Global Orphan Relief

www.globalorphanrelief.org

11 July 2009

Silembe, Zambia

by Scott Nordstrom, as reported by Mike Jones

The Apartment slab has been poured. The concrete work should be finished by the 15th.

The main hall being prepared for the pour.

We may even have some trusses up, if all goes well between now and the 15th.

Unless I see some finished window frames before Wednesday I'll go ahead and buy the rest of the roofing.

These rooms could provide for the Lord's work in more ways than we have imagined.

The top lintel has been poured. The top bricks are the ceiling height of the main hall.

Four of the five scaffolds I made for putting up the ceilings in our house. They have served us well.

Knocking off time. The main hall slab is poured.

Everything looks good!

This Community center will serve many purposes to the Orphanage, and to the community as a whole. Please see more info at www.globalorphanrelief.org.

House of Faith Orphanage Update | 17 July 2009

2009-07-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

www.globalorphanrelief.org
17 July 2009

Silembe, Zambia
by Linda Jones

Constance was discharged this morning and Michael took them out to the Orphanage. He said she smiled the whole way! The Doctor is still amazed at how fast her recovery was. Thank you Jesus! She will be building back strength and she was also put on the ART's for HIV. Her counts are still to high by the WHO standards but Dr. Christa reminded them that with such a severe illness like she had there was an exception to the rule with WHO and so Thursday she started the meds! God is so Good.

Also a couple of friends on Face book where interested in Anna. I gave them Rob and Christa's e-mail as they are the ones who adopted here. If you have questions about Adoption in Zambia they have done it and are hoping to help in some way through their Ministry Africa's Child. Have a great Day! Thanks for you prayers for Constance and all the children.

Anna is doing better as well; she has a yeast infection on her neck and thrust, which is the
yeast infection in her month. We are not sure how they where feeding her for four days before we got her. Any way I started meds this afternoon and Christa said in a few days all would be well. I will be taking Anna out to the Orphanage this coming week. (Anna is the infant we received earlier this month, after her mother died shortly after child-birth. Anna was 4-days old when we received.)

Sheri arrives on the 25th and a team of four arrive on the 28th. Busy days and weeks ahead.

This was Constance in the hospital. The doctor said her recovery from meningitis was miraculous. I took her and Elizabeth (Elizabeth stayed with her the whole time) home to Mapampi yesterday. Constance doesn't warm up to people easily, but she smiled when we crossed the Ngwezi River.

House of Faith Orphanage Update | 18 July 2009

2009-07-18T09:04:00.001-07:00

www.globalorphanrelief.org

18 July 2009

Silembe, Zambia

We now have 4 homes completed at House of Faith Orphanage (HOFO), with the capacity to host 48 children. There is some work that remains on the second bathhouse and this will be completed as the addtional homes fill-up. We did and started work on our community center several months ago. HOFO is currently hosting 28 children.

Our community center will be a multi-function facility. Our primary objective to provide an activity center for the children while they are not in school. In addition, the facility will include several apartments for staff, and short term missionaries. An update from Mike Jones, GO! Director for African Missions, in Silembe, Zambia follows:

We have been in a bit of a rush the past few days with Constance in the hospital, visits to Social Welfare in Livingstone, vehicle repairs, preparations for the Carolina Team coming, construction activity, and my resting after taking Constance home with building supplies as I was not feeling very well (I feel fine today).

The community center is coming along. These men have never worked at these heights before. The ceiling will be 15 feet in this room. The floor has sand and water, sand to hold the water as the slab cures.

There will be one large meeting room, storage, two large bunk rooms for work teams, and one apartment for the Orphanage Director.

Since beginning this structure we have had one of our work crew fall from the scaffolding. Please pray for safety for the work crew, the children, and the staff at HOFO.

Man power is the only power found on this building site except our truck delivering materials.

The re-enforced concrete bean over the upper windows has been poured. We will build up the peaks to give us something to help hold the trusses as they will be raised by hand.

This side of the wall is at ceiling level, where trusses can be set.

Moving scaffolding takes time. Hope to have the trusses up next week after this side bricks are laid and the peaks at least half way up.

The stage will be poured after a couple of courses of bricks are laid on the curing slab, filled in with dirt, and tamped down. About half of the workers were paid on the 15th and went home. We have enough money to finish paying the workers for this month, leaving nothing for cement needed in week 1 of August, or furniture like beds. In addition, we will need another $2,350 to complete the roof.

The team from NC will help install more toilets and sinks in the bath house, and install some shelving in the kitchen pantries.

After the end of this month the building crew will be cut in half again, as no large jobs requiring many people will remain.

Baby Anna will stay with us in Kalomo a few more days. We think she is fine but need to watch a couple of things a few more days. Social Welfare told us we will pick up 6 children either Wednesday or Thursday. Another 4 children will be coming soon after.

Baby Anna came to us earlier this month at 4-days old. Anna's mother died shortly after give birth to Anna.

The addition of 10 more children will bring our growing family to 38 children. There are many children that we currently host that are not yet sponsored. All funds that are generated through these sponsorships go directly to support the children in Zambia. For more information on this program visit us at:

Girl, 7, Opens Orphanage In Haiti | digtriad.com | Triad, NC | The BUZZ

2009-07-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Girl, 7, Opens Orphanage In Haiti digtriad.com Triad, NC The BUZZ

Wow!

Giving orphans a home in Uganda - Local News - News - Business - The Courier

2009-07-02T06:30:00.000-07:00

Giving orphans a home in Uganda - Local News - News - Business - The Courier

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Global Orphan Relief currently serves children at the Salem Children Centre in Naama, Uganda. For mor information: http://www.globalorphanrelief.com/ChildrenofNaama.html

Orphans Deserve Better

2009-07-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

Orphans Deserve Better

Letter - The Survival of Mothers - NYTimes.com

2009-07-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

Letter - The Survival of Mothers - NYTimes.com

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Royal at House of Faith Orphanage in Silembe, Zambia, was received when he was just 6-days old due to his mother dieing in child birth.

Recession must not derail AIDS fight-UN official | Reuters

2009-07-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

Recession must not derail AIDS fight-UN official Reuters

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At House of Faith Orphanage, we already have 4 HIV/AIDS positive children -that's one of six, and not all have been tested thus far.

Orphans Deserve Better Campaign Takes On Warner Bros Film Orphan

2009-07-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Orphans Deserve Better Campaign Takes On Warner Bros Film Orphan

Tanzania orphan program may set example for continent - Related Stories - UN Wire

2009-07-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Tanzania orphan program may set example for continent - Related Stories - UN Wire

Nigeria: Saving the Orphan

2009-06-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Daily Trust
19 June 2009
Editorial

A recent research conducted by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said that there are an estimated 17.5 million Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in the country.

This represents about 25 percent of the nation's population figure of 140 million citizens. The research which covered 2006 to 2008, also took note of abandoned children, street urchins and children orphaned by the dreaded HIV/AIDS disease, among others.

Read More...............

Uganda: Vision Voice Reaches Out to Orphans in Nakifuma

2009-06-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Godfrey Kimono
21 June 2009

Kampala — When Esther Nassali stayed home for a term after losing her parents to HIV/AIDS in 2006, she thought her dream of getting an education was shattered. The first born in a family of seven is thankful to be back in school.

"I am going to sit for my Primary Leaving Examinations at Nakifuma Voluntary Children Primary School this year," Nassali says. She is among the children whom the Vision Group visited on the day of the African child.

Read More.........

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Global Orphan Relief is now supporting children in Uganda at Salem Children Centre in Naama, Uganda. For more information go to:

www.globalorphanrelief.org/ChildrenofNaama.html or click on:

Head to head: Madonna adoption

2009-04-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

BBC - Page last updated at 02:59 GMT, Wednesday, 1 April 2009 03:59 UK

Pop star Madonna is in Malawi awaiting the result of a court bid to adopt an orphan, four-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James. Her case has sparked a wider debate over inter-country adoption.
Should parents in affluent countries be encouraged to adopt children from different cultures in the developing world?

Read More...........

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Global Orphan Relief was founded initially to assist families to adopt Orphaned children. Upon further deliberation we realized that these children could not all be served through the process of adoption, but needed care provided in their current location. While we advocate and encourage adoption for families who are prepared for the additional responsibilities, we also believe that more can be done for more of these children by serving them in their local geography.

Madonna Malawi Adoption Puts Spotlight on AIDS, Poverty, Orphans, and Pop Stars

2009-04-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

By Jennifer Delaney
Posted April 7, 2009

I am so grateful to Madonna for her second highly-publicized and controversial adoption from Malawi. Why? It reminds us that there are millions of children living in extreme poverty, in need of help, and opens the debate as to the best way to care for them. As a woman who hopes to be a mom someday, I can truly sympathize with Madonna's desire to build a family. However, as a child advocate, I struggle with her decision. I wonder who she is doing this for, little Mercy James or Madonna?

Read More........

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We do support community-focused solutions to care for these children, but many of these communities need assistance for this endeavor because resources are not available. At House of Faith Orphanage, there are many locals involved in varioius capacities. In addition, there is a local volunteer effort to assist these children -their children.

Peace, Global Orphan Relief
www.globalorphanrelief.org

Keeping Africa's Turnaround on Track

2009-04-09T09:01:00.000-07:00

Washington Post
By Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Thursday, April 9, 2009; Page A17

For more than a decade, much of Africa has been moving forward. Economic growth is rising, poverty is falling and democratic governance is spreading. But the global financial crisis threatens to undo this progress by reducing investment, exports and aid just as they should be expanding to build on these successes.

Read More............

The Forgotten People in Africa

2009-04-07T07:36:00.000-07:00

April 07, 2009

By Nat Hentoff

After Sudan's Adolf Hitler, Gen. Omar Hassan al-Bashir, expelled 13 international humanitarian organizations from Darfur, with the rest to follow within the year, four black African Muslim children - mourned by what is left of their families at the Shangil Tobaya refugee camp - died of malnutrition in late March. Their official death notices will not appear in American newspapers.

As a memorial, I give you the names and ages of the dead children, as provided by the rebel Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (Sudan Tribune, March 24): Abdel-Latif Hassan Gar El-Nabi, 7 months old; Ahmed Musa, 7 months old; Munir Mohamed Ibrahim, 9 months old; Esam Babiker Yacoub, 3 years old.

Read More.............

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I can't help by being burdened by what has happened in Sudan, specifically Darfur.

I called my Senators offices late last year to discuss my concerns. In talking with a then Senator Salazar's staffer, he explained that he had some talking points that he could recite to me, but that these points would not satisfy me.

I have always been perplexed as to why we could intervene in southeastern Europe to stop the slaughter of European Muslims, but we could not muster the courage to stop the slaughter of Christian blacks in Sudan. Do these people not matter as much? Is it a matter of religion, location, or race? Why has our only response from the highest levels of our government either been talking points or silence when it comes to Sudan.

As per the aforementioned article, the death is not limited to Christians. Death in Darfur has become something that is acceptable to us by now. I suppose the entire continent of Africa is something so remote and distant for most of us that these concerns don't win or lose elections here in the States.

I think if we follow the money we may begin to understand the inaction by our government, and so many others. Death and destruction are consuming the people of Darfur, and the best thing the governments of this world can come up with is an arrest warrant for the leader of the genocide. The value of life in Darfur(some reports indicate as many as 7 million people live in this area) must be less than the value of life in Kosovo(1.8 million population)...................... Gen. Omar Hassan al-Bashir has traveled outside his country several times with no attempted arrest. If this International warrant had any teeth or resolve we would send a team to his country and remove him to stand court in Europe for his crimes. Meanwhile, as we stand by, people continue to die, and the silence is truly deafening for some.............

Madonna, Malawi and adoption madness

2009-04-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

Her adoption controversy highlights the problems when politics trumps the welfare of the child.

By Beth Nonte Russell April 6, 2009

The controversy surrounding the attempt by Madonna to adopt a second child from an orphanage in Malawi brings to light the confusing situation in international adoption. On Friday, a judge in that nation rejected the singer's adoption request on the grounds that waiving an 18-month residency requirement would set a dangerous precedent. Madonna was granted such an exemption when she adopted a Malawian boy in 2006.

This is just another example of how the intricacies of each country's legal system, cultural mores and poverty level intersect with the guidelines of The Hague treaty on inter country adoptions.

The result has been a decline in the number of orphans from developing countries being adopted by Americans. While adoptions become harder, the number of orphans grows, especially in Africa because of the tragedy of the AIDS crisis. Malawi has an estimated 1 million orphans, and untold numbers of orphans languish in other African countries as well as in Romania, Russia, China and Latin America.

Read More...........

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While I don't agree with every aspect of her synopsis, the opinion of Beth Nonte Russell certainly gives us something to think about.

I am personally torn. I have had the benefit of visiting some of these children in their environment. I draw most of my conclusions from our experience in developing House of Faith Orphanage in Silembe, Zambia. This is a special, and beautiful place. Though the opportunities are limited, there is something you miss when you leave this place. What if you were born and raised there? What if your extended family lived in the area? What would it then be like for a young child to be up-rooted and joined to a new family in a far away place?

We are not attempting to develop an institutional environment in Silembe. Based on some of the research the author provides in her opinion, I think we may need to reduce the number of children in each home to provide a more cohesive family environment for the child; however, this transition will dramatically increase our capital costs per child. There are always trade-offs.

In addition, we purposely maintain contacts with extended family for each child in the community when possible. When this child is adopted into families located in foreign countries, this family connection is much more distant, infrequent, and complicated. I personally believe that international adoption is part of the solution for these children, besides all of the arguments against it.

Please consider this example as you consider your opinion.

In Zambia, there are approximately 1.2 million Orphans. If you removed this portion of the population, you are left with 10,800,000 people. Per additional research I was able to pull, the average household size in poor countries is between 5 and 6 people versus 2.6 in the US.

For our purposes, we'll use 5 people per household in Zambia to account for many of the Orphan children that are already living in these households, which would finally give us 2.16 million households. This analysis would indicate that over 1/2 of all households would have to adopt one Orphan to adsorb this vulnerable group into family units. Not only will this not happen, but many of these children will receive less than ideal care due to economic pressures. In addition, the family has to be willing and capable of caring for additional children.

For care of Orphans, there has to be an approach that involves many solutions. Originally we founded Global Orphan Relief with the intent of helping families adopt children, but upon realizing the magnitude of this group of children we realized that we would also have to reach out and provide care and that is where we began this work.

Whatever your opinion, please pray for these children, and support them in some way.

Peace,
Scott A. Nordstrom
Founder, President
Global Orphan Relief

Buy a Brick Build a House

2009-04-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

From one of the Board Members of Global Orphan Relief:

We have finally gotten the ebay auction up and running for the Buy A Brick, Build A House campaign. Please see the link below.

I would like to ask each of you to consider sharing this auction site via email with anyone and everyone you know. The more exposure we get for this auction the better. It is pretty easy to ask people to only donate a dollar. We have already started to receive some donations today, and they have been ranging from $2 to $20. Everything adds up!

I have contacted a bunch of people I know, and I am asking them to share the auction with people they know. So, hopefully, we can have a very successful event!!

Thanks for your help, and if you have any questions, please let me know!auction site: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270367406242

Blessings,Jen