The Oasis Foundation
Grace Village
Ethiopia

Kelakil / Tseada Amba Update Aug 21, 2008

After our efforts to encourage folk to help with these poor people, we were able to bring about some high level involvement. The World Health Organization is working with the Ministry of Health to develop a Steering Committee and the Minister plans to chair this! The plan is to have a meeting with all concerned parties which include:

• World Health Organization
• UNICEF
• Ministry of Health (Ethiopia)
• Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute
• Regional Health Bureau (Ethiopia)
• Center for Disease Control (USA)
• Imperial College (London)
• Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) - Medical Faculty and Science Faculty and Hebarium
• Oasis Foundation

Once this has been convened participants will indicate what role they will play, human and supply and financial resources will be required. We pray simply that the cause is found, and the people may return to their beautiful countryside farming area. Some will not survive to return. One little girl Masho who is 17 years old is so sick we brought her to hospital yesterday, she may never return, five of her siblings have died... her mother has since had two small babies to make up for the loss. How many need to die before we find out the cause? May God help us!

On the ground we have set up an emergency clinic which we go to each Thursday and see patients; we are seeing people with the disease from two areas now, Kelakil and Kibirto with some 8,000 people at risk. I have seen over 60 who either fear the illness or actually have symptoms. A few are so very sick. One family has lost 14 family members and only two lads are still alive. Hence our sponsorship program in Kelakil where we help 57 children who are orphans. We have enough for another one month and then we have no money left to help them.

We have been feeding the children at school since January but we have re-directed the school feeding to feed those who are directly affected by the disease, giving to the whole family. Baptist Mid Missions helped us with that to the tune of 15,000 USD and 5,000 USD from a donor in Holland! It has helped so much to feed these poor people a high protein diet. We give them one kilo of soy flour and half kilo of sugar to make up porridge per person per week. Some of them it is all they have!

Read more:

• Update on July 12 2008
• Update on May 7 2008
• Kelakil - Project
• Kelakil Orphans - Year Two