
The Orphan Grain Benefit was held in September and was a fun filled successful night.
Pictured here is Pst Ben Kangar (GOO board member), Kari Haege (Ag Project Director), George Segbee and his wife (Businessman to Liberia), and I.
This is Silas back in 2008. I learned about his plight of suffering from drinking caustic soda which effected his throat. Silas cannot eat and was slowly starving to death.
(commentary from Karen) : About two years ago, Silas asked a neighbor for a drink of water and was told to go inside to get it. Upon entering the hut, he grabbed a glass of clear, odorless liquid – thinking it was water. After taking a sip, he realized it wasn’t water, but it was too late – the damage had been done. He had drunk caustic soda, a lye solution, which is often used for cleaning. It burned and scarred his esophagus so badly that he is unable to swallow even his own saliva. For the last year he has been dependent on a liquid diet through a gastric tube. This has come with many complications and if Silas is going to be given a chance to grow older . . . he needs a surgery to repair his esophagus.
Silas became the poster child of our caustic prevention and education campaign to help educate and prevent the poisoning of children from this mixture. Global has been working on obtaining medical help for him since. Unbeknownst to us a nurse named Karen who was working in Liberia was also doing so. And she was successful!!
She was able to obtain medical help for him in Kenya. Silas and his mother flew to Kijabe, Kenya last week.
This is Silas (7rs old) in early 2010. He has a gastric tube but is still unable to eat normally. Still a sad little boy.