Another gargantuan month – full energy and focus gearing up for the Dinner Dance launch on 30 August.
The whole event was to raise funds and the profile of Homes of Hope in the community at large.
It involved a massive mail out to the business, professional and private community. We had several nights working into the early hours of the morning packing, labeling and bundling to get it all out.
The event was a terrific success in the end involving more than 70 volunteers including students from Bethlehem College who helped make the table décor and donations from Bay of Plenty Polytech of the structural decor.
At the event we had over 200 seated for a three-course dinner and Tom Sharplin rocked us through the night. We raised over $800 per month in AP donations!!! The whole town is now talking about Homes of Hope – some way towards mission accomplished!!!
The first children to live in our home of hope are steadily settling down, the eldest of whom has successfully transitioned to school and both are doing well.
Last week one of them said at the dinner table – “We don’t ever have to leave here, do we?” and the House Mum said “No – only when you’re able to go home again.” Small revelations like this and when on the way to Brigades when one asks – “Do we have to stay there for the night?” – show us they are still getting used to this sense of permanency, an incredible concept that most of us take for granted.
As well as the two children I mentioned in our home last month, my time is now taken-up caring for an additional two ‘foster’ teenagers who have just joined us.
Without this job I could never have offered the support and flexibility to these wonderful young people.
Till next time ….
Hilary
Following the head teachers course I mentioned last month in Boma we then held a four-day supervisors course.
This involved the training of school supervisors who are responsible for visiting schools and collecting statistical data and checking the state of the school. They also look at the quality of the teaching, delivery of the syllabus and effectiveness of the school PTA’s. They give the findings to the County Education Coordinator and recommend training needs for teachers.
Following this, we visited the second new school for the Jia tribe formed recently at Khorardep. Khorardep is half an hour through long grass as high as the Land cruiser, we had difficultly finding the road after very heavy rain and the driver drove along an old road by mistake which had become a stream.
At 5:00pm we got badly bogged down and two hours later as darkness was approaching Henny and I were forced to walk five kilometres in bare feet back to our base (it was very wet and slippery and the clay stuck to our sandals).
We arrived home and collected tools, hot water, a dry change of clothes and the help of our neighbours. However they could only take us as far as the airstrip because their truck had no four- wheel drive. We walked another three kilometres in the dark to the Land Cruiser and tried to extricate ourselves until midnight. With no further progress we then walked another three kilometres through the night back to the neighbour’s truck and went home.
I got to bed at 1:00am. We returned in daylight with more help and the car finally arrived back at base at 11:00am.
It is very difficult trying to travel in the wet season and I have postponed helping Zackaria in Rumbek for a week, as the roads are impassable in that area.
The past month has been physically very demanding, and challenging and yet I have kept in good health.
Graham
We have reached ‘half time’ of this World of Difference year and this month has been my toughest yet. With four volunteers out in August the planning required was full on. I have always been the sort of person that puts 200% and this has been my downfall this month – I find myself completely shattered through sheer over-work.
For me the saving grace in all of this was spending 5 days up in the villages seeing to patients and their progress. This is especially the case with my most loved patient Made who is 80 and crippled from leprosy. He gives me an amazing welcome and huge smile every time I pop into his hut. Made’s wounds are healing well except a deep wound on his hip. One of our volunteers Sue Cowie, who takes extraordinary care when changing dressings sang a Maori waiata while doing his. I have no doubt he would have loved it. It is this time in the field with magical volunteers and patients unrelenting spirit that keeps me motivated and my passion for the cause alive. It was great to finally see Julia in the field with patients who clearly adore her.
It is such fascinating and fulfilling work. We discovered one leprosy patient who begs for a living but is married with six little girls who he can barely care for. His village chief asked us if our team would be prepared to take a couple of the girls and look after them. I felt heartbroken he had even asked. Our solution for this family is to help with food, education and leprosy treatment for the father – a plan that keeps them together and stops the leprosy/ poverty cycle.
My main role when visiting villages is recording patient histories and injuries. The digital technology provided by the Vodafone NZ Foundation to take photos of a patient’s face and injuries has been a godsend in this regard. When you have a face as a reference it is so much easier to locate the patient again for follow up treatment.
A visit earlier in the month to the John Fawcett Foundation provided me with me with a real shake. On this visit it was emphasised just how critical Trust registration in Bali and Indonesia was and it was very clear that we should only be working in Bali once this had happened. This has been something of real concern to myself for some months. Thankfully Trust management arrived mid-month to tackle the issue. Their reception by Balinese leaders from village level right up to the top has been reportedly encouraging. The Trust was even donated a clinic on the northern coast to achieve trust status in Bali – this will be a huge milestone as well as key risk mitigation for volunteers in Bali. I look forward to the day when we have this fundamental piece of paper attributing confirmed legal status.
On a personal level August has been a month of great happiness. On the 17th my partner (and best friend) proposed to me on our one-year anniversary. We were on a visa run to Singapore at the time and had taken shelter under a bridge from a tropical downpour. Of course I said yes and a Bali wedding early next year is looking likely.
I was brought back down to earth soon after with the tragic news that my dad’s little brother Denis had died from an unexpected brain aneurysm. We are a really close family and I flew home immediately to support mum, dad and the rest of the family. These times in life are an important reminder that nothing is a certainty, that ‘time and tide waits for no man’ – we need to make the most of every day & try to be the best people that we can be. A huge thank you to Vodafone NZ and to the Trust for your wonderful support over this time.
August marks the sixth month and ‘half time’ of my World of Difference year. There is so much left to do. Rome wasn’t built in a day and things happen even slower in Bali. The next month will be packed with preparation for Kuta Remembrance Week (if anyone would like to assist with this please contact me directly) after that, I’ll be ready for a bit of time out.
Annette
