The children of St. Valentine and Hotpec orphanages recently received a wonderful donation of supplies and food. The supplies were comprised of such necessities as laundry and bathing soap, while the food staples included beans, fish and flour.
When visiting St. Valentine’s in December ’09, I took a picture of the boys’ weekly menu. (INSERT MENU PIC) Caption: Some days, they have to split five cups of rice a day between sixteen people.
At Hotpec on the same trip, I saw children younger than my own washing their own clothes (INSERT WASHING PIC) Caption: Soap is a necessity, but also a luxury.
The orphanages rely heavily on donations such as these to care for the children. The Obakki Foundation is working to get them electricity and other basics, but there is always more work to be done.
The baby dorm, where five cribs hold 15 babies.
The kids are worth it.
Dear Treana,
Thank you so much for the courage and vision to integrate your work with your values. It is indeed very inspiring. Thank you also for taking the time to share your journey with others. It seems like in our society we have a poverty of time and community.
It is also great to see “fashion” used as a means to bring reconciliation to our world rather than division. For this your venture has brought great challenge to myself.
Thank you for caring for each person one by one.
I was wondering which development groups are you working with on the ground if any?
kind regards
Deb
What wonderful smiles they all have, makes everything worthwhile. xx
Everytime I look at these kind of pics, I instantly look at their eyes… wondering and trying to “see” what kind of life story do they have behind…! Although, when they smile I almost feel like they have normal lives for their age. I wish that can become true someday!
You’re going the right way! I wish I could do it too somehow…
Hi Deb,
Sorry for the late reply – to answer your question, working with groups on the ground is essential to our success. Our closest partner is a group called CIC – they’re a local indigenous group that knows the region/people and speaks the language.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Treana (via Lori)