Project Healthy Kids: VBS classes can help

When visitors from the US stroll through the streets of West African cities, some may be asked, "Do you have any medicine for my child?" And although the requests may be difficult to ignore, there is an answer. "What you need is found at the United Methodist hospital and clinic." Help can be found in Liberia, Ganta; Sierra Leone, the Kissy Clinic; and Operation Classroom schools.

Aren't these health aids manufactured there? No. In these West African countries, there are no supermarkets or drug stores. Add to the list of first-aid remedies hygiene supplies: toothbrushes for the youth and love. Any color. Any style.

Operation Classroom again is sponsoring a drive to collect aids, from Tylenol and vitamins to band-aids and toothpaste. A complete list can be obtained from Joe and Carolyn Wagner, the OC coordinators. The Wagners are launching Project Healthy Kids during the 2002 Vacation Bible School sessions to collect health and hygiene supplies to be sent to the OC schools. Approximately 6,500 children and youth can look forward to help for toothaches, headaches, cuts and bruises, stings and bites.

VBS focuses on mission. Hoosier United Methodists can send first aid, via OC by purchasing items and sending them, packaged and labeled in a box, to the OC Warehouse in Lapel, Ind.. VBS youth will also have this unique opportunity. Hands-on purchasing and packaging gives VBS youth a feeling of extending themselves across the seas. For those who prefer to make monetary donations, the OC staff accepts and distributes offerings where needed.

Yet the need goes on. Preparing for the fall school term, OC will again collect classroom supplies. Chalk is a favorite among OC teachers because it is so difficult to obtain. Notebooks, pens and pencils, crayons get used up quickly, and students need replacements. Now and then, OC sends YES Kits and ET Kits, which have been designed for use by families; Layette kits, health kits, health and hygiene supplies are sent to doctors, nurses, and aides at the proper facilities. A detailed list of needs is available from the OC office.

Funds, along with other donations, have provided in other ways. The OC Jeep, recently purchased in the US and shipped to Freetown, Sierra Leone, has arrived at the Kissy Clinic. With it the staff can reach out beyond the immediate area into the countryside. Dr. Dennis Marke, sent these kind words, "I write to acknowledge receipt of the Cherokee Jeep and to extend my profound thanks and appreciation to all of you who in one way or the other contributed to purchase and ship it."

Kissy's chief medical officer, Dr. Dennis Marke, and the dental technician, Sally Morris, will soon take special training in their fields in Kenya.

For those whose spiritual and emotional needs have dominated their lives, there awaits the benefits of counseling. Successful programs in Liberia prompted a similar program in Sierra Leone. On Jan. 28, Elaine Davies, Guy Hayes and Evelin Bryant-Epple left for Freetown to conduct a two-week counseling seminar, a first for OC in that country.

As for physical needs of the school, OC plans to send two work teams in July: one to Liberia, the second to Sierra Leone. Details will be available from the OC office.

For further information on all the OC projects and programs, contact the Wagners at P.O. Box 277, Colfax, Ind. 46035; phone, 765/324-2556. E-mail can be directed to ccwagner@hotmail.com or ocmission@compuserve.com .

Last updated on 01/14/2004

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