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Volunteers say Good-Bye
One! Couldn’t have been luckier when we were gifted Liz, Rafal, Kamila and Faizal and we will surely miss them for a long time to come. Liz Overheu from Australia did more than was asked of her and gave all she had day in and day out. She not only made a big difference in the school environment, but helped take all of our ideas and document them and create more organization. A month after she has left, the children still say “LizDidi boli..” (Liz’s version of Simon Says). Luckily, Liz has promised the children that she will come back in October and we will definitely look forward to it. Rafal and Kamila are very special volunteers. They absolutely love the children and this love is reflected back to them from the children. They were incredibly helpful in school and out. Kamila is the creative force behind craft and drama, and Rafal revolutionized our medical processes. We wish them the best back in Poland and hope that they will be able to come back to visit one day! Faizal was able to connect with the children on a different level because of language. It took a few days for him to settle into the environment, but it didn’t take long at all for the boys to latch on to him. Faizal brought a lot of new ideas to the table and it will be exciting implementing those ideas. Faizal promises to return to visit the children, so we’ll get the kids to mail him and hold him to it! These four (along with Meghan) have held One! together over the last few months and we wish them the best in their new endeavours. |
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 Dinesh and his wife with the crazy contraption on his leg. |
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BlackMail
More antics from Dadiji (Grandma). The grandma of 13 of our children has decided that the children are not allowed to come to school until One! loans her some more money – for no reason at all. We explained that we were only loaning the money if it was for the family to move into a legal house or for the family to start a new business. Grandma wanted the money to bribe the policemen into allowing them to remain living in the area that they are currently living (free rent but no security – the police can come tear it down at any time). Grandma is not at all willing to listen and One! is standing its ground – which unfortunately means that the children have not been able to come to classes. This is a picture of Dadiji when she was begging for our help— the city police came to tear down their houses... again.  |
Walking Again
At the beginning of February, we began work, getting Dinesh (father of Madhu, Dineeka, Rahul and Partip) ready for his major operation. Dinesh was in a major car accident over a year and a half ago. He was operated on at that time and a pin was inserted into his Tibia (lower leg). Unfortunately the operation was not carried out successfully and the leg began to get infected. By the time we met Dinesh in August of 2004 (about a year after the initial accident) he was in a terrible state. The leg was extremely infected and the doctors weren’t sure just how much they could do. We started treatment for the infection. After four months of treatment it finally seemed that the leg would be healthy enough that the doctors could operate again—but this time it wouldn’t be as simple as just inserting a pin. The doctor’s used an old Russian procedure called ORLDSJHDFN??? Rings. Metal rings and rods were inserted into and around his leg in the hopes that chemical would start to rebuild the bone and repair itself. The old infection was still in question, but thankfully it subsided enough throughout the procedure. Dinesh stayed in the hospital for almost two months after the operation—for the doctor’s to monitor him and the infection. This put a huge strain on the family. Finally, Dinesh was recently released and the children were SO excited to have dad back at home. He is now in the process of walking more and more every day to rebuild the muscle. It is still painful, but the doctors say that within three or four months he should be almost healed. The operation was a little difficult on the One! Pocket book (the operation was over $500, medicine before and after was over $500) but I guess when you think that we have been the means for a man to walk again...no price is too large! |
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Photos by Ralph Sagan: info@rafsagan.net |
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