and drove straight to the feeding program for a weigh-in. She actually weighed the same as last week, but her belly is smaller and her checks are fatter so that is a good sign.

Gifty loves the Plumpy'nut!

After getting another week's worth of the good stuff we headed to the orphanage home to get Gifty settled in. All the other children were happy to see her back.

Now we start a new phase in Gifty's care, keeping her healthy and getting her stronger. I will be checking on her daily for a while to see how she is adjusting. When I stopped by the orphanage today for a visit she was happy and fever free.

Prayer Update on Gifty

For those of you praying night and day for little Gifty, THANK YOU. I hope you've been encouraged along with us at the amazing progress she's been making, and at the doors that continue to open for her. But the road is still long, with many obstacles between her and the transplant that can save her life.

While she is being discharged tomorrow from the hospital, there is a hunt going on up-country for her aunt. We're not involved in the adoption process at all, but basically the US embassy requires either death certificates for both parents, or else a relative to relinquish custody. In Gifty's case, neither are available. Hence the search is on to find a woman in an extremely remote area--the searchers only have a name to go on, no photo or even a general location!

Please pray for the search--that her aunt will be reached and won't hesitate to come forward. And, as always, please continue to pray for Gifty's protection against infection, for weight gain, and for her amazing caretakers.

New Construction Worker

Orphan Relief and Rescue has always taken great pride in our construction teams. Some guys have been working with us since our first project at Fatu's started back in 2006. As new members are added, they learn skills that are essential to the building trades but are often overlooked here--like how to keep walls level and square, amongst other things.

As our new home construction for Salome continues, the new guys on the jobsite are learning skills that will make them better builders and also help them to get more, higher-paying work later in their careers as well. This jobsite is a little different, though. For the first time, OR&R is employing a female construction worker. Jenneh Flomo started on the jobsite a few weeks ago, hauling water to be mixed with cement for the foundation. In between loads she was always observing how the masons were working. Before long she was learning the proportions of sand, cement, and rock to mix for the footings. Jenneh works just as hard or harder than the men on the jobsite, and we are all excited to help her learn a new trade.

Gifty's Field Trip

Today we took Gifty on a field trip.

Gifty is getting stronger and more alert. The other day she was sitting up on her own, this was the first time I have seen this in the 3 weeks I have been here. She is playing more and even waved goodbye to me as I left her room.

Gifty is still fighting it out in the hospital. Even though Her lung infection is responding to the antibiotics and the cough is much less, the pediatrician is not ready to discharge her yet.

Today we received the OK to take her to the local "Action Against Hunger" clinic to have her evaluated for their feeding program. Piko (one of Gifty's wonderful caregivers) and I piled into a hospital truck with Gifty and 2 other children, their mothers, a Liberian nurse and the driver. After a bit of a hard time finding the place (neither the nurse or the driver knew exactly where it was) we piled into a room with at least 20 other mothers and children.

Gifty (now 15 months old) weighed in at 5.2kg and a whopping 63cm long.

She definitely qualified for the feeding program. This is what we wanted because now she will be supplied with Plumpy'nut nutrition supplement to aid in her healing, growth and malnutrition. Plumpy'nut is a peanut butter type food that has vital vitamins, minerals and other nutrients added. Now Gifty will get to chow down twice a day on the good stuff and hopefully we will see her gaining more weight and strength in the weeks to come.

Relief Update—Feeding Program

Because of your support, we are able to feed over 100 children in four orphanage homes every week. We provide most ingredients for a typical Liberian meal—which usually consists of a bowl of rice with some type of soup topping—by delivering rice, bulgarwheat, beans, milk and palm oil. We then require the orphanage directors to supplement the children’s diets with things like greens, meat and fruit. It is important that the children have food, but it’s more important that they have the proper vitamins and minerals so they will grow and stay healthy.

The four homes currently participating in our feeding program are: Childcare Foundation (24 children), Frances Gaskins (33 children), Gold Child (24 children) and Garmai’s (30 children). Please keep these four homes in your prayers; we hope to see them all self-sufficient in the very near future. Pray that God would continue to provide support for the relief program—the more support the program has, the more homes we are able to feed. If you would like to donate towards the relief program, please designate your donation for ‘relief’.

New at Frances Gaskins

I'm excited to announce a new project this week -- one that might seem small, but I assure you will make a giant impact on the everyday well-being of thirty amazing kids.

Some of our good friends at Mercy Ships have been spending their Saturdays with our other very dear friends at Frances Gaskins Children's Rescue Home, and we've all gotten together to finish a latrine and shower block at the back of the property. (Months ago, their latrine collapsed in a storm, leaving the children literally out in the elements.)

Thanks to the personal help of Mercy Ships staffers and the hard work of our masons alongside the director of the home, Emmanuel, these kids will very soon have a clean, safe bathroom and shower block. Perhaps not the most glamorous of buildings, but definitely one of the most important!

ORR Healthcare News

News from the ORR Healthcare front-

Our fighter, Gifty remains in the hospital. Her lung infection has progressed to pneumonia. She was more spirited today and fever free so we can praise God for that.

Malaria remains a real concern for everyone here, especially during the rainy season when the mosquitoes are at their worst. Last week I treated a girl at Frances Gaskins orphanage for malaria. When I checked on her yesterday she was running and playing and dancing with the rest of the kids.

The big project for this week was cleaning up Childcare Foundation. Many of the children there had developed ringworm and scabies (skin infections) due to their unclean living situation. Ashley and I (with the help of some of their caregivers) scrubbed them down with antiseptic soap and slathered on the appropriate medicines. After a thorough scrubbing and medication application each child received a brand new pair of clean underpants. Below is a picture of a few of the boys sporting their new briefs.

Childcare Foundation Clean-up

A Farm in Virginia

Early in the 1800s, freed slaves from the US were given the opportunity to return to Africa, the home of their ancestors. Most of those freed slaves were transported to Liberia where they built their own homes and started farms or plantations. Often they named the new area after the place they lived in the States. In Liberia, you can find names like Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Virginia. Last week I visited a farm in Virginia owned by a church who sponsors an orphanage called Victorious Faith.

When orphanages are located in the city of Monrovia they often do not have space for a farm, so they purchase land elsewhere and transport the produce into the city to either eat or sell in the market. This plot of land provides food for the children of Victorious Faith and is run single-handedly by a young man named Moses. So far they have grown cassava, cabbage, sweet potatoes, peppers (see photo), and bitterball. But he is fighting an uphill battle.

The difficulty for Moses is that he must walk a long way to find water in a nearby swamp so he can water the garden. His farm is in need of a well or during the upcoming dry season the crops will not survive. As well, during the night thieves often come to steal the crops because Moses lives a mile or two away. He would like to move to the farm to watch over it and protect the land but he is in need of a small house. Even when his crops succeed, they are sometimes destroyed by caterpillars, grasshoppers, and other insects. The produce that is grown on the farm will help feed the children at Victoria's Faith, and we would like to assist Moses in his efforts to provide for those children. If you would like to contribute to the the various Agriculture projects that ORR is involved with, please indicate that your donation is for Capacity Building. Thank you for helping to feed the children!

Keep praying for Gifty.

I was hoping that I would have a happy report about Gifty today. She was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. Her jaundice and abdominal swelling are better. But when we left the hospital she had begun a small cough. I spent a few hours at Fatu's orphanage with her caregivers going over her meds and watching her. She did not seem to have a fever so I decided to see how she did overnight and reassess her in the morning. About 3 hours later I got a call that she was not doing well. I went back over to check on her and she had definitely worsened in those few hours. Her cough was much worse, she was coughing so much she could not catch her breath , she was lethargic and burning up with fever. Back to the hospital we went. She was readmitted with bronchiolitis, which she probably caught from another child in the hospital while she was there. She is getting a different kind of IV antibiotics and is being monitored. Her little compromised immune system is having a hard time fighting off the bugs. I will go back and check on her tomorrow. Please keep watching here for updates and continue to pray with us for a miracle for Gifty.

The Latest News on Gifty.

Andrew has been telling you about Gifty, a baby girl from one of our orphanages who is very sick. Today I had the opportunity to meet her. She is currently at the MSF (Doctors Without Borders) hospital near by. This hospital only takes maternity and pediatric patients at this time. All the patients are required to have a care taker with them 24 hours a day to help with normal activities of daily living like bathing and feeding. We have 2 wonderful Liberian women who have been taking turns caring for Gifty in the Hospital. Gifty and her care giver share a small bunk in a room with 7-8 other patient/caregiver pairs with only enough room to walk between the beds. Andrew, Ashley and I went to visit her today hopeing to take her to her new orphanage home. After meeting with her doctor we learned that she continues to spike fevers and can not be discharged until she has been fever free for at least 48 hours. Gifty was diagnosed with Billiary Atresia, a congenital condition which in Gifty's case has resulted in a blocked billiary duct. Usually surgery is required to fix it within the first couple months of life. Gifty has not had this surgery. She has many other complications such as jaundice, an enlarged liver and spleen and increased risk of infection. After her discharge, our plan is to keep her healthy at her new orphanage home until an expedited adoption can happen and she can receive the medical care that she needs. According to research, Gifty's life expectancy is only about 3 years, without treatment. Gifty is a precious girl filled with spunk and a fighting spirit.

Please continue to fight and pray with us for a miracle for Gifty.

Field Team Complete

The field team in Liberia is finally complete! We are so excited for Debbie to join the team! Debbie will be serving as our Healthcare Coordinator. We have had some medical challenges and now we have a knowledgeable nurse! Not only does Debbie have over 8 years of nursing experience, but with Debbie around, our team is full of joy and laughter.

We welcomed Debbie to Liberia on Friday night. In celebration of Debbie’s arrival, Friday was known around our house as Debbie Day. We wished each other ‘Happy Debbie Day’ all day long.

Debbie's feeling a bit overwhelmed, as we all do when we first arrive; so I know Debbie would appreciate your prayers. Pray for Debbie as she adjusts to life in Liberia. Please keep the rest of the field team in your prayers, along with all of the orphanages that we are working with. Pray for God’s provision—for the orphanages, the children and our ministry. Pray that OR&R’s ministry in Liberia would continue to touch the lives of Liberia’s orphans.

[L to R: Jennifer, Ashley, Matthew, Andrew, Debbie]

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!