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Watoto Wa Dunia: | ||
| From October through December, 2006, we will be supporting Watoto Wa Dunia (Children of the World), an Oregon based non-profit that is committed to educating and empowering women and children in Kenya and Nairobi. Their programs include sponsorship for children's schooling in Kenya, a micro-enterprise project for a group of 35 women in Kibera, Nairobi, and a new women and children's center in Kibwesi, Kenya. Please help in our effort to raise money for Watoto wa Dunia's vital programs. | ||
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The local work that the Watoto Wa Dunia volunteers do in Kenya is effective and very rewarding. It is also hard and can be very emotionally difficult. Dealing with young children in terrible circumstances is not easy for anyone, but this small group of volunteers endures and puts in a valuable effort year after year. The real story of their work, however, is probably best conveyed by one of the volunteers as she goes out to follow up with the families of sponsored children. "... By the third day it was getting difficult to hear all the stories and just let them go home with no help. One child came who was so thin he stood out in a place where almost everyone is thin. He was shivering and it was almost 80 degrees. I could not let him leave. We arranged to take him to the doctor following day. He was to go with one of the other sponsorship children, a girl that was starting to develop a goiter and had a distended stomach that hurt. She was in first grade; he was in 3rd grade. We went to the doctor and discovered that the girl had malaria and hookworms. The boy had malaria, hookworms, typhoid, and another infection I did not recognize. He was very nervous about getting a shot because he was so tiny and dehydrated—you can imagine how difficult it was to find a vein. The boy was getting chest pains and we thought it was anxiety but later discovered he also had pneumonia. I could not believe he was that sick and still walking around town. We helped him to get treatment and medication. Afterward, we took both of the children to get something to eat. I had to make sure the boy did not fall due to the fact that the treatment was making him weak. That part of the day was really difficult. Afterward, we went and got lunch - the girl had eaten some meat a few months ago. She was still talking about it so we made sure to get her some at the restaurant. We also took the children shopping for school uniforms, blankets and some food so they could take their medications. We sent the boy home with his sister. We were also able to get the girl a book bag, shoes, socks, a mattress and books. This little girl was very serious and shy but by the end of the day I got a smile out of her. This is why I do what I do, in hopes to lift children's present situation. If we can get her treatment and food her outlook will go from being very ill to very bright."
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