Children's Home in Kasoa, Ghana

"And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward." Matthew 10:42

He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. Proverbs 22:9

Thanks to all who have taken a moment this week to pray for the children at the home in Kasoa, Ghana. Thanks in abundance to those who were also able to contribute something to the care of the children by donating through AAI.

The kitchen.

I posted about this situation just a few minutes after I found out about it--before I had even talked to our agency director. It all started when I got the following message from our adoption coordinator:

THE CONDITION AT KASOA IS PATHETIC , THEY DON'T HAVE FOOD THERE AND THIS FORCED THEM TO PREPARE SOYA(BANKU) AND THEY STARTED RUNNING TILL TODAY. ["running" is diarrhea; banku is a corn and cassava paste/porridge]

It sent chills through my bones when I thought about the children (and their caregivers that live with them!) in that circumstance. I have been on that property and hugged some of those children. As soon as Merrily (our director) found out the news she immediately took $500 from our own budget at Eban House to be used for food and clean water for the children.

One of the bedrooms. Notice cardboard being used as matress on bottom bunk.

In the meantime, AAI staff and our fantastic AWESOME adoptive families got to work spreading the word about this urgent need far and wide. People blogged. People mass-emailed. People made phone calls. And some people just couldn't sleep thinking about the kids in Kasoa eating bland paste and unclean water for their sustenance.

Our goal for this project is to be able to install a water borehole on the orphanage's property. Secondly (but no less important) is the ongoing need for this home's food to be supplemented. We hope to be able to donate several hundred dollars of food each month to the home. But we can only do that if donations are given. We have to continue to depend on the generosity of others to sustain our ability to help the orphanage on an ongoing basis.

A classroom at the orphaange "school"

Let me emphasize, $500 worth of food and water (what AAI gave) seems like a lot of money but it is a drop in the bucket. To give you an example, a modest budget of $55 per child per month for food (what we budget at Eban House) would mean the home in Kasoa needs $2750-$3300 a month to feed their kids to the same standard. We hope that the protein and vegetables we were able to donate can supplement their grain-based diet for a month or so. And we hope that the following month we will have additional funds to provide more. Without ongoing help this home is going to be right back in the same place again within a matter of weeks. They have no outside funding that I am aware of.

Exterior of classrooms/bedrooms

I'm sorry to go on and on. I just wish I could explain what it's like to think about people that you have met not having the ability to drink clean water or eat even semi-nutritious food. I think about the Auntie that runs this home--how she has sacrificed much of her life for these children--and how she must feel when she literally doesn't have enough food to go around for even two basic meals a day.

So I'm asking you PLEASE--don't forget the Kasoa Orphanage. Don't allow yourself to. They need you. Even $5 a month. $5 a week. $5 one time! It helps. Consider signing up to make a monthly set donation. We do this for a Cambodia charity ($10 a month). Sometimes it feels like it's so little it doesn't make a difference. We've thought about stopping it. But each year we get a thank you note from that charity because our consistent giving makes a big difference in how they can plan.

Thanks,

Anita