March/April Update from Kathy Bowler!

Parent Workshops

In April we ran 8 different workshops over 9 days.  We had a great turn out of parents and they really enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about their child's disability and how to help them at home.  We were particularly pleased with the Hearing Impairment Workshop featuring Peter Bartlett, one of two Audiologists in Malawi.  The lessons learned were highlighted by dramas performed by seven Audiology Technician students and the parents loved the experience!  They were also encouraged to see Malawian students in action.

 Rehabilitation Services for the Hearing Impaired!

The Audiology students and Audiologist Rebecca Bartlett also performed a hearing screening session.  A number of our children were found to have a hearing impairment.  These children will be more fully assessed in June when a team of Audiologists is expected from the United States.  In June the children with hearing impairments will also go to the Mua School for the Deaf to see if they can start school in September.

The Nutrition Program is Making a Difference for Evelyn!

Evelyn has been coming faithfully to our Nutrition program.  She was moderately malnourished and qualified to receive maize soya porridge and chiponde, the fortified peanut butter paste.  She lives in a rural village which is quite far from our main centre.  COBT helps her mom with transportation to come to see the Nutritionist every week where she is weighed and measured.  We are so pleased that Evelyn is really improving!  You can see she now has cheeks!  More importantly, she is now able to smile.  Ellie, our nutritionist, is taking all the moderately malnourished children to the nearby government operated Health Centre every Friday morning to receive their chiponde for free.  COBT continues to provide chiponde to the children when the government supply is depleted. 

The Preschool Helps the Children Keep Warm!

The cold season has now started for us here in Malawi.  The temperature drops overnight because we are at 3000 feet above sea level.  Most of our children do not have sweaters and warm blankets.  It is our goal for May to ensure every child has a sweater and a blanket!  Some beautiful hand knit sweaters have been donated and we are able to buy a sweater for the sponsored children.  The children in the preschool now have a matching sweater to go with their uniform!

Thanks to the Persistence of Children of Blessing Trust Terry is Alive and Well!

We are really happy that a New Brunswick church has donated the funds to enable sick children like Terry to attend a mission hospital where they will receive effective care.  Terry was very ill with malaria and seizures and she was also very malnourished so we sent her to the main hospital in Lilongwe for treatment.  They admitted her for a couple of weeks, however despite feeding her through a nasogastric tube she was non responsive and in a coma. When they saw that she was not really improving they sent her home without the nasogastric tube for palliative care.  She was unable to eat or drink by herself.  Her mom gave up and was just sitting at home waiting for Terry to die.  One of our moms came to see us after Terry had been home 3 days to tell us about Terry’s situation.  We were able to get Terry into a mission hospital where she was admitted for another 3 weeks.  There they discovered that she had a bacterial infection.  After antibiotics and more feeding through a nasogastric tube Terry started eating and drinking by herself.   She is now back at home and faithfully attending the Nutrition program and the Children’s Rehabilitation Program!