Mediterranea NGO

New Year, New Administrator

2012-01-09T12:02:00.001+01:00

We have started the new year by hiring Bahru Shikur as the general administrator and supervisor of our projects in Ethiopia. Bahru has a lot of experience working for foreign NGO's in the area of education and is himself a teacher trainer. He also has useful managerial and financial experience.

Med's projects in Ethiopia are already large and are growing. We need a good manager on the ground who can guarantee that our funds and efforts are used to best effect. As you know financial transparency is one of our mottos.

Bahru speaks and writes excellent English which will certainly help with communication, which have have learnt is essential in trying to manage projects from a distance. We hope that with this appointment the overall operation of Abugida and our other projects in Ethiopia will become a lot easier and less problematic.

We'd also like to take the opportunity to give our thanks to Cristina, our volunteer auditor who spent the month of December in Ethiopia and who dedicated long hours to putting our accounts there in order. A thankless job that is however extremely important and quite complicated when the idiosyncrasies of Ethiopia are taken into account. Cristina is now in charge of all the economic matters in Ethiopia.

I would like to welcome Cristina and Bahru to the Med team.

Queens College Continue their Support of Mediterranea

2012-01-09T10:34:00.000+01:00

The Rock-n-Soul Concert is a Success !

2011-12-26T10:33:00.002+01:00

The Rock n Soul concert put on in support of Mediterranes by KG Custom Bikes Garage & Services on 17 Dec at their workshop in Poligono Son Oms was a big success.

Over 200 people attended, and they filled many boxes with clothes and food for the homeless of Mallorca. Over 1000 Euros was also collected on the night.

The event was organised by Nelly Berens and Stefan Gotz of the New Mallorca magazine and by Knut Gruschka of KG Bikes. Given the success of the event we hope that they will organise other such events in the future to bring more awareness of the work of Mediterranea and to generate more members.

We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to this team and their staff and to the musicians who made the evening such a success.

Talismen of Luck

2011-12-26T10:10:00.000+01:00

'Un caganer o caganet' (a child and potty) is a figurine celebrating birth. Traditionally in the Baleares, Cataluna, Valencia and the Canaries it is placed in their cribs at Christmas. Normally it is hidden in a corner of the crib behind a tree and represents that the 'necessities' also need to be done. This tradition is fully accepted by the church.

Placing this figure in the crib is meant to bring luck and happiness.

Here we show you our own, handsome, live 'potty figures' of Abugida who will surely bring us luck too.

Wishing you a Happy Christmas

2011-12-26T09:22:00.001+01:00

"Don't dream of happiness, make it a reality"

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas from all of the Mediterranea Team.

French School, Palma Supports Med

2011-12-22T09:14:00.001+01:00

The French School in Palma have started to support Mediterranea with a campaign to collect unused pairs of glasses. In the photo two of our volunteers hard at work.

Rays of Light for the Blind of Sebeta

2011-12-19T05:24:00.003+01:00

Our team of volunteer psychomotor experts have now returnedfrom Ethiopia. They left behindthem an equipped gym, which is now in full swing with psychomotor, and sensoryintegration activities put on by three monitors who they trained during theirtrip. These are the same monitorswho we have working in the Messi Room.

Above all they have left behind many happy children whose lives havetotally changed in the last few months. Children, as all children, who are happy playing, climbing, jumping oncushions on the floor…things that are very normal for most children but verydifficult for others.

Apart from the recreational side of these psychomotoractivities they will also be very useful for the reading, writing andunderstanding classes, in that they help to teach time and space orientationand the coordination of shoulders, elbows, wrists and fingers, the executiveparts of the body and postural control.

After this work in the gym the children move to theclassrooms and this helps to make their lessons more real and significant. Since there are two classrooms, onewhere they teach reading and writing and one where they do more manual, tactiletasks and the gym, each of the three monitors will pass from one area to theother with their own group.

The initial stage in the teaching of the monitors is nowcomplete and they have been able to enjoy many of the new sensations as much asthe children. They have nowstarted sensorial integration work with the children who are severely andintellectually disabled.

The changes in the children are incredible, this can be seenin their drawings where they are now able to represent things around them in amuch more real and recognisable fashion and relate them to themselves. Many children have started to drawtheir homes and talk about their own lives and their roots…this has been veryemotional for them and for us.

Photos: activities in the gym, teaching the monitors,pretending to be blind so as to be better able to teach (including our representativeDr Zerihun).

Dagem...The Richness of Abugida

2011-12-17T23:18:00.004+01:00

The disabled who live in poor countries count for verylittle and yet there are so many of them. The poor have a much greater chance to suffer disability as mothersrarely receive appropriate prenatal care or suffer difficult births withouthelp, or for other reasons such as malnutrition, poliomyelitis or accidents. It’s difficult enough to live in a poorcountry but very much more so if you have a disability.

Cerebral paralysis is common in Ethiopia due to lack ofprenatal care and infections. Asif the disability alone is not enough and due to the general lack of education,this disability carries the stigma that people believe it is a sign of badluck, that it is the hand of god acting against the family.

Through Dagem we are managing to break these taboos, he isaccepted at the school and has enriched the lives of those in the nursery andthe whole school. In these photosyou can see him meeting Laura again, our wonderful Occupational Therapistvolunteer who facilitated Dagem’s incorporation into the school by teachingNuria, his daily Ethiopia care, and his mother how to care for him. Dagem recognised her, lifting his headand giving her a big smile.

In the last photo we see Jonas, the little boy with theeternal smile, who suffers from the same condition but in a much milderform. Laura is applying athermoplastic support to his hand.

Hopefully, as we continue to fight the taboos, we’ll see more suchchildren in Abugida in the future.

The Rich Sun of Abugida

2011-12-17T07:19:00.001+01:00

This year the rainy season in Ethiopia seemed as if it would never stop. Our summer and autumn in Mallorca, Spain, Europe is the coldest, wettest season in Ethiopia. But now, eventually, the Ethiopian summer has arrived and as you can see from the photos everyone is enjoying the Rich Sun of Abugida.

Times are Changing in Sebeta

2011-12-12T18:41:00.000+01:00

Hello

We are late in making contact, it’s been difficult to get aconnection and in addition we’ve had very little time. The children of Sebeta now have apsychometric room and three fantastic monitors who will accompany them in theprocess of their personal evolution.

We’ve managed to arrange that not only the adults of theschool but also people from the village, the seamstress, the carpenter, the ironmaker, the pillow salesman etc are involved in the project. It is becoming an enriching experiencefor everyone. The director of theschool is aware of all that is going on and has so far accepted all theproposals that we’ve made and there are many, as we are working quickly inorder to get as much started as possible in the few days that we have left. At least Dr Zerihun, who performs somany roles for Mediterranea and with such a big heart, always accompanies us.

The children, following their first sessions, havecommunicated through drawings and words that they feel content, fortunate andconfident. Following the firstday’s sessions we’ve had a further 35 children sign up for the second day. The biggest success so far has been theEthiopian monitors who have been very motivated, making big efforts during theteaching and practical sessions, with the creation of materials and even out oftheir working hours, dedicating time to meet with us to discuss the events ofthe day, to ask questions, share their thoughts on changes, situations thatthey’ve noticed and to share their emotions. They are very motivated, engaged and continually asking goodquestions.

The work with the children is very intense and productiveand we are learning as much from them as they are from us. To see the children move no one couldtell that they were severely visually impaired and to share in their joy no onecould ever say that we speak different languages because it is plain to seethat when it comes down to it we all speak the same language.

Regards and a hug from Sebeta

NB The psychometrics are working with the children who havethe poorest vision, the blind and the virtually blind, those who due to theirdisability have the least stimulation.

The Spirit of Christmas at the Portals Christmas Fair

2011-12-12T08:26:00.000+01:00

For those of you who were looking for the Spirit ofChristmas last Sunday I can tell you without doubt that it was to be found downat Puerto Portals at the annual Winter Fair on December 4^th. The crowds arrived and mingled witheach other: they ambled throughthe assortment of pretty Christmas stalls, many of which were decorated withmagical fairy lights. Santa Claushats were everywhere and the angels from the local school sang traditionalChristmas carols. People relaxedlistening to the music and enjoying the wonderful food that was on sale everywhere. The smell of themulled wine and the mince pies told us Christmas was just around the corner.

Right in the middle of all this activity was Mediterranea’svery own Father Christmas with all his little helpers! They worked their magic turninganything and everything into liquid gold. They asked people to guess the weight of the Christmas Cake, they solddraw tickets for one of the biggest and best Christmas draws with over thirtyprizes to be won, they shook their collection tins and the crowds queued for achance to take part in the fun and play the game of Tombola. Father Christmas sat the children onhis knee while they told him of the things they hoped he would bring them onChristmas Day. The spirit ofChristmas was everywhere.

At the end of a long and very enjoyable day we counted themoney, hoping we had raised a significant amount for the charity that is soclose to all our hearts. It washumbling to realise the generosity of the crowds that had passed by our stallthat day. We had raised a phenomenalamount -just over 3,000euros. The changes that will bemade to people’s lives with the work that the volunteers of Mediterranea will now be able to carry out will be incredible.

The stars will shine brighter in Ethiopia, in Ghana, and inMallorca not only because of Mediterranea but also because of the Spirit ofChristmas that was down at Puerto Portals at the Winter Fair

Contributed by Med Member Diane Oatley

Around the World with BIC

2011-12-08T20:13:00.001+01:00

When The British International College held their World Fair on 19th November it was a rich celebration of global cultures. The multi-national students, parents and teachers showcased their countries offering everything from Irish dancing to Bedouin tents, samosas to sushi, biltong to snoep, pumpkin pie to blinis. Proceeds are to go to Mediterranea and the stall holders were kind enough to donate unsold food. This was enthusiastically received by Can Gaza, a shelter in Mallorca, with the comment, "We´ll celebrate everyone´s birthday tonight." Thank you BIC.

Contributed by Med member LD.

Annual Review of our Achievements in Ethiopia (ABUGIDA)

2011-12-07T19:15:00.001+01:00

Abugida, our "IndependentRepublic".

As you are aware, for the lastfive years we have been solely and fully responsible for the management andmaintenance of the Abugida infant school, a project which has had many ups anddowns along the way and involves the following: salaries for 33 staff at thepresent time, 3 daily meals for 235 children (4 meals in the case of thebabies), maintenance, repair and extension work (just making a new septic tankcost us 5500 euros), learning materials (we have financed all kinds of learningresources for our children), uniforms and other expenses such as transport,electricity, water, telephone, etc.

We are also continuing with the classes for adults and we have taken under ourwing various mothers who are victims of domestic violence or have ended up onthe streets with their children. They stay in our “refuge room” on a temporarybasis and if there is work in Abugida they stay on to work or if this isn’tpossible we give them a loan so that they can become independent.

In theory Abugida school belongs to the Government but they don’t payanything at all. They have left it in our hands, which is positive because thisallows us to have direct control of its management and we can send ourvolunteers to give training to the staff and whose help is invaluable.

We wish to emphasize that we are “solely and fully” responsible because fromtime to time we have seen photos of Abugida children on other websites, FB orblogs which have undoubtedly been used without our permission in the majorityof cases and this can also give rise to misunderstandings of supposedcollaborations, which in reality don’t exist.

Abugida develops and grows. It’s a well established project, a "centre of excellence" and"our" children are adorable. They are growing up strong and healthy.The ones with HIV mix with the others, they don’t have health problems and theyare not discriminated against.

Most of the children have a sad history behind their smiles so Abugida is animportant place for them, where they can feel secure and happy for many hoursof the day.
In the nursery we have a special treasure, little Dagem – who sufferssevere cerebral palsy – and who thanks to Nuriya his exclusive carer andthe education he recently received from Laura (a psychometrist and greatprofessional), he is making steady progress and is a very happy child.

What can we say about the nursery school: it is unique place in the wholecountry. None of it would have been possible (from a material point of view,yes, but not from the point of view of attention and stimulation) withoutAlejandra, that wonderful teacher who tackled a big challenge at the time. Alejandra has been travelling to Abugidaduring her holidays for the last two years. We know that her first year wasdifficult but we also know that when she returned the second year she waspleasantly surprised at how well the nursery school was running. This is alldown to you, Alejandra, many thanks. You have created something quite unique.

Thanks also to all the other volunteers who have been out to help, there havebeen lots of you this year and you have all made your mark.

Currently Abugida costs us morethan 5000 euros a month in fixed expenses, the instability of the Ethiopiancurrency and continued inflation mean that the budget can increase within shortperiods of time. Many thanks to all of our members and supporters who make allthis possible.

Recent Press Coverage for Mediterranea

2011-12-06T20:57:00.001+01:00

December issue of ABC Mallorca runs a six page article on Mediterranea's Dignipacs,our support of Zaqueo and the homeless of Palma.

El Mundo covered Mediterranea's efforts in bringing over and caring for Martha and her brother Mesfin and the excellent work of Dr Sanpera who has been her primary medical guardian at Son Espases and has operated on her five times.

Med Bringing about Change in Sebeta

2011-12-05T09:39:00.001+01:00

Hello Followers of Mediterranea

Here are some more photos of the recent visit of Dr Panadesand Cati Ramis to Sebeta and their ophthalmic review of the children.

Since their return to Mallorca there have been a number ofconversations as to how to organise the operations of those children who needthem.

As for those who can see, with or without help, they aregoing to start to learn to read and write. Their new classroom is prepared: desks, new chairs and thestudy materials that they need. Mediterranea has organised and covered the costs of this classroom andit’s materials.

Two psychomotor specialists are in Sebeta at the moment. Theywill be joined by two more in the next few days. They want to get the gym up and running. They are planning to make, with thehelp of some of the elder boys and girls, some foam mobiles that they can thenuse to assist with the psychomotor stimulation of the children. Through this process they hope to finda couple of boys or girls who will be able to fulfil the role of sportsmonitors in the future.

We excitedly await photos of all these activities.

Rock & Soul Concert on behalf of Mediterranea

2011-12-04T15:53:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago Nelly Berens, editor of New Mallorca Magazine interviewed Mediterranea volunteer Britta Krebs, who handles our German press relations. This was followed by a visit to Zaqueo to see how Mediterranea supports efforts to feed, clothe and provide dignipacs for the homeless. The New Mallorca Magazine then carried an article on Mediterranea's work.

Nelly was so impressed that she has now organised a benefit concert on behalf of Mediterranea. As can be seen from the poster this will take place starting 20.00 hrs on Sat 17 Dec at the warehouse of KGBikes in Poligono Son Oms and features Bands 'The Lost Rock' & 'Las Cono Records'.

School of Tourism Supports Mediterranea

2011-12-03T18:40:00.001+01:00

This week two of our volunteers presented Mediterranea to the director of the School of Tourism as part of an effort to encourage more young people to participate in helping those in need. They followed this up later in the week with presentations to the students. As a result the school has immediately implemented a food and toiletry collection effort, as can be seen from the photos. Some students have also shown interest in trying some fund raising events.

Dr Michael Stoma and Dr Victoria Baldo to receive COPESPA Prize from Prince of Asturias

2011-12-02T17:09:00.001+01:00

The Portal Nous Medical Centre represented by Dr Michael Stoma and Dr Victoria Baldo who will be travelling to Madrid on 19 th Dec. The Medical Centre has been nominated for the CODESPA Prize for small companies. CODESPA is an organisation devoted to developing the concept of social responsibility in corporations and each year it selects and awards prizes to recognise exceptional performance in four different categories. This year the Portals Medical centre has been selected as one of two finalists in the PYME Solidarity category for it’s outstanding work and commitment to countries in development. The Medical Centre was chosen from all entrants by an esteemed panel of judges formed of personalities from the world of business and culture. The prizes will be presented by the Prince of Asturias.

A summary of the Portals Medical Centre submission is given below.
The Medical Centre provides the headquarters for Mediterranea NGO. The cost of rentals in the area of similar characteristics is 1500€. The Medical Centre carries the costs of telephone, mail, Internet etc. The Medical Centre has brought approx 80% of the Mallorca based members to Mediterranea, being patients of the practise and representing approx 50% of the total membership.Since before the war in Bosnia the Medical Centre has been a focal point in the community for the coordination of help to the needy in the area. Generosity, hard work and motivation to do something for the less fortunate has been the driving force of the humanitarian work of the clinic.

Here are some examples of the work carried out by the clinic:
- Cancer drugs and incubators were sent to the Paediatric Dept. of the Hospital of Kosovo in Sarajevo during the siege of the city. The medicines entered via different routes and were hand delivered to the department.
- Collaboration with the humanitarian aid convoys sent from Palma to Bosnia with ‘Joves Empresaris’
- Collaboration with Doctors of the World in the provisioning of the Mostar Hospital during the siege of this city.
- Collaboration with Doctors of the World in the forth world programme in the fight against the spread of AIDS
- Collaboration with Doctors of the World in the Rwandan conflict
- Sending over 30 tonnes of medicines and medical apparatus to Cuba between 1997 and 2007
- Collaboration in the development of a programme for the supply of all medicines needed at the Oncopediatric Dept. of the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology in Habana, Cuba.

The Portals Nous Medical Centre collaboration with many different local institutions has acted as a focal point for Humanitarian Help and Solidarity and helped to teach children and teenagers that supporting others less fortunate is a normal and natural obligation. For over ten years the Medical Centre have been encouraging their patients to be regular blood donors and have worked through Hermandad de Donantes de Sangre.

Thanks to help from other professionals in the area, the doctors of the Portals Nous Medical Centre formed Mediterranea NGO in 1999. Dr Michael Stoma taking the role as president and Dr Victoria Baldo as member of the board responsible for Mediterranea projects, initially in Cuba and now in Ethiopia. Mediterranea NGO is registered in the Baleares and has been declared ‘Utilidad Publica’ by the Ministry of the Interior on 1/7/2011.

The Portals Nous Medical Centre is grateful to it’s kind patients and friends who working with the centre to help those in need have made it possible for the centre to be nominated for this prize which we hope to share with all of you.
The CODESPA Prize Winners in the different categories are as follows:
EMPRESA SOLIDARIA> Acciona "Luz en casa".> La Caixa"Alianza empresarial para la vacunación infantil".

PYME SOLIDARIA> Redyser "Eqa. Empresas que ayudan".> Centro Médico Portals Nous"Escuelas de Akaki, Etiopía".

VOLUNTARIADO CORPORATIVO> Grupo VIPS "¡Hoy cocino yo!".> FCC"Voluntarios FCC. Portadores de alegría".

PERIODISMO PARA EL DESARROLLO> Juan Andrés Siles "Aprendiendo a cooperar".> Javier Arcenilla"Refugiados Rohingya. Ciudadanos del desamparo".

2011-11-27T20:49:00.000+01:00

Social Centre for the Old in Akaki has been Repaired

2011-11-26T13:14:00.001+01:00

Dear Followers of Med

Here are some before and after photos of the future old people's social centre in the rail track area of Akaki in Ethiopia. It will be the first centre of it's kind in the whole country. As you can see they've done a very good job with the repairs. All that remains now is what we need for inside which will be primarily just the chairs and planned activities for each day. If there are any members who have or know of people who have experience with projects for the old then please contact us at mediterranea.ong@gmail.com, all ideas are very welcome.

The Old in Our Society

2011-11-24T15:34:00.001+01:00

The old constitute one of the poorest sectors of our societyand their situation is worsening. The crisis is not the only culprit for this worsening in their situationbecause before the crisis the quality of life of many was precarious.

Spain is rich in poor old people. More than half of old people who live alone are consideredunder the poverty umbrella. Athird of our old are underfed due to living alone, having chronic illnesses orsometimes from having a miserably small pension.

Everyday, as the supermarkets and markets close, many of theold can be seen searching the rubbish bins. To eat from the rubbish is becoming ever more common amongstthe retired Spanish, with what they save they are able to survive to the end ofthe month. Those are people whoreceive little more than 300 euros a month to pay all of their subsistencecosts, so they feel obliged to search the rubbish into order to supplementtheir food.

For a long time Med has had the intention to help thisvulnerable area of our society but we’ve never found the right way. We were not able to get preciseinformation or logistic help. Nowit seems that we may be able to do something, we have made some opportunecontacts and have a team ready to take action. If all goes well we hope soon to be able to help old peoplewith scarce resources in an area of Palma. We hope to provide more information soon.

Student Med Member Appeals to Fellow Students at Queens College

2011-11-23T18:25:00.001+01:00

James Spratt addressing Queens College Students Years 11, 12 and 13 in Genova last Friday at a presentation of the new Mediterranea Youth Programme initiative, which aims to involve young people in all aspects of the work that Mediterranea works in - both in Mallorca and the third world. James Spratt, Queens College co-ordinator for the project, said “It’s pretty clear that young people today who are interested in a successful and productive future need to be aware of their own personal development and the concept of ‘Giving something back’ which is increasingly important in the modern world”. This echoed the sentiments expressed by Dr Stoma earlier in the morning that to live in a world of plenty when so many are in need is an inequality that needs to be urgently addressed. Mediterranea hope to provide a means through which the young people of Mallorca who care and want to make a difference in the world will be able to channel their efforts, energy and enthusiasm.

The Eyes of Abugida

2011-11-22T20:03:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos from the days that our visiting ophthalmic team reviewed the children of Abugida...the photos speak for themselves.

Dignifix Information Meeting - Wed 23 Nov 6pm

2011-11-21T18:07:00.001+01:00

Mediterranea are having an DigniFix information sharing meeting next Wednesday 23rd November at 6pm @ Dr Stoma's Surgery in Portals Nous.

As you may know this project involves small teams of handy folk travelling out to Ethiopia to renovate the schools that Med works with in whatever way they need. We are currently booking two teams to travel in Jan/Feb 2012 and are hoping for more in the future.

At this meeting we will talk about the project further, Dr Michael Stoma will give a short presentation about the schools and we will discuss the costs and talk about dates.

If you have ever thought about how you might be able to really make a difference and are ready for an amazing and possibly life changing experience, we look forward to seeing you on Wednesday...

The Dignifix Teams are on the Move

2011-11-21T13:56:00.001+01:00

Dear Followers of Med

We will be counting on the valiant collaboration of mini brigadesof volunteers who are making themselves available to help out with repairs,maintenance and extensions at our schools in Ethiopia. We already have the first team lookingat dates: five men and a woman. These mini brigades are formed by seamen from the super yachts thatarrive at our shores in the winter for the offseason. All the volunteers are giving their services free ofcharge and are paying all of their travel costs.

In Abugida they will erect a fence around the school to stopthe street animals for entering, they’ll reconstruct the school entrance, carryout plumbing and many outstanding repairs. They are people used to solving difficult problems at deepsea and sometimes in the face of great difficulties, so they have acquired manyskills. In Fita they will fitwater tubing for the kitchen. InSebeta they will buy and install a new industrial kitchen and an extractor. They’ll also lay cement around thehouses so that they don’t get full of mud during the rainy season. They will train up two handymen at bothAbugida and Sebeta. Their workwill be very very useful to maintain and embellish the schools especially nowthat we are in the process of building a new cesspit at Abugida, using a localcontractor at a cost of 5500 Euros.

If you are interested in joining or forming your own minibrigade please contact us. We alsohave a Facebook page dedicated to these Med digniprogrammes.

Another Dream to Fulfil

2011-11-17T20:21:00.001+01:00

Dear Followers of Med

Today we had the debrief meeting with Dr Panades of IBO(Institut Balear Oftalmic) following his trip to Ethiopia. The meeting was very productive. They both arrived back very content andwith a strong commitment to the project.

We can confirm that in total there are 40 children (betweenthose that could already see and those who can now see with glasses) who canleave the Braille teaching system and attend our new classroom that we areorganising to teach them to read and write.

In addition there are 100 children for possibleoperation. If all goes well DrPanades would return to Ethiopia together with an ophthalmic surgeon in thecoming months. They believe thatthey could carry out 60 operations during the visit. This would be our first medical/surgical project inEthiopia, a dream for us and many of our medical friends who are members ofMed.

We are a small NGO and we know that the majority of surgeonsprefer to travel with the big NGO’s that have experience in these areas. There are a few who are prepared torisk being the first to go. DrPanades has opened an important road for us that we hope will become welltravelled.

We know of doctors who have visited Sebeta, some havecarried out statistical studies on the children, but so far none have beenconcerned enough for the children as people to try and treat them. However since Med arrived in May thesechildren have not been ignored or forgotten, thanks to all of our volunteerswho have been there to help in one capacity or other: Virginia, Debora, Conchy,Chavely, Pep, Cati, Olga, Laura and Elena. All of them have been pioneers.

Our small children of Abugida have all had their eyeschecked and all enjoy good eye health. They only detected three cases of mild myopia and one of Strabismus, allof which are now being treated to good effect…

This Sat 19 Nov - BIC Fair in Support of Mediterranea

2011-11-15T09:06:00.001+01:00

Baleares International College (BIC) this Saturday 19 Nov 11am are celebrating the 'Universal Day of the Child' in support of Mediterranea.

All Med members, followers and friends are very welcome to attend and are sure to have great time with live music, dancing, games and exotic food from all over the world.

Enjoy a lovely sunny morning, surrounded by the energy and excitement of the fair. Meet old friends, make new friends, eat, drink, make merry while supporting Med's efforts here and abroad.

Some Progress in a Difficult Situation

2011-11-13T21:10:00.001+01:00

We are continuing with the work at Sebeta, preparing the newclassroom where the children who can see and will soon be able to see will beable to learn to read and write. Our goal will be to allow these children to reintegrate themselves intosociety by June and to support them with uniforms and school materials. As these children’s parents had beentold that their children would go blind our Ophthalmic Doctor will issue certificatesin English to verify that they can see.

In Sebeta there are only 220 beds for the 340 children whostay there. This means that 120have to sleep outside because of lack of space, of these 79 are girls, thosemost at risk. They are at the mercyof men who go looking for them or their male companions from the school whoalso have to sleep rough. Thisresults in abuse and violations that sometimes ends in pregnancy. If girls become pregnant they arethrown out of school and have to turn to begging on the streets of Addis.

This is another reason that we want to educate the childrenwho can see, so that they can leave the blind school and return to theirhomes. In this way these veryvulnerable girls can occupy their beds.

Ethiopian society considers the eye as a light of the body, without this light the body is dark. Society considers those with visual disability as people without hope,who will not be able to achieve anything, damned by God, dependent on the restand who have to be isolated forever from society. This perhaps explains why there are children who can see atSebeta, simply because they can’t see in one eye or because someone has toldtheir parents that they will go blind.

In the face of all of this we cannot stand on thesidelines. We may not be able tochange the prejudice of the people but we have to try and makethings better for these children. By next Tuesday we’ll know how many children can see and how many we canhelp to see again. With thisinformation we’ll be able to start up the new classroom, work to put thesechildren back into society and thereby provide protection and security for thegirls who are now living outdoors.

It is surreal that many of those children who can see areliving indoors while the truly blind girls have to live outside.

Change of Fortune for Many Children at Sebeta

2011-11-07T12:23:00.000+01:00

Today is the third day that our Ophalmic team has reviewed the children of the Sebeta School for the Blind. We are delighted to confirm that our two professionals (Opthalmic doctor and nurse) who are seeing approx 60 children a day, are going to change the lives of many of these children. So far they have established 20 children who have PERFECT eyesight, half of whom can read and write (remember, at this school they only get taught in Braille). Many of the other children will recover their eyesight using glasses (the team have distributed many pairs of glasses already and we shall take more from here) or through operation. Hearing this news has been wonderful for us, imagine what it must be like for them.
Since we have been offered the free classroom next door to the Messi room, we are now thinking that it will be best put to use as a classroom for the children who can or will shortly be able to see, so that they can learn to read and write Oromiya, their mother tongue. Incredible as it is to believe there are children here aged 13 who have been here since they were 7 and can only read Braille. We shall also try to provide classes in other subjects. We hope that during the next year we shall be able to offer these children ´bridging classes´ to bring their level of education up to a level where they can join back in with the normal school school system. This whole thing seems so surreal as these children were never subjected to an eye test before entering the school for the first time.
This reaffirms our theory that one day, someone, probably the local healer, has told their parents, perhaps because of some sort of conjunctivitis, that their children are going blind and so...

Opthalmic Team in Action

2011-11-07T11:57:00.000+01:00

We´d like to share with you these photos of our Opthalmic team working with children in Sebeta.

Expanding in Sebeta School for the Blind

2011-11-07T11:53:00.000+01:00

The first day of work for our Opthalmic team has been a success. Some of the children will be able to improve their vision with glasses or with an operation.

There is a new director of the school who is much more caring than the last one, she genuinely seems concerned for the children and is collaborating with us.

So far we have received 45 applications from women for the 5 washing positions that we have decided to create. With those 5 we shall have 8 at Sebeta, 4 cooks in Fita, 2 cooks in Biru, 34 employees at Abugida, our representative in Ethiopia and an accountant, a total of 50. In addition we have 50 sponsored families, many of whom are hoping that one day we´ll be able to include them into a working cooperative.

The director of Sebeta has offered us the room next door to the Messi room, so we shall be able to double our space. This in turn will allow us to contract some more monitors, after all part of the Sebeta campus is a teacher training college for special education teachers. It is wonderful to be able to offer some employment opportunities to the local population, hopefully we´ll be able to offer more in the future.

Med's First Party !!

2011-10-25T22:12:00.000+02:00

Med's first party in over 10 years was a great success, despite weather that could have been warmer and more inviting. Over 100 people attended and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of Son Caliu beach, the wonderful music of 'Guitarras del Mar', the food of 'Delicioso' and each others company. It was lovely to see and meet the wide range of people who support and volunteer for our small but rapidly growing NGO.

Various members of the press attended and Dr Stoma was interviewed for the radio. Keep an eye open for next Sunday's Ultima Hora magazine amongst others.

We would like to give special thanks to:

Andrew Spence and Anthony Just of 'Guitarras del Mar' see link http://spanishguitaristmallorca.blogspot.com/ who choose just the right music at the right time, created a very warm atmosphere and took us well into the evening.

Also to Helen of Delicioso see link http://www.deli-delicioso.com/index.html who usually spends her time feeding guests of the super yachts but kindly supported us with a wide range of canapes.

To Esperanza Nadal of Vins Nadal, Binissalem see link http://www.vinsnadal.com/ who kindly supplied a number of cases of their lovely wine Albaflor.

To Bar Bambu Fish who cut their prices in a very generous way so that everyone could drink freely through out the evening and served us drinks with a smile and good humour all night. The ticket price of 12€ adults and 6€ children covered the costs of all drinks and food for the evening.

To Specsavers (Santa Ponsa), Bar Nassau (Portixol) and Rumours Bar (Portals Nous) who handled advanced ticket sales.

And finally to our team of Med volunteers Natalie, Marieke, Will and Robin who worked hard to organise the event and thought they had everything covered only to discover on the night that the labels used as name tags didn't stick and that the tops to the Hawaiian style sun shades that gave the beach an exotic feel had been taken away earlier that day. Lessons to be learnt for the next event!

Thank You IBO

2011-10-24T19:29:00.001+02:00

We continue in a state of happiness because of the way things have gone recently in Ethiopia.

Today Dr Jose Maria Panades (Opthamologist) and Cati Ramis (Opthalmic Nurse) have left from Mallorca for a two week trip to Ethiopia. During the first week they will be with the children of Sebeta and for the second they will focus on the children and workers of Abugida and those other children in the area of Abugida who have eye problems.

We would love to give our profound thanks to IBO (Institut Balear Oftalmic) for their kind assistance and support. For a long time we have dreamed of bringing an Opthamologist to Ethiopia and in this case an Opthalmologist who's also a Pediatrician, plus an Opthalmic nurse...what more could we have asked for?

Here you can see a photo of the poster that the IBO have created and hangs in their reception to collect glasses for Mediterranea.

Happy Smiles

2011-10-23T22:12:00.000+02:00

We received the latest report from Sebeta and this time with photos. The three monitors are doing a good job and the children are happy. They have established turns so that all the children can have some access to the workshop.

Every day they do different activities with the children and they are teaching those that can see to write. If you remember, in this school, they only teach Braille whether yo can see or not.

The happiness of these children is priceless. Thank you for helping us achieve this.

Sebeta on the Rise

2011-10-18T10:57:00.000+02:00

Hello Mediterránea supporters:

We gave our backing to the Sebeta school and we made the right decision: thingswere not looking at all good, however, things changed and the situation for theblind children at Sebeta continues to improve greatly.

The Messi room, repaired bathrooms, new windows….. and we have now got abuilder in fixing the cracks in the buildings. The enthusiasm also appears tohave rubbed off on this gentleman because he’s even repairing cracks that arenot included in the budget! That must be a first!

They are going to let us use half of the classroom adjoining the Messi room tomake the playroom bigger, which is also good news. We will make a doorway tolink the two classrooms. This extension will allow the children to have morespace which is very important as the Messi room is in great demand and evenopens on Saturdays.

The ophthalmologist and nurse will be taking out one of our computers, whichhas programmes for the blind and visually impaired and stacks of games whichwe’re sure they will enjoy.
We have sent money to buy 55 new mattresses each costing 300 birrs: 16500birrs: 699 euros
And also for 150 bed sheets each costing 180 birrs= 27000 birrs: 1154 euros:
We’re sending out 100 bed sheets from Mallorca with the ophthalmologist and thenurse. Many thanks to all of you who have donated new sheets.

We know that all of this willgreatly improve their well-being but here’s the really big news, straight fromEthiopia: "there has been a huge change in the cleanliness of the bathrooms thanksto the efforts of our charity, of the teachers, the committee which inspectsthe bedrooms twice a day, together with the management team which supervisesthe staff who work in the children’s bedrooms. If only you could see it, thecurrent bathrooms are nothing like the ones we saw a short while back so wejust hope that they can keep up the good work to keep the bathrooms clean alongwith the children’s sleeping areas which are so clean and tidy…. Olga (oneof Mediterranea’s volunteers in Abugida) was pleasantly surprised when we wentround the rooms and she couldn’t believe the changes!!"

All of this just goes to show that improving the standard of living and dignityof these people by taking a “hands on” approach is much more productive than 100000discussions and 1000000000 complaints and grumbles about the real situation outthere or justifying them “because this is Africa”…

We need committed people who are keen to carry out voluntary work in thisspecial place. People who feel they have something to give to the children ofSebeta. They will come back with so much more than they left with.

One of our next objectives is for the children to use the gym, which they areunable to access at the moment due to lack of equipment and professionals toteach them psychomotor development. This gym belongs to the school (we presumeit was built at the time by the same charity that built the rest of the school)although it is only used by local sportsmen and women for training. We will keep fighting. The children of Sebeta deserve it.

Photo: visually impaired boy inthe Messi room making an effort to write his name. They will now be able tomake use of special aids for the visually impaired (on our last trip we leftthem some but the forthcoming arrival of the ophthalmologist and the nurse willgreatly contribute to an improvement of the situation).

Very Good News!

2011-10-17T11:03:00.000+02:00

Martha is returning home. Her back is now wonderful, the extreme lateral bend in herspine and hump in her back have disappeared. Her last, very complicated, operation has been a success.

Martha has been in the very best hands, the medical team ofthe Children’s Trauma Clinic at Son Espases Hospital, the children’sneurosurgeon and the many other professionals from other medical specialties. Many have given everything for her,without ever looking back, until this young girl could have the possibility fora normal life, a future.

Martha wants to be a doctor and has experienced someexcellent examples during her stay. We want to give our thanks to this medical team, to the untiring andvery professional Dr Sanpera who led the team (we certainly bring him nearlyimpossible cases), to the nurses and auxiliary staff who have treated Marthalike a queen during her stay in hospital.

To bring children over to be operated is not complicatedfrom a legal perspective but for us it almost becomes a life long commitment aswe continue to follow their progress when they return to their owncountries. And lucky that wedo, as for Martha this is the third time that we have brought her over to beoperated and we very much hope it will be the last time that it isnecessary. Martha will have towear her corset during the day for the next three months in order to avoid complications. Today is a happy day.

We don’t want to forget to thank our magnificent group ofvolunteers who visited Martha in hospital and accompanied her and her brotherMesfin, and to the wonderful family who welcomed them into their home andlooked after them the times they were out of hospital.

The Old People's Social Centre is on the Go

2011-10-17T10:55:00.000+02:00

The April group of volunteers has managed to raise the 2000Euros necessary to renovate the building that will become the old peoplessocial centre in the neighbourhood of the train station in Akaki,Ethiopia. When the repairsare finished and the social centre opens we expect some 100 old people will usethe facility. They will be able toenjoy educational and recreational activities and those that want will be ableto work on ‘miniprojects’ (the majority of these people have pensions of 3,4 or5 Euros a month, some get nothing and have to look after their grandchildren,for them the only solution is begging). If anyone has ideas for such miniprojects please let us know, all ideasare welcome. See this link for anexample of a miniproject that we think could work in Akaki: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14967535#blq-search

It is easy, cheap, new and something that the old couldmanage. Are there any other suchideas that people know of?

4th World, Zaqueo & Dignipacs

2011-10-16T11:19:00.000+02:00

Today we want to give focus to the 4^th world,which lives with us and unfortunately is growing by the day. Due to the crisis, due to abuse fromthose in power, due to dreams not materialising, due to personal bad luck, dueto any number of reasons. Itexists, it’s real and we must not turn our backs on it. What’s more, nearly no one can becertain that they will not be in a similar position one day.

We want to dedicate this post to Zaqueo, an organisationwith no government support, only the support of individuals, that gives it’s timeand efforts to the homeless who sleep only metres from the tourist shops ofPalma, to those with no financial means and very little governmentsupport. At Zaqueo they can getbreakfast and dinner, and at various times during the week can shower. Some also are able to sleep in thissmall space.

Mediterranea has been supporting Zaqueo for many years byproviding food and volunteer help. It is in front of Zaqueo that Mediterranea volunteers distribute 200 –300 ‘Dignipacs’ once a month. Bagsthat contain basic toiletries. Theobjective of these Dignipacs is to ensure that whoever has lost their job andhas no or very little income, does not also have to loose their dignity and areable to maintain their personal hygiene and health.

Last week numerous reports came out on IB3 TV, in variousnewspapers and radio stations giving information and details of Mediterranea’sdistribution of the Dignipacs, a couple are shown here.

We describe here the people that Zaqueo looks to support,and who the untiring Angel, who runs Zaqueo, works with every day. He’s an example to us all.

Who they help.

You’ve seen them in the streets: those who help withparking, clean windscreens, sell handkerchiefs, beg, search through the rubbishbins, prostitutes or delinquents. They are men and women none of whom have work, a house, or the supportof their family. No home, or roofto cover them, abandoned and rejected by society, in absolute loneliness with nowhereto live but the streets. They aremen and women, many of whom are irrecoverably drug dependent, alcoholics,immigrants who have fled poverty and fallen into misery: Spanish, Africans,Rumanians, Bulgarians and Northern Europeans all united by one characteristic,that they have all been very unlucky and are alone and abandoned: they don’t show up in the statistics soas not to ‘produce’ problems, they are a nuisance, they are trapped but none ofthem ever imagined that they’d be where they are now. You can’t believe that they are where they are only by theirown hand; somehow society has failed them and let them fall into the gutter.

Zaqueo doesn’t judge them, simply welcomes them, attendsthem, gives them food and a bed but also understanding, caring and love.

We Don't Make Miracles

2011-10-15T13:05:00.003+02:00

We only give good solid food, attention andstimulation. This cocktail makesmiracles here in Ethiopia and in all parts of the world, as all children arethe same.

The nursery at AbugidaSchool is a magic place where the children grow strong and are happy. Where HIV+ children acquire thenecessary defences to fight their condition. Where seriously disabled children continue making progress, stepsthat appear small to us but are enormous for them…but we’ll talk of Dagemanother day.

Today we want toshare with you photos of Meron, a small girl in the nursery. One photo was taken not long ago whenshe started and the other was taken recently. You can no doubt see the difference.

Thank you for helping us to achieve this, hopefully we’ll beable to create other Abugida’s.

Mediterranea Members Relaxed Get-together

2011-10-13T18:11:00.002+02:00

Dear Members

At the last Mediterranea meeting held at Amadip Cafe, Palma Nova in February members said how nice it was to have the opportunity to meet other members and suggested that the next such meeting should be more social, more relaxed. So here it is:

Next Friday 21 Oct at Son Caliu Beach, starting at 6pm with a very happy hour from 6-7pm.

A very relaxed 'Get-together' with live music from guitar and singing duo "Guitarras del Mar" (recently performed at the Conde de Barcelona regatta), canapes from Delicioso Food with drinks included all for 12 euros a head (6 euros for kids).

All members are invited and we'd be delighted if you bring friends. Tickets can be purchased at Rumours Bar in Portals Nous (next to Sa Nostra), Specsavers in Santa Ponsa (in front of the Eroski supermarket) or at Nassau Beach Club in Portixol.

Hope you will join us and take the opportunity to meet other members who support our charity.

Dr Michael Stoma

Parasitic Volunteers

2011-10-05T16:46:00.003+02:00

Many times I’ve wondered over the volunteers that work in thethird world. Recognising withoutdoubt the immense value of some there are however some that exist as parasite volunteers. I’m talking about aspecies that resides in the countries of the third world, having no concreteproject, without really being known. During our last trip we encountered some in Sebeta. Two of these we recognised from ourtrip in June. They are a Europeancouple that have been living in Sebeta for over a year and will probably livethere for some years to come. Thiscouple have done nothing for the children of Sebeta. They pass their days and receive their wage, which I assumewould be more than they would receive in their home country and of course havemuch less expenses. As a result ofthe creation of the Messi room and the reparation of all the bathrooms inSebeta by Mediterranea they have become enthused. They have told us that they have now painted thedormitories of the children…more than a year to eventually do somethingconcrete.

There’s another volunteer from North America, who is alsoclaiming merit for painting the walls. This young man has also lived there for a year and will be there for atleast another year. He says thathe put together the playground of one toboggan, a wheel and some swings. This must have taken a day or maximumtwo days to do. We don’t know whathe does for the rest of the time, perhaps some painting but without fixing thecracks in the walls or the broken windows. We saw the blind children passing their hands over thesebroken windows while orientating themselves. I asked this young man whether his NGO could install newones. He told me that it would bevery difficult. I asked him ifthey could repair the cracks and he gave me the same answer. To repair all the broken windows in theschool, and there were many, I went to Sebeta village and paid 1000 birrs (42 Euros)to a glazier who fixed them all the same day.

But here’s the best part: the two Europeans arrived backfrom their holidays to their home country. They left during the Ethiopian rainy season and returned whenit ended and the cold weather arrived in their home country. They didn’t bring anything for theschool or the children. We knowthis because we asked them, their answer, looking towards the Messi room wasthat there were already many flags, referring to the Argentinean flag thatVirginia and Debora left, the only one there is. One cannot avoid being cynical. The best of all is that they are parasites of the Messi roomspending every afternoon in there, but contributing nothing. It is Mediterranea that has created,furnished, supplied all the toys, learning materials and pays for the threemonitors, they haven’t brought even one pencil.

Will they report to their organisations that the Messi roomwas their doing?

What will they demand from their organisations?

How will they justify their stay in Ethiopia and theirexpenses to their organisations?

Questions without answers. Perhaps we should make a small notice in English indicatingthat it is Mediterranea that has created and maintains the Messi room. Sebeta receives visitors and the firstthing that the useless director of the school does is take them to the Messiroom, the only dignified place in the school.

This is why parasitic volunteers sicken us.

The photo shows the reparation of the toilets atSebeta. We repaired all of them;there were 13 bathrooms with 24 toilets and 33 basins, none of which functionedand all needing new parts. Thiscost Mediterranea 1300 Euros. Noone had ever been concerned enough to repair them before and it’s impossible todescribe the horrendous state of these toilets. Do we have to put small plaques on each of them to state that they are the work of Mediterranea?

Returned from Ethiopia

2011-10-04T20:35:00.000+02:00

Hello Followers of Med

We’re already back in Mallorca. We had some intense days and some intense feelings. Some achievements and satisfaction butalso we have some big challenges ahead, our biggest being the Sebeta School forthe Blind. They have 340 childrensome of whom are blind, others can see with one eye, others are simply myopic, as I was when I was small. If Ihad been born in Ethiopia I may have been brought up in Sebeta. On the first day of school a lovelyyoung girl of 7 arrived. She has poorlong sight and so is probably myopic. Her brother who has more serious problems is already living inSebeta. It is touching to see herwith her brother; he cares for her and guides her despite having much poorervision. The future of this younggirl, as with many like her, is to live at Sebeta until 17 learning Braille ina very boring and repetitive fashion, living in horrible dormitories andwithout any human warmth except that given her by her brother, his friends(they have strong relations between them in Sebeta) and the monitors of theMessi room. We are going to try toimprove the living conditions and quality of life of these children (we havealready started) but we’re going to need a lot of help because they need somuch.

Photo: Children in the Messi room using material broughtover by Olga, a Med volunteer.

A Giant Step

2011-09-30T18:50:00.000+02:00

We are about to take a giant stepforward, of the kind that fills you with joy and hope. Because we are nowcertain we shall have an ophthalmologist for Sebeta, in fact a children’sophthalmologist. And not just an eye doctor but also an eye nurse who will begoing out with him at the end of October. They will examine the 340 children atSebeta to see how some of them can be helped by surgery, glasses or poor-visionaids.

The three Messi room monitors willthus be able to teach reading and writing in Oromiya to those children, whoaided in this way will be able to see, so that they will not have to go outinto the world at the age of 17 knowing only Braille.

Apart from this giant step andwith a view to improving the very difficult living conditions of the Sebetachildren we are taking a number of smaller steps: we are buying sheets (at themoment they sleep directly on filthy mattresses) and we are thinking abouthiring laundresses (if they let us) to wash these sheets and the children’sclothes. We have already improved things by mending the toilets and replacingthe broken windows.

We have a huge task on our hands turning round this schoolwhich has been virtually abandoned by God and man for the last 30 years. Thecarers don’t look after them, the cleaners don’t clean, the Head master doesn’tseem to be in charge and there’s a statutory nurse who’s never been to the hutswhere the children live. A bleak picture, but we’re not put off by thechallenges, quite the opposite.

Photos: the daily life of thechildren in their huts

At Mediterranea we are in favourof showing happy photographs, photographs of our achievements, but sometimes wehave to show you the other side of things. If we were not helping them we wouldnever show you this darker side, since we are totally opposed to showing theharsh reality just to raise money in situations where we are not helpingdirectly.

Rumours Bar Fundraising - A Big Success

2011-09-29T18:16:00.000+02:00

On Friday evening Rumours of Puerto Portals held a memorablefundraising event on behalf of Mediterranea. The evening got started at 9pm with a Cava reception for allguests. There was an excellentturn out and a relaxed atmosphere as people chatted and the energy level slowlyrose.

Energy levels quickly increased as Liam Live treated us tosome songs off his newest album ‘The Tale of the Tiny Dancer’ and a number ofguests couldn’t contain themselves and started gyrating in the bar area. People kept arriving and the party wasin full swing.

The mobile casino opened and there was even moreexcitement. Participants (andthere were many) received a good quantity of chips for their 10 Eurostake. Their objective, toaccumulate their stacks of chips on the roulette wheel and at the black jacktable. There were fantastic prizesto be won for the four top accumulators. All takings on the casino were destined for Mediterranea.

Dr Stoma and full family attended, together with Roma andRobin who represented Med on the night, providing information, collectingdonations in tins and ‘welcoming’ some new Med members.

The evening has been declared a great success for allconcerned. Med would like to offera big thank you to Elizabeth, the owner of Rumours and a new Med member forhosting the event and to Ayesha of Diamond Events, the organiser who workedtirelessly to make this a great success and compeered the evening.

Details of how much was generously donated will follow inanother post.

Fundraising Event for Mediterranea at Rumours Bar, Puerto Portals, 23 Sept

2011-09-13T11:05:00.001+02:00

Minutes of the AGM

2011-09-12T16:22:00.001+02:00

Hello Mediterránea supporters

Last week we had our AGM. The president (Michael) started by giving a summary of the year and commented on the philosophy, objectives and targets of the charity, including the increase in members despite the current economic crisis.

As you know, we are all volunteers and we don’t have any overheads. The only things in our possession are two stamps. We don’t rent any premises. The social headquarters are at the medical centre where the president and leader of the projects in Ethiopia work. This way we avoid rental costs. Telephone calls and other administrative expenses are covered by the medical centre. By working like this we realise just how much money charities can save. Our aim is for all the money to go towards the projects, not just 10 or 20% as is the case with many other charities once they have paid their overheads and their staff.

The leader of the Mediterránea projects in Ethiopia gave an overview of the projects in Ethiopia:

The Abugida school, of which we are all extremely proud, as it is unique in

Ethiopia

. The efficient running of the school, its sponsorship programme which works so well, classes for adults, the temporary refuge for abused women, the wonderful nursery school.

The dining room of the Biru Tesfa state infant school, which has gone from providing breakfast to providing lunch as well. The director seems to be a committed and efficient gentleman. This is his vocation. He likes children and enjoys being a teacher.

The dining room of the Fitawrari school. Fitawrari school is our Achilles Heel. We realise that going there after being at Abugida (it is close by) is not easy because the differences are appalling. But we believe that the management lacks commitment to improve the organisation and hygiene of the dining room. They also need to improve their accounts. The position of director is a political responsibility here and you can tell.

We will keep fighting on this front because the children who attend Fita (many of them come from Abugida) are in desperate need of help. There is a direct relationship between poverty and the amount of flies that come with it. For many of the children at Fita the flies are their most loyal friends.

The programme for sponsoring the elderly is progressing very positively. Fortunately we haven’t lost any of our elderly people yet. Next week we will be in Ethiopia and one of our aims is to meet up with the elderly people of the neighbourhood. You are aware that the April group (Teresa, Nacho, Laura and Maite) is trying to raise the necessary funds for refurbishing the warehouse premises and essential resources needed to convert it into a social centre for these elderly people, therefore we urge you to buy a lottery ticket from MD as the proceeds will go towards this project. It is vital to listen to the elderly people and hear their opinion and find out what they would like. We have our own plan but we would like to know what they think of it. We have different mentalities and we don’t always see things in the same way so we don’t want to impose anything on them.

The Sebeta school for the blind in the town of Sebeta. This is the only project of Mediterranea that isn’t in Akaki. The school is around 20 km from Addis going towards Jimma. In May we sent Virginia and Débora, two teachers specializing in blind children who were faced with the impossibility of making an influence on the education system for blind children in Ethiopia – which consists of punching holes in paper for hours on end to learn Braille – and came up with the idea of the Messi room, a recreational workshop which is managed skilfully and has a high attendance rate. We have taken on two monitors. The name Messi comes from Me siento Feliz (I feel happy), and transformed to Messi, nothing to do with them being from

Argentina

ha ha. This is the only place where the children can be children and feel happy, learning through play.

Many of the children have poor eyesight and some can even see well. Nobody knows why there are actually there: some are abandoned, the parents of some of them were told that they could go blind in 25 years time, so they would be better off learning to live as blind people. These children leave school at 17 having learned Braille and not knowing how to read or write. Since April we’ve been trying to find out how many children are at the school but the number of children fluctuates. They live in terrible conditions: their bathroom facilities are horrible, their mattresses are bug-ridden, they are all cramped together. The Sebeta School is our next main target in

Ethiopia

. It looks like the director is staying although in theory a new one was supposed to be arriving in September. However nobody seems to want to go there. We will have to see what happens. We always try to be positive and although it seems like this man isn’t bothered about doing anything, he isn’t trying to put any obstacles in our way either…

We remembered the mothers at Abugida, those exceptional and determined women who live in such a hostile social environment from the moment they are born.

And of course there was a mention for the wonderful volunteers who have been to

Ethiopia

this year and have set very high standards in their good deeds and excellent work. There was one last mention for our representative Dr. Zerihun, a key figure in the success story of Abugida and the efficient running of the programmes.

It was then Elisa’s turn to speak. She is the professor of Physiotherapy at the UIB (the University of the Balearic Islands), with which we have an agreement to send physiotherapists to the Dangme East Hospital in Ada (

Ghana

). As you know we have set up a physiotherapy service in this hospital which is the only one in the area and serves an estimated population of around 200000 people. The first of the volunteer physiotherapists returned from their trip, very satisfied with the project and the work they carried out so it’s all working out very well indeed.

Fernanda, who is responsible for the Palma Fourth World project, was the next person to speak. She explained everything that had been done throughout the year, which amounts to a lot (food distribution, English and Spanish classes) and she also talked about how difficult it was to continue with the programme at the present time. This is due to the fact that the

Mali

residents association has no funds to pay for the premises where they are based. This programme is now on stand by until new premises can be found.

Robin, from the marketing and publicity team, spoke about the need to increase Mediterránea members and organise fundraising events. We have quite a few on the go and various strategies for giving Mediterranea more publicity with out cost are being formulated.

Juan Luis, our wonderful accountant, gave the final presentation and thanks to all his efforts this year we have been designated a Public Utility, which is a social recognition of our work and very important as far as our members are concerned, since they will be able to claim 20% tax relief, companies will be able to claim 35% tax relief so if there are any companies reading this, why not join us!

We then proceeded to approve the accounts for 2010 and the budget for 2011 by way of a vote. After the questions and answers, the meeting finished with the voting for the new Mediterránea Board.

The following candidates presented themselves (remember that any member can put themselves forward for any position on the Board of Directors) and were approved:

Michael Stoma: for president.

Juan Luis Andrés: accountant.

Lorenzo Ros: secretary.

Victoria Baldo, to act as spokesperson and person responsible for the Mediterranea projects in Ethiopia.

Stefanie Milla: for spokesperson and to form part of the Mediterranea Ethiopia team with duties to include recruiting members, creating fundraising events on the mainland, collaborating with editing and writing a variety of texts. To provide moral and “thinking” support to the person responsible for the Mediterranea projects in Ethiopia.

Fernanda Canoura, in charge of the Palma Fourth World project and future leader of sponsorships in Ethiopia, in conjuction with the person responsible for all the projects in Ethiopia.

The 2010 report will be published on the website and the blog.

Mediterranea Launches the Physiotherapy Dept in Dangme East Hospital, Ghana Aug 2011

2011-09-11T12:18:00.000+02:00

Please click on this YouTube link:

http://youtu.be/DDVaxErf05U

Big Achievements, Little Miracles

2011-09-07T15:20:00.000+02:00

Dagem, our child in Abugida who has cerebral paralysis, hasstarted to move himself and initiate crawling movements and is trying to turnhimself over. It is a small miracle, which has come about from some intensivework with him and the incredible flexibility of the human brain that continuesto mystify us. Dagem’s mother isattending the nursery in Abugida in order to learn from Nuriya his carer (whowas trained by Laura, our volunteer psychomotor expert) the stimulationtechniques that she needs to use on him when they are at home.

A Happy Nursery!

2011-09-07T15:18:00.000+02:00

Education and the Future of Africa

2011-09-05T15:56:00.002+02:00

Reviewing what the teams of Mediterranea volunteers at theEthiopian schools in which we work, have achieved, we can confirm that not evenWalt Disney could have invented stories as beautiful as our educational teamsin Ethiopia. Their efforts have influenced the local Ethiopian teachers andmotivated them to a point where they want to learn more and improveprofessionally. They are starting to realise the importance of education forthe future of their country. Amongst all the intelligent things that Rosa Luxembourgsaid, she commented that real revolution would only come through education. Theimportance of education is unfortunately, ignored by nearly all leaders. Some are so pathetic that they even seeit as a threat to the status quo.

The future is in the hands of education and to give the tools to improveeducation is probably the best thing that an NGO can do in the third world. Many times, from our privileged positionin the West we believe that Africans cannot get a proper education in Africa.That for this they need to come to one of our countries. This thought is one that sprang fromcolonialist times but has never really been destroyed. Children can be educated in Africa, intheir countries, their societies, it is their right. We help to make this possible, it is not charity, it is simplyjust. Photo: children of Abugida on their graduation day.

Christmas Lottery

2011-09-04T19:36:00.000+02:00

Hello followers of Mediterranea.

This is our number for the Christmas lottery: 78255.

Our intention is to create a social centre for old people inthe area of the train station in Akaki, Ethiopia, where we have a group ofsponsored old people. The centre will be for all the old people of the area.

To do this we must renovate and fit out the space that wehave been offered. If you are interested in becoming a millionaire and at thesame time helping with this project, please contact Teresa: teresaiago@hotmail.com or us: mediterranea.ong@gmail.com

Many Thanks

What You Can Do with Imagination, Knowledge and a Will to Succeed

2011-09-02T10:03:00.000+02:00

From Laura, a child psychomotor expert who is presentlyworking as a volunteer in Abugida.

‘ I have been teaching Nuriya, Dagem’s carer, the full rangeof massage techniques that she must use. She has learned a part each day and the following morning she has usedit on Dagem with me supervising. Ibrought training material with me but she has hardly had to look at it as she’slearning so quickly and with so much enthusiasm. She has memorised each step perfectly. Dagem is enjoying it like crazy. He’s already much more animated withhis head, his look, his smile and he’s even starting to move his shoulderblades. In addition we arepractising exercises that Nuriya will be able to use on him at a laterstage. Especially focusing on themanipulation of the shoulder blades and disassociating them from the head tosee if the arms can be made to move towards the stomach. We are working on a mattress, on a bigPilates ball and on a moving board like a go-cart that we have designed for him that gives him greaterautonomy and allows him to participate in the same activities as the otherchildren. He really enjoys the‘go-cart’ and the other children enjoy playing with him on it. I am making bandage ‘tapping’ on hispectorals to open and allow movement above and to avoid the shortening of hismuscles. Nuriya is learning thisand will continue to do this with him. I have also taught and delivered learning materials with photos abouthis feeding, breathing, clapping massage to eliminate mucous and thestimulation of his oral facial cavity with materials that I brought especiallyfor this purpose. I have alsoconstructed various splints, one for him to rest his neck and elevate his chin,one for each hand to keep them open and one for each elbow to give extensionand functionality to the higher parts of his arms.'

The Joy on His Face!

2011-08-31T16:01:00.000+02:00

This is Dagem. When we first met him he didn't respond to anyone and wasn't even able to lift his head. Now he is a happy child. His eyes sparkle and his skin shines. Hopefully in the next intake there will be more children presented who have this condition, we know they exist we just need their families to overcome the stigma that surrounds them and bring them to Abugida.

Summer Feeding Programme at Fitawrari School

2011-08-31T15:46:00.002+02:00

Hello Followers of Mediterranea

As I’m sure you’ll remember last Nov we started a school-feedingprogramme at the Fitawrari Public School. We built and fitted out a kitchen and washroom and we renovated anexisting room to act as the dining room. We contracted four cooks chosen from the most needy mothers ofAbugida. During the term time 113children of the primary school have breakfast, lunch and tea, chosen from theorphans, those who are HIV+ and those with very difficult familysituations. We also provide breakfastfor all the 160 children of the preschool; the most needy of those also havelunch and tea.

This is the first summer that we have had the kitchenoperational at Fitawrari and here we attach some photos. It is the rainy season and it is cold inAkaki and for this reason the dining room fulfils a second function of keepingthe children warm. The dining roomis also operating at the Biru Tesfa preschool where there are 100 childrenusing this facility. We areawaiting photos.

Photos: Waiting for lunch, cooking in turns.

Super Barry Returns to Ethiopia

2011-08-30T21:22:00.002+02:00

We are happy to announcethat super Barry arrived last Friday in Addis Ababa. For those who don'tknow him he is our volunteer constructor who makes possible the impossible. Who obtains the correct prices for work when we're having our leg pulled. Who understand everything structural and technical and is the first toroll his selves up and get to work. Thanks to him we were able to buildthe extensions and additional buildings at Abugida, make all the repairs to theBiru Tesfa School and repair the bathrooms at Fitawrari School.

Barry will go to Sebeta tofind a solution for the repugnant bathrooms of the blind children who areliving there in squalor. Barry will go to the headquarters of the traincompany to agree a quote for the repair and fitting of a space owned by thatcompany which is planned for an old peoples community centre. Barry hasto resolve the issue of the cesspit at Abugida, which has not been enlargeddespite the large increase in the numbers of children. He also has totackle many other pending repairs at Abugida, which is like the Sagrada Familiachurch in Barcelona never seems to end. Barry will go to Biru Tesfa Schoolto inspect the quality of the work of the Ethiopian constructor that wecontracted to see if he is worth using again.

Have a good trip Barry!

2011 Mediterranea NGO AGM

2011-08-27T23:06:00.000+02:00

Dear members:

I should like to invite you all to the next General Meeting on Friday
2nd September. The first session will be at 18.30 h and the second at
19.00 h. It will be held at the Mediterranea headquarters in Plaza de
Portals 3, local 5, Portals Nous, Calvia. Mallorca

This has been a very important and productive year for Mediterránea.
Together we have managed to achieve a better existence for the people
we help and we are creating a better future for so many children.
Mediterránea is and should continue to be an active charity, loyal to
its principles, participative, transparent and with the capacity to
respond quickly to the problems and situations of injustice we are
faced with on a daily basis.

At this meeting the members will be given the opportunity to vote in
the members of the Board.
We hope that the meeting produces a very participative Board. All
members will have the possibility of becoming a member of the Board.
Anybody who feels that they can rise to the challenge and contribute
something to the charity, who is prepared to be an active member of
the Board should present their plan of action at the meeting which
will subsequently be brought to a vote. We hope that nobody will be
too embarrassed or shy at coming forward with their suggestions and
ideas for collaborating on the Board. We are all there to help those
who are most in need and each one of us is just a small part within
the whole mechanism of solidarity.

The Board members must participate actively in the charity.

Those who adopt attitudes or behavior which opposes the principles,
values and spirit of the charity, i.e. disloyalty, abuse of trust and
attitudes which could damage the social status of the organization,
will not be allowed to become members of the Board or they will have
to discontinue their duties.

The members who attend the General Meeting can:
> • Participate in the designation and removal of the members of the Board of Directors and evaluate its management.
> • Be selected as and select members of the Board of Directors.
> • Participate and vote in the Members General Meetings.
> • Propose items to discuss at the Meeting or before the Board of Directors.
> • Examine at a given time the balance sheets and accounts of the charity.
> • Reaffirm or rectify the actions of the Board of Directors.
> • Evaluate and approve the statutory reforms.

Functions of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is made up of active members. Its legality and
legitimacy are determined by the statutes and its election is carried
out at the General Meeting. For legal purposes it must be registered
at the premises of the charity, after the acceptance of responsibility
of the each of the chosen members has been recorded in writing.

Just like the functions of the General Meeting, the functions of the
Board of Directors are recorded in the charity's statutes, the most
important being to:
a. Define the policies of the organisation in accordance with the
statues and the mandates of the General Meeting.
b. Elect the President of the Board of Directors, the Vicepresident
and Secretary for the period of time set in the statutes.
c. Appoint people as required and assign them duties to ensure an
efficient administration and running of the projects.
d. Create ad-hoc and/or permanent work groups. Establish the number of
members, their duties and make the respective appointments.
e. Study and take decisions on any matters presented to them for their
consideration by the different work groups.
f. Present the annual financial and social reports at the General Meeting.
g. Present projects for reforming the statutes at the General Meeting.
h. Approve the annual expenses budget and keep an eye on the expenditure.
l. Dictate rules and regulations for fulfilling the objectives of the
organisation.
j. Comply with own regulations.
k. Evaluate own performance and that of the work groups.
l. Choose who is authorised to sign the bank accounts.
m. Others (we hope that in the course of the Meeting more points to be
included in this list will be raised).

If you wish to delegate your right to vote to somebody else then
please let us know in writing (email) before 2nd September.

Agenda
1)General summary of the charity's development in 2010
2)Summary by sections/programmes given by the people who were in
charge of the same in 2010
3)Financial summary of the year 2010 given by the accountant.
4)Discussion, requests and questions.
5)Presentation and election of candidates for the board.
6)Summary and conclusions.

I stress that the Board of Directors is the most important body of any
association and for this reason, you can all present yourselves as
suitable candidates for election.
To put yourselves forward as candidates, all you have to do is present
your project at the members General Meeting, being aware of your
responsibilities as members of the Board and your duties within that
Board. We look forward to the creation of a very active and ambitious
board.

Many thanks,
Kind regards
Michael Stoma
President

NB Please let us know if you will join us so that we can calculate the
number of members who will be present. We hope to have to email you
one or two days before the event to say that we are moving to bigger
premises due to the confirmed number of attendants. (our email is: mediterranea.ong@gmail.com)

The August Group of Volunteers

2011-08-25T18:17:00.004+02:00

Abugida is a happy place, rather dampand full of “chica” (mud). There is no time to stop, there is so much to do. Zerihun had already told us that Akaki isthe city where everyone says “hello”. But it was incredible to hear the “hellos”at 7.30 on Monday morning from the mothers who were already waiting at thedoor. We felt at home.

The little ones are having their milkand they have had a change of clothes (thanks to Carolina and Alejandra). Theyare born impersonators and the silly antics of little Addaé are enough to makethem all go crazy. The “melons”also have a change of clothes, nice and warm, which they have gone home in today.

The kitchen has now got more ventilationand light with a new window and the place is starting to get bigger. What’smore the cooks are provided with constant amusement and can’t stop laughing atTacho without his shirt on.

Dagem isenjoying himself, he laughs, moves his head and responds to stimulation as muchas he is able to. Laura thinks he has possibilities and his carer is totallycommitted. The big children are doing workshops and their teachers arelearning new techniques.

In addition, almost all of the sponsoredchildren have called in today to collect their monthly allowance and we have takentheir photos. It’s amazing to see how nice they look, how well behaved they areas they arrive and the wonderful smiles on their faces. Theyare all darlings. The smallest ones hide behindtheir mums but they love seeing the photos of themselves and this brings out asmile.

We are also making an inventory of thesickbay, organisings and updating things. Hugs and kisses are frequently exchanged and we see lots of teeththroughout the day! There is a feeling of love and gratitude within the wholeeducational environment.

Volunteers: Laura, Ivana, Tacho, Elena and Carolina.

Photos:

Some of the “melons”, the former babieswho have progressed to the “melons” class with their new fleece tops

Super Tacho making the new window

NOTE FROM MEDITERRÁNEA:

We will not get tired of saying howdelighted we are with the progress of Dagem, our little boy from Abugida whohas cerebral palsy, who seems to be making good progress and has a wonderfulcarer who loves and understands him, stimulates him and is very keen to learn. Sheis learning from Laura, a child psychomotor development specialist and one ofthe August volunteers at Abugida. Thefact that Dagem is the most “spoilt” child at Abugida and receives so muchattention is not only beneficial for him but it’s a big step forward towardsfighting for the rights of disabled people who sadly are scorned and rejectedby society and the people close to them, not only in Ethiopia but in many otherplaces.

Because of all our hard work anddetermination the poorest families in Akaki are now the envy of other people astheir children attend Abugida; a woman who was raped and badly treated in herneighbourhood and labelled “crazy” has made a miraculous recovery since her sonstarted at the nursery school and now has a job in Abugida and holds her head uphigh... and children with HIV are no longer looked upon as being abnormal andform part of the “normal daily life” of Abugida, etc etc...We are very happy.Thanks for helping us to achieve so many good things.

6 God Mothers/Fathers Needed for 6 Babies

2011-08-24T16:48:00.000+02:00

To date we have had 51 children who have needed sponsorshipand for all of these except for 6 little boys and girls we have godfathers orgodmothers. These 6, with theexception of one, form part of the new generation of one year olds who started atAbugida in July. They are childrenof single mothers, some of whom are ill and the others servants (servants inEthiopia and in the context of Akaki work all day and are given only a bed andthe leftovers). The situation ofthese mothers is very vulnerable. If the owners of the house where they work decide to throw them out, notonly do they not have work but they are also left without a home and have tolive on the streets with their children. Other mothers have had to give up their children because they have notbeen able to support them. All ofthese mothers are trying to survive in extreme circumstances.

Sponsorship requires an emotional commitment on the part ofthe godfather or godmother and a monthly payment of 24 Euros. This money not only secures the life ofthe child but also the life of his/her family, since a mother who is HIV+ thatcan eat is a much stronger mother.

August Photos

2011-08-23T16:20:00.000+02:00

Here are photos of some of the work done by our volunteersduring August:

enlarging the kitchen...

handicraft workshop...

blowing soap bubbles.

There’s only a little time left for the super volunteers ofAugust and from here we want to thank them for their involvement and excellentwork.

Martha Continues Smiling

2011-08-23T16:08:00.001+02:00

Martha is still in hospital; we believe that she will bethere till the end of this week. They have put her in a corset that she will have to wear for the nextthree months. Our little championis always in a good mood, always smiling. What a fine lesson for life she gives us.

Mesfin, her brother is showing himself to be a fine brotherand a fine person. He has notwanted to leave the hospital, not even for five minutes. Since Martha was admitted he has beenwith her night and day. He iswithout doubt a son worthy of his father. Martha has a marvellous family.

Milk Problems

2011-08-22T14:06:00.001+02:00

Milk is a luxury in Ethiopia. The great majority of children, not to mention adults, drinktea instead of milk. The reason ispurely economic; it has nothing to do with any type of intolerance tomilk. In our school Abugida (215children including 73 babies on double rations), in Fitawrari school (310children) and in Biru Tesfa (190 children), these last two where Mediterraneaprovide school feeding programmes, everyone drinks milk.

This represents 40 litres for the babies of Abugida and 40litres for the rest, 70 litres for Fita and 50 in Biru, totalling 200 litres aday and 4000 litres per month. This is a great business for the milkmen of the area. Milkmen who have been increasing theirprices at their convenience, because in Ethiopia they increase the price forbuying a lot. Price ceilings donot exist in Ethiopia. To them itis natural to increase the price because you are a good business and of coursethey have to milk the cow well, which in this case is us…

The milkman who was supplying us invented a ‘mugging’ anddisappeared with two weeks of milk money. Since then we have been looking for a new milkman. No one wants to supply us. One came up with crazy excuses like hesupplies the prison Monday to Sunday and with us it is only Mon to Friday. What, the prisoners of Akaki drinkmilk? Who in their right mindwould believe this? What he wantedwas to charge us for milk on Saturdays and Sundays although the schools areclosed. The fact that the milk isfor the poorest children in the area doesn’t bother them in the slightest.

The fact is that in one of the poorest countries on theplanet, where milk is a luxury, they don’t want to sell it to us. Can anyone understand this? We can’t.

In a Place Called Ethiopia...the Return

2011-08-21T11:48:00.000+02:00

After a long weekend away from Sebeta, today we returned to the Mediterranea workshop. From the welcome we received we imagined that they thought we had left for good and without saying goodbye. We dedicated the morning to our labours, we had to adjust the clothes that we had bought since the majority of the children are sickly thin and we could only find extra large sized trousers. At the end of the morning session we offered them a healthy breakfast, a banana and a piece of bread. In the afternoon session we performed a funny sound based story that we had spent some time preparing. When they finished the activity we surprised them with an energy giving new tea, a Nocilla sandwich.

We start the day with a good portion of potassium

Some eat the banana first and the bread afterwards

An energetic tea to end the afternoon session. Who can resist a Nocilla sandwich?

We have proof that shows that they liked it enormously

Conclusive evidence!

Will you give me a little of yours...?

Others however have to postpone their enjoyment of tea until after the sun goes down

Some don't like the idea so much

They are focused on reproducing the sound of the bell: sol..mi

Those in charge of making the sound of a cat

An entertaining story in which everyone has a part. You have to be focused to make sure that you make your sound at the right moment.

I love music!

Diary of Ale, Abugida 7, 19 July

2011-08-15T20:07:00.000+02:00

The day gotoff to a terrible start! Carol didn’t sleep a wink all night long and got upfeeling very down. She felt so low that she suddenly started crying whilst wewere having breakfast. It rains day after day, the work is hard (if you arelooking to do some charity work in your holidays then look elsewhere, this isno holiday), we haven’t had any internet access for days and it’s impossible tomake phone calls (this makes us feel even more cut off than we already are), weseem to be going round and round in circles trying to get things done (peopledon’t fulfil deadlines or stick to the quoted prices, we have to negotiateeverything…). She knew this wasn’t going to be easy but she is realising justhow hard it really is now. We all have bad days and it’s good to be surroundedby friendly people when we are having a hard day. Jonás, who isin charge of the storeroom always looks after us, the director is always jokingaround with us, Mrs Kedija is like a mother to us, Alem who prepares our foodlovingly, the little ones who shower us with kisses….! So we had some grouptherapy! We talked about the country, the culture, the things we need to changein order to promote its development… we talked about all the things we HAVE managedto achieve up until now (lots) to cheer ourselves up and organised the thingswe still have to do. Jonás set us straight “but you are worried about suchmaterial things…! God is here and he is good!”. And with those words (withoutany cake) we went to the babies’ classroom to check how things were going. Mrs Kebebuch had prepared them all a puree for their morning snack. You can’timagine how hungrily they wolfed it down. Four hands giving out the food andthat wasn’t enough! How many months had it been since they last had a decentmeal? When will their hunger ever be satisfied? Today one of the mums told usthat since her baby had been accepted by Mediterránea in Abugida, his weighthad gone up from six to ten kilos. Even though this mother received milk fromthe school to feed her little one at home before the nursery class was startedup, he still weighed less than the average child of his age. At this rate, theywill soon weigh double!

Full tummies so then it was playtime! They love the xylophones (and all theother toys) that I bought with your donations. And the seesaw that Victoria brought. Theyare getting used to the classroom, the teachers, the mealtimes… The timetables are now being observed in the classrooms. Last week we putclocks in all the classrooms and as I told you, the carers prepared timetablesout of card. This means that there is time to fit everything in, the childrenknow what time to expect things and feel more secure and the whole team is wellcoordinated.

In the “melons” class they are putting up the curtains we fetched yesterday. Theycouldn’t stop laughing at the noise of the electric drill! Siesta time is nowmuch better than before as they can now block out the light. Tomorrow we willgo to Addis to look for a CD player so they can listen to relaxing music whilstthey rest. Whilst the little ones were sleeping, I found the teachers preparing their ownworkbooks, making a note of the personal details of all the pupils so theyalways have them to hand, leaving space to write all the things we have askedthem to write about each child. This means they will have better control andnext year when they change teachers, the new one will have lots of backgroundinformation on each child as it will all be noted down in the books. What a great school we have set up! What’s more, it’s a bilingual schoolbecause the older children sing to me in Spanish!

As “Abugida is never boring”, we had some news today. This boy came and askedfor help. He’s 15 years old and his parents died four years ago (I can guesswhat of). Since then he’s been living in this mud hut with the family of one ofhis father’s friends who took him in. This man already has 8 other children andit’s too much responsibility for him and wants the boy to start fending forhimself. The boy wants to carry on studying and came to our paradise to ask forhelp. We helped him of course (not without checking out his situation first… wetalked to him, with the man he’d been living with, we visited the house…). Hewill be given food at the school from now on and as requested, we will buy hima mattress, blanket, sheet and anything else he needs to be able to live withdignity without being a burden to his foster family. In exchange, he’s going tohelp out at the school, doing what he knows best: painting. He’sa really good artist! He’s so excited that he’s foundhelp and kindness and that he can show people what he’s worth. I have alreadygiven him a little “telling off” for a start, I have warned him not to get toocarried away with the painting and that he should concentrate on studying whichis more important! As you can see in the photo, we have dressed him in newclothes just his size, that were given to me by my colleague Isabel and atracksuit from the Puente Real de Badajoz school (the uniform shop gave meseveral and they have come in very handy!).

After class we had another meeting about the school year with the mums of twoother groups of pupils (those from classrooms 1 and 2). Just like yesterday’smeeting with classes 3 and 4 we spoke about timetables, mealtimes, activities……and the helpers introduced themselves to their pupils’ mums, reminding themthat we are here to help them and are open to all suggestions. I made a pointof telling the mums how lucky they are to have such wonderful teachers who willensure that their children are more than well looked after. The mothers in theclassroom left me with lovely pictures like these…..
I am delighted when I look out the window to see the grandmother of Mikiyas(one of my babies from last summer) arriving with the little boy so that he cangive kisses to his teachers from the last school year. Even though Miki ishappy with his new helpers, he still loves the people who showed him so muchlove. What a lovely scene of this reunion with the hardworking teachers of Abugida.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon at the market. We bought more socks (weare now up to 142) and lots of other things and we treated ourselves to dinnerat the petrol station.

Our Carol soon got over her morning blues (these things don’t last long) and weall end up having a good laugh about how the day started as it seemed like itwas doomed to be one of those really bad days when everything goes wrong but itturned out well in the end. THE SUN CAME OUT!
Sweet dreams and chocolate kisses.

A Day in Abugida

2011-08-12T14:10:00.001+02:00

Today we are spending the day in Abugida, the school managed by Mediterranea in Ethiopia and the place where we were going to come at the start. It is fantastic to share this day with the children, the workers and our volunteer friends Alejandra and Carolina. This morning we visited the class of Dagem, a boy of two years with cerebral paralysis. We talked and thought about what we needed to do to look after him in the best possible way, we looked through all the materials that we have in school and...

We found three cushions joined together, we took out the foam from one of them and with the others we made a fantastic mattress.

In this way he will be able to lie face down and have better control over his head.

With a cut sheet we improvised a harness which provided support for his hips. A doll served to stop his legs closing.

We changed his chair so that his hips are in the correct position. Well seated he can observe everything that's going on around him.

During lunch he can enjoy himself if we all position ourselves well.

There has to be a short time of the day on his feet and here the toboggan helps us.

The most original slide in the world!

This position helps his intestinal movement

It's important to have many different perspectives of life.

And strengthen a little more the muscles of the neck.

Well griped by the sheets we added a wooden base to support all of his foot and another doll to maintain the line of his legs.

How well one eats in Abugida. They made us some wonderful rice.

Thank you to Ale for this report.

NOTE FROM MEDITERRANEA: Children like Dagem in Ethiopia are not accepted in any place, they are considered (as are all the handicapped) a punishment from God and they make life particularly difficult for the mothers. The majority of the parents simply abandon them because they can't work and can't count on any kind of help, human or material. We have been the first school to accept children with cerebral paralysis. We were going to have two but 'someone' deleted the details of the girl and we have not been able to inform the parents that she has been accepted. Luckily with Dagem we entered him directly into the school as soon as we met him without waiting for the selection process. it is our intention to accept children like Dagem into each level of the school, fighting strongly to avoid anyone denying them access to Abugida, which has to be a paradise for all children without exclusion. Dagem has a carer dedicated to him with precise instructions as to how to care for him and stimulate him when on his own and when participating in group activities.

Martha's Operation has Gone Well

2011-08-08T19:16:00.000+02:00

Martha’s operation, with her spine so unstable, her vertebraso weak and the fact that they had to operate in the cervical area of the spinewith the consequent danger of damaging the medulla and of course oftetraplegia, we had our hearts in our mouths. After an 8-hour operation we spoke with the surgeon andeverything had gone well. She willbe in intensive care until Monday and thereafter be returned to her room. She will have to wear a corset for thenext three months and we hope that this time will be the last…although theywill have to continue making tests to see if there’s anything else as this is avery difficult case.

Photo: Martha in the swimming pool just before theoperation.

Hopefully the Third Will Be the Last (Posting from 27/7)

2011-08-08T18:58:00.001+02:00

Hello Followers of Mediterranea

Yesterday Martha arrived in Mallorca, this time accompaniedby her brother Mesfin. It is thethird time that Martha will be operated on for her Sclerosis and hopefully itwill be the final operation. Unfortunately with her very weak vertebra there is no guarantee thatthis will be the last time. Marthawill be operated on 5 August in Son Espases Hospital by our favourite surgeonDr Sanpera, Head of the Dept. of Paediatric Traumatology. The same surgeon who operated on Mikiasand gave him the miracle of his new arm.

Regarding Mikias we have been told that he has started at his newprivate school in Ethiopia, paid for by the fund raising events of BalearesInternational College.

In the photos you can see Martha and her family when we sawthem in Addis Ababa in June (her mother unfortunately has since died) andMikias on his arrival at Addis Ababa airport (he returned with us, what a veryhappy mother!) and in his home.

Diary of Ale from Abugida 6, 18 July

2011-08-08T16:02:00.000+02:00

STRESSED OUT!! Last night I set about organising thetime we have left and allocating the tasks still pending and I was up to myeyeballs! We’ve hardly got any time left! In less than two weeks (ten schooldays) we’ll be going. And we’ve still got millions of things to do. And we haveworked non-stop but there is so much that we want to get sorted and up andrunning before we leave. I’ve covered the cupboard door with bits of paperlisting all the tasks that are pending and we are trying to get it all done,giving the maximum in the minimum of time. The worst thing is that nobody is ina hurry here and every job we do seems to take us ages, along with the oddunpleasant experience and things are generally taking longer than they should.But as Zeri says “don’t forget that this is Ethiopia! What’s more, this is Akaki!”.
In order to de-stress and start the day positively I submerge myself inthe little ones. After half anhour in the classroom with my “melons” and everything looks rosy again! Theynow call me “ALE!”, they have stopped calling me “foreigner”.OK, enjoyment over, back to work!
As always, every morning we start by receiving hundreds of good morningkisses. They leave me exhausted, they seem to be competing to see who can givethe biggest and longest kiss. In exchange, from us they only receive kisses,hugs, smiles, knowing looks and jokes about the language difference. This isbecause we have resisted the temptation of buying them sweets, giving thempresents... so that they don’t follow us around all day long asking for more. Andthey seem more than happy with that! However, I’m sure that on the last day wewon’t be able to resist the temptation!
We take the gari into the town centre to change euros into birrs to buysupplies. Done. We go to the market to pick up the curtains. They are notready, what a nuisance. We have arranged for somebody on another stallto bring us the 50 pairs of socks we need. There are only 25. We’re not havinga good day! Zeri stops at the butchers where the school buys the meat for thechildren, to check that the place is suitable and hygenic. It gets his approvaland we head back to the school.
At Abugida they’ve got the hosepipes out and they are cleaning theoutside areas. The school looks beautiful, clean, well maintained gardens, tidyand in order… as we all know already, this is the local paradise. Today theowner of a local bar asked us if he could send his son to school here. We toldhim that he was able to afford to send his son to school, he ran his ownbusiness and earned money. We told him that this school was for children fromextremely poor families. When he heard this he was surprised as he thought Abugidawas a private school! Well it does look like one!
I have now taken the photos of the four children who were missing the otherday. The Red Chocolate Box is now complete! I still have to goand get them printed but the photos from the other day are now ready. We haveput them up with the child’s name beside their baskets (from Ikea like lots ofthings here) containing the personal belongings of each child (sponge, socksfor the classroom, clothes...).
In the meantime it was bathtime for some of the children today. I have alreadyprepared and distributed the timetables for the bathtimes for the fourclassrooms of the “chocolates and melons”. The babies (“chocolates”)are bathed every other day. The infants (“melons”) are bathed every three days. Wehave done as much as we can to ensure that the children get bathed as often aspossible but it’s not easy with 68 of them! I hope that the families, whereverpossible, can wash the children at home on the days they don’t get a bath atschool.
Today the mums of last year’s “melons” paid tribute to Kedija and Kidist, justas the mothers of the babies did a couple of weeks ago. They were full ofgratitude for the loving care their children receive and for all the good workcarried out. The ladies received gifts (which we had to give out as always,although I don’t understand why) from these families living in extreme poverty,by way of thanks for all the hard work carried out by the teachers and carersat Abugida.
The carers also thanked the mums for their kind gifts (“amasaganallo”, “betamamasaganallo”). Of course the occasion wasn’t complete without coffee and anenormous homemade bread baked by the mother of my sponsor child.

Today we had the first two parent meetings about theteaching at Abugida. We had prepared for them during the last class of thetraining course and they went really well. Almost all the parents came (mainlythe mums, a few fathers – if the mums weren’t able to come – and somegrandparents – if mums and dads were unable to attend). I love seeing theEthiopian mothers, with their bare feet, long dresses, their typical Africanfabrics, with their hair in braids or their heads covered... amidst the veryEuropean atmosphere of the school. They are such a lovely sight and I think ofall the hundreds of photos I could take and pictures I could paint. As weagreed the teachers have given the welcoming introduction, thanking them allfor coming, they have talked about the timetable of the nursery, they have readout the weekly lunch menu, talked about the uniforms and the importance ofbringing the children to school as clean as possible, they asked them not tobring sick children to the school just so that they can get a meal (instead, wetold them that if their child is sick they can come and let us know and takesome rice or pasta to give them at home), the teachers offered to give theparents an hour of their time each week if they wish to come to the school anddiscuss anything.

The families were so grateful for everything that is done for their children. It is quiteemotional listening to them speak. They say that before theydidn’t have any food to give their children or they couldn’t go to work as theyhad to look after them and some of the grandparents express their relief andsense of calm now that the children get so much help. The grandfather in thephoto is so pleased that his grandson is at our nursery that he has offered tohelp with any general maintenance around the school. I like the idea of thelocal community getting involved in the school! In the case of the small children, the familieswere shown the exercise books that each child will have from now on, with thechildren’s records (personal details, family details, medical info, incidents,arrangements with the family, development etc…).
To be honest I was so amazed at both meetings, they couldn’t have gone better. What greatcarers and teachers we have! Wethen gave out a feeding bottle with 22 sachets of powdered milk to each familyso that the children can have a meal in the evening or at the weekends. They were allso happy!.
We finished at five. I gave a dose of Dalsy to one of the little oneswho had fever and then we went and had some lunch. We didn’t have time before! Butit was well worth the wait because the rice they had prepared for us(lunchdinner) was delicious. Wewent back to the market to get the curtains. They were almost all there…..one pairwas missing…..we found out we had to pay separately for these (and they weren’tcheap) because they made a mistake with the original order. How frustrating! “Thisis Akaki”, Zeri told us in an attempt to calm us down (because we were armedwith curtain rails and we didn’t want to lose our temper!). Well, let’s keepcalm, we’ve got enough curtains to hang whilst they finish making the last onefor us. Afer our large late lunchwe just had a beer and a yoghurt for dinner (our latest discovery... althoughthe kiosk where we get them doesn’t take much notice of sell by dates).
Well, that’s Monday over with. It’s time for bed as it’s getting late and we’vegot a lot to do this week.
Chocolate kisses.

Various Reflections

2011-08-05T16:08:00.001+02:00

Buildings

Recently arrived to Ghana we have noticed the number ofbuildings that are in the middle of construction. We’ve noticed the same in other African countriesbefore. Many of these buildingswere started by organisations that ‘sold’ the project but then left it withonly a few bricks and cement in place. We don’t know what explanations they gave their investors. Africa, a continent full of halffinished buildings that are oxidising and deteriorating, with many finishedbuildings headed the same way as there’s no money or intention to maintainthem.

European and African Standards: clichés

I was wondering what is the real meaning of standards, sinceeveryone gives them their own meaning according to their own needs. Orphanages that keep their children ina lamentable state, because it’s Africa and they like it like that – seminaked, eating whatever – while offering food and lodging to ‘posh’ visitors inair conditioned bungalows in the very same complex! Sorry schools constructed with the cheapest materials andwith no facilities ‘because this is Africa and they like it like this’. Tea to substitute milk because ‘this isAfrica’ and the milk makes them feel ‘bad’. So many stupidities in the name of African clichés.

Our experience tells us and shows us that everyone wants tolive in the best way possible. That people are not happy when they are hungry. That they cannot develop theirintelligence when they are hungry. That there’s no point in children going to school if they arehungry. AIDS doesn’t kill, whatkills is hunger and a lack of access to medical help. That people who have nothing or very little are not happy,it’s only that they don’t know what it is to have something.

We know that some people believe that the image of a hungrychild in rags ‘sells’ more than one of a happy child. That happy children ‘sell’ little. In Mediterranea we ‘sell’ happiness, because we believe thatall the children of the world, wherever they are, deserve the same and becausethis happiness is real, any of our members can go and check that this is true.

For this reason Abugida has very ‘European’ standards. Luckily (but deservedly as we haveworked hard for it) the local authorities have given us free reign to manage theschool as we wish. We are not colonisers;everyone who works for us in Abugida is Ethiopian. We supply the material means, within reason, so that Abugidacan be what it is, a paradise. Wedepend also on the efforts of our volunteers (the best volunteers in the world,we are very proud of them all, those who’ve supported Abugida and Sebeta) thatpass on their knowledge, build, repair and do everything they can. They work like the rest. We don’t have volunteers who lord itaround. We offer volunteer tripsof genuine support.

For the rest of our projects in Ethiopia we provide food (intotal we feed more than 650 children), we improve infrastructures, we donatematerials and we also employ Ethiopians. We undoubtedly improve the living conditions of these children but wecannot do more. There isn’tanother Abugida; it’s a shame because to be in charge of the standards givesgood results.

Look at that Red Box of Chocolates, Nestle would Love Them!

2011-08-03T00:14:00.000+02:00

They are my “lovely chocolates” from last summer who have been promotedto infants. Well, actually four children are absent from the photo: twochildren repeated the course (one of them due to their age, but she is sosmart; the other one did not stop crying and it was necessary to postpone herentry into the nursery); one stopped coming because of allergies, (so they toldme…). In total 26 varieties of sweetchocolates! Look carefully as it’s difficult to choose! I will come back fatteras I eat them all of every morning! I find it very difficult to leave theclassroom and would stay until the end of school if I could. They areabsolutely gorgeous! I love the new babies but these first ones will always bemy favourite chocolates as they were my first!

Mikiyas (A-2) is a little urchin, funny and cheeky. Ermiyas (E-3) stolemy heart. Every other moment he brings me a new little toy which we had previouslybrought to the school. Amen (B-1) drives me crazy because when I say “I loveyou”, he repeats to me softly: “I love you” (He does not know what he issaying, but he drives me crazy!)… A photo doesn’t do them justice, better avideo. No, not a video either,much better to be there with them! The best thing is to remember how they firstarrived (or how the new ones have just arrived) and compare this to now. Every morning they arrive clean andtidy and the teachers take care of their hygiene and check their appearance. Itis necessary to be punctual and clean. They are healthy, happy, funny, cooperative,active and greedy… they drive me crazy!

Today they arrived in casual clothes. The teacher explained to me that,as they only have two uniforms they must come in uniform on two days and incasual clothes on the third. In that way they always come with clean clothes. Before having breakfast, lunch or tea,and applying what we teach during the course, the teachers wash the hands ofall the children with a jug and small bowl. They do it everyday and I love it!In this way we prevent many diseases that would be difficult to cure as thereis no easy access to doctors or enough money for medicines. We promote selfsufficiency as they are now infants, the teachers share out bibs and thechildren put them on. They can eat almost without help!

As it has not stopped raining, we postponed our plans to buy curtains,potties and socks and other outside tasks. Instead we shall make individual pictures of each one of theclass and will put them on their baskets of personal items (sponge, smalltowel, socks...). The teachers like this method of organization. We havealready taken the photos and sent them to be printed; probably tomorrow we willreceive them. Making the pictures has been beautiful! The teachers wanted thechildren to appear perfect in the photos, they were so thoughtful, brushing thehair of the girls, making them laugh, changing their old jackets for better onesand they even prepared a small photographic studio for making the photos (atowel as background!) I love that they take care of the dignity of the babiesat all times, joke with them, kiss them…and for the teachers these are all newbabies! Before leaving I have to play a little with Amen. He did not stoplaughing when I picked him up (in spite of his weigh) or when I tickled to himor turned him up side down.

Another advance for this year is that the obligatory siestas have beenstopped (except for the babies). Victoria has worked hard to avoid obligatorysiestas after lunch and offering alternatives for their leisure time. A fewdays ago, I saw them watching a DVD (when I arrive back home, I will buy someEnglish films to send them. They love them) or playing with plasticine (astoday). Abugida is never boring!!

I had to take the training class in the evening (Carol was not feelingwell… gastroenteritis has affected us all but was much milder for her,fortunately…) Today the topic is FOOD, so we talked about the time for eachmeal, what must be given in the breakfast, lunch and tea (after eating, theyare all full at Abugida!); the importance of hygiene and self sufficiency at thetable (or on the floor in some cases); to be patient (not to force or give upimmediately; take time; to use certain strategies with the worst eaters…); theimportance of taking the opportunity to introduce new vocabulary (food,cutlery, flavours, quantities, temperatures…) This evening we have programmed the rest of meetings for thecourse. Apart from schedules, hygiene, first aid and feeding we are going totalk about the tutorial function with the family, activities ofpsychomotricity, meetings and goodbyes, various types of activities, contentsdepending on the age and music. Thegirls have been threatened by Zeri with a final examination. Poor girls! You can see them taking notes. But it is not important, the importantthing is that they attend, ask questions, participate, contribute… it isfantastic!

News is not always good news, today we discovered that our “old girl” isHIV+. She is one of the most intelligent and the funniest at school. This isvery bad news! Now it is time to think and give thanks to this school because hermum has a job and some money to rent a house and the baby eats well and she istidy, happy, laughing, joking, sharing, hugging and playing as any normal kidfor her age. We have to give her seven hugsa day to help compensate!

It is late but tomorrow will be great, I want to test a new carer forDagem. I am falling sleep. Chocolatekisses!

Diary of Chaveli and Conchi from Sebeta - The School

2011-08-02T17:32:00.001+02:00

The school is the reason that we are here and the centre ofactivity for our daily routine. Todescribe this with appropriate words so that you can understand what we aregoing through, what we are see, what we are feeling everyday…is very difficult. Because words are irredeemablyassociated with the meanings that we know and have formed in relation to ourown experiences. And although weuse words that we all share because it’s the only way to communicate, themeaning that we want to give them is different to what we are used to; at leastthat’s our experience. What we aregoing through is completely and utterly new to us and so therefore is it’srepresentation in writing. Howeverwe’ll give it a go.

We are living in what turns out to be the nerve centre ofthe village. Ten minutes walk downthe main street we find, on the left hand side, a gateway with a big signadvertising this special school for blind. The layout of the school is a little chaotic, at least wehaven’t understood it all yet. Weknow that there is a teacher training part and that future teachers attend the‘ordinary’ classrooms. That thereare classrooms for the education of the blind. In addition there are boarding huts for the blind. During term time all the blind childrenboard and during the holidays nearly all of them remain. Perhaps we should call this ‘Centre forthe Exclusion of the Blind’.

It is difficult to describe the aspect of all of this. The land that the school occupies isextensive. The infrastructure as far as it goes is not bad but it is extremelybadly looked after, neglected and doesn’t fulfil the basic necessities. The internal organisation of theschool also leaves a lot to be desired. We get the sensation that so much more could be done with the budgetthat is available to them only with a little bit of management.

The people that we meet (teachers, some workers…) in generalare very friendly and charming to us. Everyone stops to talk to us and is interested in our stay. They give us a knowing look when wetell them where we come from (normally connected to football). Above all they smile at us. Regarding the children they are for usthe soul of the school, the soul of the place, of the country, of the world. They have managed to invade and occupyour souls completely. Thesechildren have in many cases suffered a double injustice, that given them bynature and to be condemned by society to live here! These poor children, thathave nothing, absolutely nothing, and yet don’t protest, don’t complain, don’task, and demand nothing. All theydo is give. They warmly greet usfrom the very first moment of the day with the few Spanish words that they havelearnt, with their gestures of thanks, with their gestures of tenderness andwith the enthusiasm which is now flowing, because for them this is all veryextraordinary, the laughter and the smiles, their smiles.

For this reason, despite all the difficulties, everythingthat you could possibly imagine, we come to school everyday very content andhappy to be able to share our time with these outstanding, surprising andmarvellous personalities.

Members Personal Account of Physiotherapy Project

2011-08-01T12:16:00.003+02:00

Project: Department of Physiotherapy for a Rural Hospital inGhana

At the beginning of May I opened my email and saw thefollowing communication from the College of Physiotherapists here in theBaleares: ‘The NGO Mediterranea is developing a project in Ghana. Part of this project is to start aphysiotherapy dept in a small hospital in the East of the country just wherethe Volta enters the sea. We needvolunteers to help get things started and train the future local team.’

I immediately started to gather more information. I discovered that the hospital DangmeEast in Ada Foah was organised by one doctor, Dr Philip Narth, who works 24hours a day all days of the year and has 30 nurses for a population of186000. The ratio of nurses perinhabitant in Spain is 531 per 100000 and of doctors 445 per 100000. In this region of Africa there is 1 for186000! It seemed to me to becompletely disproportionate. Atthe level of physiotherapy it seemed clear, a hospital that cares for a highpercentage of cardiovascular and traffic accidents needs to have physiotherapy. Also to rehabilitate posttraumaticinjuries, to assist the recovery of patients who have been operated, to reducerecovery time, to assist in the regeneration of epithelial tissue, burns,ulcers…these and others are the functions that we could develop.

I also discovered that Mediterranea had fulfilled a numberof other projects at the hospital, including setting up a laboratory for thehospital and building a residence for mothers visiting the hospital with theirchildren. I was also surprised andhappy to read in the Mediterranea blog that, thanks to the generosity of someBritish members, the physiotherapy project already had a substantial amount ofequipment in Ghana waiting to be used.

From that point onwards things have moved quitequickly. At the end of May we hadour first meeting where we were able to learn more about Mediterranea, it’sideas and philosophy, see some photos of the hospital and region, we coveredsome logistic themes like vaccines and first aid and learnt about all thedocumentation that was needed. Atthe meeting we organised an administrative nucleus of physios to coordinate thephysiotherapy side of the project.

We followed this meeting with another some days later andhad a number of lecturers from the UIB (University of Baleares) attend. We established minimum and maximumstays for the volunteers in Ghana and agreed to group together the trips ofvolunteers to minimise the disruption to Dr Narth’s team in Ghana since theairport is 200+ km from the hospital. We also allocated the different tasks amongst ourselves. As I was not able to attend the firstmeeting and as someone completely new to this type of project I was hypnotisedby the energy and enthusiasm of the other physios at this meeting and theirdesire to develop our profession into regions where it’s needed. I also appreciated the big effort thatwould be required to coordinate the trips and handovers of not only our Spanishphysios but also British physios who had responded with enthusiasm to a smallcommunication from Mediterranea distributed through the Institute ofPhysiotherapists in the UK.

A couple of weeks later a third meeting was held to clarifysome details and to go deeper into the second part of the project which is thetraining that we are to provide to the locals in Ghana. The first part of the project isimmediate. To get thephysiotherapy dept up and running and we shall achieve this by maintaining aflow of volunteers to the hospital. The second part will be a little more complex and will involve somecommunication between the University of Ghana’s physiotherapy dept based inAccra and the UIB, in order to launch an official training course for physiosin that part of the country.

All that remains to be said at the moment is that I amsincerely delighted to have received that first email from the College ofPhysiotherapists and to be involved in this project of Mediterranea’s in DangmeEast Hospital. I hope to be ableto share my enthusiasm with my colleagues and for us to be able to achieve bothaims of this project.

Alicia Moratiel, Physiotherapist and Member of Mediterranea.

Diary of Ale, Abugida 5, 14 July

2011-08-01T12:06:00.000+02:00

MONDAY 11TH JULY
We got down to work and then Zeri arrived with another suggestion. He had to goand give the money to the elderly people Mediterranea look after and wanted usto accompany him. So we took the gari (the horse and cart) which we have rentedout at the school until 4pm (new this year) so we can use it whenevernecessary.

When we got there they were all gathered in the edirpremises (the neighbourhood association). We went through the list and distributedthe money to each elderly person in turn (between 200 and 400 birrs a month) whichthey receive to make up for their miserable pensions – those who have them (50,100 birr). If it wasn’t for this they wouldn’t have enough money to survive. Sincethey are all illiterate they all had to “sign” with a fingerprint. And, asalways, they went out of their way to show us their gratitude and were full ofkind words for us (we were acting as representatives of the ONG).

When we finished, the representatives of the edirasked us to go and see some other elderly people (more cases of extremepoverty) who were also in need of help, so that we could inform the ONG aboutthem.

The photo of the house is where one of the women whoneeds our help lives. She is a widow of around 70 years old, without children,with a pension of 100 birrs, from which she has to pay 1,50 to the state forthis “house”.

The other photo was this lady of 75 who showed us herhome, very small, without ventilation…except for the corrugated iron roof,which is full of holes that let the water in when it rains. She pays 7,50 birrsto the state for this house (from her pension of 150). When I ask her why shedoesn’t ask them to repair the roof, I am told that if she complains then shewill be out on the street as they will give the house to somebody else. Shelives with a 16 year old girl whom she adopted as a child when she became anorphan.

These two cases have been approved by Mediterránea sotheir situation will soon be changing and they will be able to live withdignity. I loved this project supporting elderly people (very uncommon in mostcharities) and having seen them all this year, I like it even more. Furthermore,Mediterránea is considering starting up a day centre where these people canhave breakfast, chat, play board games, get washed etc… let’s hope it goesahead.

We got back to the school, where our older childrenwere standing in a ring and singing happily. Having seen what is going on inthe outside world, it’s lovely to see what is going on inside the school.

In the afternoon there was further training for thecarers. The theme of the day was: Hygiene (Part 2). We talked about thebathroom, runny noses, headlice and bowel/bladder control.

TUESDAY 12 JULY

After the sleepless night we all had due to my gastroenteritiswe all woke up shattered. I didn’t just feel weak, I felt dreadfully weak. Ididn’t dare eat anything for fear of the tummy bug coming back.

I went to see the littles ones but didn’t get tooclose as I was scared of passing on my germs. A quick “good morning”. Allwas under control, the carers are following the guidelines we have given themand all is going well. The smallest ones still cry at times (especially whenthey arrive) but they are getting better each time.

I stayed in the storeroom (our current centre ofoperations) and got to work organising things. However, as usual, the olderchildren arrived, they are taking part in leisure activities at the moment (sothat they still get a roof over their heads and food) because it’s the schoolholidays now. So there were kisses and hugs and they were curious to know whatI was doing… so I decided to relax with them for once and I showed them thephotos and videos we had made during our time in Abugida. They really enjoyedit! We couldn’t stop laughing! They really seem to be so happy, even more sothan last summer! I have to say, they are such rascals and comedians! Always ina good mood, always joking around, always singing and giving hugs. I am wishingthat “my” little ones (who started last summer) were that age!

There were two new pupils on the training coursetoday. Kalid and Kerim, the small twins who stayed a bit longer at Abugidatoday because their family was running a bit late. Today the course was onFIRST AID.

You can picture Carol getting all excited explaininghow to treat a wound with Betadine, using Zeri as a demonstration or tellingabout the dangers of suffocation with a bag. She was born to be on the stage! She’sincredible! I’m so delighted to be collaborating with the schoolas I’m getting so much out of it!

I’m falling asleep... SWEET KISSES!!

Diary of Chaveli and Conchi from Sebeta - Already 10 Days

2011-07-31T14:00:00.000+02:00

Our tenth day at Sebeta and it seems that things are progressing, there is still lots to be done for us and for the school, although there is still a long way to go. Today we started to distribute some clothes to those who we considered were most in need since it hasn't stopped raining since yesterday and has become pretty cold.

We have started some oral activities with the children, such as singing, riddles, stories etc. Although they were not accustomed to this they are enjoying it immensely. As a little anecdote, we are very much enjoying listening to them singing at the end of the lesson in nearly perfect Castellano "a guarder, a guarder, cada cosa en su lugar" (to put back, to put back, everything into it's right place) but singing this without actually following the advice of the song. At the moment we are just at the stage of the song and not the action.

We also reorganised the workshop a little as we have a lot of material and need to be able to find it and use it with ease during our classes.

Nothing else to relate at the moment expect that we have now been 3 days without water and cannot remember when we last ate a cooked meal. We send you all hugs and kisses from a very small corner of the continent of Africa.

To Ghana to Prepare for the Opening of a Department of Physiotherapy

2011-07-31T13:53:00.000+02:00

Ada in Ghana appears to be an idyllic destination for tourists who stay in luxury hotels on the banks of the Volta enjoying their water sports and for the millionaires who have constructed their mansions on the same water front.
The locals live their lives in contrast to this, subsisting on fishing from simple boats which they take out to sea in the dangerous confluence of the Volta with the Atlantic Ocean, or working on the salt flats of Songor Lagoon, the largest producer of natural salt in Ghana. The owners of the luxury hotels and mansions have cut off access to the river shores of the Volta (which is as wide as a lake) and are thereby impeding the locals in their fishing. Many of the workers at the salt flats are becoming blind due to the extreme exposure to the sun which reflects off the white salt and can no longer work, bringing ruin to their families. There are also many children working the salt flats who have been abandoned from the caravans coming from central Africa in search of salt.
Luxury and the crudest poverty live together in this area. They live together in such a way that the salt flats are even a tourist attraction.
Against this background the Dangme East Hospital was founded, supported by only one doctor, Dr Philip Narth and 30 nurses who between them support a population of 186000 people. Dr Philip is a person for our gallery of anonymous heroes: he’s on call 24 hours a day and handles everything from attending a lorry full of people with multiple traumas (traffic accidents are frequent) to whatever other case arrives needing whatever medical specialty. He’s a doctor that lives for his people.
Mediterranea started to collaborate with Dangme East Hospital in 2006. So far we have renovated their laboratory with all sorts of material and equipment, taking over many types of medical apparatus and medicines. We have constructed a residence for mothers to stay in when they have to travel from long distances to have their children treated. Previously they had to sleep outside by the river at risk of being attacked by crocodiles or violated.
Now we are returning to start up a new service of Physiotherapy at the hospital, the equipment for which was generously donated by some British members who purchased some 25000 euros worth of equipment and materials. This Physiotherapy service is very much needed due to the very large number of traffic accidents as previously mentioned and due to the high level of cardiovascular problems that the hospital treat.
After much toing and froing, including the disappearance of the person who had promised to get the department started and the search for a group of Physio volunteers who would be able to train the nurses and locals, we have at last at the point where we can start. We have a team formed and ready, from the Department of Physiotherapy of the University of the Baleares and individuals from other areas of Spain and the UK. The list is still open for any Physios interested because we are not only focussed on supporting the hospital but we also want to try and support the various health centres dispersed throughout the region that are run by paramedics and above all to help those who live far from the hospital and cannot travel.
We also have the intention to take on some social project in the area if possible and are counting on the help of Dr Philip and Kofi Larweh: http://gumucio.blogspot.com/2008/09/radio-ada.html . The untiring presenter of Radio Ada who knows his local society very well and is a great motivator of the people.
We are taking thousands of pairs of sunglasses for the workers of the salt flats to help them avoid becoming blind. Here you can see a report on this situation, focussing principally on the women workers of the salt flats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxb2-Wh0FYg
Until we return!

Why I Became a Mediterranea Member

2011-07-29T21:19:00.001+02:00

When I didn’t have money I thought that the best thing wouldbe to share what you have left over with people who don’t have money. But as I was growing up and did havemoney I became mistrustful of NGO’s. I had heard over the years that NGO’s were a business and that only asmall part of what their members gave reached those it was intended for. This wasn’t only rumours, some verywell know NGO’s had been exposed by the media. It seemed that there was no way to support people in far offcountries without the probability of being conned. I ended up thinking that the only thing to be done was sharewith people you know and look on as a passive and resigned spectator as thosepeople in far off lands suffered from hunger, illness and bad luck.

In this way I reached my early thirties and decided tobecome a mother. I ended up beingthe happy adoptive mother of my son who was born in Ethiopia. The motivation I had always felt toparticipate in bringing a better life to those in need I now directed towardsthose in Ethiopia. It was nolonger a resigned and passive desire to help, I now felt an urgency to dosomething concrete and no longer allow time to pass, slide away,disappear. I didn’t want to reachmy end and repent all those things I had not done.

Even with this renewed motivation I continued to search butcould not decide what to do. Another Spanish mother of an Ethiopian boy told me that she had sentmoney to the orphanage from where she had adopted her son. However during my trip to collect myson, I may have been paranoid but I didn’t trust the Ethiopians working in theadoption agency and I didn’t trust the director of the orphanage of my son, sofor me to send money to that orphanage, to that director, was not an option.

I found over the web some NGO’s working in Ethiopia. Some were religious and although Ibelieve that many Ethiopians need help I didn’t feel that they should have toadopt a new religion in order to receive it. I suppose if I would consider myself Catholic then I wouldthink differently. Other NGO’sgave the impression of being lost, trying to do things from a great distance ina country very different and unknown. And when an NGO speaks of the ‘great friendliness of Ethiopia’ and itbeing ‘a fascinating country’ it grates on my ears. All countries and their people have their charm but alsotheir defects, and it is these that I like to hear about because if you ignorethese then it is impossible to move forward.

This was my situation when I discovered by chance the blogof Mediterranea. An NGO withprojects in various parts of the world focused on people who need help. And based close by in the Baleares. I read and read and began to have thesensation that perhaps it would be the NGO that I would choose. I liked many things: first that byreading the blog I could learn a lot about Ethiopia, the good and the bad, notonly the wonderful things about the country and it’s people. I understood that the mistrust that Ihad felt during my trip to Addis Ababa probably wasn’t all paranoia brought onby the exhaustion of my trip but that it could have been a real intuition of alevel of corruption in a society where many times it’s difficult to get onwithout it. I read thatMediterranea had faced this reality not once but many times in its efforts tofulfil it’s projects. Some, liketheir cooperation with Birhan School had to be stopped because they would notaccept corruption and the loss of money to people who take advantage.

Secondly, I liked that they gave not only the good and thebad but also the evolution of the projects in which the money of their memberswas being spent: the difficulties, the achievements and even the failures. It is difficult to part with your hardearned money if you can’t see what this money does but here in the Mediterraneablog you can see and it gives you a lot of pleasure to spend your money in thisway.

Thirdly I liked the flexibility and creativity of the NGO:if they reach a dead end with a project they leave it and use all the resources andmaterials on another project. Anexample of this occurred recently when they were unable to move ahead with anew school for the blind when everything had been prepared, includingvolunteers already travelling. They switched and reoriented immediately to an existing school that wasin need of help, Sebeta. Thisflexibility is possible because Mediterranea is a true NGO, ‘Non Governmental Organisation’;different to most NGO’s they receive no money from any government office and soare not ‘tied’ to projects. Theydon’t have to respond to or be accountable to anyone except their own membersand so are able to change course, as needs demand without having to follow longbureaucratic paths.

Finally I liked the projects that the NGO takes on: not thesad projects of filling stomachs today that will be empty again tomorrow; notthe building of classrooms that will decay because there are no teachers orbooks or students because they are hungry, or because there’s no one tomaintain the buildings but the simple bringing of help – and if needed thefilling of stomachs – to people who will be able to look after themselves whenthe help ends. Collaborating withschools, where in addition to educating the children they provide food to ensurethat the children can attend school, they create kindergartens as in Abugida sothat mothers can work instead of begging with their babies…In addition theygive work in the projects to Ethiopians that need it and not to Spanish. The NGO has no employees; every membergives their work freely as a volunteer. They take time and effort to make sure that the Ethiopians employed inthe projects learn to do things well and later frequently supervise them to ensurethat the good work continues and that the money of its members is used well andthat things function properly.

All these good things however could just have been fictional, astory created on the blog to make us members feel good and make those who havecreated the story rich. But thedifference to the other NGO’s is that I found on the internet and withouthaving to look very hard the full names of the people responsible for the NGOand where they can be found in real life, everything is very clear: the personresponsible for Ethiopia in Mediterranea is called Victoria Baldo, and theoffice that has no employees or expenses is the medical centre where she works. She makes her living as a doctor andher trips, pleasures, sorrows in Ethiopia are not her business but somethingshe does for free because she loves to. And members who want can visit Mediterranea’s projects, not only financethem. They can also participate inthem as volunteers.

My search for an NGO working in Ethiopia that I liked andcould trust in coincided with my search for the mother of my son. I only had her name and didn’t know howto find her and yet had an ever-increasing urge to find her. I wanted my son to know the mother whobore him so that he could grow up without that feeling of emptiness. At a loss as what to do it occurred tome to write to Victoria even though I didn’t know her. I didn’t know anyone else who knew thecountry and who could advise me. Thus, very embarrassed to bother her with things that she has nothing todo with and were completely unconnected to Mediterranea, I wrote her anemail. Almost immediately shereplied! I had been thinking tobecome a member of Mediterranea but to discover not only that Victoria was areal person but that I was able to contact her so easily and that she wasprepared to help us without knowing us was the final push that made me fill inthe membership form and finally become a member. Since then I have read with ever more interest the postingson the blog and I am very happy to form a part of Mediterranea.

Lurdes Escario - Mediterranea Member

Diary of Ale, Abugida 4, 10 July

2011-07-27T16:19:00.000+02:00

It is Friday and as with all Fridays the mothers of thechildren come to the school, according to a rota, to help with thecleaning. At 8am they were alreadywashing sheets, bibs, carpets… Inthis way they contribute to a project that looks after their children and theythemselves. And, as you can seefrom the photos they do it with good humour! As for us we continue sewing coloured belts on to theuniforms to identify the groups. Last year it was me who insisted on individual tutorials in the kindergarten,in this way each baby identifies with one carer and each carer takesresponsibility for the child and for attending, informing and listening to itsfamilies. This year it is themthat are demanding this type of organisation: lists, groups, numbers,classifications by colours…I’m delighted that they have seen the benefits ofthis system. And so we continuesewing. It is lovely, while wesew, organise, prepare the classes for the course, make lists of materials thatwe need…in our ‘centre of operations’ which now is the storage room, thechildren come to see us and eat us with their kisses.

A new boy has arrived. His father is a beggar who is crippled with a badly formed leg and walkson crutches. This boy, because ofhis age, has entered into straight into the infant’s class; thankfully thecarers were able to arrange things so that he could fit into the class. He arrived as all the others on theirfirst day, very very dirty, in rags and with emphysema on his head. We gave him a bath, put lotion on him, andgave him two new uniforms and also some clothes for home. Now he looks very handsome! In addition he had breakfast,elevenses, lunch and tea. And ofcourse he played, sung and made friends…

Today was the last day of school for the teachers. Starting tomorrow they enjoy two monthsof summer holidays. However, inAbugida the children don’t only learn but also receive food, sanitary care anda roof over their heads while their mothers work, this paradise nevercloses! As there are two teachersin each class one of them goes for holidays and the other stays and receivesdouble pay. The teachers organisethis between themselves. Theteachers that will be staying organise a coffee ceremony to say goodbye to thefour teachers who go on holiday. Aftergiving today’s course we went to the market and bought baskets for the childrento leave their shoes in at the front door of the classroom (there’s so much mudthat we do not allow them to wear their shoes inside) and potties for thebabies.

Today’s course for the carers (which was also attended bythe director of the school) covered hygiene (avoiding illness, reducingcontagion, making work more pleasant and keeping us more healthy) and baths(utility, groups, the way to bathe a baby, how to use bathing as an opportunityfor education, precautions, gels, creams, oils, the bath and the emotionalcomponent). We shall have tocontinue with this subject on Monday, as there wasn’t time to finish. It is a long but important subject(even washing hands, cleaning the classrooms and control of nozzles…) and takeslonger because we are explaining in Spanish and Zerihun has to translateeverything into Amharic. All thecarers are still attending the course and showing interest with theirparticipation, their questions and suggestions. I am able to tell you 1000 more things from this single day,it seems that days here in Abugida last 48 hours, but it’s late and I’m tiredand tomorrow I have to get up early as at 8am a little girl will come to theschool who I have to take to the ophthalmist in Addis Ababa.

Diary of Ale, Abugida 3, 9 July

2011-07-26T23:12:00.000+02:00

Look how lovely my small E is with her mother. They are allhappy! Permanently smiling! I adore Abugida, passing the day receiving hugs andkisses from everyone. Her mother is very beautiful and strong. Who couldimagine it has changed their lives. No, life has arrived for them at last! Itis obvious that here ‘VIH’ (HIV positive) signifies ‘Vive Intensamente Happy’(Live intensely happy).

The new babies cried when they arrived and for some timeafterwards, especially the smallest. It is normal as they have spent all theirlives stuck on their mothers backs all hours of the day and we are not able,nor should we, take them in our arms too much. Bit by bit they calm down andvery slowly start to investigate some of the toys… soon they will master them.The carers handle them all very well with us following behind them helping thembe the best they can be. We have already marked the tracksuits in order to formgroups. Red group finished! The carers told me that last summers organisationwas very helpful and they achieved some good results, so we will do the samethis year. I still have to number them, put photos and names on their baskets,put lists on the walls… but we are interrupted by a group of mothers of mybabies from last year. They have come to give thanks to the carers of theirchildren. You cannot imagine how moving this is. In the patio of thekindergarten they have prepared a coffee ceremony with popcorn and bread forthe carers. They have made a present for each carer and even the cleaners. ForKebebuch, Beza, Selemawi and Zinash a painting. For Mulu a luminous cross! Thedetails made by one of the mothers who hardly has enough to live on. Each oneof the carers said a few words thanking the mothers for their gestures. I lovedit when Kebebuch said that it had been a long time since her heart had feltanything like this and that she wasn’t expecting anything like this and thatthis gave her a big surge of energy to carry on working well and even better.Well, all the girls said something very beautiful. Perhaps it was that all theteachers of the school were present applauding and saying that they had neverseen anything like this before. Imagine how motivating this was for the carers.I told them that for me this was more valuable than a thousand emails tellingme how good they are. Today I knew for sure that they work well, that thechildren in the kindergarten had been happy, healthy and cared for because ifthe mothers thanked them (even beyond what they could afford) it was becausethey excelled in their work. The girls were all delighted.

More positive things. Oh what a lovely day! After theclasses we started with the training course for the carers of the kindergarten.What a dream this is! As I have already mentioned we are putting on an hourstraining each working day to help them learn and improve. I remembered fromlast year that spending only ten minutes together after classes to review performancewasn’t enough so this year we have made an hour obligatory. Well, they were notonly happy to attend but we also had other carers and even cleaners attend.There are six carers in our classes but we had thirteen attend the training! Itwas particularly satisfying that the two carers from the older classes alsoattended. Today’s session was about the timetable. Carol and I explained andZerihun translated into Amharic. The carers took notes in their workbooks andalso made suggestions, offered ideas and asked questions. At the end they alldecided to create their own versions of the timetables using cards and felt tippens which they will put in the classrooms. In this way they make it their ownand will respect it more. It has been great to see their desire to learn andtheir positive attitude towards their work. It made me very happy.

As for the rest of the day, it rained intensively but atleast not for the whole of the day. When it stopped we were able to go to themarket in order to buy some material. If any other volunteer is thinking ofcoming in July or August don’t forget to bring a kagool and wellington boots.The roads are covered in mud and to get to the market is a test of balancetrying not to slip and also of strength in lifting boots clogged with mud.‘Kiremt’ is what they call the rainy season. At the market we bought some milkfor the babies, some paper for the new classroom, some buckets to fill thebaths, some plate scrubbers and a washtub. All of these needing some intenseand not always successful negotiation, starting with ‘Senteno?’ how much doesit cost? And ending with ‘Mecherreso!’ is this the last price? In between yesMessi, yes Xavi, yes Iniesta. They love to talk about football and they loveBarcelona and what we like to do is make conversation to arrive at a goodprice! Little more to say about today, except that they all look after us verywell. At all hours checking to see if we are alright. Feeding us well, today weate pasta and tomato with the little ones, it was delicious. Alem is aphenomenal cook.

The Messi Room at Sebeta Continues to Develop

2011-07-25T12:17:00.000+02:00

Resumen of the firstweek at Sebeta for Chaveli and Conchy.

Email from Sebeta.

Hello

The truth is that theexperience here in Sebeta is very intense but we are very content. This week we have dedicated ourselvesto:

- Unpacking,making an inventory and placing all the material that we brought with us (thetable football has been an outstanding success and not just with the children!)

- To get toknow the children and organise them into groups so that we can work better withthem. We have organised for eachgroup to attend the work shop twice a day in the morning and the afternoon.

- To form aplan of different activities for each week. Creating small work groups for each session (for example: onthe red table board games, on the yellow games of classification, on the greenof series…)

- To explainto the monitors the rules of the different games. In this way to supply a diversity of activities so that thechildren acquire some basic abilities.

- Providethe monitors certain norms of methodology.

- Repair thenotices that indicate if the workshop is open or not.

- Createindividual folders for each of the children to keep their work in.

Photo: The music teacher, who is one of the monitors who we havecontracted for our workshop.

Diary of Ale, Abugida 2, 6 July

2011-07-24T22:21:00.000+02:00

Today my ex babies changed classrooms,they will move up to the “melon class” which is where our room is located. Sowe are now neighbours. You should have seen them, they are such a scream! Ihope my new pupils give me a morning off so that I can spend a day with them.

The day has got off to a good start as Jonás, who looks after the storeroom,has decided to take care of us. He turned up in the classroom with hot waterfor tea or coffee and bread rolls. Very enjoyable!

Anyway, finally the NEW LITTLE TODDLERS ARRIVED!! As it was the first day Ididn’t expect many would come, not until the news got around. However there wasonly one missing! A total of FORTY THREE sweet little children!
When I saw so many mothers with so many children I nearly fainted. We hadn’tthought about using the new classroom as we didn’t think many would turn up andwe had to urgently relocate to our former “operations office” which just aboutsays it all. Zeri took theregister at the entrance and the mothers left their children with theirteachers. Then the bawling started! Bawling multiplied by fortythree. They were extremely dirty, the poor things. And they were dressed inrags. Hygiene was our first priority and webathed them ALL. What an ordeal! They were completely scared but they graduallycalmed down bit by bit. Warm bath, cream, massage with oil and clean clothes.You can imagine how good they started to look and smell.

I just could have done with a bottle ofNenuco cologne! I instantly fell in love with one of those children who attachthemselves to you as if they were pieces in a game of Tetris and cry if youleave them. I almost tied her onto my back! I don’t know her name yet.Nobody knows what anybody is called! We hadclothes for about 80 children so you can imagine the chaos. I kept hearing“GIRL SMALL!!, BOY BIG!!”. And if it was Carol who was asking, I would hear “GIVEME CLOTHES FOR A PRINCESS!” Ha ha! Wedistributed clothes amongst the children, trying to get things to match,putting nappies on, dressing them and... mission accomplished! They lookedgorgeous and really smart!

Afterwards we gave them food and most ofthem wolfed it down. We didn’t do anything else with them that day, they arestill in the settling in period. The mothers were delighted to find them soclean and fresh smelling, well fed and happy (they had stopped crying bythen!). I have really enjoyedseeing such lively and efficient carers who were really absorbed in their work.Of course there were some mistakes but we all make them and we will correctthem as we go along. It was nothing like last year. Nobody felt stressed out,they all know that the crying only lasts for three days. They sort out thebathroom, the food, they help one another. The cleaners and cooks also came tothe babies’ classroom to help out as we were carrying two little ones at a timeand we couldn’t manage to hold three.

Then we had a meeting of the teaching team with Zeri and all the carers. The day was given a positive evaluationand they all said that the time had flown by. Good to hear! They are asking us for nappies, cups, curtainsfor the classroom, waste paper baskets, buckets for the bathroom, socks... Wewill buy what is necessary and will ensure that our little babies grow healthyand happy in the safe haven of Abugida. We have told the carers that they mustattend a compulsory training course for nursery school helpers in Ethiopiaevery afternoon until we leave. And the response has been... can other schoolteachers come along too? I am amazed! Where have they got so much enthusiasmfrom this year? We have promised to give them a certificate in exchange. Ha ha!

When everything was finished one of thecarers of the new babies (Kebebuch) went to see the melons (my little ones fromlast year, who have been her pupils this year). They showered her with kisses! It’ssuch a lovely thing to see and just shows that the little ones feel happy andsecure and are growing up healthy and happy in this delightful little school.

A shower is an absolute necessity (aftergetting covered in so much baby pee) with cool water (the water heater isbroken) and then we have to wash our clothes. It’s now raining, what anuisance. It means that we haven’t been out, it was getting late (more thanlate, night time, the night falls early here), everywhere was muddy... Wefancied getting some fresh air but it wasn’t possible. We stayed in and usedthe time to plan our duties, shopping lists and to organise the classes.

Apart from that, we’re healthy, the bugs have started biting me again so Isprayed myself with insect repellant (the bugs don’t even go near Carol ...oncethey’ve finished with me they’re not hungry anymore), we have a good meal, wesleep well and we are well looked after... and we know that the time, money andeffort invested last summer and this summer really is productive.
Sweet kisses to you all!