Merry Christmas!!

“Huh? It’s June, you dope, a little early in the season, don’t you think?!”

Yes, we know, but we have so many delightful African treasures we have collected over the past 50 years!  While you’re sunning yourself this summer, browse our Marketplace page (http://www.lalmba.org/market-place/) and get a head start on your shopping. Where else will your early Christmas shopping improve the lives of the poor in a forgotten corner of Africa?  Each African item has been handcrafted by a local artisan working hard to make ends meet.

Go to our Marketplace page to see the all the items we have for sale:

http://www.lalmba.org/market-place/

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Does Lalmba Really Make A Difference?

We can think of no better way to convey the good that Lalmba accomplishes than by telling you stories of real people whose lives have been changed because of Lalmba.

Meet Geremew.  He was born in a remote village outside of Chiri, Ethiopia, where he and his six siblings lost their father during an earthquake.  He was six months old at the time.  His mother, who suffers mental problems, took them to the closest sizeable town a few days’ walk away in search of support.  She found none, and the desperate family was homeless and hungry.  Begging on the street with her 6 children at her side, she had no option but to give her children away to people to work as servants in their homes.  She thought, “At least then my children will be fed.”   Geremew was lucky enough to be taken in by someone who allowed him to attend school when he wasn’t working.   He was not well cared for, however, and was found by Lalmba’s Children’s Director in a very malnourished state, barely dressed, and shunned at school.  Because his living situation was so unhealthy, Geremew was brought to Lalmba Children’s Home 9 years ago.  He is now attending the 10^th grade in the local school, where he is performing well, and hopes to become a Health Officer (like a doctor) and work for Lalmba’s Chiri Health Center someday.

These stories are not uncommon.  Lalmba means hope for so many impoverished children with a bleak future of servitude ahead of them.

What we find so encouraging is how much good can be accomplished with relatively little in this part of the world.  A child’s life can be transformed forever by what we pay for a monthly car payment!

• $100 pays for all of Geremew’s needs—food, clothing, housing, school supplies, and care for 4 months.
• $300 pays for Geremew’s inclusion in our children’s home for the entire year.
• $700 pays for the nutrition program, which trains families of malnourished infants on how to prepare nutritious meals to prevent future malnutrition in their children.
• $1000 pays for 5 destitute children who live with extended relatives to attend school this year instead of work as servants or in the fields.

We inhabit is a topsy-turvy world full of great imbalances.   Each one of us could have been born on the floor of a mud hut in a tiny village in Africa. But instead we live in a place of plenty.  The lives of our African brothers and sisters are no less beautiful than ours, full of happiness and pain just like our own, but their human struggles are magnified by lack of access to basic needs.  Lalmba strives to meet those physical needs as much as possible, so that they face less needless tragedy in their lives.

It is enriching for all of us who do not ignore life’s imbalances.  By acting with compassion for our fellow humans who have so little, we answer the call to make this world a slightly happier, healthier and more hopeful planet.

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Tembea Na Mimi:  A Walk Across Kenya!

It’s really going to happen, folks. On August 3, 11 Lalmba supporters will embark on the adventure of a lifetime!  We are going to push ourselves to exhaustion, and face extreme physical and mental challenges as we plod 150 miles over 10 days across the ancient, wild lands of Kenya, East Africa.  We are not aware that this exact route has ever been attempted before.  We will end our adventure at the lakeside village of Matoso, the home of Lalmba’s largest program, which serves about 1200 destitute children.

Why are we doing this?

Like the explorers before us, we will endure hardship for a cause greater than ourselves.  We will walk the land of the people we serve. We will bear witness to their great needs, to the great beauty of their country and culture, and we will strive to understand what it means to spend a lifetime walking in poverty.

When we come home, we will bring back stories of the great challenges, the breathtaking beauty,

and the real people we met who are struggling to survive.  Please consider sponsoring one of us. Your sponsorship goes directly to Lalmba. All the walkers are paying their own expenses.

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To learn more and sponsor a walker, visit our website:

See Walker Profiles Here

2014 Annual Report

Mission

Empowering rural communities in Africa to provide their own people with high quality basic health care, effective public health initiatives, microfinance and support for vulnerable children. We have a special love for children, whom we see not as a burden, but as part of a brilliant future for Africa.

Vision

We envision a healthy, prosperous community where all at-risk children are educated, preventable disease is eradicated, and opportunities exist for people to provide for themselves and their families.

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Letter From The President and Vice President

In 2014 we evaluated our mission statement and our programs to ensure they are well-aligned.  We espouse a guiding philosophy that is solution-oriented.  We do not want to put Band-Aids on real human problems – problems that we know are solvable if the root causes are correctly identified, and the tools to fix them are provided.  So, what is the problem?  The problem is systemic poverty, and Lalmba is constructing the path to move beyond it to a more promising future.

For any plan to succeed and for solutions to be sustainable, they must be community-led.  Our mission statement discusses “empowering rural communities to provide their own people” with their needs.  What are those things a community needs to be healthy, prosperous, and independent?   4 basic indicators of a healthy community are access to education, health care, economic opportunity, and nutrition.   A community without any one of these is a struggling community.  Here’s how Lalmba addresses those needs and how we assess when our job is done in a community.  Because if problems truly are solvable, then one day we will be able to declare mission accomplished.

• Education – First and foremost, children must have access to education. The children in these communities who go to school come from families who have a means of income.  The children who don’t attend school are destitute; their families can’t afford the costs, which leave the children as uneducated laborers or servants, guaranteeing another generation of poverty for that family. We call those children “at-risk.”

In 2014, Lalmba enabled 1166 at-risk children to get an education. We believe that the greatest way to change the future is to invest in the children of today, empowering them to be the future leaders of their communities.

• Health Care – There is ample evidence showing a direct correlation between physical health and economic prosperity, both individually and at the community level. People who are sick can’t work; communities without health care don’t thrive.

In 2014 at our clinics in Ethiopia and Kenya, we treated nearly 50,000 people, saving thousands of lives, and allowing sick adults to get back to work sooner.  Children are healed so that sickness does not impede their learning.  Babies are treated for malnutrition, and families trained on how to provide nutritious meals, to make them all healthier with more potential.

Our public health teams, travelling to the most remote communities, teach people about the importance of sanitation for overall health, and how to prevent disease before it starts.

• Access to Economic Opportunity – Financially healthy communities have diverse business opportunities, and access to start-up funds for entrepreneurs. In rural communities, access to affordable loans is extremely limited.  We provide small loans to the poor who know how to pull themselves out of poverty, but lack the means to get started.  In 2014 we gave small business loans to 52 people, placing them firmly on a path to independence.

The success of this program has spurred us on to revamp our RCAR program, giving small business loans to the parents or guardians of the children we support. We hope to see our microloan program grow exponentially in the coming years so that more families can reach independence.

• Access to Nutrition – Under normal situations, we believe that if the above 3 needs are met and in balance, a community can provide for its own nutritional needs. In extreme situations, such as extended drought or politically imposed famine, charities must step in to help with nutrition. But the danger of creating food dependency is real.

We provide supplemental nutrition only when necessary and only as long as necessary. For example, we have orphans in our RCAR program living with a guardian (most likely an ailing grandmother) who is incapable of working to provide food. Without our nutrition intervention these children would truly go hungry. Likewise, in our Elder Care program we provide food sustenance for elders who have no one else to care for them.

How do we know when an area of our mission is complete?  Lalmba first began in these rural communities because there was no provision of any of these services locally.  Over time, with our community development efforts, we have been looking for the emergence of similar services locally.  If services are being duplicated, then we see that as a sign that this community is reaching the ability to meet its own needs.

Here’s a powerful example. 16 years ago Lalmba opened the first modern medical facility in Chiri, Ethiopia. At that time, Chiri was a small farming village with no electricity, no running water, no telephone service, and a horse path wide enough to be called a road.  Today, it has become a trading point for farmers in the southwest. Chiri now has 2 private clinics, a government health center, and a private pharmacy. There is still an abundance of poverty, lack of access to education and business opportunity, but the trend is favorable that this community will soon be able to meet its own health care needs. We are close to saying ‘mission accomplished’ in the area of health care there!

So the exciting news is that we can begin a gradual and sustainable handover of health care responsibilities to our partners in Ethiopia, the Catholic Church and the Ethiopian government. And we can begin a prayerful and thoughtful search for that next end-of-the-road community, the community with no health care, a high prevalence of at-risk children, and a lack of economic opportunity. Then we can begin empowering a new community with the tools to shape a future that is filled with hope.

Jeff and Hillary James

President and Vice President, Lalmba Association

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WHAT’S LALMBA DOING?

Lalmba is empowering rural communities in East Africa to provide for their own needs.  We’re striving to end generations of poverty by addressing the 4 basic needs for people and communities to thrive:  Access to Education, Health Care, Economic Opportunity, and Nutrition.

Lalmba tackles these objectives by giving priority attention to the most vulnerable of citizens — the poor, the children, and the marginalized. We prioritize at-risk children and ensure they are receiving an education, health care, and have a place to call home.  We see a future where today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders.

At our health care facilities in Ethiopia and in Kenya, we save lives on a daily basis, and we educate these communities about disease prevention, achieving healthier, more self-reliant communities.

Our Microloan programs provide small business loans to entrepreneurs and to RCAR guardians, sparking economic growth and introducing business opportunities for the poor, who traditionally have no options.

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Primary Health Care

Lalmba runs static health facilities in Kenya and Ethiopia, where we diagnose and treat illnesses for the poorest of the poor. We strive to heal the sick so that they can have the strength, not only to survive, but to grow and be part of transforming a poor community into a prosperous one.   At each facility, we charge a service fee to those who can afford to pay, but we turn away no one – those without the means to pay are given free treatment.

In Kenya we operate the Matoso Clinic and the Ochuna Dispensary, serving a catchment population of about 100,000 people.  In 2014, we treated nearly 30,000 patients suffering from an array of illnesses. The most common diseases treated are malaria, anemia, bilharzia, malnutrition, pneumonia, UTI, diabetes, STI, dog bites, and diarrhea.

HIV has done great damage to the family structure, leaving behind orphaned children and elderly parents with no one to care for them in their declining years.  We change this dynamic through intensive HIV counseling, education, and treatment for those who test positive.  In 2014, 1558 people were enrolled in our counseling program, and 1036 people received antiretroviral therapy.

In Ethiopia, we operate the Chiri Health Center, serving a catchment population of 150,000 people. In 2014, we treated nearly 20,000 people for a range of illnesses. The most common diseases treated were pneumonia, malnutrition, parasitic infections, skin infections, musculoskeletal disease, dyspepsia, acute respiratory infection, UTI, diarrhea, Otitis and other ear infections.

We have a 15-bed hospital ward where we provided 24 hour intensive treatment to 655 critically ill patients, saving and discharging 631 of them.  These inpatients included 205 severely malnourished children, who required 3-4 weeks of intensive care. They would have died without it.

In Eritrea, Lalmba provided a grant to assist the Catholic Church in purchasing medicines and supplies to run the Halhal Health Center (catchment population of 12,676) and the Boggu health station (catchment population of 3783).  In 2014, 11,454 people were given outpatient care at these two facilities. The most common illnesses treated were pneumonia, diarrhea, skin infections, ear infections, and eye infections.

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Public Health Care

In Kenya and Ethiopia, our public health programs aim to prevent disease before it starts. This is where the long-term battle for health is won.  A diagnosis of malaria can mean weeks in bed for a child or parent, for example.   A person who stays healthy won’t need those weeks away from work or school, improving their financial and educational potential.

Intensive health education tailored to the cultural needs, the most prevalent health issues, and the learning abilities of the people we serve is a goal of this program.  Early intervention in the form of prenatal care, well-baby checks, and immunizations makes up the other part of our public health program.

• In Kenya, nearly 5000 people were touched by our PH team in 2014. Mobile clinics traveled to remote communities 2-3 times each week to provide education, immunizations, and mother/child health intervention. Education topics included HIV/AIDS prevention, transmission and treatment, hygiene, malaria prevention, clean water, and nutrition.
• In Ethiopia, our public health team provided education to about 16,000 people. This team has been very successful in finding creative ways to teach a largely uneducated population. They built a portable stage and created a series of dramas utilizing props and costumes to teach relevant health topics, such as Mother/child health, EPI, nutrition, communicable diseases, environmental and water sanitation, TB, HIV/AIDS, and public safety. The Ethiopia team is also an invaluable partner to government health workers, providing strategic support to treat people who are furthest from established health sites.

We also:

• Make and sell low-cost latrine slabs
• Provide mosquito nets to prevent malaria
• Help community members sell a bleach product that makes drinking water safe
• Provide cooking classes to train people to use the local foods to prepare well-balanced, nutritious meals.

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Children at Risk

In 2014, Lalmba provided for the basic needs of 1186 at-risk children.

This number includes 20 at-risk children for whom Lalmba provides a grant to the Catholic Church in Eritrea to provide clothing, food, school materials, school fees and uniforms.  Although Lalmba cannot have an on-the-ground presence in Eritrea at this time due to governmental restrictions, we continue to support vulnerable children in the place of Lalmba’s founding 52 years ago.

Without Lalmba’s intervention, their futures would involve no formal education, no health care, and little chance for prosperity.

In 2014, we also introduced a new microloan program which lends business startup money to guardians of our RCAR orphans, women who know how to reach independence, but lack the means to get started.

Lalmba Children’s Homes

Lalmba children’s homes provide for 56 children who have no one to care for them. We strive to provide them all the advantages that they would have if they had 2 healthy and working parents. They do not live in luxury or at a higher standard than their peers. They wear local clothes, live in modest houses, and have chores and responsibilities. We want them to be prepared for adulthood, which comes fast in this part of the world.  We also want them to reach their fullest potential, and encourage them to excel scholastically.

 

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RCAR (Reaching Children at Risk)

RCAR is where we see the most potential in providing for the greatest number of children. In 2014, Lalmba ensured that 1130 destitute children were nourished, clothed, educated, and had access to health care. Some of the children are orphans; all of them are completely destitute.  The difference between an RCAR child and a Children’s Home child is that RCAR children have someone who can help care for them, a guardian. Often that person is a single mother, an aging and ailing grandmother, a distant relative or a neighbor.  All are financially strapped and struggling to survive.  We assist them by providing for the basic needs of the child and ensuring that they are in school.  We endeavor to be a resource for the entire family, guiding them towards a path of self-reliance.

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Elder Care

In this part of Africa there is no such thing as social security or retirement, no assisted living communities for the elderly.  For generations, the family structure has provided the safety net for the elderly when they become too old to care for themselves.  But that safety net has been eroded by HIV/AIDS.  Not only do scores of orphaned children have no one to care for them, but many elderly widows and widowers who lost their children to AIDS are left alone with orphaned grandchildren. For many elders, this burden is too much and they suffer from hunger and neglect.

For the past 3 years, Lalmba has been providing some modest assistance to the elderly who lack family with resources to assist them: a bar of soap, a mattress and blanket, some food supplies. Last year we supported 60 impoverished elderly in Kenya.  For some, we provide a simple chair so that they can sit upright and get off the ground. Our nurses also visit each elder monthly to ensure they are getting the proper care and nutrition to be as comfortable as possible in their final years.

 

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Microfinance

Our loan programs provided small business loans to 52 people, 43 women and 9 men, in 2014.  These loans enable mothers and fathers to earn a living to provide for their families. Many loan recipients have become successful enough to grow their businesses and provide jobs and income for others. The goal is to provide a way out of poverty and effect economic change in the entire community.

Our program has a 100% repayment rate! It works so well because of community support, and no new loans are given until former loans are repaid. We partner with community volunteers, successful business people, who help train all new loan recipients in smart business practices, guiding them to success by helping them plan for growth and meet their repayment schedules. Some of the business professions Lalmba has supported in these remote communities include farmer, fisherman, produce vendor, tailor, welder, carpenter, butcher, restaurant owner, schoolteacher, hair stylist, spice distributor, and more.

In 2015, we will continue to expand microloans, business training and mentoring to RCAR guardians, to encourage their independence from ongoing support.

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The People Who Make Lalmba a Success

Lalmba succeeds because of the people (volunteers and employees) who selflessly work for us and believe that through our mission and our work, a way out of poverty is possible.

Here in the U.S.

• We have one, very dedicated part-time volunteer who works to keep our supporters thanked for their generous financial support.
• We have two medical doctors (Lalmba Medical Directors), who passionately embrace our mission and are dedicated to service. They advise on how to meet all of our health care goals and visit projects annually to ensure we provide the highest care possible with our limited resources.
• Because of these volunteers and their dedication, Hillary and Jeff (Lalmba’s only paid employees) can put more energy directing Lalmba’s vision and mission, strategic planning and capacity building, recruiting volunteers, and keeping the organization financially healthy through robust fundraising efforts that plainly tell the stories of the people we serve.

In Africa

Lalmba’s programs are run by nearly 100 African staff and 3-6 expatriate volunteers who are specialists in medicine, public health, financial management, and program development.  In 2014, 10 expats from 4 different countries (Holland, United States, Chile, and Kenya) served as expert volunteers, mentoring our African staff and ensuring that our program goals are met.  Our paid African staff serve in many professional and support roles, from our Project Director in Kenya, Marico Osiyo, to our Public Health manager in Ethiopia, Social Kassa, to Zirhun Ademe, the chief of guards in Ethiopia. We have cleaners, drivers, guards, nurses, groundskeepers, health officers, housemothers who care for the orphans, and administrators.  All of these people are vital to our operations. We also have many African volunteers who spend several hours each month on oversight committees, teaching in their villages, monitoring and mentoring microloan recipients, or visiting HIV patients or the elderly in their homes between clinic appointments.

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Looking Forward

We look down the road often, wondering about that end-of-the-road community that still lacks its basic needs. We look forward to the day when resources are abundant enough to allow us to expand to help more communities in desperate poverty.

Lalmba believes in long-term investment.  We don’t believe there are quick fixes to generational poverty.

Development is made sustainable with time, commitment, and a focused effort on the root causes: lack of access to education, health care, nutrition, and jobs.

The communities we serve in Ethiopia and Kenya remain dramatically impoverished, but we do not believe they will need our help forever. Change and empowerment are on the rise and these communities will one day be free of foreign aid.   To ensure independence is truly our goal, we constantly evaluate our programs for any sign that we are fostering dependence instead of empowerment.  If we see signs that our efforts are impeding local enterprise or ingenuity, we know it’s time to shift our efforts to encourage local people to take charge and provide for their community.   We strongly support emerging enterprises like the private and government run health facilities in Chiri.  We will ensure that our efforts complement and do not impede their success.

As we look forward, we plan to continue our life-saving and life-changing services that bring so much hope to those we serve.  We plan to strategically downsize any duplicated services in order to focus our efforts on the most critical needs of the area, and to empower local enterprise. Because of our long-term commitment to these communities, we will not leave until we see that all 4 areas of need are being addressed by the community itself.  Simultaneously, we pray for guidance to explore more remote communities where there is no modern health care, where at-risk children hope for an education, and where businesses are few, but aspiration is high.

We will always keep children at the forefront of our efforts. We know that today’s children provide the greatest chance of ending poverty tomorrow.  But we are just one small organization. Looking to the future, we see cooperation and collaboration as a promising way to advance our mission more effectively and more broadly, bringing us closer to achieving our vision, and ending extreme poverty in these communities once and for all.

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2014 Financials

In 2014, Lalmba received no funding from government or large private grants. Our income came from small, private donors, small businesses, some church groups, and a few family foundations who support our work and believe in our mission.  Our clinics in Ethiopia and Kenya charge a small fee to patients who seek treatment, but that income represents only about 8% of our overall budget.

Here in the U.S., Lalmba strives to keep our administrative costs low (about 17% of the budget) in order for most of our income to be spent in the field helping those in need. One way we do this is by not renting office space.   Our two U.S. employees, Hillary and Jeff, work from their home.

Donated funds buy medicines, medical supplies, food and school fees for destitute children, fuel and repairs for our vehicles, and pay the salaries of our 100+ African employees.

Lalmba maintains a small savings to ensure the stability of our programs, but in recent years with inconsistent donations, inflation, and program costs on the rise, that savings has decreased.  As an organization, it is one of our highest priorities to alter this trend, manage expenses and find alternative ways of generating income.

2014 Income and Spending

Total income for 2014 was $561,997. Of this income, 70% ($391,720) came from individual donors, 21% ($115,343) came from family foundations, 8% ($46,117) came from clinic income in Africa, and 1% ($8,817) from investments and interest.

Total expenses for 2014 were $763,922. Of expenditures, 82% ($626,416) was for programs, 17% ($129,867) for administrative costs, and 1% ($7639) for fundraising.

Note: Our 2015 budget has been reduced to $553,419, realigning our income and expenses to achieve a balanced budget.

 

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The Lalmba Team

In addition to the generous 838 donors who gave us the financial means to do this work, and the 100+ African staff who work tirelessly to fulfill our goals, Lalmba is accomplishing its mission through the dedicated efforts of our volunteers, both in the U.S. and in Africa. Here are the people who gave their time to this life-saving work in 2014:

Board of Directors

Kevin Collins, treasurer

Hugh Downey, chairman

Marty Downey, member

Reginald Guy, secretary

Hillary James, member

Harry Lindmark, member

Bill Masure, member

USA Volunteers & Staff

Michelle Anderson, Donor Relations

Rob Andzik, Consultant

Kim Chen, MD, Medical Director

David Leonard, MD, Medical Director

Hillary James, Vice President

Jeff James, President

Ethiopia Volunteers

Barbara Forster, Project Director

Mudit Gilotra, MD, Medical Director

Aditi Kamdar, MD, Asst. Medical Director

Mercy Simiyu, MPH, Public Health Director

Celine Barthelemy, MPH, Public Health Director

Kenya Volunteers

Ariel Castillo, MD, Medical and PH Director

Boudewijn Bakker, MD, Medical Director

Annet Bakker, Program Specialist

Denise Hunt, FNP, Medical Director

William Westbrook, Program Development Consultant

WE APPRECIATE YOU!

HMMMM…HOW DO WE THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS WORK POSSIBLE AND ENCOURAGE YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT?

Do you dream of Africa?

As you know, we have an important fundraising campaign going on this year.  We have been inspired by your support.  We wanted a way to say ‘thank you’ and to keep the momentum of generosity going.  What better way than to offer a first-hand look at the work that Lalmba does, from the comforts of Hugh and Marty’s ‘home away from home’ in Nyagaribe, Kenya??

Sound enchanting? We would like to offer 1 lucky winner a round-trip flight to Kenya, and a bumpy 4 hour ride from the Kisumu airport for 1 week at this little lakeside paradise.

“3 grass-roof “rondavels” (1 bedroom with flush toilet and running water, 1 kitchen with gas stove and a solar-powered refrigerator, 1 guest room with outhouse). We will have a small staff to help with cooking and transportation.”

If you’re the lucky winner and would like to schedule your trip to coincide with a trip by Jeff and Hillary, we could travel together. 

Think of this as a (rugged) chance of a lifetime.  It is not an easy journey, long flights and bumpy roads and primitive accommodations, but it would appeal to the Lewis and Clark in you!  Some limitations apply; those who enter the drawing will receive further guidelines by e-mail.

The drawing will be held on June 1.

To enter, just send us an email saying you would like to be entered, or if you are making a donation via Colorado Gives write “enter my name in the Kenya drawing” in the special instructions field. 

Donations to make our crucial fundraising goal are appreciated (but not required).

We could not be doing this work without you!

May the luckiest world traveler win!!

Join us in supporting the Tembea Na Mimi walkers!

The walk starts on August 3rd and journeys over 150 miles to the shores of Lake Victoria.

 

Check Out Our Offical Walk Page

 

Saving Lives

By Jeff James

To see a person suffer is horrible, but to watch someone die of a treatable disease is unbearable. Yet this happens daily in the parts of Africa where we work.  In these communities, quality health care is scarce, and recovery from a severe illness is rare.  Every time someone gets better, it is a small miracle to celebrate.

I just returned from a visit to our project in Chiri, Ethiopia, the home of Lalmba’s Chiri Health Center (and the birthplace of coffee!). There I had the pleasure of going on roun­­ds with our nurses and our volunteer medical director, Bob Roark.

Bob, a physician’s assistant from Denver, told me that visiting the inpatients, checking their vitals, and watching them progress to better health is what he enjoys most about this work. It’s the reason he got into medicine, to fight treatable disease in the poor.

Our hospital is very small, only 20 beds.  Those who get admitted would most certainly die without our help. Quite literally, we are saving lives.

First stop, the SAM (Severe Acute Malnutrition) ward, the most heartbreaking place to visit.  The children staying there are often close to death when they arrive, sick and weak.

Sadly, this ward is usually filled to capacity, and we are the only facility in the area that treats malnutrition.

 

Of child deaths in Africa, 35% of them are related to malnutrition. It’s a huge problem where we are in Ethiopia. When a child is admitted into our program, we treat them for other illnesses while gradually upping their caloric intake, using a formula made at our health center.  A critical element of our care is providing intensive education to the parent(s) on proper nutrition, so the malnutrition doesn’t recur.

 

Also in the hospital this day, in our isolation ward, was a man with acute meningitis. He was admitted close to death, vomiting with a high fever. After 3 days of IV antibiotics, he was sitting up in bed with a faint smile on his face—a smile that spread throughout the room.   Without Chiri Health Center he would have died.

There was a patient just diagnosed with cutaneous tuberculosis. He was destitute and his home was many hours’ walk from our health center. From past experience, we know that patients like him usually do not complete their course of treatment. They have mouths to feed and land to farm.   Health guidelines do not allow patients to take medicine home with them, and the daily distance is just too far to walk every day.  Because the risk of disease transmission is so great if TB is not treated, we find a place to stay for these patients and provide them with daily meals for the first month of treatment.  Without a program like ours, TB continues to spread through these communities.

There was a young mother who had developed some sort of paralysis from the waist down. We referred her to the Missionaries of Charity for further tests. She asked us to keep her 2 year-old for her, and we agreed to temporarily care for him in our children’s home until she could return to Chiri. There was no one else to take in the child.

Yes, we are saving lives daily, but we couldn’t do any of it without you, our donors.

 

Staying Healthy

The old adage “prevention is the best medicine” is certainly true. Our public health teams teach how to prevent disease, an even more powerful gift than curing it.  Likewise, Lalmba’s health is maintained through wise spending plans and fundraising goals.  Since 2007, however, donations have declined, and we have been operating at a deficit, spending from reserves, hoping that donations will improve.  But things haven’t improved, and so to protect the health of Lalmba for future generations, we had to make some difficult budget cuts this year, reducing the scope of some of our work.  So far, we have been able to maintain the mission-critical aspects of our programs.

As a nonprofit, we are not alone in this struggle. Many organizations are feeling the effects of a worldwide decline in charitable giving.   But we’re used to challenges, and our resolve for this mission is as strong as ever.

 

We just need to find more people like you, people with generous hearts.

How can you help? Maybe you could increase your donations this year.   Perhaps you could talk about Lalmba to your friends and family.  Maybe you belong to a group that is looking for speakers.  You could invite us to come and talk about the work of Lalmba. We promise to not only be informative, but also entertaining. (Hillary is learning to juggle, and I’ve got a couple of “knock-knock” jokes up my sleeve!)?

Or maybe . . . you have a different idea?

The bottom line is, we all love Lalmba because of the work Lalmba does for the poor who have nowhere else to go. And we all want to see this work continue. But for that to happen we need to be creative.   We need to be bold enough to ask for help when we need it, and now is that time.

 

Our goal is to raise $200,000 by July 1 in order not to make additional program cuts this year.  It’s a tall order, but we’re praying that with your help, Lalmba can thrive for another 50 years.

God bless you and God bless Lalmba. 

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Don’t forget . . . Tembea Na Mimi.

Walk across Kenya happens the first two weeks in August. We’re still looking for a couple more people to walk across the RiftValley with us. Call or email me if your feet were made for walking!

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 Trade Your Car in for an Ambulance

Lalmba has partnered with Cars for Charity, a nonprofit that takes old cars and turns them into cash for the charity of your choice. If you have an old car, please contact Cars for Charity and let them know that you have a car donation for Lalmba Association. Website: http://www.carsforcharity.net/ Phone Number: 303-853-4483

AmazonSmile: You shop. Amazon gives.

Next time you’re shopping on Amazon, choose AmazonSmile and then choose Lalmba Association as your charity of choice. Amazon makes the donation, not you. 

 

 

CHRISTMAS TIME’S A’COMIN’… GET YOUR FAIR TRADE SHOPPING DONE RIGHT HERE! Hand-crafted boats made from banana leaves, delivered straight from the workman’s bench in rural Kenya, are now available to you for the annual Lalmba $100 Christmas Fundraiser Extravaganza! This year’s gift is particularly meaningful because of our work in a little village on the shores of Lake Victoria.  Lake Victoria itself is statistically impressive. It’s the largest lake on the continent, and the world’s second-largest freshwater lake. It’s so large it extends into three separate countries: Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.  For the community, the lake is the source of all livelihood.  Every night the lake is dotted with fishing boats trying to catch Nile perch or tilapia.  A good haul means enough money to feed the family for another week.  A poor catch means another week of struggle. You’d be surprised how flimsy people’s fishing boats are, particularly as the waves on the lake can rival ocean waves in a storm.  If a storm hits while the fishermen are on the lake, they just cover their boats with a tarp and lie down flat in the bottom of the boat to wait it out.  Seasickness is a common affliction for the fishermen.  I was recently told that ­­­if you get seasick out on the lake, you should drink the stagnant water pooled on the bottom of the boat to cure yourself.  Hmm…well at least then if you feel sick, you can’t blame your seasickness anymore! We hope you enjoy the boats.   They really do float!   Want to see the lake for yourself?  If you’re a hardy and adventurous soul, check out Jeff’s plan at the bottom of this post!

Founders’ Corner by Hugh Downey (in Africa) SEASON OF CHANGE AT HOME IN NYAGRIBE It is early winter for you good people back in North America.  But here in Africa it is a time of no change.  Our home here is 1 degree south of the equator and the only seasonal change is from dry to wet – then back again.  We are anxiously awaiting the rains as local farmers depend on this season to raise their crops. Our home here consists of 3 grass huts. There is no electricity for lights.  We use candles after dark.  Cooking is done on a small propane stove.  The rhythm of life is controlled by the sun.  Being ‘equatorial’, we have almost exactly 12 hours of sun followed by dusk and darkness.  It does take some getting used to, but we find that it provides a reasonably comfortable life. BOATS AND BOATMEN Our 3 huts face Lake Victoria and for much of the day we observe boatmen paddling their little boats along the shore.  Most are fishermen.  Others use their boats for transportation or for moving goods.  I recall one day recently when I saw a small boat moving an entire household . . . beds, chairs, cooking equipment, followed by another boat carrying the family.  I was reminded of ‘moving day’ back in the U. S. where families load their belongings onto a truck and follow in the family car. THE $100 BOAT Boats are at the center of life in this part of Africa.  This year, Jeff and Hillary have chosen a small replica of the boat as a Christmas gift for you.  I have one such boat in my house back in the U. S. and always receive comments from visitors. It is not so much the boat which you purchase, but the knowledge that you provide life-saving medicines for the sick and education for children.  This is Lalmba’s largest source of income during the year; we have been blessed with so many of you who have participated.  We encourage you to continue to purchase our clever little gifts.  It is actually a gift of life which you share with many needy people in our world. As always, Marty joins me in wishing you a very blessed Christmas.

IN BRIEF HILLARY’S FIELD NOTES I just returned from an exhilarating visit to our projects with Lalmba’s co-medical director Kim Chen.   In Ethiopia we found that the community around the health center has been developing at an encouraging pace.  After 16 years, we are seeing the effects of our development work!  The relative success in Chiri, however, underscores just how impoverished the outlying areas are.  Our public health team is now reaching out to the ‘forgotten’ areas that do not even have navigable roads yet. Kim and I journeyed to one such outlying village, a 4 hour ride on horseback, to evaluate the need there.  We picked the muddiest week of the year, our horses sinking into leg-deep mud at times.  The trip, to an area completely unfamiliar with development, inspired us to continue stretching to those roadless places, those communities that still suffer from such extreme poverty that it breaks our hearts. THE PRICE OF GENIUS In case you wondered about Jeff’s dedication to this work, check out how he managed to get the perfect picture of these beautiful banana leaf boats floating along! In related news . . . A Strange Visitor Also on my trip I had the honor of hosting a Lalmba supporter named Jim Crum, a professional videographer from Los Angeles.  He was on safari in Kenya, and offered to come to Matoso to shoot a video for our website.  He was a colorful character, standing 6’4” (even taller with his camera gear and microphone) and he braved a terrible invasion of lake flies, hitting his head numerous times on the roof of his sleeping hut, lukewarm beer and locals who didn’t quite understand the meaning of ‘act natural’!  We are so grateful to Jim for volunteering his time and comfort to live with us for a week.  Please look for the Lalmba video on our website in the next few months.

Tembea Na Mimi by Jeff James Our Walk With Me fundraiser was a big success.  For those of you who participated, thank you! You helped us raise nearly $30,000 by walking and sponsoring our walking friends in Africa on our 51st anniversary, Sept. 21.   Check out these numbers: Ethiopia Asrat = 31,074 steps                         Asede = 37,080 steps                         Gezahign = 11,884 steps                    Netsanet = 14,082 steps Kenya Quinter = 30,067 steps Peter = 28,918 steps Joshua = 9,412 steps Stateside, we also had a few super walkers. I walked from our home in Longmont to Denver’s City of Nairobi Park, logging 72,172 steps. I was joined along the way by Terry Robinette, who walked the final 10 miles (about 25,000 steps). And longtime Lalmba friend, volunteer, and donor Rob Andzik, walked from his home in Monument, CO to Denver to join me for a celebratory picnic in the park. Rob walked an incredible 72,264 steps. Asante sana kwa tembea na mimi!

Tembea Na Wazimu (Walk with Crazy) It’s really not that crazy; it’s simply the adventure of a lifetime.  In August 2015, up to 10 Lalmba ambassadors will walk from a place called Olepolos (about 60 km south of Narok) westward across the Rift Valley to Lalmba’s project on the shore of Lake Victoria.  We will pass through the north Maasai Mara nature conservancy, some of Kenya’s most pristine landscape with an incredible chance to see wildlife intimately but safely. This journey will take about 10 days, and we will walk about 15-20 miles per day with a caravan of about 18 camels. We’ve had many people express interest in this trip, but now it’s time to commit. If you’re interested, please contact me right away to reserve your spot or to get more information. This route is subject to change, depending on how negotiations go with local chiefs.  But it is the ideal route for those who care about the work of Lalmba, because it allows you to see firsthand our work and the people we serve. Please give me a call or shoot me an email so that I can fill you in on the details.  If you’ve got the time, money, good health, a great sense of adventure and cultural curiosity, this safari was made for you.  Tembea na mimi!

Don’t forget, you can order your banana leaf boat online by going to our Marketplace page.

Thank you for your continued support. It’s what allows us to provide the many life-saving services to the poor of East Africa.