Help Us Start Feeding Programs in Maria del Carmen

I discovered such need during my visit to Maria del Carmen on Wedsnesday that I took my husband and kids up there on Friday. I want to start our programs up there asap [ that means when the money miraculously arrives] and I needed him to see it so he would agree. There are 110 families that live in this community. Our two teachers for Nueva Victoria live here. Alfredo [ our head teacher ]  wanted me to see where he lived so we went to his house. That is his little girl standing in front of his house and his wife, mother and nursing baby and someone else standing inside cooking on the wood stove. Alfredo is a certified teacher. I asked how he paid for school and he said he did a student loan and is still paying it back. He only works part-time for us, but if we start a lunch program in M del C he can work there in the morning and at Nueva Victoria in the afternoon and have a full-time salary. He is a really good teacher and goes the extra mile.
I saw the two bottom houses at Maria del Carmen and asked where their owners worked. All the other houses looked like Alfredo's except these two. He said the owners worked in the United Staes and had sent the money back to build the houses.
Now I am against illegal immigration and know children in Los Robles whose parents went illigally to the USA and left their young children alone to raise themselves. But after seeing the difference in these houses I can understand why they go to the USA.
The last two pictures are the real reason I went back to M del C. We took hats made by the daughter on a pediatrician who comes and wanted to pass them out to the kids. But I wanted my husband to see the kids and the need they had for nutritious food. I knew he would be as moved as I was. The bottom picture has a 3 year old who has never walked. His brother is holding him. He has one ear the is hugh compared to the other. The kids had the gold snot running down ther faces of kids who never get the right nutriton. Both in the bottom picture and the next one up. We have a USA medical team that will spend two days here next week.
Please help us to help these kids and start some feeding programs here.
http://www.safehomesforchildren/
20.vicki@gmail.com

Sick Children [ Blog nos.44,45,46,47

The week of Feb. 20 brought many sick children into our lives. Monday started off sad for our immediate family. My adopted daughter Alisa, who just celebrated her 12th birthday, has a twin, a full sib sister, and 3 half sib brothers that all live with Alisa's birthmom. Her 16 year old bio brother has had a diagnosed severe case of muscular dystrophy since he was 4. Hence the reason, the bio mom did an adoption. She could not care for him and infant twins. So we have had an open adoption from the beginning. The twin has stayed with us before and Alisa has visited Davon in TX. I was going to take her back to see him this summer as he is totally bedridden and I knew he could die in the next 5 years. We thought we had time tho. Davon died Feb. 9 and we had a call from the bio mom on the 20th. Really hard to deal with esp. for me who felt guilty that I had not taken her to see him in time.
The next day I took a catch up with things at home and appreciate my kids day.
Then I got a call from Mario saying he was having to go with Jose Cali, the in country head of the nutributter team and the doctor who treats the severely malnourished  nutributter kids. They were going to Nueva Victoria and Maria del Carmen to see 11 kids the next day. I decided to tag along. The first 3 pics are of the nutributter kids and their moms. Many are well below weight or have fevers that won't go away or have constant diarrhea. Nine were from Maria del Carmen, a very poor community I had never visited before. It is next to Nueva Victoria. It is one we will start working in as soon as the money presents itself. They have 160 kids in the elementary program that would love a lunch/tutorial program and 110 families with many tots and infants who need a feeding/nutritional program
The last two pictures are of Maria at Nueva Victoria, the little spina bifida girl some of you helped have a foot operation. We had taken meds and bandages for her mom to wash and bandage her foot each day. This was not being done. She was sitting in a wheelchair instead of crawling on the floor like she used to and she had a sock on to cover her feet. The last picture tho is what her foot looks like. We worked it out that the 3 kids who are getting scholarships for middle school in NV will take turns coming by and cleaning and bandaging her foot each day. Everyone in NV has to walk [ I kid you not] 4 miles with 5 gallon cans and walk 4 miles back up with the 5 gallon can full of water. That is all their water: drinking, cleaning clothes washing. Anyway we take 5 gallons a week up for the cleaning and provide the plastic gloves and meds and bandages. Maria refuses to go to school or our tutorials even if we buy her pullups to wear so we got her a desk to fit over her wheelchair and crutches and some books to look at . Otherwise she sits in her wheelcahir and picks her skirt or crawls on a dirty cement floor.
The next day I caught up with emails , helped with the kids homeschooling and in the afternoon had massages and dinner with my husband.
We had decided to go back to Maria del Carmen with some food for the really bad kids the next day.

You can donate to any of these programs by going to http://www.casadesion.blogspot.com/ and pushing the donate button. If it doesn't work, write me at 20.vicki@gmail.com. 100% goes to our programs. We support ourselves with our for-profit business.

Feinstein Foundation

Have you ever heard of the Feinstein Foundation?  We hadn't, until now...but this is something worth hearing about.  Mr. Feinstein is a normal guy from RI--normal with lots of money.  And every year he gives away $1 million dollars to agencies that are feeding the poor. That's us!!!  ALL money/formula that is donated to Safe Homes for Children/Casa de Sion in March and April will be counted towards this, and he will give us some of his million in proportion to the amount we have raised in these two months.

So how can you help?
DONATE!
If you are a monthly supporter who hasn't donated in a while--please now is the time to donate again.
If you were planning on donating at some point this year--please do it during March and April.
If you donated last year but haven't given any in 2012--give during the next two months.
Or, if you have formula laying around--get it to me during March or April--I can count $1/lb (meaning if you were going to buy formula full-price, don't, just donate the amount that you where going to spent, it will count as more in this campaign and we will buy formula in Guatemala with your money.)

So use the donate button on the blog or send me a check (made out to Safe Homes for Children) 3001 Clemson Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205

Please pass this around to your friends, and asked them to get involved.  We will keep you up to date on our progress.

See below a letter that Mr Feinstein has written for participating charities to distribute.
http://www.feinsteinfoundation.org/




Shawn Feinstein
37 Alhambra Circle
Cranston, RI 02905
Please use MY money to help your neighbors in need!
My name is Alan Shawn Feinstein. For the past 13 years, I have been giving away $1 million each year to anti-hunger agencies throughout the country.
This year, I am doing it again…
WHATEVER YOU DONATE TO THIS AGENCY,
I WILL ADD MONEY TO IT. THE MORE
YOU GIVE, THE MORE OF MY $1 MILLION
THEY’LL GET—THANKS TO YOU!
Why am I doing this? Because I believe each of us was put here on earth to do what we can to help those in need. You got this letter because we feel that YOU believe that, too.
This has become the greatest grass roots campaign ever to fight hunger in our country. Your donation makes you a partner in it with me!
My money started this campaign but it is YOU who will help decide how many needy people in your city or town will be fed this year. All that will matter to us someday is what we did while we were here to help those who needed us.
We Are Needed Now!
Please give whatever you can - I will gladly add some of my money to yours. (My $1 million will be divided in full proportionately among the agencies receiving donations toward my offer.)
Thank you for sharing my heart, and the hope that—someday—no one will ever go hungry.
Sincerely Yours,
Alan Shawn Feinstein