Compassion's Children

There are so many ways to help children in Africa and so many non-profit agencies both at home and abroad who provide opportunities to each of us to help these children.  

I choose to help orphans mainly through the Missions of Hope  whenever I can. But recently I also took on sponsorship of several boys through Compassion International's Canadian office. My sponsorship involvement is very new so I haven't received a letter from one of my boys yet. 

 

First I sponsored little Peter. 

Peter is 6 years old and lives near Nakuru, Kenya.  I didn't get a chance to visit Peter when I travelled to Kenya.  My sponsorship was too new for the organization to prepare everything in time for my visit. I am hopeful that I can visit Peter some day.

 
Two weeks after I sponsored little Peter, I felt led to sponsor John.

Doesn't John's smile just grab you? I really felt a connection with him and especially upon learning he lives in the slums near Nairobi. I also hope to visit little John in future.

 

During the process of learning more about Compassion and its sponsors, I learned that there are also many children who have sponsors but these sponsors do not write to them for whatever reason.  For example, a company might sponsor a child or several children but not assign anyone to write to these children.

I found out that volunteers are needed to correspond with these kinds of children who don't have anyone to write to them.  Through letters a child is shown love and care and can receive the encouragement to overcome the challenges they face.   The benefit to you and me is that we can take on child sponsorship in a budget friendly manner.

After only a month or so of waiting, I received an information package in the mail.  The package sent along a photo of the little 10 year old boy I will correspond with in Ethiopia. His name is Haile.

I am only permitted to send letters, cards and flat paper items to sponsored children in the mail.

I've already sent Peter a card for Christmas and a photo and information about me and will need to send similar information to John and Haile (minus the Christmas cards). I also plan to send all three boys  a postcard "fun" map of Canada and some "Canadian stickers".

I am very excited to embark on this new addition to my support of children in Africa. I look forward to a long association with these young boys and hope to be a positive influence on them.

In closing, I want to encourage any of my readers to please check out children on the Compassion International website for your country and consider sponsoring a child.  There are so many who need sponsorship. If you really do not have the funds to sponsor a child would you please consider taking on a correspondence child? You simply write to the Compassion office in your country and let them know of your interest in writing to a "correspondent child".  Can you imagine the excitement a small child has when they get a letter from a stranger across the world? A stranger who takes an active interest in who they are and encourages them throughout their childhood years. It is a simple joy we can have in life to bring joy to others and to receive joy in their joy.

The Wonders of Yeast Dough

Hi friends,

I'm feeling very stressed at the moment with mom in hospital.  I've talked to her a few times and she insists that I visit her despite the fact my brother and nephew are there with her to take care of her needs. I'm torn because I usually am there for her but I am exhausted and for a variety of reasons including a flu bug, I cannot visit her.

All this has me thinking of days when I was a little girl and mom was there making me feel secure. She used to make yeast bread and when I would come home from school on a snowy, wintery day, my mouth would water to smell the yeast bread wafting through the house.  She would also use part of her yeast dough to make cinnamon buns.    It is funny how we associate scents and aromas with feelings but did you know that cinnamon has a multitude of benefits? Read more about that here.

I don't have the recipe mom used to use when I was a child but I found a good one on line. I doubled this recipe to have enough dough for cinnamon buns and two small loaves of bread.

So the wonder of the yeast bread for me is not just the wonderful taste but the memories and the feelings of home, comfort, security and love. Blessings to you all this weekend.

Yeast Bread Recipe

• 4 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 3 tablespoons honey or 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Dissolve yeast in water, add honey and let stand until it bubbles, approx 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Add salt and oil to yeast mixture, then add flour a little at time until you have a stiff dough.
3.Turn dough out on a floured surface and mold into a ball shape. Place in pan and cover; let rise for about an hour.
4. Punch down the ball of dough and mold it into a loaf shape to fit you bread pan. Cover with a towel and let raise again until it doubled in size.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for about 45 minutes. Bread is done when it is golden brown and sounds hollow when thumped.

This recipe is from http://www.food.com

Two loaves of yeast bread, and....a pan of........

Cinnamon buns with raisins and walnuts fresh out of the oven. They aren't as brown as I would like but the syrup was running over and I didn't want to start a fire.

Cinnamon buns with glaze on them.

The Last Major Hurdles

I do realize that the kind of blog post you are about to read may not be too exciting or thrilling to a lot of people.  But writing about it helps me to stay on track and accountable for the big decluttering project I am working on.  It is a tedious job with few immediate rewards so I need all the help I can get. Thanks for reading and giving me a platform to share my goals, challenges, successes....all of which are leading me to a simpler life and more time and resources for the Missions of Hope.
 
I have had a busy start to the New Year in an effort to get started on the right foot.  This past week I decided to take a little break from the decluttering project and have been busy doing other things like: catching up with friends, going to the movie, exercising, going to Sunday services and making notes of all the upcoming activities there that I would like to participate in during January/February, listening to past sermons on line, reading, organizing my medical appointments and paperwork, scheduling my upcoming commitments (including those that help me reach my goals in 2011) and following up on a number of things I've promised to do.

Then also this past week my mom had a major fall which you can read about here.  Last night she was admitted to hospital due to cellulitis infection.  Cellulitis is the bane of many senior citizens, especially those that are less mobile. She was heavily sedated all day due to pain but her nurse says she is doing much better now. We are not yet sure how long she will be in hospital but my brother and nephew will be attending to visit her and help her with her various needs while I attend to my own medical needs.

Now I'm back to the next big step in the decluttering process, the subject of this blog post which I've called,  "The Last Major Hurdles".  The hurdles are the table top, the dresser top in the bedroom and the big boxes in the bedroom, some of which are pictured below. Once I clean these surfaces and fully unpack the boxes I will have the hardest parts of my decluttering project behind me. I still will have a lot to do but the worst of it will have been done. Yippee!!!

The dining room table in the photo below is covered with clutter and tablecloths so you can't see but it is an antique table from Spain. I love it and it is special because my mom gave me the money to buy it as a birthday present many years ago.  Though my mother paid for it she never liked my choice of table and I am now going to get rid of it.  When I told her that some months ago, she said "Oh good!"  I would probably keep it were it not for the fact that the chairs need reinforcing every year due to their age and often they are not reinforced so they pose a possible danger to someone.  Otherwise, I love the table. Partly because of it's heavy and ornately carved legs.  I also love it because the table top has leaves inserted under it and you can pull them out when you have a sewing project or you have a dinner party.  This adds about 5 more surface feet which really helps when you want to cut fabrics or set out food and dinnerware which I do for buffet style dinners when entertaining.

Clutter on the tabletop. empty coin wrappers in the bag and important papers in a  wooden box on the floor. The table area is nice and clean from time to time but I'm afraid it acts as an expensive catch all most of the time.  Once I clean the the table I will find a new home for it. In fact, I've already ordered a new, small round table for the dining table.  I think it will work much better in this space.

Don't you agree that these are beautiful and solid looking table legs?

Two big unpacked boxes remain from the move in we did just over a year ago post-fire. I've had a quick peek inside and put a lot of the items to sort on the top of the dresser which is adjacent to the boxes. Things look rather messy in the master bedroom at the moment but it is surface mess until everything is dealt with.

Update:  I stayed up late and cleared the table.  A small bag of garbage was thrown out and bills and paperwork added to other like documents which are to be sorted and dealt with later. First pass through the paper is getting rid of anything no longer needed.  It feels good to see the table again.  Next it will need to be polished before I see who might want to give it a good home.

Clutter free once again!

Mom Had a Fall

My mom had a fall yesterday and was unable to get help for about 4 hours. Her head somehow got wedged in the basket of her walker and somehow she ended up with her blankets over her head as well. She tried to call for help in the hopes that passersby might hear her from the hallway but alas no one came to help.

I do pay for a necklace for mom to wear in case she ever has such a problem. The necklace has a button which is to be depressed if you get into a "situation" but mom didn't have it on. She always takes it off when she is getting her bath and then she often neglects to put it back on due to forgetfulness or distractedness.

It was many hours later when the wound nurse visited to change her dressings that she was discovered and the ambulance personnel prompted were called to come and check her over. Mom didn't go to the hospital as she said she didn't feel she had any broken bones but she is battered, bruised and very sore.

We are on an urgent waiting list to get mom into a nursing home. In fact I just spoke to the nursing home the day before this falling incident and they are working as fast as they can to prepare things equipment wise. The issue really is when the room will be available as it is currently occupied. They may move the gentleman to another room but I know this is asking a lot. I just leave it in the Lord's hands and pray for mom and her new home to come available as soon as it possibly can.


Update:  A few days after the fall mom ended up being admitted to hospital. She has a cellulitis infection in the legs. This is her fourth trip to hospital for a similar reason which is why she is now on a waiting list to go into a nursing home.  My brother and nephew are with her and looking after things. I imagine she will stay in the hospital until her infection gets better. In a way, it is a bit of a relief to me that she been admitted so that the doctors can treat the infection which was also setting into her bladder; another recurring health issue.

Cleaning and Decluttering Continues

Well this is about day 5, though not consecutive days, of my major decluttering and cleaning project. Today I didn't feel much like decluttering in my bedroom or living area so I tackled some much needed cleaning in the kitchen.

I gave everything on the counters a good wipe down. I also hopped on my mini-ladder and wiped down the upper kitchen cabinets which always seem to collect a lot of grease and grime despite being wiped down almost every other day. I find this aspect of kitchen cleaning quite frustrating and would love to know what others do to keep their kitchen cabinets, stove tops and appliances grime free. Normally I use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda to clean the grime but today I used Orange Lysol.

My galley kitchen is very small. Combined with very narrow kitchen cabinets, I have little room for all the basic things one needs in a kitchen. A lot of things need to be stored on the countertops and it is a constant challenge to keep it clean as well as have enough room for food preparation.

I added the multi-coloured batik cloth to the tray under my coffee pot. It was a gift from a cousin but I had no where to use it until the thought struck me today to put it under the coffee tray.  My calendar looks empty but that is because I haven't added my appointments - yet! LOL

I can now look at fresh fruit, napkins and a pitcher instead of a hodge podge of non kitchen items sitting on the pass through to the dining room.

Believe it or not, wiping down the kitchen took me 5 and half steady hours and it really wasn't that dirty. I did a little re-organizing, collected some kitchen containers for recycling and vacuumed and washed the kitchen floor. Though there is still a bit more cleaning to be done in the kitchen, such as cleaning out the main food cabinet and washing on top of and behind the refrigerator, I am satisfied with the day's work.