On Saturday morning I left my house at 7:30 and boarded a coach at 8:00 to go to the day care. The plan was to be there at lunch to see the children. When I got on the bus it was half full. By 9:45 it was full with only a few people standing and it left the depot. By the time it left I was uncomfortable and tired of sitting.

The ride to Ntcheu was 2 ½ hours. I got to the day care at about 12:45.

The children are doing fine. The younger ones have grown quite a bit since they first started to come. Maggie no longer looks like a little girl but now looks like a young lady. She has put on weight and her face has filled out. Her health is now fine.

Henry is now the only boy. Johnny no longer attends because he is in secondary school and the hours of school are not conducive to him coming for meals. Johnny has been replaced by Rita, a 10 year old girl who is in grade 3. Her English, like that of all of them, is not great so I only got to ask her if she likes school and is she good while she’s there. She said that she is good and she does like school.

For now Annie is still attending even though the day care rules clearly stated that the children must attend school in order to attend. Annie’s situation is unique and we will have to give it some consideration. Her father is alive and lives not far from her. This came as a surprise to both myself and Azikiwe who believed that she had lost both of her parents. In a sense she has lost them both since her father does not support her in any way. She went to him to ask him for school fees for grade 9 and he refused. The school fees for the Community Day Secondary where she could attend are approximately $20 per term. This is a small amount but at this time I can not offer to pay for her. If I do that I am setting a precedent which I can not yet afford. I feel bad for her because I know she’d like to go to school. That is why she is still being allowed to come for meals.

The children do not have mosquito nets. I think I need to find a way to buy one for each of them. The cost would be about $8 each. This is malaria season and it’s not good to be sleeping without protection. I sleep with a net in a house that is reasonably secure and I have been covered by mosquito bites.

Azikiwe and I discussed taking the kids to the lake at one point. I’m sure they’ve never been and would be amazed to see it. It’s not far from their home but it’s not something they would have experienced.

All in all it was a good visit. They are healthy and happy. Maggie told me she wants a small bicycle. I told her I’d like one too but that we can’t buy one for her. She’s bold. I like her.

I’m hoping that when the website is updated there will be a link on there where I can post the monthly spending reports so those people who have expressed concern about where their donations are being spent can see the cost of things. We are being very careful to use the money wisely and to ensure the kids have a healthy, balanced diet. Mabvuto stole most of the maize that was planted last year so we have not planted this year but it is something we are considering for the future.

Thanks for reading.

Tags: itatu, itatu orphan care, jennifer douma, malawi, orphan care

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