How many cement blocks...???

How many cement blocks does it take to build a classroom??  Answer:  A LOT!  We're eagerly watching the classrooms take shape as block is placed on block.  These are the first new classrooms for the Kasompe School of Peace so they are eagerly looking forward to their completion.  While we are expecting to see the Kafwa Center in neighboring Chipulukusu completed by January, we are hoping the new classrooms in Kasompe will be ready by May.  Schools in Zambia have 3 terms per year with classes beginning in January, May, and September.    May will be a perfect time to initiate the new classrooms.

Thanksgiving blessings

May you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!  Your support and donations are changing the lives of countless women and children supported by HealthEd Connect around the world.  We are deeply grateful for your compassion and caring.

May you have a Blessed holiday!
Sherri, Jac and the whole HealthEd Connect team

P.S.  If you'd like to share out of your abundance this Thanksgiving,  go to www.healthedconnect.org and click on Donate Now.

Nepali Child



Nepali child recently hospitalized

Our health workers in Nepal are frequently asked to accomplish the impossible.  Miraculously, many times they do.  One of the health workers recently became aware of a child who lives in Nawalparasi Tarai.  Her entire body was swollen and she was obviously a very sick little girl due to kidney dysfunction.  They arranged to have her admitted to the KANTI hospital where she stayed for a month.  While there they helped the family with food, clothing, and finances as well as arranged for them to meet with a special doctor.  When she was dismissed, she went home with our supervisor, Muna, for 4 days and then eventually back to her own home.  She later had to be rehospitalized due to swelling of her abdomen but is now home again doing better.  No one knows what the future will bring but at least for now she has received relief and been surrounded by people who care.

Employee recommendation

If anyone's looking for new employees that are passionate about their work, goal driven, and produce without even being asked, do I have a deal for you!!!  The only catch is you'll have to wait about 10 years to compete for them because they are still in primary school.  I'm talking about our amazing Kevin, Jaylene and Tristan Slack who are at it again.  This time they raised $200 selling lemonade for the children in Zambia.  You can see the line of potential employers already lined up at the Buckhorn Camp Golf Tournament.

I had an email from Rebecca's Mom (our other little entrepreneur) recently saying she had just signed up for the HealthEd Connect automatic blog.  She noted that Rebecca would also enjoy the Blog.  She said "she [Rebecca] talks about the kids from Zambia like they're friends of hers; she'll appreciate hearing more intimately what's going on in their lives."   The kids in Zambia feel the same way about Rebecca.  They have her picture posted in the new classrooms and always ask about her when we visit.

Shamba Huts for Christmas

Christmas project kick-off



Have Shamba Bank, Will Travel!

Milk-carton Shamba Huts formed a village around a shoe-box school building for the Woods Chapel Christmas event kick-off November 4.  Lots of excitement among both children and adults!  Each child received a Shamba Hut bank which they took home along with a scavenger hunt sheet.  During the season of Thanksgiving, the children will count selected luxuries in their home and drop a coin in their Shamba Hut for each item found.   Some are counting pairs of shoes in their closet, others are counting appliances plugged into the wall, while others are looking for light bulbs --- all items not found in the homes of the children in Zambia. 

The adults in the congregation are selecting a card for school lunches, school supplies, or teacher salaries and dropping their cards along with their donations into the shoe-box school building.  Both children and adults are writing messages on African card/envelopes to be delivered to the children in January when a team goes to Zambia.  This will very likely be the first and only piece of mail the kids in our schools have ever received.

Milk-carton Shamba Huts

Sarah's Scavenger Hunt

The Shamba Huts will be brought back to church after Christmas to reassemble the village and see how much was collected for the kids in Zambia.  Go team!

The project was developed by 3 of our Connector Specialists, Callie Streich, Lisa Ash, and Matt Jones.  If any of you Blog followers are interested in obtaining directions for making your own Shamba Huts or obtaining any of the other items used in this project, just email Lisa at lash@healthedconnect.org.  We're having so much fun with this project we'd love to share this clever idea with you!!

Touched by Orphans

Our Zambian representative, Gershom Chifumbe, recently visited the HealthEd Connect projects in Zamtan and took pictures.  He said, "You will see pictures for the children, the mother [actually it is the CSS volunteer that they now call mother] when children were explaining how they live with their relatives. It was good time to be together when children are learning. it was a good experience. And Angela and her team are doing a very good job with children."

The Child Support Specialist team in Zamtan have actively visited the homes, intervened on behalf of children being abused, and truly become "mothers" to the community orphans and vulnerable children.  In addition, most of the CSS, including Angela, care for orphans in their own homes.  These are the umbrella ladies featured a few weeks ago in the Blog.

Duct tape creations

 

Pencil Anyone?

Jaylene, one of our most creative supporters in California has yet another enterprise going.  She is making lovely wrapped pencils with duct tape flowers of every color imaginable.  She's selling her creations for $1 each and donating the funds to HealthEd Connect.  How cool is that???  I'm sure the children in Zambia will love seeing a picture of  Entrepreneur Jaylene working for them.  Nothing more fun and appreciated than kids helping Kids.



Yum!

Zamtan children enjoying porridge 

 

 

The ever-working amazing Kafwa

Aren't they adorable!  Many of the children in Zamtan are now proudly wearing little uniforms to school.  The parents and PTA decided this was a high priority they would take on as their own project.  HealthEd Connect has provided no funding.  We continue to elevate the concern/need, however, to be sure all children are included.   They've also started their little school porridge program one-day a week just as the other schools started.  And guess who is making it all happen!  The Kafwa health workers of course.



Time to Brag!

We are thrilled to announce that thanks to the amazing reviews we got from all of you, we've won a 2012 Top-Rated Award from GreatNonprofits.  HealthEd Connect is now privileged to join the ranks of other well-known and top tier charitable organizations.  We appreciate the good feedback from those who made us eligible by posting on the GreatNonprofits website. Check out our great testimonials: http://greatnonprofits.org/reviews/profile2/healthed-connect

34 and Counting!

The support programs for the grieving orphans have taken off like bears to honey!! Such an incredible response! The group in Zamtan, our newest little school with the most pressing poverty levels now has 34 specialist Kafwa called Child Support Specialists (CSS)!! There were only 5 or so CSS that participated in the training a year ago and they took the lead. Now they've expanded to 34 --and counting! One of the exciting elements is that they are recruiting a few men to join the ranks so there will be some male adult role models. As of a couple of weeks ago, they were on Group Session #7 with 6 more to go.