At around 7 Joseph dropped by the volunteer house and we were able to discuss a couple of things with him.
We started by discussing Dorothy, the girl we had seen today whose step-mother has been neglecting her. Joseph said that she was a particularly bad case. His thinking is that while education is very important for her, there are other important aspects of this intervention as well. Dorothy does not understand her rights as a human being and needs time to interact with others more to see how others are treated. She will also be given time with the school counselor. As part of these sorts of intervention strategies, they do parental education as well. They talk about a parent's obligations to a child and also about what benefits there are of having a happy, healthy child. The organisation has spoken to the father before, but the step-mother is strong willed and the father is not often home.
Another concern is that Dorothy is being made to wake up at 6am to begin her chores. it's not yet light at this time and it's really unsafe for a young girl to be walking around in the dark by herself.
We are looking into sponsorship options for her as a group, but will wait until after our visit to the slums on Wednesday until we make our final decision.
Conversation move to the woman I had met in the slums (Aisha) with the paralised, epileptic son (Mussa). The organisation currently uses a microfinance company, but they require collateral. I talked to Joseph about Kiva and this is an option we will be exploring. Failing that, the organisation can act as guarantor with their existing finance company.
This would allow Aisha to purchase items such as a bag of charcoal, cassava, etc, which can be sold at a profile, enabling her to purchase medication and other essentials.
We will be going back to the slums on Wednesday and Joseph has agreed to do a full assessment on this family then. Hopefully we will then be able to move to the intervention stage. this would involve arranging a loan and getting Mussa to a rehabilitation centre. There is one nearby that in this situation would be willing to split the cost.
I'm really pleased at the outcome of these conversations and am hopeful that some great things will come from this.
Joseph hung around for a little while afterwards, amusing us. He didn't know what mosquito repellent was and it was hilarious watching him spraying it on his arm and recoiling at the smell. Also, I don't think I've ever seen someone not know how to break off a piece of Toblerone before. Hilarious.
We started by discussing Dorothy, the girl we had seen today whose step-mother has been neglecting her. Joseph said that she was a particularly bad case. His thinking is that while education is very important for her, there are other important aspects of this intervention as well. Dorothy does not understand her rights as a human being and needs time to interact with others more to see how others are treated. She will also be given time with the school counselor. As part of these sorts of intervention strategies, they do parental education as well. They talk about a parent's obligations to a child and also about what benefits there are of having a happy, healthy child. The organisation has spoken to the father before, but the step-mother is strong willed and the father is not often home.
Another concern is that Dorothy is being made to wake up at 6am to begin her chores. it's not yet light at this time and it's really unsafe for a young girl to be walking around in the dark by herself.
We are looking into sponsorship options for her as a group, but will wait until after our visit to the slums on Wednesday until we make our final decision.
Conversation move to the woman I had met in the slums (Aisha) with the paralised, epileptic son (Mussa). The organisation currently uses a microfinance company, but they require collateral. I talked to Joseph about Kiva and this is an option we will be exploring. Failing that, the organisation can act as guarantor with their existing finance company.
This would allow Aisha to purchase items such as a bag of charcoal, cassava, etc, which can be sold at a profile, enabling her to purchase medication and other essentials.
We will be going back to the slums on Wednesday and Joseph has agreed to do a full assessment on this family then. Hopefully we will then be able to move to the intervention stage. this would involve arranging a loan and getting Mussa to a rehabilitation centre. There is one nearby that in this situation would be willing to split the cost.
I'm really pleased at the outcome of these conversations and am hopeful that some great things will come from this.
Joseph hung around for a little while afterwards, amusing us. He didn't know what mosquito repellent was and it was hilarious watching him spraying it on his arm and recoiling at the smell. Also, I don't think I've ever seen someone not know how to break off a piece of Toblerone before. Hilarious.
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