The Oasis
Foundation
Grace Village
Ethiopia
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Oasis' Splash
September 2008, Volume 1, Issue 4 (pdf - Print Version)
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Grace Village
The end of rainy season holidays, back to school, Ethiopian New Year and best of all the Annual Birthday Party! As we do not know the children’s date of birth we simply celebrate a village one on the 1st September every year. Wonderful! This year we had games set up by short termer Jasper and our own Mulugeta. ‘Musical-chairs’ was a great hit! Resulting in several broken stools but enormous laughter and joy emanated from the village that day!
Then lunch of two goats with injera and / or bread that our own Teashop - Gidey had baked. Then a quick clean up and progress to another house for coffee, cookies and sweets and the best part of all, presents from parents. Sponsors had sent towels and photo albums including in many cases pictures of themselves, which the children loved. Weary children then went home and put pictures into their very own albums – memories begun.
Nebiat came to help the children to learn and study during rainy season. She had been helped through the community care program and medical costs when she was found to have tuberculosis. She is clear of her TB and has completed high school and she came back to help us before going on to university.
Matthew a short termer who came in August helped with English and Bible classes. These young men and women who come are a blessing to all of us; we thank God for them.
Health
The experts come from the big city, from other countries and still you are ill. This is what we are confronting in Kelakil and now Kibirto... This month the top experts will have a teleconference to plan the way forward for some ten thousand people at risk of this disease of unknown aetiology (cause). Oasis Foundation has been the agencies that has kept knocking on doors pleading for help for a poor frightened and apathetic subsistence farming community in remote Tigray. The pregnant women is another group of people we help, simple delivery kits sent from Zonta Clubs in Australia are going to rural health posts and being used for clean and safe deliveries. Others come to our gate asking for emergency transfer to hospital. Women’s Hope International in Switzerland are giving us a vehicle to help with these activities and to raise awareness for women with obstetric fistulas throughout north-western Tigray. |
What a precious gift health is! Imagine being a farmer away in the valley and suddenly your child becomes sick, then another one, then another one, then your husband becomes ill and slowly one by one they die... You remember the chickens died, the goats and the cows, your father eight big dogs all died... What is causing this? Miracles
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Our Yonas, abandoned at Grace Village, HIV positive, with hydrocephalus and burn marks all over his body. The first miracle was that he became HIV negative at three years of age, then he needed surgery on his head, the doctors looked at his CT Scan and said that he would never walk or talk! But he walks and talks!Development
We have added another female headed household project, just north of Grace Village we are helping women to farm their two hectares of land, we hope eventually to have helped eight of these female headed household groups throughout Tahtay Koraro. The next step will be to help with marketing and sale of their produce.
Here at Grace Village we have planted more trees to help with soil conservation. We have experimented with sowing rice as encouraged by the Regional Government.
The joy we receive in the faces of our children and vulnerable people is the gift worth millions and through your partnership we accomplish much! Thank you!
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