MSC archived stories - November 9, 2019
It's been nearly 3 months since Faith (age 8) joined me from Zambia. Her situation is vastly different from my experience of children elsewhere. Saira is my only case of "extreme poverty" that I had to deal before Faith.
The first thing I wanted to know was her BMI, and according to WHO guidelines she is malnourished. But I'm waiting confirmation on this from CI and to find out if she is participating in the nutrition program. Additionally, Faith has never attended school because her family lacked funds.
In principle, I could not start sending any gifts without her gaining access to the basic necessities of sponsorship. Nevertheless, today Faith is paving me the way to learn a lot about fellow citizens of Zambia.
A severe drought they faced in 2018 has led the Zambian government to encourage people to think other high-nutrient varieties and farmers to harvest alternative crops beyond their staple diet, Maize (corn or nshima) with drought-tolerant cassava, rice, millets and sorghum. [youtu.be/l3WfsFrFj38] – do any of Zambia sponsors talk about this subject with their children?
For those who shown an interest in my WL letter to Faith (story dated Sep 01, 2019), CI advised me..
“It’s best not to ask about potential gifts for the family, or mention the type of school you’d like for her to attend (since it may not be feasible). Also, it’s best not to tell her you will “take care of the rest until she graduates,” as we never know what life holds and this may not be a promise that can be kept.”
(edited letter)
Dear Faith,
I want to Welcome you to my family of sponsored children from around the globe. You are my very first child to join from sub-Saharan Africa – Zambia!
First, so that you know me, my name is Chelaka. I was born in Sri Lanka, but now live in Scotland of Great Britain. I have been a CI sponsor for 14 years now.
I'm learning a lot about you, duwa (daughter as in my mother tongue) and your life in Lusaka. Where I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s the life was hard with civil unrests in the country for decades, so I can relate to somewhat even harder upbringing you're enduring without your parents around.
Will you introduce your five members of the family to me in a letter? Do you normally have food to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? What do your family members do for work? Do you have livestock or grow food?
My priority is to get you to enrolled in a school.
We are closely connected through our membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. You may have seen cattle in your neighborhood, but did you know one of Scotland icons is the Scottish highland cattle with horns and woolly ginger coats?
Lots of love to my fighting spirit of wisdom!
Chelaka
Reference:
www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/zambia-food-activists [Nov 07, 2019]
You will learn so much from Faith, and I hope school is in her future. The droughts in Africa are changing the lives of so many people, especially those living in poverty. Keep us posted about her.Meanwhile, I think she'd enjoy a picture of a wooly Scottish Highland calf.
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One of my girls lost 2lbs and grew an inch between age 9 and 10. Another was already clinically underweight. I'm interested in knowing more about nutrition programs and reports. Do you just ask CI?
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Chelaka, you are the perfect sponsor, mentor and friend for Faith to have beside her to guide her through whatever obstacles she finds along her way toward becoming an adult!
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barbmc
ReplyDeleteYou want to know her BMI? That is both personal and private information. Any medical information cannot (and should not) be released. except for the childs height and weight. The parents may agree to it but as a parent I wouldn't. The medical information of a minor is protected and personal. If you're really worried about her just call CI on Monday and they will take any action if it is necessary.
November 9, 2019
Barbmc, you can calculate a person’s BMI if you know their height and weight. We have this information on our sponsored children. The formula is BMI = kg/m2 where kg is a person’s weight in kilograms and m2 is their height in meters squared. There are also calculators on Google, both for metric and English/US measurements. However, it’s true that this information has its limitations.
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Hi, I just want to add that a bmi is a sort of average number (calculated like Elemay indicated) that does not always reflect the real health situation. Someone could have a perfect bmi and be extremly malnourish.. or a very low bmi (like my daughter in the past) and have access to good food.. I hope Faith will give you some answers in her letter..
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Hi Katherine, Here is the CI response to my query:"When she was enrolled, if she was underweight based on WHO standards for youth in Zambia, she would have been referred to her community center doctor for follow-up. If she was found to be malnourished, she would be referred for enrollment in her community center nutrition program. This is not a feeding program, but classes for the family to learn better nutrition, and youth who are severely malnourished are given liquid supplements to help them gain weight. Of course, as with all programs, the decision to participate is completely up to the parent, or in this case, guardian."
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Thank you, NancyA. No matter how miracle that would be to turn her life around, but your great insight always motivates me to go the extra mile!
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Thanks for your advice, Barb. I'm sure CI sense-check our posts to ensure protected data are not violated.
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Hi Marie, Faith’s picture tells me a lot about her – health & education are my priority now.
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From researching Zambian culture, and from several years of corresponding with over a dozen CI Zambian children and youths, and corresponding with one Mother, I know the culture is vastly different than the one I live. Among the things I note: Males largely interact with males, females with females. No Father or StepFather, no male relative has ever written a word to me or asked for a message to be conveyed to me. Once, only once a Father appeared in an EG photo and that looked to be an accident -- I could see only his shoulder in the picture. Moreover, expecting questions to be answered by anyone will often lead to disappointment. I knew when I began sponsoring Zambians, that specific questions about health, work, religion, home and family are considered intrusive. As for education, I carefully offer constant support for learning. As for health: I asked CI to help me with health EG's in the cases of two wheelchair-bound pre-teens, and one child with an eye condition. I myself do not directly bring up such questions in my letters. This all sounds like not much happens writing letters to CI Zambians, but that is hardly true: We have lively exchanges. Currently I am sponsoring 10, yes ten Zambians. Grace (age 8 at the time) told me her favorite book is: The Big Snake Comes to the Village. And asked me, "What is your favorite book?" (I will always love the title of Grace's favorite book in the CI library in Lusaka!)
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Hi Rachel, Thanks ever for your helpful guidance. In my opinion, all African nations are technologically savvy and I believe they have better understanding of the world around them than perhaps I do! I'm hoping Faith will understand me. Btw, do you have ISBN for the title of Grace's favorite book?
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I want to buy a copy of Grace's favorite book: The Big Snake Comes to the Village, but that desire is thwarted so far. I have found no information, none. (and I am a persistent Googler) In frustration, I have an order in for a book which won't list it, but that will certainly broaden my knowledge in this field: Black Books Galore!: Guide to Great African American Children's Books about Girls by Donna Rand, 0739417312, John Wiley & Sons. I do not have any belief Big Snake will be listed there or in the companion edition "about Boys" but I'll learn a lot of about literature for African-American children, won't I...
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barbmc
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the health, nutrition, and education of all the children has always been a top priority for the parents (or guardians) and CI. I think CI is doing an excellent job irregardless of whether or not the child/youth even has a sponsor. But a sponsor can only request information, send letters, make a donation,ect. We're not the parents. We don't make the decisions for CI. Why not just send an EG so they can buy food right away if they need to. That's what I did when I had concerns because inquires can take months. All medical authority, information and most choices belong to the parents or CI. I can tell you that few, if any, of the Zambian families grow food or raise livestock. They all live in a compound and conditions in the compounds, water,soil, ect are not right for either. As for education in Zambia, that can be tricky.Don't drive yourself crazy worrying about their BMI. Let CI do that! It's their job. They love checking out that stuff (sorry Debbies!) It will suck all the joy out of being a sponsor. Just do what you can, and what you feel comfortable with. Sponsorship is not a science. It's more about emotions, common sense, and feeling good about yourself.
November 10, 2019
Rachel, What do you think of this book? (sorry, you’ll have to copy the whole link onto address bar) -- https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jgm1WRyIt_YC&pg=PT67&lpg=PT67&dq=%22The+Big+Snake+Comes%22&source=bl&ots=eSpUm0xsgI&sig=ACfU3U14NUl0x8LZXLisCspm0hMYpQXC3Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjfr9vK4ODlAhWPX8AKHWTpApoQ6AEwAHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22The%20Big%20Snake%20Comes%22&f=false
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Faith is fortunate to have a sponsor friend who will interact by sharing child centered interests in letters, such as family and animals, while working behind the scenes to meet more complex life changing needs of education and nutrition. I looked at your profile, Faith is a lovely addition to your wonderful sponsorship family.
ReplyDeleteNovember 10, 2019
Good thinking Chelaka -- Grace may be thinking of the title of a chapter, not the book title. I'll investigate the he Adventures of Zumba and Rumba book series by G. Alan Brooks and Ruby A. Brooks. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteNovember 11, 2019
It's true that anyone who cares to can figure out their child's BMI using the info from their family record. It's also true, that a child's health info is protected. So, in theory a youth could be malnourished or obese, and be enrolled in our nutrition program and the family would have to give permission to share the info. CIKC has access to what programs youth participate in (never for the current year as it's still in progress), so we typically don't send memo inquiries for that information. If however, we are sending an education inquiry, we will ask what programs the youth participates in for the current year, as we did with Faith. To learn about our Nutrition programs, check out our website - it has the most accurate info for each country and lots of stories. Just search for the word nutrition or visit the country page for your youth.
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