Friday, July 22, 2011

Update on our projects

I promised everyone an update and posting of more pictures. However, many many many things have haapened since I last posted anything for all of you followers.
First of all the health fairs do indeed continue and there will be pictures forthcoming.
As for the puppet programs, they have been on a bit of a hold as I have no 'puppeteers' to help me and it just cannot be done as a 'one man show'. I am diligently searching for helper and may indeed find some soon.
And, I did receive a phone call from our little patient who had the leg re-construction surgery in california and she is doing just fine. Has entered a school there and is 'shining' as only the young Grenadians can. I also heard from our little cancer girl from Chicago and she too, is doing just fine. The famililes have been thankful for all our diligence and follow-up...as well as the generous doctor associates of mine who were willing to give their time and talents to bless these children and their families.
All that said, I also have found myself in a bit of a quandry and recenlty found that I will be needing surgery. So this may be the last posting until all is well with me.
Know that I do love all of you who support me and my projects, who pray for the children and patients and the volunteers at the fairs and 'roving clinics' and also to the missionaries who were so eager to give of themselves to serve all of YOU!
know tht my thoughts and prayers are with all of you and know ew are all blessed.

Friday, October 29, 2010

post script

Okay...so now I promise to get more pictures and post them so all can see our work...and know that there are so so many people in the world that are far worse off than we could ever imagine...and that's why I do what I do!
See you all in a while with more...
dr. marianne

Here are some examples of those who "REALLY" need wheelchairs...and I was absolutley thrilled to obtain them so they could finally go places!

And then there was the 'MILK'...boy was there alot!

Okay, okay, I promised pictures...so here we are unpacking and stacking boxes of grant 'stuff'

Distribution of grant materials

Now for the update of the distribution of grant materials...
here is the 'skinny' on what has been actually distributed and we continue to do so...and as long as I can access grants, etc. we WILL continue to provide for the needy people.
Items distributed:
120 bales of clothing (this means that we accessioned over a few hundred thousand pounds of clothing for men, women and youth). they continue to be distributed among all the parishes. (pictures will follow at some point when we get the chance to donwload them...so keep on reading and looking)
50 bales of shoes ( this means hundred of pairs of shoes are being distributed...and they are great...especially the dress and sneaker shoes for the kids)
250 boxes of school supplies (these include kits of 10 in each box that has notebooks, paper, pencils and other school items all in a carry bag)
325 boxes of newborn kits (these include kits of 7 that has a small hat/cap, diapers, diaper pins, booties, baby soap and washing cloths)
280 boxes of orphanage kits (these had small toys like legos, laminated velcro counting sheets, spelling sheets, coloring books, small wooden puzzles, etc.)
310 boxes of hygiene kits (these include 2 towels, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant and washcloths)
we also accessed more wheelchairs (50- in 4 sizes) which are being given out to those who have limited mobility
and, last, there was a milk grant which had 20 (yes I said 20! and each pallet had forty five 40lb sacks) pallets of dried 2% milk. this is like gold here and is being distributed by the sack and also in small 2.5 lb plastic sacks. We have distributed alot of these itmes to church organizations who know the populace who are really needy, but also to the schools, nursing homes, etc.
Okay...yes there ARE pictures...but they are in storage right now and I will need to unpack them...but to give you an idea. I will put in the pictures of some of the items after we unloaded the 40ft container from the port...
enjoy and look for our update pictures1 =0 )

It's time to catch up

It's time to let everyone konw what has been going on...It has been a REALLY long time, but that just means that we have been really busy since the last posting. Let me bring you up to date.
First... we received a rather substantial grant from the LDS church which allowed us to bring in a HUGE amount of items and then distribute them.
Second...the health fairs (clinics continue with the help of Ann and Ms Simon and the students and the SO's. Although there have not been quite as many, since the distribution of items from the grant took a great amont of time and effort...and since everyone is a volunteer, we need to keep all rested and ready to help
Third...the after-school program continues also with the help of Ann, Ms Simon and the SO's. The venue was slightly altered, but the kids keep coming and they enjoy the tutoring and the support and of course...the TREATS. (Many of these children only get this small bread and local juice for the day for their meal, so they so look forward to coming...and they love the learning too!)
Fourth...the dry-pack canning is still going far too slow, but it is difficult to change routines and storage preferences to metal cans (which will keep for 20+ years) as opposed to the muslim bags of provisions they have now. Perhaps another disaster will prove our idea and that it is worthwhile and much more advantageous than the current methods
Fifth...the children's puppet shows continue but also slowly...as our puppeteers continue to progress through their educational process and then we have to train new ones all over again. There are a but a handful of the inherent people who are interested or even wish to share their time...but I know the children and the parents appreciate the information...so I will continue to push them forward.