This Thanksgiving two more girls are sponsored

Granddad died recently, and now with just Granny's small income from selling a tofu snack in her local community, she can't afford her grandchildren's education.

Thanks to their new sponsor today, Thanksgiving Day, they will be able stay in school. CEF is thrilled with this wonderful gift for them this Thanksgiving.

Thanks to her new sponsor she can stay in school

When CEF met her recently we were saddened to see her situation. Her home and that of her brother, mother and grandmother is just one room, and in poor condition.

Dad was in bed with a feeding tube protruding from one nostril. He had fallen in the process of repairing the roof during a bad storm. He was taken to hospital and funds and gold were borrowed from neighbors to pay for his brain surgery, with no success. He unfortunately is a 'vegetable' now and can't do anything for himself or communicate at all.

It was touching to see mums still talks to him and strokes his hand when she talks. He looked happy, oblivious to his own suffering and the suffering around him.

The story gradually unfolded that he was a terrible father and husband; was abusive and neglectful. So he is very blessed to receive such tender care from his wife and the family.

Mum's work is collecting garbage, but she can only do that if someone else is available to look after her husband. So the debt just keeps growing.

We are very grateful that this lovely girl has a sponsor now, and has the opportunity to stay in school and complete her education.

The smiling faces of a few of the CEF children in the face of adversity

Children seem to retain a sense of humor and are able to smile in the face of adversity; not something their parents can so easily do. 

We met her at her grandmother's home, below is her home. The roof is collapsing and it is dangerous to live in. But this little angel danced and sang for us and made funny faces from when we arrived until we left although her mother has poor health and her father a brain tumor.

Her father died about three years ago from a heart attach in the night. Then her eldest brother was killed when hit by a drunk driver about 6 months ago. She and her family have had so much tragedy is such a short time, yet smile most of the time we are visiting. 

 She rarely sees her mother and is under the care of granny, who is old and unhealthy, but is very caring. She helps her grandmother with many chores as well as studying hard at school. We are very proud of this CEF student and her wonderful attitude.

 

Her single mother collects garbage to support her and her sister and grandmother. Some years ago mum's income was no longer enough to cover her daughters education, so CEF started to cover those costs then. She is a delightful young woman who we are supporting to train as a teacher.

  

Her single mother sells betel nuts to bring in a little money to support the two of them; usually between 10-20 cents a day. Their hut of bamboo and matting was unstable, so the the local government helped, along with a loan from the local Women's Union that mum had to take out. They now have a small, but solid home, but still struggle to meet even the most basic of daily needs. We started helping with her education four years ago.

Her home was in an area with bad annual flooding and most years they had to move out. Recently her aunt died leaving her land to the family. With help from the government, and a loan from the bank, and all the building done by family members, they now are seeing a strong home being built. Dad has poor health and can't work, so mum is the one in full time employment, so the family rarely see her. She is a hardworking and conscientious CEF student. (Picture of the their home half built below her picture).

Our medical fund enables us to help students in need of medical support

Even though CEF's work is to help girls from poor communities stay in school and finish school, sometimes they need medical support as well. Until we had a medical fund we rarely could help with health problems.

One girl in our education program had constant pain in her legs. She had been on various medications from the doctor and nothing made a difference.

We decided to try nutritional supplementation and provided multi-vitamins and minerals for six months. Within a month she had less pain and some months none. After the six months was up, a couple of months later the pains returned, and she went back on medications which didn't help. Due to having the 'Healthy Kids Fund' that was created for CEF by Go Philanthropic we have been able to continue to supply nutritional supplementation long term. We are very grateful for this fund as it is wonderful knowing we have funds available to help children with health issues.

Two bikes go to children this week so they can get to school easily

Two bikes went to children who needed bikes to get to school. When a child goes from going to their local primary school, onto secondary school, the distance can be much greater and walking to school is no longer feasible.

CEF provides good second-hand bikes for children in that situation.