Category: Blog

A friend!

Dear friends of Nyandengoh!,

We are grateful that the Covid-19 pandemic has left Sierra Leone relatively unaffected with approximately 2400 cases, 74 deaths and very few new cases over the last months. There are still some restrictions in place, but the Nyandengoh! team has continued to minister to the children with disabilities. Recently they asked us to share the following story with you:

Matthew is an eight-year-old boy with microcephaly, a condition we frequently see among the children we work with, and which may be related to pregnant mothers being infected with the Zika virus. Until recently, Matthew lived in a small town where he faced stigma and rejection. Parents would not allow their children to play with him. While Matthew’s mother loved him very much, she received little support from those around her to protect Matthew from the unkindness of the community. Finally his mother decided to move. In the village where she settled, Matthew soon made friends with a boy who has an intellectual disability and is regularly visited by the Nyandengoh! team. The people in his new community have a better understanding of disabilities and Matthew no longer faces loneliness as his new friendship introduced him to many other children who are glad to play with him.

 

   

 

On a sad note, after the death of Mariama (see our last blog), we lost two more precious children. Sattu was less than a year old and was growing up with achondroplasia. Iye was a 3-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who lived too far away for our team to make regular visits. Occasionally her grandmother would bring Iye to Mattru where she received physical therapy evaluations and where the grandmother was encouraged to keep exercising with her. It has not been easy for the team to process three deaths. We are grateful for Mrs. Cathy Toupin, a missionary currently working at the UBC Mattru Hospital, who could spend time with the team studying the Bible on the hope we have in Christ for young children who pass away.

 

 

With the home visits increasing and the limitations of the public transportation system, we are grateful for a second motor bike, donated by Hope Universal (www.hopeuniversal.org).

Dave Landis from Landis design Co. in Atmore provided the stickers with the Nyandengoh! logo’s.

 

Early December we are expecting a visit from our partner organization World Hope International / Enable the children, who will help us screen some of the children on our waiting list with the aim to enroll them in our program for 2021. Please pray for the team as they face a busy month leading up to Christmas and for all of us as we make plans for the new year. Stay tuned for more news about this!

Thank you for your support!

Little Helpers

Dear Friends of Nyandengoh!

Over the past few months Nyandengoh! has continued to come alongside families of children with disabilities to encourage them during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has not always been easy to reach the children, as the rainy season makes the roads to some of the villages less accessible. August and September are the months that our staff gets to take some time off to rest. Sylvanus was the first one to go on leave and in his absence the other team members made sure “his” children continued to receive visits. Currently Abdulai is enjoying his leave.

In July we were saddened by the loss of one of our children, four-year-old Mariama Wahab. Mariama was one of the girls who received orthopedic surgery in November 2019, but the road to recovery was slow, and in the process we began to suspect there were other severe health conditions that were beginning to affect her body. Diagnostically there wasn’t much available for her in Sierra Leone, let alone the sophisticated treatments she most likely needed. The team has been with the family throughout her last hospital admission and in the days after her passing. The men on the team were able to attend the small Muslim funeral ceremony while Esther and Miatta supported the mother at home. We will always remember Mariama as one of the first children we got to serve through Nyandengoh!. Her older stepbrother Abu Bakarr, who has mild cerebral palsy, is still in our program.

From a young age, children in Sierra Leone help their parents around the house. For children with disabilities, this often is not possible due to physical limitations, or because people around them do not believe they are able to work. Over the past few months we have therefore been delighted to see an increasing number of children beginning to take part in daily chores. We want to introduce a few of them to you.

 

Mukeh is a boy with Down Syndrome. When we first met him, he was often wandering about and begging people for food. With help from Nyandengoh!, Mukeh started school last year and really has matured in his behavior. Sylvanus recently met him on the road as he was fetching water for his bath!

Christiana is a sweet girl who has learning difficulties and a speech impairment. She loves other children – she quickly learns their names and shows interest in them. The Nyandengoh! team encouraged her family to let her help with simple chores, so they were very glad when on a recent visit they met her washing dishes for her mother.

Mariama has cerebral palsy and is probably the most determined little girl in our program. She set her mind on walking, and in less than a year she has gone from sitting in a wheelchair to walking without assistance! Until recently, bending over was hard for her as she would lose her balance. But now that she has mastered that skill, she can be found sweeping the grounds around the house with a big smile on her face!

We are so grateful that these children are developing skills that will get them more and moreaccepted into their families and communities.

 

With Covid-19 travel regulations, the Yoders will most likely not be able to return to Sierra Leone before the end of this year. They are looking instead at the beginning of next year, and are hoping some others can come along as they are planning to start the pilot Nyandengoh! special education classroom. Contact us if you are interested in joining them!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

 

“Because of Nyandengoh!, people treat us well…”

Welcome to the first blog of Nyandengoh! We are so grateful to finally connect with all of you in this way. On April 22, 2020 Nyandengoh! saw its first anniversary. We feel blessed beyond measure when we think of all that has happened in this first year. There is no way that we can update you on all of it in one blog, so over the next few weeks and months we are hoping to catch you up on some of our stories!

From a few children in Mattru Jong, the total number of children served by Nyandengoh! has now grown to 74, with children from surrounding villages like Luawa, Mowogor, Moyowa, Tihun, etc. After Heleen Yoder left for the USA, Sylvanus French took on the role of Program Manager. He is assisted by community workers Esther Sopay and Abdulai Jengbeh Jr., and intern Miatta Fofanah.

Over the past few months, the team has had to adjust their activities due to restrictions related to Covid-19. The effects of the pandemic are felt even in the smallest villages of Sierra Leone. The suspension of weekly markets makes it harder for farmers to sell their produce, or fishermen to sell their fish. Small traders have less opportunities to sell their wares. Children feel unsettled as they miss the daily routine of school. People don’t find comfort in their daily or weekly religious gatherings. The fear of the Ebola crisis is still fresh on people’s mind and many avoid health care altogether, increasing the risk of prolonged suffering or death from conditions other than the Coronavirus disease.

Despite restrictions in physical contact and get-togethers, the team has continued to serve the children. We received a donation from Hope Universal (www.hopeuniversal.com) which enabled us to bless our Nyandengoh! families in a special way in this time of need. In the days leading to the second nation-wide lockdown every family received a 25 kg bag of rice. More recently the team distributed handwashing stations: a jerry can with a spigot and a piece of soap. As they visit the homes (while maintaining safe distance and wearing masks) they encourage the families and educate them on Covid and the government regulations that have been put in place. When our team noticed that school-going children were beginning to forget some of the things they had learned, they put together small “home-school” packages which enable the children to keep studying. Abdulai, our community outreach worker who was trained as a nurse, has been making sure that despite the fear of attending health care facilities, children with health needs are taken to the hospital and treated for malaria, seizures, pneumonia and other conditions. Every month he distributes medication to children in our program who live with epilepsy.

The team’s compassion and enthusiasm brings joy to many families and transforms communities. Not too long ago we did an intake for a child who had just moved into one of the villages we work in. When we asked the mother how the community is treating her, she told us: “In my old village it was not easy. But because Nyandengoh! visits the village I now live in, the people treat us well.” We have never held any meetings or campaigns in this village. People simply observed our workers as they related to the disabled children and started changing their attitudes. In this same village we witnessed the response of people as one of our children experienced a seizure in the middle of the road. Immediately they invited the boy to rest on their veranda and gave him water to wash hisface. This is a beautiful response in a country where many still believe epilepsy is contagious and demonic.

As the Nyandengoh! team continues its activities, we would appreciate your prayers for God’s protection over them and the children.

Lastly, we are sending you this blog because in the past year you have shown interest in our work. If you rather not receive these emails, feel free to unsubscribe through the link below. If you want to know more about us and see lots of pictures of our precious children, please check out our website: www.nyandengoh.org.