The Lamp - Covenant Children Inc

The Lamp
“let there be light”
October 2009
C o v e n a n t
Volume 9 Issue 1
C h i l d r e n ,
Official publication of Covenant Children, Inc.
I n c .
MUSIC CAMP AND OUTREACH A GREAT SUCCESS!
Children at the second Instruments
of Change® Music Camp, held again this
year in Kimberley, South Africa, showed
themselves as eager and apt students.
The Camp, led by Yvonne
Emery, was taught by Yvonne and her
fellow Alaskans (all return team members)
Susan Shisler, Mike Lyons, and Vern
Miller. This year, the camp grew to
accommodate 160 enthusiastic young
people.
Assisted by Rebecca Adams and
Ardith Blumenthal, the musicians taught
classes in trumpet, flute, clarinet, melodica,
guitar, drums, and saxophone in addition
to rhythm and movement. A class on
leadership and excellence rounded out the
Music Camp curriculum.
Adult mentors from the
community worked closely with our staff,
providing valuable assistance with
translation and music instruction. The
children speak Afrikaans as their first language, tribal language as a second, and
English as a third. English is taught in school
and many of the older children are fairly fluent
in English, but the younger ones hardly understand it when spoken with our “American
accent.”
The Pentecostal Church of Pescodia
co-sponsored the event which was graciously
hosted by Principal McKenzie and the
Roodepan Primary School. Roodepan is a
slum located within the city of Kimberley. The
school had not a single musical instrument, so
they were very pleased to receive a new
acoustical guitar as the first instrument, in
what we all dream one day, will be a full
fledged music program.
Other instruments donated during
the year were added to the permanent
collection of the Instruments of Change® Music
Academy presently under construction in
Kimberley. Those instruments included clarinets, saxophones, guitars, trumpets and flutes.
It was very rewarding to see many of
our donated instruments being put to use by
local music groups and church worship teams.
INSTRUMENTS OF CHANGE®
MUSIC ACADEMY UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
The fence and sign just went up. Once the
underground services were completed the
permanent security fence was installed to
protect the Academy and associated
buildings. Poverty creates such desperation thus every item used in building,
including underground wiring, needs the
protection of a security fence.
Photos top to bottom: Singing at the concert;
Susan Shisler and the guitar class;
the sign and fenced property for the Instruments
of Change® Music Academy in South Africa
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO BUILD THE
INSTRUMENTS OF CHANGE ® MUSIC
ACADEMY IN KIMBERLEY, SOUTH
AFRICA. CONTACT: [email protected]
Principal McKenzie, Ardith Blumenthal and
Tyrone Africa in front of school.
Page 2
G R E E NP O I NT ’ S S T R E E T C HI L D RE N A ND
O R P H AN P OP UL A T I ON S I N CRE AS E
Life hasn’t gotten any easier for the poor of
Greenpoint, in Kimberley, South Africa. The
Tsiloana Children’s Home, which is sponsored by
Covenant Children, Inc. was busier than ever.
Lucas Tsiloana, the director of the Home, won the
coveted Kimberlite Award as South Africa’s best
community improvement project, but the number
of needy is growing faster than he and his wife
Gloria can expand to meet the needs. The food
budget is very tight and Greenpoint’s sick have no
treatment of any kind.
TO HELP FEED OR CARE FOR THE CHILDREN OF
GREENPOINT, SEND DONATIONS TO COVENANT
CHILDREN, INC. 250 WEST 57TH ST. SUITE 332,
NEW YORK, NY 10107 OR: VISIT OUR WEBSITE
WWW.COVENANTCHILD.ORG
E MAIL [email protected]
The children, often being cared for by siblings just
older than themselves (as pictured above, left), are
forced out of their shelters by the cold South
African winter and about 350 of them show up at
meal time to receive whatever Lucas and Gloria are
able to provide. If no provision-no food.
Though extra help has arrived in the form of
Lucas’s sister and mother, still more help is needed.
We desperately need food and supplies for
Greenpoint.
Children of Greenpoint
OUTREACH SHOWS ENDLESS NEED AND GREAT OPPORTUNITY
As the Instruments of Change®
team travelled to Koffiefontaine and
Capetown, they were overwhelmed with
the needs of the children.
Children
fortunate enough to be in school as well
as those who have no access to school
are living at the ragged edge of hunger.
Most still only have one meal a day. In
spite of their poverty, every child wanted
to sing or learn to play an
instrument. As the team played for them, they
sang at the top of their voices and
danced too. The
temperatures were
in the very low forties and wind was
whipping fine red dust into every eye,
but the singers were undaunted. They
begged us to return next year and do a
music camp in their town. Of course no
school has a musical instrument, though
a few tambourines made an occasional
appearance at our presentations.
Once again we were able to spend time
with Pastor Clifton April and his wife
Frances. Our small
concert
moved into their home in Oppfermans
after the bitter wind and cold temperatures
forced us inside. The children performed
for us and sang beautifully as we all
enjoyed a delicious bowl of soup with the
children. They made us promise to return
next year and stay long enough to teach
them to read music.
Covenant Children, Inc. was very
pleased to be able to leave a new acoustical
guitar with the Aprils for use with the children’s choir. The children were quite
literally jumping up and down with excitement.
In Capetown, we spent time with
Jacob Williams and his wife Sophia.
Pastor
Williams not only helped teach
at the Instruments of Change® Camp in
Kimberley, he provided invaluable assistance during our entire stay.
Tyrone Africa, the president of
Covenant Children, RSA, Inc., joined us in
Capetown as we joined forces to plan for
our next projects in South Africa.
Covenant Children, Inc. and Heart
of Africa are partnering to build a
new dorm for St. Paul’s in Kenya.
The Heart of Africa Board approved
our plan to acquire more land and
build new dorms. Heart of Africa will
be fund raising and supporting the
project. Thanks to Mike Henderson
and Heart of Africa!
Left: Yvonne Emery with children in Greenpoint,
Above: Mike Lyons at Koffiefontaine outreach,
children singing with our musicians
Volume 9
Page 3
SARAH’S WALKING WITHOUT HELP
A MIRACLE AT ST. PAUL’S IN KENYA
Sarah, the staff at St. Paul’s, and all of us at
Covenant Children, Inc. are rejoicing over
the fact that Sarah can walk without
assistance. Robyn, the nurse who volunteered to check on the children at St. Paul’s,
says Sarah is smart, funny and kind. During
Robyn’s last visit Sarah walked out, climbed
up on a bench next to her, and sang! What
amazing progress.
Sarah’s sponsor, Melina James, has been
following Sarah’s progress with keen interest
and is delighted to see how her sponsorship
had the direct and positive result of
changing Sarah’s life so profoundly.
This past year, Melina not only sponsored
Sarah, but Charlotte as well. She sent
hundreds of pounds of clothing and supplies
to St. Paul’s and made a striking difference
in the lives of all our children as there was
something for everyone, thanks to Melina’s
big heart and generosity.
MEDICAL STAFF HELPS ALL
ST. PAUL’S CHILDREN
During our March 2009 trip to Kenya,
Covenant Children, Inc. arranged for
Sarah to receive the medical evaluation
which led to her correct diagnosis of
Ricketts and resulted in her amazing
recovery. The nurse, Robyn Moore and
doctor, Michael Johnson, both of
whom work for a charity called “The
Least of These” are now coming once a
month to evaluate and treat all the
children. This little miracle creates an
official health record for each child and
thereby makes them eligible for
additional medical care should the need
arise.
Sarah in July 2009 walking on her own!
The progress at St. Paul’s is a credit to
each one of our faithful donors. What a
difference has been made in the lives of
Sarah, Charlotte, Hannah, Charlie,
Eric, Susan, David, John, Millicent and
all the other wonderful children who
comprise a list too long to include here.
TO HELP THE CHILDREN AT ST. PAUL’S
CONTACT US
[email protected]
FUND RAISING EVENTS FOR KENYA AND SOUTH AFRICA
BLU SALON HOSTS FUNDRAISER
Blu Salon, in Edgewater, New
Jersey, owned by Melina James and
Lua restaurant in Hoboken, New Jersey
hosted an evening to showcase and
promote the luxury services offered by
the salon and the tasty fare offered by
Lua. Blu invited Covenant Children,
Inc., to make a presentation about St.
Paul’s
Children’s Home in Kenya
and Melina’s “girls” there, Sarah and
Charlotte.
Andrew Blumenthal gave a
brief presentation about Covenant
Children’s work in Kenya.
The Salon raised a thousand
dollars for Covenant Children and the
kids at St. Paul’s where all gift multiply
by many fold. Thank you to all the
wonderful folks at Blu!
Melina in her Salon
TEX ZIMMERMAN AND HIS ALL
STAR REVUE DEBUT IN DENTON
The first annual Dylanfest was
held over Memorial Day weekend. The
event, the brain child of Mike Steinel,
featured Mike (aka, Tex Zimmerman) and
an assembly of remarkable musicians on
drums, guitar, bass, clarinet and sax. Mike
also selected just the right vocalists for each
number.
Mike, a member of the
Instruments of Change® board, was the
catalyst for two concerts held to benefit
Covenant Children, Inc. over the holiday.
A concert featuring the gospel music of
Bob Dylan was enthusiastically received by
an appreciative audience at First Presbyterian Church in Denton on Sunday evening.
Mike, who since visiting South
Africa in 2008, has added mastery of the
guitar and mouth harp to his already
impressive music credentials. He sounded
great singing and playing Dylan songs.
Monday afternoon Mike was
again on stage at Dan’s Silver Leaf, a
popular bar and music venue for the area.
Mike was again joined by a team of outstanding musicians, each of whom made
Dylan songs sound fantastic.
Friends came from Missouri, New
York, Pennsylvania and Texas to see Tex and
his crew perform.
The event raised several thousand
dollars for the Instruments of Change® Music
Camp and Academy in Kimberley.
Instruments of Change® put the money to good
use by purchasing a sound system with all it’s
gear, guitars, and a keyboard.
Thank you Tex Zimmerman and the All Star
Revue! Your gifts transform lives!
Check out what’s up with Tex and Dylan Fest:
www.dylanfest.org or www.texzimmerman.com
Page 4
ARCHER’S POST PRE-SCHOOL IN
DIRE NEED
DONATIONS ACUTELY NEEDED TO FILL
SHIPPING CONTAINER WITH FOOD AND
SUPPLIES
Everyone knows these are truly tough
economic times for many.
The
children we support are by definition
living on the edge of hunger and death.
As the drought in Kenya worsens with
each passing day, food becomes more
2006
scarce and more ©expensive.
The
children, the sick and the old are
especially vulnerable in this crisis.
Covenant Children, Inc. will be
shipping a donated playground and
hopefully food and supplies by
container in November. Please don’t
wait, send a donation today or visit
www.covenantchild.org to give a gift
toward saving our five and six year old
children in Archer’s Post!
MORE ON ARCHER’S POST
Jay Robertson, of Child’s Play,
Inc., has donated a used playground to
our pre-school at Archer’s Post. It is a
small set used for a brief time by a school
in the Dallas area. We are the grateful
recepients of the like-new equipment
which will be shipped to the pre-school
grounds sometime in Novemember of
2009. In March of 2010 a team of
volunteers will install it and make plans
to replace the existing shack which
serves as the present pre-school.
We need $6,000, books and
supplies for the new stone school
building and its over 100 pre-schoolers.
Remember, these children have nothing,
no food, except ugali (a corn meal mush)
given once per day through a
government program, no shoes, no
proper clothing and without your help,
no chance in life. Please help today!
Covenant Children Inc.
250 West 57th St.
Suite 332
New York, NY 10107
212 245 3860 201 865 3032
www.covenantchild.org
SPONSOR A CHILD
YOU NEVER KNOW WHOSE
LIFEWILL CHANGE
[email protected]
Above and right: Pre-school children at
Archer’s Post, Kenya
TEAM HEADED TO KENYA,
ST. PAUL’S AND ARCHER’S POST
MARCH 18-31, 2010.
Join our work and photo safari adventure:
March 19-27 or extend to March 31st.
9 nights $2399 -Land only
14 nights $3350-Land only
Contact:
[email protected] or
Cathie at [email protected]
MAKING IT PERSONAL
People are often discouraged and
intimidated by the statistics of poverty:
20,000,000 orphans in Africa; 10,000 children dying daily of hunger related disease.
Can we honestly comprehend that? For
example, the population of New York
State is 20,000,000. What if the population of New York State were all under 16,
and were all orphans? Or what if everyone you ever met suddenly died today?
Would that be about 10,000 people? And
what if another 10,000 died tomorrow?
And again the next day? And what if
these were all children? These horrors are
incomprehensible to most of us and
addressing those staggering numbers is
something
that
can
really
only
be undertaken effectively by world
governments or immense international
relief agencies, not you and me.
But what we can do, and what Covenant
Children, Inc. does every day, is to make
sure the children we support will never be
included in those awful statistics. The
approximately 200 children at St. Paul’s
and in Archer’s Post are fed daily and
receive medical attention, an education
and know they are loved. These children,
whom we do have the ability to look after, offer the hope and promise that someday they will contribute to different kinds
of statistics: they may become doctors;
teachers; community, national and
international leaders. It’s these kids, the
product of positive statistics, that may
ultimately change those numbers that are
so daunting to us. As donations allow,
we increase our reach into the communities, including our Instruments of Change ®
initiative that through music programs
introduces whole communities of children to constructive alternatives to
crime, poverty and drug abuse. It’s these
children who may break the cycle that
leads to the statistics of crushing hopelessness, disease, corruption and poverty.
Travel Team: Left to right: Vern Miller, Mike Lyons, Susan Shisler, Yvonne Emery and Becky
Adams. Missing: Ardith Blumenthal
© 2009 all rights reserved