A Christmas Gift For You

This year’s Christmas gift for you is a brightly colored African Katanga apron, perfect for preparing a holiday meal or gift of sweets while guaranteeing that Lalmba’s programs provide meals and nutrient enriched foods for babies and folks who are recipients in our malnourishment program called Chakula Bora.

Each handmade apron is quilted together by a group of women tailors, who are successful Lalmba Kenya micro-loan recipients. This is a one-of-a-kind gift – made up of a collection of fabric “scraps” from African Katanga – brightly colored cotton material with bold patterns.

This year’s Christmas gift, a quilted Katanga apron, comes with a secret recipe inside the front apron pocket and Lalmba’s unique guarantee. If you are a long-time reader of Lalmba newsletters, or “Hugh’s News” then you may remember this: This Guarantee remains true!

Lalmba’s annual Christmas project started in 1984 during the Great African Famine when Hugh and Marty Downey began selling hamburgers for $100. The proceeds went directly to starving people in Africa. Decades later, the tradition continues. Lalmba’s valued supporters are presented with an opportunity to acquire something unique and special while offering a creative way for you to participate in this important work in East Africa.

A Recipe For Hope

By Jennifer Wenningkamp

Tucked into the front pocket of Lalmba’s Christmas gift is our secret “Recipe for Hope”. While the secret recipe won’t be fully revealed here, we want to share this moving story of one of our heroes at Lalmba’s Ochuna Dispensory, Kenya.

Mary Okeyo is our head nurse at the Ochuna Dispensory and a vital part of Lalmba’s recipe for hope. She is a unique woman whose hands bring healing and whose voice brings comfort – and whose dance brings hope. Mary has a tangible presence of “joyful hope” about her being.

Each day at the Ochuna clinic brings its own challenges and joys. This day was no different as Mary moved from one room to another in her joyful, soft, and even dance-like walk, proudly leading a group of visitors on a tour through the clinic. Her knowledge and sense of ownership was palpable as she vistied the pharmacy, treatment rooms, and offices. Every step seemed to take Mary from one state of mind to a even higher one as she described the facilities, the community and work Lalmba does. She was in her element and her smile broadened even more with each patient she saw.

Yet her focus switched in an instant to the realities of working in such a remote area when an emergency suddenly required her undivided attention. A young mother had just arrived with a screaming baby who was in terrible pain. The mother explained how her child had been healthy and happy until a few weeks ago. She didn’t know what led to her child’s suffering but was desperate to see the child recover – so desperate that she walked for hours to reach the clinic. Mary comforted the mother as she gathered medical information. Then she moved the mother and child into a private treatment room and began to cover the baby with soothing zinc ointment. This ointment soothes skin irritation, and hopefully prevented further skin damage, but the peeling skin, the source of the baby’s agony, is a likely symptom of Severe and Acute Malnutrition (SAM). Mary gently bathed the infant and prescribed “plumpy nut” a form of nutrient enriched food and follow-up visits until the child has graduated from our Malnutrition program called Chakula Bora.

Chakula Bora aims at preventing death due to malnutrition and starvation through regular nutrition classes, weighing and measuring children’s growth, and the distribution of life-saving foods.

We cannot begin to thank you enough for your support as our staff passionately care for these babies whose mothers and grandmothers arrive desperately seeking medical and food assistance.

God bless you, and may your Christmas be filled with Hope.

The tradition continues! In July of 2023 we will be stepping off on our 5th Tembea Na Mimi charity walk across Kenya. Tembea Na Mimi means “walk with me” in Kiswahili. It is a transformational journey of the heart, mind, and soul, as we walk in the footsteps of the people Lalmba serves. If you haven’t heard about these amazing walks, we spend 10 days trekking across the Maasi Mara and rural Kenya to Lalmba’s clinic on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Each walker pays the cost of their own journey and is challenged with the goal of raising $10,000 for Lalmba. For more information, please check out www.lalmba.org/tnm. Most importantly if you are interested in joining us, or know someone who might be, please let us know! To contact us email tnm@lalmba.org or call 720-260-6785.