Meet the Staff of Good Samaritan Children's Home

From left to right: Esther, Thandie, Japhet, Lloyd and Rodney

Miss Esther also known as the Matron. She is in charge of the "moms" or caregivers of the children. She is such a sweet lady. Miss Esther had three children, two daughters who both died of Malaria and a son who was killed. She is now caring for 6 orphaned grandchildren in addition to her responsibilities at the Children's Home. Miss Esther spends some nights at home with her grandchildren and then some nights at the Children's Home. When the rainy season hit this past December, several walls of her house collapsed and the roof caved in. Her home is in desperate need of repair to keep the young children safe from wild animals, thieves, weather, etc. Even with all of the trials she has had in her life, her faith stays strong.

Thandie is also known as the one in charge. Thandie oversees all things having to do with the Children's Home. She carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, being directly responsible for the well being of 97 orphans, the staff and the facilities. Thandie lives on site at the Children's Home with her 6 year old daughter Peace.

Japhet is the "father" over three rooms of boys at the Children's Home. He provides guidance and direction for the oldest boys. Japhet assists Lloyd with the purchasing of goods and supplies. He also in charge of the government and school files.

Lloyd is the "uncle" to all of the children at Good Samaritan. His official title is Administrator. Lloyd is in charge of all the purchasing of supplies for Good Samaritan. He also is the main driver. Lloyd is a preacher and often assists the visiting American preachers with translating the messages. Lloyd lives on the Children's Come campus with his wife and 4 sons (Samuel, Joseph, Nathaniel and Jonathan).

Rodney is the store keeper for Good Samaritan. He also oversees the medical care for the children and provides basic first aid and administers medication. He also supervises the staff members during the day, making sure everyone stays on task. Rodney lives on the Children's Home campus with his wife and two children (Clement and Heather).

In addition to these "Core Staff" members there are: cooks, maintenance staff, carpenters, tailors, teachers, plumbers, electricians, lab technicians, and caregivers on campus. Currently, Good Samaritan is run entirely by Malawians....overseen by American Missionary Gardiner Gentry.

Malawi's First Lady looses battle with Cancer

Ethel Mutharika the wife of Malawi President, Bingu wa Mutharika, died Monday May 28th after a long battle with cancer. Ethel was a Zimbabwean national who was married to Malawi's president for 37 years. She was 63 years old.

Today Malawi began what will be a month of mourning for the first lady. The president's chief political adviser Hetherwick Ntaba, a physician by profession, said the first lady died of complications from cancer. "She has been a cancer patient for a long time. It started from the bowels and the cancerous cells were removed successfully, but some cells remained and started spreading," he told The Associated Press. "For the last three years, it grew worse and aggressive, and we eventually lost her on Monday."

Today President Bingu Mutharika age 73, led mourners in paying respects to his wife as she lay in state at the New State House in Lilongwe. Her body will then be moved to the northern city of Mzuzu on June 2 and the commercial capital, Blantyre, on June 5. She will be buried on June 9th at the couple's farm in the southern tea-growing district of Thyolo, where the president is from.

Ethel Mutharika was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, she is survived by her husband, four children and grandchildren.

This information was taken from the following websites:

http://www.dailytimes.bppmw.com/article.asp?ArticleID=4882

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/29/africa/AF-GEN-Malawi-Mutharika.php

Cathreen's Birthday!

Cathreen turned 8 years old on May 27th. She is in second grade. Cathreen sings in the choir and used to sing with Ivy.

Other news: Thandie is having trouble getting the network on her phone. I was only able to speak to her briefly. She reported that all of the children at Good Samaritan are healthy and doing well. I spoke to Bro. Gentry who stated that they may be getting Internet access at the children's home soon. That is such great news!

Good Samaritan Children's Home

This video was taken last summer on the last day of my trip. The children look so beautiful. The boys are wearing brand new shirts that I was able to purchase while I was there. Thandie told me that it was the first time any of the boys ever had a brand new shirt. I was also able to buy enough material to make each girl a brand new dress. I was so surprised that the taylors were able to make so many dresses so quickly. Thank you to those who donated funds last year for these items. I hope to have a new dress made for each girl this summer as well. Stay tuned for details of what I am calling the "Dress Project".

The Teacher Arrives from Iowa

Miss Sharon arrived in Malawi today from Iowa. There were several children and staff from the Good Samaritan Children's Home at the airport to greet her. She then went straight out to the Children's Home where the rest of the children sang songs for her and quoted Bible Scripture. Miss Sharon is experienced in the ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) program. The Gentry's are looking into starting the ACE program at the Children's Home. Miss Sharon will also be taking a tour of a nearby orphanage in that is currently using the ACE program. She will be staying at the Gentry's house during her one week visit in Malawi. She will leave Malawi next Saturday, June 2nd. Please keep her in prayer during this trip.

Happy Birthday Catherin

We have another teenager at the Children's Home! Catherin turns 13 years old on May 25th. She will be writing her 8th grade exams in September and then will begin secondary school. Catherin enjoys singing and playing netball. She wants to be a nurse when she grows up.

Other News:

This is a picture of Clement. He is Rodney's son, the Good Samaritan staff member who oversees the medical care for the children. Clement has Malaria 2 plus. Please pray for him. He went to the doctor today and was given anti-malaria medication. One of the caregivers, Dorothy, was also taken to the hospital today. She was diagnosed with Anemia. Thandie's brother had the procedure today for his throat. The doctor placed a scope in his throat to see what was causing him not to be able to swallow or keep food down. The doctors had warned him that it may be cancer. The doctors were surprised to find that it was what Thandie is calling a bleeding boil. I'm guessing it might be some kind of ulcer. Anyway, he will be having a surgical procedure on Monday. Praise the Lord that it isn't cancer! Thandie's uncle, the one who went up north recently to receive dialysis is doing poorly. He is on oxygen and is very sick. Please pray for him.

Thandie has been busy all week preparing the soil and planting in the garden. They are planting sugarcane, cabbage, peas and tomatoes. Thandie loves working with the kids in the garden. Today 35 of the children are going to the trade fair. They are very excited. There will be many booths set up demonstrating different things such as how you can make sugar from sugarcane, how electricity works and many other things. There will also be plants for sale. Thandie will be looking for a lemon tree. She is hoping we can make lemonade one day like she had while she was in the States.

Word of Advice to future Malawi Travelers

I spoke with Sharon today at Golden Rule Travel. She is the lovely lady that books the plane tickets for the Gentrys and most of their visitors. She warned me that I needed to buy my plane ticket by the 30th of April or I would be facing a much higher price. She was not kidding! I bought my plane ticket on the 23rd of April. On the 30th of April the tickets went from $2300 to $5600. Yikes! There are multiple reasons for the increase. 1)Summer travel is more expensive. 2)There are 8 price rates within the economy section of the plane. First come first serve. 3)Blantyre, Malawi is no longer on the travel route for the US, so you have to book an additional ticket to go from South Africa to Malawi. Before this was just a layover and not a separate ticket. 4)South African Airways only flies to Malawi twice a week, so there are only 8 or 9 possible dates you can travel in a month, making it more competitive.

For those of you planning to go to Malawi in September, it would be a good idea to check with Sharon and keep an eye on the cheaper ticket availability. She said that if you are firm on your dates, book now. If you aren't sure about your dates, check back every couple weeks.

Update: As of 5/23/07, plane tickets to Malawi in September but before the 17th are approximately $2500. If you can leave after the 17th of September the tickets maybe a bit cheaper. These are discounted tickets, once they run out you will have to purchase "published" prices which are over $5000. Prices according to Golden Rule Travel 1-800-950-3599.

Netball Victory

The Good Samaritan girls played a neighboring village (Njuli) in netball on Saturday. They won 23 to 18. The girls were very pleased with their victory. As far as I can tell netball is pretty much the same as what we would call basketball.

Other news: Thandie is birdless. Mark and Luke died this morning, so Thandie let Matthew go and he flew away. One of the staff members suggested that the birds may have been too cold and got sick. Thandie hasn't had much success in raising pets at Good Samaritan. So far goats are about the only animals that have survived. They've lost two monkeys, a dog, and an antelope.

Even with the container coming in a couple weeks, Thandie is hoping I will be able to bring lots of supplies when I come this summer. I am already picturing myself wearing three skirts on the plane and making some kind of hat out of the supplies. I can see lots of measuring, weighing and squishing in my future. The post where I beg for money and supplies is coming soon....

Eda had a special visitor

Eda's brother came to the children's home today to visit her. He is sixteen and still lives in the village where they were born. It makes him happy to see how God has provided for Eda.

When the children's home opened in 2003, 100 children were chosen to become permanent residents of Good Samaritan. Each child chosen had no living adult relatives, which makes them "true orphans" as opposed to abandoned or unwanted. Several sibling sets came to live at Good Samaritan, unfortunately there wasn't room for everyone. The children's home was originally designed for 50, so 100 children had to be the limit. Praise the Lord that a new children's home is now being built!

Other news: The staff and children at Good Samaritan are healthy and doing well. Simion is recovering well from a respiratory infection that Thandie forgot to mention. The 1200 plus bags of corn have arrived and were carefully placed into storage this week. Brother Gentry showed the staff a new way to organize the storage area. At first the staff weren't sure about Brother Gentry's plan, but everyone was happy with how it turned out. One day soon I should have pictures to show you! The CD with current photos was not ready in time to be sent to America with the Alaskan visitors. The new plan is to try to send it with the teacher who is visiting from Iowa at the end of the month. Until then I will just have to be satisfied posting the pictures from last summer.

Oops! Forgot Austen's Birthday!

Austen turned 15 years old on May 12th. He wants to be a driver when he grows up and enjoys playing soccer with his friends. Austen is in the 9th grade and is one of the 13 children attending secondary school outside of the Good Samaritan Property. In Malawi, free public education ends at 8th grade. Secondary School is equivalent of what we call High School in the States. There are school fees for High School. It costs Good Samaritan $500 a month total to send these 13 children to school.

Other news:

Chris is feeling better and is back at the new property. The new property is actually called Ntcheu (the "N" is silent). The package I sent on the 14th of March still has not arrived. One of Thandie's birdies died in the night, she is thinking it was "John". So far Matthew, Mark and Luke are still doing okay. Thandie's uncle with the kidney failure has been moved to a hospital in the Northern Region where he will receive dialysis.

Richard, the little boy who had surgery recently, is doing much better. He is back at school and feeling great. Thandie told me that while he was in the hospital she brought 6 girls from the Children's Home to visit. Richard was in the pediatric unit of the hospital. The girls went one by one and stood on each child's bed and prayed out loud for each sick child. Thandie said it was really something to see. The children were calling out to the Lord, the great physician to heal them!

More Malaria

This is a picture of Chris, one of the employees from Good Samaritan. I am not sure what his official title is, but I am going to call him one of Bro Gentry's mighty men. He takes care of the finances and is currently overseeing the the construction at the new property. He has come down with a terrible case of Malaria. It is 3 plus. Please pray for him and his family. He has a wife and 4 beautiful children. This picture was taken on a safari last summer. Notice that even on the safari he is on the phone handling business for Bro Gentry.

One of Thandie's brothers also has Malaria. Thandie's uncle is in the hospital with kidney failure. Please continue to pray for Thandie and her family.

Update from the Gentrys

I spoke to Bro and Mrs. Gentry today. They are both in good health and staying very busy. Mrs. Gentry reports that they have had little to no water and electricity during their stay. She said that they either have water or electricity, but rarely at the same time. Most of their water is being hauled in from a pump station in town.

The Gentrys are pleased with the progress on the new property. The first building is going up this week! There are plans for many more buildings to follow including a church, orphanage and missionary house. The Missionary family visiting from Alaska has been instrumental in these plans and the Gentrys are very encouraged by the vision God has given this family for the new property. The family is now back in Alaska but will be back soon. I will post the family's name once I get their permission.

The next American visitor will be a teacher from Iowa who will be visiting the last week of May. Eight more visitors will be coming throughout the month of June. The Gentrys will return to Kentucky at the end of June. Please continue to keep them in your prayers!

Happy Birthday Zione F. !!!

Zione turned 10 years old today. She is in the 4th grade and wants to be a nurse when she grows up. Zione likes to sing and jump rope.

Meet Shalom!

Peace has chosen a new name! She found out that Shalom means "Peace" in Hebrew and prefers the way it sounds. I spoke to her today on the phone and she asked me to call her by her new name. She also asked me to post it on the Blog so all the Americans would know her new name.
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Today Thandie shared with Peace or should I say Shalom, the story of how she became her mom. I know many of you have been praying that God would show Thandie just the right time to share the story and that Peace would receive it well. God answered our prayers! Thandie said they shared a very special morning.

New additions to Good Samaritan

Everyday I tell Thandie to do something exciting so I can write about it on the blog. I want to keep the blog exciting, sometimes it seems a bit boring. Today Thandie told me that she had something exciting for me to write about on the blog. She received four new residents at Good Samaritan. There were actually five originally but now there are four. It turns out that while Brother Gentry was on his way back from the new property, he purchased 5 little grey birds from a street vendor for Thandie. One female bird with a black beak and 4 males with red beaks. Thandie said the children at Good Samaritan thought Mrs. Gentry put lipstick on the birds. The first night Thandie tucked the 5 little birdies into bed in their bird house. The next morning the female bird was found dead. Not sure what happened but probably the male birdies were up to no good. Originally Thandie didn't name the birds because they all look the same. But later the birds were named. They are the Gospel Birds of Good Samaritan: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Note about pictures: The majority of the pictures posted of the children on this blog were taken last summer during my trip to Malawi. Thandie also brought a few pictures with her when she came to America earlier this year. We haven't found an internet connection in Malawi that can upload the pictures in a timely and cost effective fashion so that they can be emailed. So when Thandie informs me of current event happening at Good Samaritan, I search image files on the Internet to add a visual to the post. So the picture of the bird in this post is not one of the actual birds living at Thandie's. But, there is new hope of current pictures! Thandie is sending a staff member to town to see if there is a place that will convert the digital pictures from her camera to CD. She will then hand the CD over to an American visitor who will carry it with them to America and mail it to me. The visitors from Alaska leave Saturday, and we just came up with this plan today, so hopefully she can get the CD made and sent off with the visitors. She even took some videos!

More News: Richard was not able to come home tonight as planned. While he was getting his wound cleaned and dressing changed, the incision started to hemorrhage. He was kept over night for observation. Please continue to pray for quick healing and that he be protected from infection.

Peace's Discovery: While Peace was eating dinner last night, she noticed a cream colored baby lizard on the ceiling. She became very concerned that it was going to fall. She couldn't figure out how it was sticking to the ceiling without falling off. Peace is so cute!

Happy Birthday Carolina

Carolina turns 9 years old today! She is in the first grade and wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Her favorite food is French Fries. She must have had them for a special treat.

Other news: Good Samaritan was able to purchase more bags of corn. They are up to 1400 bags now! Richard is being discharged from the hospital tonight.

Dry Goods Purchased Today!

When Thandie was in America earlier this year, she was hoping to raise the funds necessary to purchase a year supply of dry goods for Good Samaritan. The cost of the dry goods was $40,000. The goal was met and surpassed. Praise the Lord! Today 950 bags of corn were purchased from the Mozambique border. The corn will be treated and stored. The children will be able to rest assured knowing that they will have food for at least a year. These children had gone days and weeks with no food prior to coming to Good Samaritan. Many of the children ate rotten food or garbage. Since they have been at Good Samaritan they have not gone without food. Praise the Lord! Thank you to all who donated funds and spent time in prayer over this crucial need.

Richard is having surgery

Please pray for Richard as he has surgery on Tuesday (5/8) morning on his arm. Thandie said that he has in infection in his arm that has to be removed. I will post as soon as I get an update. The phone connection has been difficult the past couple of days.

Update #1 prognosis is unclear at this time. Please continue to pray for Richard. (5/8 7:30am PST).

Update #2 Richard's surgery took place at 2:30pm on Tuesday. The surgery was delayed because there were many other patients at the hospital with more serious conditions. The procedure took twenty minutes. The doctors removed an infection from his lower arm and palm. Thandie reports that the surgery went well and she hopes he will be released tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers. (5/8 11:30am PST)

Update #3 Richard is feeling better. He is expected to be released from the hospital either late this afternoon or tomorrow. (5/9 7:15am PST)

Please Pray for Richard

Richard fell and hurt his arm. Thandie said that it was x-rayed and determined to be a sprain and not a fracture. He is going back to the hospital on Monday for a second opinion because she feels it is more serious than a sprain. Please pray that the doctors will have wisdom to determine the severity of this injury and that it will be treated properly.

In other news: Peace lost another tooth. On the bottom this time. The package that I sent on the 14th of March hasn't arrived yet. I hope it finds its way there soon. This box contained food and was sent to help Peace transition back to Malawi food slowly. Funny! Now they have been there a month and it hasn't gotten there. I know God's knows just when the box should arrive.

Huge Python found on new property!

Scary! This is a picture of a python similar to the one found this week on the new property in Malawi. Job Security, the mechanic for Good Samaritan, said that it was as big around as his leg. They were able to remove it before anybody got hurt. I hope to visit the new property when I am in Malawi this Summer. I am glad that the snake wont be there, I hope he was a loner and doesn't have any friends still slithering around.

I spoke with the Gentrys this morning. They are in good health and staying very busy. There has been no water at the Gentry's house for quite sometime. Today when I was speaking to them their electricity had gone out.

Peace continues to get better. Praise the Lord! Thandie worked in the garden today clearing the land and planting cabbage. The crops that were planted before she left for America, didn't produce much. The rainy season was so harsh that it washed most of the crops away.

Peace is getting better everyday!

Peace went to school today for a half day. She is now at home taking a nap. Thandie says that Peace is getting better every day. Praise the Lord! Thank you to everyone who prayed for Peace. A big thank you to everyone who has financially supported Good Samaritan. Without the financial support they wouldn't be able to pay the medical fees and purchase the life saving medication for the children. Thandie said that many of the children at Good Samaritan lost their parents to Malaria. World Vision Summer 2007 & UNESCO reports that one million children die world wide from Malaria each year.

Peace is feeling better

I spoke to Thandie this morning at 7:30am and she said Peace was feeling much better.

We didn't have clear reception so our conversation was very short. She said that Peace still had no fever and was resting comfortably. Thandie was doing something with the children at Good Samaritan. It sounded like she said something about a library and a school bus, they have neither so I have no idea what she was talking about. And then the phone cut off. I've been trying to call her back, but I haven't been able to get through.

UPDATE:

I spoke to Thandie again at 11:30am. Thandie sounded so happy. She said Peace was feeling much better. She even plans to send her to school tomorrow for a half day. Thandie said that the children received their new flip flops today (that is what she was trying to tell me before when I heard "school bus"). The visitors from Alaska presented the children with new toothbrushes and toothpaste tonight after church. The children were so happy.

Peace is a "little-bit" better

I just spoke to Thandie and she said that Peace is a "little-bit" better. Peace had a fever last night but so far this morning she has no fever. Peace has a headache and eye pain which is common with Malaria and a side effect of the anti-Malaria medication. She also has completely lost her appetite. Peace has been asking Thandie to tie her on to her back. Thandie said that since Peace went to America and grew big, she can't manage to carry her on her back. Poor Peace. Thandie has to go to town this morning to take care of some business at the secondary school where 13 of our children are enrolled. Peace doesn't want to be alone, so Thandie will somehow manage to drag her along for the outing. Hopefully it wont take long and the two of them can go back home and rest. I hope to update again tomorrow at 7am (Wed). Peace sends her thanks for all the prayers.

Peace has Malaria

Peace was diagnosed with Malaria today. Thandie says it's type 1 or as they say 1 plus. The Malaria medication tastes terrible and has awful side effects. But, we are praising the Lord for the medication, because without it she could die. Thandie said that when you have Malaria, you either need God to heal you without the medication, or you need the medication, otherwise you will die. Peace has had her first dose of the medication. She was hesitant to take it because of the taste, but complied. Peace answered the phone when I called and sounded happy and cheerful. Thandie says thank you to everyone who is praying for her. Thandie sounds very tired and was yawning quite a bit. They are both resting now. I will be checking in with Thandie at 9:30 pm tonight (San Diego time) and then will post an update.

Other news: Ida (Ivy's sister) is sick with stomach pains. One of the boys, Staphano has a boil which will require a medical procedure in the next couple of days. Today was Malawi Labor Day so there was no school.