My New Task

My new task as the relief manager is to make sure that the orphanages we work with are prepared for rainy season. Because we will be leaving for rainy season, we just want to make sure that everyone is well prepared, and hopefully everyone will be able to fend for themselves while we’re gone. I like the task because it involves making sure everyone has a new mosquito net! I’m starting with the 4 orphanages that we currently have feeding programs at, and then I will branch out to the other 16 from there. I’ve done one orphanage so far, and I used it as my practice run. I spent the day at the orphanage (which I haven’t done yet…usually I only drop in 15-30 minutes or so)….and I really enjoyed it! I am somewhat biased because I spent the day at my favorite orphanage, but I’ve been missing just being able to spend time with the kids…..learning names and laughing and playing.
I have to speak with the directors to find out how they’re preparing for rainy season. I also have to find out how they plan on making money during rainy season—which involves micro-enterprise talk. I also have to find out the condition of the roofs, and find out if there are leaks that we can patch easily with roof cement. I have to assess the sleeping arrangements to find out approximately how many mosquito nets are needed so that there’s (hopefully) 1 net per child. We’ve already decided to replace all nets with freshly treated nets; most nets that we provided last rainy season are full of holes anyway. A new, treated mosquito net costs us roughly $6USD…so with hundreds of kids, this adds up quickly. If you’re interested in donating money to purchase a mosquito net (or a few nets!) to protect a child against malaria, send me an email, or leave a comment.