Project Feet

The following post was not written by me. I found it through the blog of a family who is adopting from the Congo. Their child is in this orphanage just waiting for them to come get her. How devastating it must be for a momma to know her child is in such need but not be able to do anything about it.

{WARNING: This post contains some disturbing images.}

Please read this post - and visit the sponsoring blog. Most importantly considering doing something to help these kids be comfortable as they await their forever homes.

PROJECT FEET

 

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me”

Matthew 25:40

Today, August 29, 2012, I returned from a 2 week trip to Democratic Republic of Congo and to Ethiopia.  My time in Congo was difficult, as it is every time I go.  The situation in DRC is difficult in every sense of the word.  This time, however, I was mortified and devastated by the physical condition I found many of the children to be in.  The orphanages in Congo are atrocious. They are overcrowded, poorly funded and lack the basic necessities needed to care for children.  One of the orphanages which with we partner is located in an isolated area surrounded but nothing but sand.  The children play outside and have contracted jiggers.  These are bugs that live in the sand during the dry season and burrow their way in the skin of the children. The result is severe pain and suffering and an inability of many of these children to walk.   Families who are adopting children have already paid huge sums of money to provide for the health and medical care of the children they hope to adopt.  Unfortunately, this condition seems to have been ignored by all those in charge.  Few people I met seemed to be concerned about these children’s condition, saying that this is common during the dry season.  The doctors, however, say they have never seen such severity of this condition. The children are suffering terribly.  This past week, adoptive families who were in DRC to pick up their children were forced to take their children a local doctor who pulled some of the jiggers out of their feet, however, this doctor eventually realized the severity of the condition and needed to operate on the children in order to remove all the bugs and infection.  The cost per child was approximately $1500.  We have at least 15 more children in need of this kind of surgical intervention.  This cannot wait.  It was devastating leaving the children in this condition but it was necessary for me to return home to look for the financial help needed to fix this and to get the children out of pain.

Here is a link about this condition: http://www.digidrift.com/jiggers-chigoe-flea-the-hidden-african-killer/

Pictured below are pictures of the feet of some of the children I saw this week:

 

 

What can you do?

1. We need $20,000-$25,000 in cash for surgical intervention.  We need this immediately and urgently.  Every single day the children are suffering.
2. We need 2-3 volunteers who are able to travel to Congo and spend 2-4 weeks there caring for the children during their surgery and recovery.  We believe we can get all the children ‘fixed’ within 3 weeks but at this time.
3. Share the word about this great need with everyone you know.  Print out copies of this letter.  PLEASE, PLEASE HELP. Please give this to your church, your friends, schools and clubs.  All donations are tax deductible.  Please make checks to CCI  1757 W Broadway Suite 5, Oviedo, FL  32765, and mark them “Project FEET.”
4. You can also donate by visiting http://www.celebratechildren.org/humanitarianAid/index.php and clicking the Make a Donation button in the upper right section regarding Project Feet. (Please note that Paypal will deduct a portion of your donation as a service fee. Therefore, it is best to donate directly to CCI whenever possible.)
5. If you know of someone who might want to go and help, and can raise their own funds for transportation, please refer them to us as soon as possible.

Please consider what you can do to IMMEDIATELY help these suffering children in Democratic Republic of Congo.

100% of your donation will be used for this project. Rest assured that CCI will not deduct any of your donation for overhead costs!