Malaria

Today is World Malaria Day.  I don't know all the statistics, nor do I understand how it can be wiped out or even all the government issues.  But I do know what it is.  I will try to describe it from first hand experience and observation.
My son, Charlie/Chuck, went with me to Ghana in 2004. Towards the end of our trip, we had returned to the capital and a hotel with hot running water and air conditioning, Charlie woke up and said his legs hurt.  He took a shower, then said he hurt all over.  I knew enough to know what it was.  Within one hour we were at a hospital waiting in line to see a doctor.  For $6, total, we had paid the bill and bought medicine.  He spent the next 48 hours in bed with what he describes as " 10 times worse than any flu."
In 2009 I was teaching school in Ghana.  My roommate came down with malaria.  Head ache, fever, diarrhea , vomiting, chills... She also began taking medicine within an hour of waking with it.  Three days later she was still in bed with an IV hooked to our laundry drying rack.
A couple of months after this I woke in the middle of the night.  Fever, headache and vomiting.  My roommate went to the pharmacy with $3 and got my medicine.  I was able to shower, drink water, take ibuprofen and lie in bed under a ceiling fan.  I slept all day.  Weird dreams, chills, then hot, and EXTREMELY tired.  But, for me, it only lasted one day... Probably due to already being on doxycycline to fight it.
Adamu, my little "foster" daughter had it several times in the year I lived  there.  One night, in particular, I showered her three times to reduce the 106 degree temperature.  Kids in African get malaria many, many times!  Several times at the school I would feel the head of a child who was too tired to hold up their head.  I had the only thermometer in town.  Kids would have 104, 105 or 106 temperatures and be at school!  They shake all over and the pain is excruciating.  An insurance card in Ghana is 5 cedi, almost a weeks wages for some.  Medicine is $3 - $5.  Children die from the fever, dehydration or other complications.  Children lose their hearing or suffer brain damage.  But even without these complications,  imagine 104 temperature, diarrhea and vomiting in a hut with no water or electricity, when the temperature outside matches your body temp.
This is a way of life in Ghana (and many countries around the world).  Parents know the risk.  They have had friends and family die from the disease.  It is as common as colds here in America, but with each episode their children are at risk of death.  It is preventable and I have heard it said that if American children were at risk we would eradicate malaria.  I don't want to get political, I don't even understand it all.  But there are warriors out there fighting this disease.  Please, for more information about what we can do go to http://malarianomore.org/.  There's tons of information there as well as many ways to help.

Hope Child Education Center

Hope Child Education Center

Hope Child Education Center was founded by friends John and Dorcas Inusah and Gary and myself, after years of discussion and false starts in response to the very real and desperate needs of the children in Yendi, Ghana.  While I was teaching school there I noticed the many street children who hung around my building, the market and even the church I attended.  Many of these children cannot attend school as they are needed to help around the house or on the family farm.  Some cannot afford the school uniforms or small fees.  Many don't have shoes. Hunger is evident and most children have one meal a day consisting of yams or beans.  
In discussing plans for the school, John and I wanted to make it accessible and functional for those children who could not attend other schools in the area.  Classes are held three mornings a week so that the students can help at home. School uniforms are not required and there are no fees.  A healthy lunch is served each day to all the students. The very basics are taught; reading, writing and math, basic health care, cleanliness and Christian education.  Teachers are being trained in teaching students in their local language, in preparation to learning English, as this has been found to be a much more efficient way to teach reading and writing.  Older students will be instructed in vocational skills by local artisans, mechanics and skilled laborers. Recently a sponsor purchased Bibles for every student in their own language.  
John Inusah opened the school in a village that has never had a school.  None of the students, who range from age 4 to age 19, have ever been to school.  The entire village is excited and eager for the school to grow.  We have started with 30 children and meet in a church, that has graciously been given us to use until we can build a school.   
 John recently held a meeting in the village to discuss the growth and future of the school.  He reports that the parents gave a unanimous affirmation to the objectives of the school.  The parents testified that the children were already developing good interpersonal relationships, are learning to speak English with their peers and greet the parents, are better behaved, display a general sense of being more calm and peaceful with less fighting and are in better health. 
One of the biggest surprises was when John called  me and asked if we could take 15 to 19 year old students as many had shown up and really wanted to learn.  I said of course, we could teach some basic skills and vocational training.  Imagine these teens excitement when they learned they could attend school for the first time and learn the basic skills along side their peers.
Our dream is to build a three room school very soon.  This would cost around $3500.  This is in addition to the $600 a month it costs to run the school (teacher's and cook's pay, food and materials).  We already have the money set aside for a water system once the school is built.  At this time there are many more children who want to attend, but we just do not have the room or the resources.  Please pray with us that Hope Child Education Center will grow and change the lives of the individual students and the whole village.  As children earn a basic education and learn skills to help them advance, they can share these skills and resources with the rest of the village.  It is a tremendous opportunity to change one life and give HOPE to an entire community.  Please see our website; hopeforyendi.org to see how you can help, to read more about the school and see plenty more pictures.