Melody Jenkins on the Nata village blog writes about Christmas day in Nata:
The day began with Mr. Tiro arriving at Melody's to load up all the Christmas toys, food, clothes, and sweets that would be distributed in the village.
Thank goodness for the work of Santas helpers and elfs. Mr. Tiro's daughters, neices, and nephew joined in on Christmas morning to help. Pictured above L-R are Dudu Tiro, Kelly Tiro, Monkemedi Tiro, Theo Tiro and Maatla Tiro. As you will see later, things got crazy and they did an awesome job!
First stop was Nata Clinic. A skeleton staff had to be on duty to give out TB treatment and deal with emergencys. We brought soft drinks and cookies for all the staff as we knew they were depressed about working on the holiday. When we arrived, Dr. Roger was busy sewing up a patient who had been cut by her own brother. He had demanded money from her and when she refused he cut her arm with a knife. We gave her one of the soft drinks to cheer her up. We want to thank her for letting us photograph her very unhappy Christmas day
After having a great time at Joyce's we then drove around the village to give blessings. All of Santas helpers and Elfs rode in the back of the truck and handed out suckers and potato chips. Along the way we were joined by some of Mr. Tiros friends from Francistown and we made our way through the village in caravan style delivering sweets. Our first stop was to a compound in Manakanagore Ward and the kids along with their mom were so grateful for this small treat.
It doesn't take long for word to get out. Kids came running to the truck to receive their sweets. This is where Santa's helpers really came in handy. They did a great job wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and they helped to keep things under control. The children show their gratitude and manners by putting the palms of their hands together to receive their treat.
Pictured above is Kelly handing out suckers off the back of the truck. Things got quite sad at this point as the kids were not eating the potato chips as a nice snack but were eating them from hunger. When school is is session, the children get at least one hearty meal a day. Now that school is out, many of the kids are going a day without a meal. Mr. Tiro said that next year, we're killing a cow. This was a shock for us all.
At this point, we were overwhelmed with kids. It's important for all of us to see just how desperate people will become for one sucker or a handful of chips. We've got a long way to go here. All the kids in this photo got something from you.
This was the final stop of the day. We started out at 10am on Christmas morning and finished at close to 4pm. It was a great day for us all. Santas helpers are all privileged kids that attend private school. At the end of the day they expressed their appreciation for being allowed to participate in such a worthy cause. They are all from Botswana and they all said they were shocked at how some people are forced to live. All of Santas helpers said the day was an eye opener for them as they saw things they had never seen before. It's this next generation of young people who will be making a difference in their country. Thank you Seloma Tiro and your entire family for using your Christmas day to help others. Thanks to you donors as well. A note on how we have to operate here: It took over 2 1/2 hours to post our 3 part Christmas story. We're sorry we didn't have it sooner but of course had server problems. Happy holidays to you all!!!!
We bought a battery charger and four rechargeable batteries for the Digital Blood Pressure Machine as the batteries had already gone dead. Mr. Tiro presents the charger (almost $40) and we presented soft drinks and cookies to all the staff. Since it was Christmas day they were allowed to be out of uniform so they all look a bit different. L-R Santas helpers Theo and Kelly, Mr. Tiro holding battery charger, midwife nurse Malenga, Sr. Nurse Ramakama and general duty attendant looking very nice Nora. The clinic staff want to say thanks so much for this small token of appreciation and the nurses were thrilled over the battery charger!
The next stop was at the home of Evangelista in Sekao ward. Both Evangelista and her husband work. They still struggle to take care of their children and grandchildren so we thought they were a perfect family to help. What's really cool in Botswana culture is that they call giving gifts, giving blessings. Santas helpers and elfs really enjoyed giving blessings today. Evangelistas son received a back pack the kids got coloring books and crayons and they all enjoyed eating a large hen, rice, and cooking oil.
Evangelista was so pleased with her shawl and two blue bath towels. She couldn't have been happier. Thanks for making their day.
When the kids saw the coloring books they didn't quite know what to do. So, Mr. Tiro got right down there and showed them how to do it. They really had a great time!
Next stop was the compound of Joyce R. Joyce is such a nice lady and has the sweetest twin boys and daughter you'd ever want to meet. She's been having a tough time lately so we/you were so happy to help her out a bit. Pictured above is Joyce with the extended family. You also gave her 20 pounds of rice, a hen, a case of canned fish, washing powder, toothpaste, toothbrushes and cooking oil.
Pictured above is the family opening their gifts. They were so shocked that someone would do this for them.
Santas helpers had to jump in and show them how some of the toys worked. You gave the tiny kids colorful educational toys. The twins got dump trucks, race cars, a toy boat, and the older boy got a soccer ball.
Pictured above is one of the twins playing with his dump truck.
Pictured above is the other twin (we think) playing with his new plastic boat. We had just got a lot of rain so it made a perfect little lake right next to their compound. I can't tell you how much fun this was for all of us to share your generosity with his family.
Mr. Tiro explains how the funny hippo works. You place the correct shape in the hole then punch the top button and the shape comes out of the hippos mouth. Mr. Tiro's youngest son is pictured on the left. He was such a good boy all day as he watched all the presents being given out and never asked for one himself. What a sweet kid.
This little toddler seemed a bit stunned by it all. All in all we spent about $400 on the day and we wished we had the time and transport availability to do more. The next post will be the final part 3 which will show our efforts at passing out sweets to all the village kids.
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Posted by: Duncan | Jan 01, 2008 at 01:24 PM