Thanks, Huntsville!

On July 24, four old friends of mine organized a phenomenal concert in my hometown of Huntsville, Ontario to raise money and awareness for Liberia's forgotten. With the help of incredibly talented local musicians and around 160 friends, teachers, and strangers, we raised more than we hoped, and we had a lot of fun in the process.

Thank you to all of you who came--it was touching and so encouraging to see you and chat with you. Thank you to the organizers and performers for giving so freely and enthusiastically of your time and talent. Thank you, Huntsville! I'm eagerly anticipating my return to Liberia in September to put these funds into action at Frances Gaskins' Children's Rescue Home.

A most splendiferous return to Liberia.

Well it is great to be back in liberia, the sights, the smells, the heat!!! I made it with no problems on my flights and they didn't even lose my luggage this time. On my first full day back I went with Mary to drop off food at Childcare Foundfation and Francis Gaskin. The children at Childcare were all happy to see me and they all looked well. You can definitely tell it is rainy season though, the there kids have a lot of skin fungus and other irritations but thankfully no malaria! The kitchen that they made out of mud and sticks is practically all washed away by the rain, so they are back to cooking in the school. Korpu is getting fat and staying healthy. She is not walking yet but she is kind of dragging herself along on her butt. She is stronger and with a little encouragment I am sure she will be walking soon.
At Francis Gaskin the director, Emmanuel, continues to impress. He has practically built his own latrines and continues to provide vocational training for the children even though school is out for the summer. The children all look healthy and he has only had a few cases of malaria which he has treated all on his own. This guy is never sitting down. He knows that no one will wash your back if you are not washing your front. More soon from other homes as I visit them. Enjoy.

Promo Video-Recut

The Situation in Liberia's Orphanages

A song from Peter Sayclon's children

Garmai say

Amazing!

This is an enormous thank you to all the families that participated in the Kids LAKE campaign to raise $1000 in under a month for mosquito nets -- YOU DID IT! I checked the thermometer this morning, July 2, and it's bursting at $1029! That's 147 nets, covering up to 588 children!! Wow--and most of it was raised by good ol' fashioned lemonAID stands!

On behalf of the whole team, thank you all so much. The money you've raised, all those nickels and dimes faithfully handed over by your toddlers, will save many young lives over in Liberia. You've made an amazing example of what can be done right here in the States, how a little effort (and a little friendly competition!) can produce such abundant fruit.

Keep up the great work, Kids LAKE! May God richly bless you all for your hard work and broken hearts for Africa.

Food prices in Liberia

The price of rice, Liberians' number one staple food, has risen sharply from $23 for a 50 kg bag when Project 23 started at this time last year. Now it's almost $40 and, according to WFP, it's going to keep on going up -- it's already $50 for 50 kg next door in Guinea! -- at least through the rainy season.



What does this mean for us?

• Project 23 is going to keep its name, but become more and more important as prices rise. Project 23 was specifically designed to help those orphanages that are "falling through the cracks", those that aren't getting other outside aid, those suffering particularly harsh circumstances -- and it's going to keep reaching those children.
• Orphan Relief and Rescue is going to continue building up gardens and farms for many orphanages so that they sustain themselves through future shortages.
• We need your support more than ever to continue developing short- and long-term solutions for the six thousand children in Liberia living in destitute orphanages.

What can you do?

• Spread the word, get your friends involved, start something big by doing something small.
• Contact us with your idea for an event or campaign and we will support you in whatever way we can.
• The biggest difference you can make may be through prayer, whether it's individually or with your youth or church group. Please pray for the children in Liberia, especially during rainy season. Please pray for ORR, especially as we grow. And please pray for our people in Liberia, Benin and the U.S.
• Give us feedback! We sincerely want to hear from you. Please take a second to share with us any ideas, concerns, or connections that might help us improve.
  

Getting kids excited about helping kids

I've just returned from a fantastic (and full!) five weeks in Liberia, and sorting through my inbox this morning was so encouraging--all kinds of exciting things happening on THIS side of the Atlantic that everyone can get involved in.

Kids LAKE is a group of parents and teachers encouraging their children to raise awareness and resources for kids living in poverty. This month they're raising money for mosquito nets, saving lives $7 at a time. 100% of the money that the kids raise will go directly to our staff in the field, so every nickel and dime from that lemonAID stand goes right where it's needed most.

Having just got back from hanging a few dozen nets myself, I can tell you it's incredible how simple a net is, yet what a tremendous impact it makes.

To get your kids involved in small but lifesaving projects like this, visit www.kidslake.org. And thank you to all those kids and parents and teachers doing such great work!

Project 23 at Work

Your Project 23 dollars have been put to good use lately. With the price of rice rising almost exponentially, last month ORR decided to invest in over six thousand pounds of Liberia’s staple food. We saved hundreds of dollars over this week’s price. This will ensure that we can keep delivering these kids their favorite food throughout the rainy season!

Thank You for supporting Project 23!

The story of the pink latrine

This story begins a couple of years ago, when a woman from Minnesota came to Liberia and took the time to get to get to know the children at Mother Wleh's orphanage home. She touched their lives only in small ways while she was with them -- with smiles and hugs and treats -- but the bigger impact came after she left. She didn't forget them, and worked tirelessly to continue helping them.

 

She recruited a nurse to care for them, she sent them clothing and Christmas presents, and she raised money for latrines and showers to be built to improve the most basic lifestyle of the children.

Here is just one outcome of this woman's mission to help, in big ways or small. Thank you, Colleen, for not forgetting. And thank you for allowing us to help fulfill this little dream.

The return to Liberia

Arrived back home last night, time-warped and a little foggy from a head cold, but glad to feel that familiar sticky heat hit me as I walked off the plane. Not to steal the thunder from those who've stayed on the ground working so hard, but I have an exciting update.

Those of you from Minnesota who gave generously and urgently to the latrine project at Mother Wleh's, you'll be happy to hear that it's just getting the finishing touches now. The very loose beach sand apparently posed some new challenges to Matt and his crew, but they overcame (as they always do) and have turned out one of the handsomest latrine and shower blocks in the whole country! As soon as it's painted this weekend, I'll be sure to post photos of the whole process for you to see. Thank you all so much for your quick response to that appeal!

Having the benefit of contrast, I must tell you that the field team desperately needs another vehicle--a pickup truck! With only one (14 year-old) SUV for the 3-6 people on the ground to share, we're having to depend more and more on taxis and commercial trucks for transporting materials. (To give you an idea, the other day we were forced to pay $30 to transport 15 bags of cement and a few longer pieces of wood just down the road to one construction site!) With our own pickup, we could save hundreds of dollars every week on transportation, and make sure that we can move ourselves around from orphanage to orphanage, too.

Please pray with us that God will provide the resources that we need in order to be effective in the field. Please also continue to pray for health and encouragement for the children at Mother Harley's, whose roof is leaking all over them, daily and nightly. God bless you all, and thanks for your continued support.

Malaria Season

According to the CDC and WHO, malaria affects over 350 million people each year, and causes about 1 million deaths, mostly in African Children. As rainy season approaches, malaria becomes much more of a threat. Last year Orphan Relief and Rescue treated dozens of children for malaria. This year, we're already starting to see cases. I've treated 4 kids this week. We are prepared to test and treat the children, but we want to do more.

Let's prevent malaria before we have to treat it.

This week we've been going to all the orphanage homes we have contact with and assessing their mosquito nets. Where they are torn, we are encouraging repairs. And where they are missing, we would like to provide them. It's going to take over 150 more nets to protect all the children we work with. Nets cost 6USD, and cover 2-6 children. For ORR to test and treat a child with malaria it costs a little over 2 USD. Would you consider a donation to Project 23 to help cover the cost of prevention, and potentially save lives?

We need your help!!!

Orphan Relief and Rescue is starting a new project that can change the lives of 43 kids, but we can't do it alone. This is the story of Mother Ellen Harley and the work we are doing at her home. The rain is starting to fall and we really need to get these kids a new roof.

In the community of New Georgia, just outside of Monrovia, Mother Ellen Harley has been ministering to the needs of 43 orphaned and abandoned children since the early 90’s. The original orphanage has been added on to a number of times, and with each addition the roof has lost its slope. Now it is nearly flat in most areas, the metal rusty and leaking everywhere. Every time it rains the children get wet, cold, and sick--and with rainy season coming two months early this year, they can’t keep their beds dry even now. It has already started raining every night, and mold is growing on their mattresses and walls which will soon lead a variety of fungal infections on the children’s skin. It will rain about 200 inches between now and September--it can pour down night and day for a week without stopping. After discovering that the roof is too weak even to repair, OR&R is now seeking the funds to rebuild the entire roof properly, once and for all. The complexity of the project and the fact that it has already started raining will give the field team a few challenges. Please pray for them as they undertake this much-needed effort and, if you feel called to contribute, please donate soon, online or at the address below. Once the roof is finished, OR&R looks forward to providing bunk beds, mattresses, and mosquito nets to ensure the health and comfort of the children.

If God is asking you to help please don't hesitate. We have $5,000 in and we really need another $8,000 to do this right. I want to thank you for your support of OR&R so far and I know with you this project will get done.

Food shortages in Liberia

We've all heard about it--it's all over the news. And despite all the hype and counter-hype in the U.S. about the impending food crisis, the shortage is already dramatically affecting Liberia. Rice is the Liberian staple food, and the already-high price of rice is predicted to climb between 45 and 55 percent over the next four months. Liberians simply can't afford it.

So, what is OR&R doing? We're taking proactive steps to protect the immediate food needs in the orphanages we're serving, but we're focusing on building up the capacity of each orphanage to support itself through this and future crises. Our incoming Capacity Building Manager, Jennifer, is currently training at ECHO, a simulated African farm in Florida. When she returns to Liberia in the fall, she will implement training programs in several key areas like seed keeping, fertilization using local resources, and small animal husbandry. Please join us as we invest more and more in tools, seeds, and expertise for the more than twenty homes we support.

For today, a fish; tomorrow, fishing lessons.