The Kindle Orphan Outreach Katawi Clinic in Salima, Malawi is taking action to battle the recent measles epidemic. Kindle Directory Marilyn Barr writes: Malawi is in the midst of a widespread measles epidemic. The community around us is also affected, and we are seeing many new patients with measles, both children and adults, each day at the Katawa Clinic. There have been several deaths in the community because of measles. The government has launched a huge vaccination campaign this week, August 16-20, for every child aged 9 months to 15 years. Kindle is a part of this through our clinic and the health officers who work there. Every day they will be working long hours in the villages to make sure everyone is covered.

It was a happy day in Abidjan, Ivory Coast on May 14 as the REAP Institute School for Liberian refugees was dedicated during a two-hour ceremony. For more than twelve years, REAP has been teaching up to 135 students in a rented house. Classes were doubled up in order to make room for 12 grades in an old three- bedroom house that also housed the administration office and a computer lab full of outdated computers. The high school classes were held on the back porch and many of the younger grades met in the carport of the house. Through generous donations given through Extreme Response International the land and building were purchased, and no more monthly rent means more money for educating the children. Mike Bishop, Dan Maloy and Dan McCann represented Extreme Response at the dedication which also included many pastors, businessmen, friends and family of the REAP students. Now that the school belongs to REAP they can begin to look for work teams to build new classrooms to accommodate growth as well as to allow for each grade to have their own classroom.
submitted by Dan Maloy

It’s that time of year again - time for the annual Extreme Response Christmas parties. This year we’ll be holding parties in Quito, Ecuador and Cape Town, South Africa. The parties will run from Dec 2 - Dec 11th and we’re planning on celebrating with over 14,000 people between the two countries. Keep checking back for more updates!

The Woodside women - plus ER leaders Ed and Dawn

A team of 9 women from Woodside Bible Church in Troy, Michigan travelled to Cape Town, South Africa to work with ER partner Living Hope. The team worked with over 350 women (and a few men) from the Living Hope Support Groups. These support groups exist to support those dealing with HIV, AIDS and other illnesses. Each of the 4 support groups meet in various townships in the Fish Hoek area. Most of the women they worked with are HIV+. The team did a wonderful job empowering, encouraging and loving these women who have known so much sickness, poverty, death and abuse in their lives. (for more information on Living Hope go to: www.livinghopeusa.org)

They also had the opportunity to encourage the 25 women (and a couple men) at the New Beginnings Development Center in the Woodstock area of Cape Town (www.newbdc.com). These women are enrolled in a free training course for unemployed people. The goal is to train, educate and empower individuals in an effort to alleviate poverty. The Woodside ladies had a great time getting to know the New Beginnings students.

Thank you Woodside Ladies!

House in the Masiphumelele Township

Woodside team member Deb with 2 of the ladies

Meeting at New Beginnings

Red Hill Township

The meeting at Red Hill

Christina makes a new friend at Ocean View

You would have enjoyed being with us on Friday afternoon! Nearly 200 kids gathered at Kindle with great anticipation. They knew what they had come for! A few weeks ago they had been promised new uniforms, and today was the day for the promise to be fulfilled. Every occasion is a chance for celebration and teaching, so we started with some songs. Then Mr Mbena, head of the Education Department who has been overseeing this project, gave a speech about the importance of taking care of the uniforms. Here are some of his comments: These uniforms are for wearing to SCHOOL! You do not wear them to dig for mice in the fields (boys like to eat these for snacks!) You do not wear them for going to market. You must not take them and sell them. These may sound like strange instructions, but all very appropriate! He also explained again how important it is for children to stay in school these days. Education will give them an opportunity for a future!

It took a few hours to get everyone outfitted, but finally the group changed from rather grubby looking kids to smart looking school boys and girls. I hope you enjoy the few photos I have attached. You will notice that there are 3 different uniforms as we have children in 3 different schools. Most of them are the blue and yellow. Some are maroon and white, and a few blue and white.

Finally, all of the children say thank you very much! Like this: “Zikomo kwambiri chifukwa cha mayunifomu atsopano. Mulungu akudalitseni!” (Thank you very much for the new uniforms. May God bless you!”)

On behalf of all the children at Kindle, I too say Thank You!

Sincerely,
Marilyn Barr
Kindle Orphan Outreach

Thanks so much to Ali Rubenstein and the Student to Student Malawi School Uniform Program!!!

I’ve just returned from a trip to West Africa where I visited the folks in Ghana we helped with Christmas events in December of 2008. They would like to expand their Christmas Outreach with the help of ER in 2009. They told me that many of the kids who they fed last Christmas were surprised to learn that the piece of chicken and portion of rice they received was just for them. This was the first time many of them had ever had a whole piece of chicken to eat. Although grateful, many of them only took a few bites and then took the rest home to share with their family. I hope we can help them expand their program in ‘09. Maybe you can help!

I then traveled on to the Ivory Coast where we have been partnering with the REAP Institute for several years. Although other ER staff members and board members had visited this school, it was my first time there. I was impressed by the school’s leadership, teachers, and the students. REAP is a school dedicated to providing a quality education to English speaking refugee kids who have fled with their families to the French speaking country of Ivory Coast. Seven countries are represented among the student body. Most of the school administrators and teachers are refugees themselves yet they serve the students sacrificially. The level of education the students are receiving was equally as impressive as the quality of the students.

Over the years ER has helped REAP outfit their computer lab. This lab has recently been connected to the internet which greatly expands the education opportunities for the students and teachers alike. We have also helped them with their monthly rent and other special needs. The building they have been renting for several years has just been put on the market. Friends of ER have come forward to help them purchase the building. The purpose of my trip was to work through the purchase details of the building and property. We discovered that there are additional taxes and other fees that they were not planning on paying. So they are currently about $13,000 short of the total needed to complete the transaction. Please contact me if you would like details regarding how you can help meet this need. Watch this blog for further updates. We hope to have the transaction completed in the next 90 – 120 days.

As you can imagine a school like REAP has many needs. Some they brought to my attention are; Teacher Training – they would like a team of trainers to spend a week with their teachers, Microsoft Office multi license for their computer lab computers, one of the teachers is desperately in need of surger,y and the upper students are asking for the opportunity to take standardized educational tests like the SAT or ACT to allow them to apply to universities in West Africa, Europe, the USA or Canada.

Jerry Carnill
President ER

Living Hope hosted more than a dozen Christmas parties in the first week of December, with each event reflecting the unique personality of the community it honored. Guests included Living Hope staff, home-based caregivers and clients, and children in Masiphumelele, Ocean View, Muizenberg/Capricorn and Red Hill. There were also celebrations for the staff of Living Hope Capri, the staff and clients of the Health Care Centre, and the staff and clients of Living Grace.

Adult guests dined on a hearty breakfast or lunch, played games, and heard a moving presentation of the Ray Boltz song “Thank You (For Giving to the Lord),” More than 1,500 children attended the afternoon parties, where they enjoyed food, games, prizes, singing and dancing, face painting and inflatable bounce houses. All guests went home with a special gift package of hygiene products.

The Life Skill Educators (LSEs) planned the children’s parties for their respective communities. The Masi party alone drew more than 800 children and featured bounce houses and freshly popped popcorn. In Ocean View, the festivities included water slides and rides on four-wheel all-terrain vehicles. Capricorn featured a carnival theme, complete with clown performances by LSEs and bobbing for prizes in a juice- and jelly-filled pool. Red Hill’s party took place on Scarborough Beach, where kids held relay races and waded into the chilly waters of the Atlantic. Every party was an unforgettable experience for the children and a tangible expression oflove by the LSEs who serve them.

The parties were coordinated and staged by an Extreme Response work team and assisted by volunteers from the local area and abroad. Much joy, laughter and gratitude was evident throughout the week, reflecting the widespread impact that Living Hope has on the people of the Cape Peninsula.