Giving the Children of the Good Shepherd Home Orphanage a Healthy Summer
on The Road Less Travelled (Cameroon), 18/Jun/2011 13:41, 34 days ago
Today I delivered almost a tonne of food and school supplies to the children of the Good Shepherd Home Orphanage in Abangoh. I started visiting this orphanage and delivering food (thanks to donors back home as well as in Cameroon) last September and have continued throughout my placement here in Bamenda.The food - almost one tonneThe children and staff are excited to see all the foodThe Good Shepherd Home is an Abangoh based orphanage founded and directly managed by Sister Jane Mankaa. This orphanage has86 children aged from a little under 2 months to 18. A number of the children they support recently lost their parents to AIDS or were abandoned because of a disability. The orphanage also has another Annex Orphanage in Batibo, North West Region where there are 42 orphans many of whom are disabled or suffer from epilepsy which is highly stigmatized in Cameroon.The children sing and dance for our visit The goal of the“Healthy Summer” Project was to provide nutritional and material support to the Good Shepherd Home orphans in June 2011 in order to ensure that the children have a balanced diet over the summer and for part of the Fall when they return to school.The sister expresses her thanksSister Jane took the volunteers on a tour of the orphanage. We saw their income generating activities (a bakery and a poultry farm) in addition to the dormitories, the chapel and the mess hall. It was nice to see the dormitories as we got a sense of the personalities of the children. In the girl’s dormitory we saw the bunk of a young girl who would like to become a doctor. She had hanging on the wall a picture of the digestive system. The sister told us that this girl was doing very well in school and would be going to university. The sister was so proud to tell us of the success of the children, she says she will be working hard to make sure all the children have the opportunity to go to university and to be a success. Many of the children say they want to become doctors so they can help the sick and keep their brothers and sisters healthy. The sister informed the group that their income generating activities have been going well and have yielded profits. This is extremely good news as it means that all the children will be going to school in September and that the 4 older children who recently passed their O and A level exams will be able to go to university. After the tour the children were ready with their presentation. They sang a few songs and then Sister Jane gave a few words of thanks to myself, the donors, and the volunteers who helped deliver the food with me. After she was done with her words of thanks one of the orphans who had recently passed his O and A levels with the highest marks of his school, gave a speech on behalf himself and his brothers and sisters of the Abangoh Good Shepherd Orphanage.A moving speech on behalf of all the childrenThe speech was as follows:“ A speech presented by the Good Shepherd children on the occasion of wishing farewell to Auntie Catherine. Our dear Auntie, we the children of Good Shepherd home are before you today to thank you so much for your kind gesture towards us. You have taken upon yourself to take us as part of our family. We thank God for the ultimate relationship we have in common. You are in a million, so inviting irrespective of the nationality.We were well clothed on Christmas because of you, we ate and had a lot just because you love and care so much about us. Auntie, we lack words to express the gratitude in us. We don’t have gold nor silver to give you but we do have God who is the perfecter of our faith and the hjoy of our generation to carry you through in every aspect of life. We all in one voice, one love and above all one prayer, say thank you for the momentous decision you took upon yourself with the help of God to look after the poor.May the hand of the Almighty God be in everything you do. Though we shall be parted in the physical, we believe in God’s spirit we are on in the lord. You have nourished us with so much that words cannot express. The lord himself will bless you, your family and friends. The good lord has bound us together, and together we shall always be in touch. We are pretty sure that the lord who brought you safe will as well take you and your friends back safe and sound.May the blessing of the lord be with you in your career. Once more, we love you so much and we wish you a safe trip back home and continue to be an ambassador for the Good Shepherd Home.Long live CameroonLong live BamendaLong live the Good Shepherd HomeLong live Auntie Catherine.”I thank the Good Shepherd Home for their hospitality and wish them all luckIt was a great day and I was happy that with the generosity of my friend and family back home and in Cameroon I was able to make a difference in these children’s’ lives.The Good Shepherd Home Family and myselfA Traditional Woven Bag from the children as a token of their thanksMyself and Sister Jane