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.

Here’s the latest news from Extreme Response partner, House of Hope, located in Port-de-Paix, Haiti…

The House of Hope in Haiti has begun to receive children who lost their parents in the earthquake and have no relatives who are able to care for them. Two young boys flew up from Port-au-Prince last week. Magloire (14 years) and Carlo (12 years) are cousins who will be staying at the House of Hope for the foreseeable future. When we first met them at the airport, they were very afraid and sad. They seemed so small and lost. I’m sure the thought of flying on an airplane with two strangers and leaving all that was familiar to them, was a frightening thing, indeed! We did start to become friends, though, when we gave them a sandwich, a drink and some Cheezies. The boys seemed to enjoy their first ride on an airplane, smiling the entire way, and they have settled in so well at the House of Hope. All of the other children have made them feel welcome and they are already part of the routines and life here. They look happy and confident…very different than the two scared little boys that we met just last week. The House of Hope has made a huge difference in their lives in just a few short days.

Another new arrival to the House of Hope family is little Carly who is 15 months old. Her parents were both killed in the earthquake while she remained buried under the rubble for several hours. A neighbor managed to pull her to safety and get her the care that she needed. Little Carly had 2 broken legs and several cuts and she has spent the last several weeks in a hospital in PAP. Carly arrived at the House of Hope on Sunday and, understandably, she was very unsettled. She must have had a dad who was very involved with her care because, at first, she would go to boys much easier than girls. Once again, the entire HOH family has gone out of their way to make her feel welcome and coax some smiles out of her. Everyone from the older kids to the younger ones can be seen carrying Carly around or offering her toys. 3 days after arriving at the HOH, Carly is much more calm, more settled, less anxious…and the smiles are not so hard to come by. The HOH family is now Carly’s family and, from our perspective, they all take this very seriously and really know how to “be” a family.

The earthquake in Haiti has the world scrambling to help. I (Jerry) have been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from friends, churches, and from people I’ve never met asking if we are sending teams that they can join, or if we will be accepting donations of food, water and clothing.

I have spoken with our partner, Lemuel. They are in need of funds for food, water, rebuilding their own facilities as well as staff housing. They, of course, want to help the people of Haiti survive the current crisis, rebuild their lives and homes.. They have asked that we do not send teams any time soon because they are having hard time surviving themselves let alone having to worry about visitors who do not speak the language, don’t know the country culture, safety issues etc.. The unknowns of day to day living are overwhelming right now. They have asked for donations so they can purchase supplies locally. Prices may be high but purchasing locally will help to re-stimulate their economy and at this time many of the supplies that have arrived at the airport are stuck there because of the logistical problems with all the damage of the roads and building.

Yesterday we got word from them that all but one of the boys they work with in Port-au-Prince were alive.

ER rep Jean David was scheduled to fly from Quito to Haiti yesterday. We have not heard if he arrived or not. The current plan is that he will assist with the distribution of aid alongside the Ecuadorian military…. more details to follow.

We are accepting donations that will be distributed in Haiti at the discretion of our partners. If and when they are ready to host work teams we will begin planning and sending teams. My guess is that it will take 3 to 5 years for them to rebuild to the pre-quake situation which was not good by any standard. We will have plenty of time to send teams when the rest of the world had forgotten and moved on to the next disaster. This is a long term project. Right now it’s the crisis - recovery and first-response efforts. Much will need to be done with this phase has ended. Thank you to all that have already donated.

Jenny from House of Hope Orphanage writes…
Today was another busy day, trying to connect people with their loved ones. Again some good and some bad endings, but we are glad to be able to help. We communicated with Dr. Boucher, and he sounded much better today. We are still trying to get our kids out of PAP and up here. We have received numerous requests to keep people who have survived and have no place to go. We are happy to do so, and so are waiting for them to start showing up. We imagine our family growing quite a bit over the next few days, and we are happy to be able to help out in this way.

The hospital we are connected with(CMB) is starting to fill up with wounded that have been able to make it out here. We’ve sent all our extra medical supplies to them because they will run out quickly (dear friends at Simcoe {Extreme Response Canada}– your medical supplies are being put to good use!). Dr. Mozart was exhausted this morning, so you could pray for him and the other Dr.’s and nurses as they treat these wounded. They were told they’d get some extra nurses from the government, but so far we haven’t seen them yet.

Please give toward to the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti

Donations towards HAITI RELIEF
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Today Extreme Response President Jerry Carnill met with representatives from Lemuel (ER partner project in Haiti) to discuss immediate and future relief needs. The Lemuel building in Port-au-Prince was damaged, but not destroyed. They still have not received word on the status of their people in the capital. Extreme Response is collecting funds (see donate button below) to partner with Lemuel in a relief effort. These funds will be used as Lemuel begins to assist their “neighbors” after the current initial recovery mission begins to subside and long-term assistance is ready to begin.

Extreme Response is also sending a representative to Haiti to help with the relief efforts there. Jean David is a Haitian that is currently living in Ecuador. Jean David is scheduled to go with ER partner HCJB Global to help with translation and logistics for a medical team that is currently trying to get into Port-au-Prince. Today he was also asked to assist the Ecuadorian military in transporting 50,000 rations of food and water. Because of the chaos at the Port-au-Prince airport, the HCJB medical team is waiting in Miami and the Ecuadorian military plane is still in Quito. Jean David is scheduled to leave Quito on an Air France flight Friday afternoon. We will keep you informed as new information comes in.

Today’s update from Jenny at the House of Hope orphanage in Haiti says…
One of our kids, Carl, wasn’t at school (in Port-au-Prince) day before yesterday as he had finished his exams and had a few days off (he was supposed to come up here today on the bus, go figure). He said his school was ripped in two, and all the students who were there were buried underneath and they’ve not been able to get any out. It was such a God thing that he was at the Boucher house when the earthquake happened, because he had to rush in to get their middle boy out. He got hit on the shoulder, but saved the boy’s life!……One piece of good news we got today was that someone has spoken with Miss Marie Ange. She was our last young adult in PAP that we hadn’t heard from. So all of our kids who live there are alive and accounted for..

Please give toward to the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti

Donations towards HAITI RELIEF
Enter Amount $

The worst earthquake on over 200 years has left massive destruction in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Thousands are presumed dead. This morning we have heard from both Extreme Response partners in Haiti. The Lemuel project and staff in the Plateau in the Northwest region of Haiti were not affected by the quake (Manis, Judy & staff), but they have not heard anything from their project people in Port-au-Prince. They are fearful for the safety of their people there, but cannot contact them due to all phone service being down. We will keep you updated as we receive information.

We have also heard from Jenny at the House of Hope Orphanage also in Haiti…
Just a quick note to let you know we are safe. We felt the earthquake here, and both the aftershocks. We thought it was just a local thing, you can imagine how much all our kids were scared, and we’ve spent the whole evening telling and retelling our experiences (some of our kids were still in school, and had to fight to get out of the buildings – it was a bit scary for them). We’ve heard of just a bit of damage around here, and the hospital had at least one case that we know of. It was a little girl who was under a wall that fell down, she has a broken arm.
By now we’ve heard how serious it was in and around PAP, and so we are very concerned for all our friends, family and colleagues who live there. We can’t use our phones at all, but thankfully our internet it working. Thank you to everyone who expressed their concern, we do appreciate your prayers.

Extreme Response is working with our partners to begin relief efforts in the country. If you would like to give toward this effort, please designate your gift (online through this website or by check) for “HAITI RELIEF”

Donations towards HAITI RELIEF
Enter Amount $

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!!!

For His Children is an orphanage which has been operating in Quito, Ecuador for 19 years with over 550 orphans having been cared for in the home. There are currently 45 children in the Quito home. A new home has been opened this year in the city of Latacunga, Ecuador, about 1 ½ hours from Quito, in order to help the orphans in that area of the country. Children are brought to the home by various means such as the police, who often find them abandoned in the parks, from hospitals, where the mothers give birth and leave the children, or from the court systems. Schooling is provided for all the children, including the many special-needs kids. While the new building is still under construction, the first floor is in use with 19 children. They expect to have 35 – 40 children eventually with room to increase up to about 70 children if needed. Work teams are coming from the US and Canada to help with the ongoing construction of the house. Extreme Response is offering to help them with the teams and short-term workers who desire to serve at the home. This will take a lot of the burden off the directors and give them more time to concentrate on the needs of the children. That’s what we do at Extreme Response.

by Mike Bishop

On August 30, six people from the Extreme Response Quito office went to the coastal town of Manta, Ecuador to help with a fundraiser for the Montañita Verde Children’s Home run by our partner organization Por Amor. A favorite Ecuadorian dish called Fritada (fried pork) was served with hominy and a salad. It was truly a cooperative effort between the orphanage, Extreme Response, Mr. Chancho (providing the pork), about 30 students from a cooking school, the local Howard Johnson’s Hotel and a local TV station, Manavisión. Everyone worked together to raise funds for the orphanage which cares for about 25 children. Over $3,000 was raised.

A team from Kensington Community Church of Troy, Michigan is currently on the coast of Ecuador, building a security wall around the Montanita Verde Orphanage.  They’re doing a great job with not only the construction, but also with building relationships with the children of the orphanage.  Thanks for all your hard work, team!