Yawenta Children’s Center

February 28^th, 2009

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters!

I realize that I’ve been apologizing repeatedly for the late arrival of the Progress Reports. In order not to bore anyone, I will not do that again, but rather start with the news of the last three months.

Sara has returned home after her mother was released from prison. Unfortunately the family is not doing very well: the two months in the police station seem to have affected the mother psychologically, which in turn reflects on Sara, who is not happy any more in the tiny house without any toys. At times she misses school, and she is not as active and cheerful as before. That hurts, of course, because the girl had become close to me, but on the other hand there are other children who are even worse off at home than she is, and I can’t take all of them into my home.

Jony was sick again, he’s got chronic malaria and had to spend another week in hospital. In the ambulance I thought he’d die in my arms: he lost consciousness, yellow foam came out of his mouth and nose, and he had convulsions caused by the fever. But the next day he was already up and down the hospital, holding his glucose bag in his hands. From hospital he came straight to my house, I employed a babysitter for the nights and for when I’m not there, and since then Meskerem and I have been taking care of Jony together. Abiti is a fantastic big brother who knows how to make Jony laugh.

Since Jony has been with us, the previously practically mute child has found his voice. He doesn’t articulate any words yet, but he laughs loudly and babbles ‘blabilabila’ and ‘iiiii’ and ‘mamamama’. Now we’re hopeful that he will learn to speak after all. Jony, who is five years old, seems to be partially on the developmental level of a one-and-half year old, physically as well as psychologically, but if he should manage not to get ill for at least some time, he might be able to catch up somewhat. He has gained some weight (from 11.5 kg before to 13.5 kg), has learned to blow his nose and can even play the harmonica and the small trumpet (badly). He is much stronger and more active than before and has been up to some mischief.

Another child with problems is Aschalew. 6 weeks ago we took him for an HIV test, he is not infected, but was found to be Hepatitis B positive. Since this severe viral infection is transmitted, just like HIV, primarily through sexual contact and blood, we have to assume that he got the disease from his mother at birth. Hepatitis B is treatable with the same medication as HIV, and if all goes well he’ll be healed in 4 months’ time. To what extent his liver has already been damaged will be seen once he’s finished the medication.

At about the same time we found out – after 9 months – that Yosef, our mentally retarded boy, has epilepsy. He was prescribed medication, but without a proper diagnosis (for which an EEG and possibly a computer tomography are indispensable), and the doctor advised neither us nor the mother what to do in case of a seizure. We knew that Yosef had some type of seizures, but since those did not come with the typical convulsions and because we do not have any experience with epilepsy, we thought that these seizures were caused by his mental problem. Next month I will have to take Yosef, whom my mother has described as ‘behaviourally creative’, toAddis Ababafor the necessary examinations.

Since we started to rent the neighbour’s yard in January, our children finally have more space to play. As soon as we can we’ll get a slide, swings and a see-saw. We also plan to buy more Montessori teaching materials so that our children can learn according to their growing abilities.

My mother, Dr. Christa Staudinger, came to visit in February, bringing with her a lot of toys and money from our donors. She took to the children straight away and not only observed and documented, in many photos, our daily routines, but also played with the children until they clung to her skirt tails.

On February 27^th we celebrated the project’s first anniversary with a small party. Children, parents, staff and some friends and supporters from Shashamane had cake and juice in a family atmosphere. We look back on this first year with some pride. The number of our beneficiaries has increased from 10 to now 29, and two more are waiting to be accepted in spite of the fact that we are really full to capacity. It is a small miracle that all our children are not only alive, but in good condition and that they have grown both physically and educationally. A lot of work went into this achievement: our children were with us on 210 working days, took 840 meals, made two trips (to Wondo Genet and Langano) and participated in the drama therapy project with three performances of the play ‘The Leopard’s Drum’. We prepared 44 weekly lesson plans and as many meal plans, gave report cards to 26 children, went to buy medicine 128 times and took about 60 children to the doctor’s. We can only guess how often we have washed children and their clothes; it must be between 350 and 500 times.

Financial Report:

As mentioned before, my mother brought with her donations fromAustriatotaling 3970 Euro. We would like to heartically thank: Monika Maireder, Andrea Niemetz, Mrs. Hüttner, Martin Lindenthal, Ingrid Gruber, Mr. Wolf, the Story Telling Circle and the Fairy Tale Circle, Heide Manhartsberger, Traude Cikanek, the staff of the Hubertus Pharmacy in Kaisermühlen, Mr. Winkler, Peter Rauscher, Mag. Brigitte Gruber, Sylvia Edelmann, Vanessa Wabitsch, Dr. Balluch, Sylvia Friessnegg, Beate Lobis, Marion Diagne, Christine Niemetz, Dr. Birgit Langer, Maria Zacherl and Dr. Ellböck. Mag. Walter Weninger generously permitted us to use one display window of his pharmacy and to put up a collection box. Thank you’s are also in place for project coordinator Bethina Karst and the organizer of the Christmas Concert, Erich Pochendorfer, as well as for the teachers and students of the BGRG Polgarstrasse who have actively supported our project. Geraldine and Fery have donated fantastic musical instruments, and Dr. Desta and Johanna Alemu as well as Amelie and Gudrun from theFairy Tale Circlegave us a lot of toys, which were enthusiastically received by the children.

Additionally, we received unexpected donations from Ras Shango Baku and P. Major fromEngland, Sis. Annamaria Pilo and Pablo Goschala fromItaly, as well as from Mike. Louise Heckett has been fundraising for our project inIrelandfor some time and transferred the great sum of 5,000 US dollars in January. All these large and small donations, as well as the monthly contributions from our sponsors, will hopefully enable us to take care of our children throughout the year 2009.

Auditing Report

The following report on the budget year 2008 was audited and approved by the Bureau of Finance and Economic Development of West Arsi Zone, Oromia Region. All figures are in birr (on Euro is about 14 birr at the moment):

Expenses

Our income consisted of:

International revenue:  76,061.87 Birr

Local revenue:              94,785.00 Birr

Bank interest:                     424.59 Birr

TOTAL:                       171,271.46 Birr

Cash at bank on December 31^st, 2008 was 56,328.94 birr, and we had 1,800.93 birr in the petty cash.

Again, thank you all very much for all the support and strength. We hope that we have used your donations in a way that will find your approval. Should you have any questions, please contact me directly at ivision33@yahoo.com.

With heartical greetings,

Isheba Tafari

President

Positive Action Charity Organization