A Senior Citizen Finds a Friend in Whisper

 
Whisper met Emmanuel (80) earlier this week as part of our work concerning our successful Jigger Free Community Programme.

Emmanuel lives alone in a house that his neighbour built for him; he rarely has any visitors, so he was grateful when we asked him if we could come in for a chat. Despite having very little, Emmanuel was extremely welcoming, this is something we see a lot but it never fails to warm our hearts. He showed us his home as he boiled some water for tea, on a stove he had erected himself in the centre of the room.

 

We talked for a while and Emmanuel entertained us with stories from his youth; he had lived in the village all his life, he’d worked as a labourer as a teenager all the way through to his retirement. It transpired that he’d helped build many of the houses that existed here today, which is why, upon hearing that he had nowhere else to go, a neighbour thought it only right that he should return the favour and build a home for Emmanuel.

Emmanuel told us that he’d met his wife Joy, in his early twenties and that they’d married soon after, they were happy together for many years but due to his wife’s recurrent poor health, they had never had any children. She passed away 11 years ago from Septicaemia - a blood poisoning brought on by the complications of a severe Jigger infestation. Emmanuel has now fallen victim to a similar infestation and confided that he fears for his own health as a result. We asked whether he had anyone to look after him to which, Emmanuel replied that he has a sister who visits occasionally to bring him food and a niece and nephew from whom he is estranged. There is a huge social stigma attached to Jigger infestations and unfortunately those affected often become social pariahs of their communities.

Emmanuel’s story is one that resonated with us as it illustrates the true impact of the Jigger epidemic in Uganda and illustrates just how completely it can destroy the lives of thousands. We bathed Emmanuel’s wounds and fumigated his home. We will be back in the following weeks to resume his treatment and hold him to that lovely cup of tea he promised!

Run with Whisper!

 

The Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon is a very popular running event in Central London, mostly in attractive parkland, which takes place on Sunday 11 October 2015.

Run through centuries of history in one of the most scenic city runs in the world, seeing sites such as Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and Big Ben.

Over 16,000 runners take part in the 13.1 mile (21km) run each year and this year YOU could be one of them!    

Why choose to run with us? 

• No registration fee. We don't believe you should pay to help us!
• Minimum sponsorship is a realistic amount of only £350.
• A post event party to drown away those aching muscles!
• 100% of the money you raise will go to our projects. We don't take a cut for our admin costs!

We will provide you with:

• A one of a kind, totally exclusive Whisper running vest!
• Ideas for your fundraising.
• Help to find the best training regime for you.
• Support via email offering kind words or a shove in the right direction.
• A dedicated Facebook page to meet our other runners and discuss tactics.
• A warm glowy feeling because you are helping children in Uganda lead a much better life.

If you have read enough and want to join us then please fill out the form here and we shall get right on it!

If you need a little more persuading or just want to know more about the work we do read on...

With donations from people like you, Whisper provides a beautiful, inspiring temporary home for severely neglected children who are often on the edge of death when they arrive. They are nursed back to health, given an education and where possible returned to live with members of their extended family with ongoing support. With your help we can work with more children like these.

We also run two thriving schools for 120 small children some of whom had no access to education before we arrived. With your help we can educate more children.

Whisper's medical program has cleared a wide area of jiggers which is a common, disabling and much neglected medical problem. With your help we can continue this work and help avoid repeat infections by providing training and long-term improvements of sanitation and hygiene.

Whisper has so many plans and hopes for the future. With your help we can make these happen.

100% of the money you raise will go to Whisper's projects.

• Whisper's admin and other fundraising costs have all been covered by an individual donor.
• Sign up to run with us here.
• If you are unable, unwilling or just not mad enough to run a half marathon, please see our 'how you can help' section of our website for other ways to support us and please tell your friends.

Whisper Helps Treat a Severely Burned Baby Girl

As part of our outreach programme, Whisper visited the home of a 14 month old girl named Trisha. Trisha lives with her Mother, Father, Grandmother and two siblings in a one bedroom dwelling in a small village in Mutai.

We were called when it became apparent that Trisha had suffered serious third degree burns to her pelvic area and legs, allegedly from a stove. It is unclear how Trisha managed to sustain such burns. We treated the burns and arranged to call back in a week to check on her wounds.

A week later, upon our return, we discovered the situation had got worse. Trisha’s Grandmother had applied herbs to the wound, causing a secondary infection. and resulting in Trisha being very sore. We feel it is important to point out that herbal remedies form a large part of many beliefs in Ugandan culture and Trisha’s Grandmother would have had no way of knowing that her actions had hindered Trisha’s recovery rather than aided it.

 

We took Trisha to the medical centre to get further treatment and explained to her grandmother that the herbs did not help the situation. We will work with the family during Trish's recovery.

 

A Widow and her Children Benefit from Whisper’s Jigger Free Community Programme

A few weeks ago, a widow (Marie) and her five children came to our treatment centre where she and her son (Samuel, 11) and her twin daughters (Irene and Edith, 8) were treated for a Jigger infestation.

Jiggers are tiny flesh burrowing parasites that live in the dirt and sands of warm climates, burrowing into the flesh of mammals to incubate their eggs. Needless to say, this causes extreme pain and discomfort to the sufferer and if left untreated can cause secondary infection, leading to serious illness and even death.

Thankfully, Marie came to visit us at the first sign of an infection and we were able to treat her and her family by successfully removing the Jiggers from their hands and feet and disinfecting the wounds. The next step for us was to visit Marie’s home and make sure there was no chance of a repeat infection.

Jiggers thrive in over-heated, cramped and unsanitary conditions and upon arriving at Marie’s residence; it was easy to see how she and her family had fallen victim to an infestation. The floor was comprised of dust and dirt and had little covering to protect the family’s exposed feet -save for a tattered straw matt that had clearly been used as a bed for some time.  All the family’s belongings lay in a mess on the floor around them, with little space and even less in the way of functional furniture; it’s difficult to see what other choice they had.

We cleared the area and disinfected the ground to eradicate any surviving Jiggers; we also educated Marie and the children on how to keep their home Jigger free by improving its condition and administering basic first aid.

We’ll be back in a few weeks to check on the home and to bring Marie, Samuel, Irene and Edith some much needed new furniture, including beds!

 

COMPETITION TIME!

Hello and welcome to our blog!

For those of you who are new here, let me explain a little about Whisper. We are a registered charity that runs a children's home, two schools and a medical programme in Uganda. Our founder, Veronika, started the charity 5 years ago and raised funds through selling crocheted socks and having car boot sales. We have grown a bit since then and now Veronika lives out in Uganda running the charity. The charity has attracted interest and goodwill from local Ugandans, with two articles in a national newspaper and a TV documentary. We are keen to raise awareness in the UK and so have taken on a team of volunteers to do this.

Whisper has no paid staff in the UK. It relies on volunteers and good will. It is down to one of our fabulous volunteers that we are able to bring you this competition today. Not only does Sarah volunteer for us, she is also a mum of 4 and runs 2 businesses from home. She is truly a super woman and we appreciate all her hard work.

Sarah has kindly donated the prizes for this competition and they are as follows:
 

First prize is the chance to win a handmade dress, or cape, for a child of your choice. You can work with Sarah to create a design just for you. You can see Sarah's work on her Facebook page.

Second prize is a photo charm of your choice. What a perfect present for someone! You can find more details here.

 

 

Third prize is a £15 voucher for the Infinity Moments store.

 

To enter all you need to do is follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below.

Whisper has secured 99 places in the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon in October and now we need to find runners! Our thunderclap message will help spread the word as far as possible and hopefully find us all the runners we need! 

The mandatory entry is to join our Thunderclap. Think of it as an "online flash mob." Join Whisper's Thunderclap, and you and others will share the same message at the same time through Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr all at once.

HELP US FIND OUR RUNNERS!
 

After doing that you get options to earn additional entries.

 

GOOD LUCK!

Sorry but this competition is open to UK residents only

Note added 12/03
Come on guys, play fair. Cheating is not acceptable. We check if you have joined our Thunderclap. If you haven't it doesn't matter how many of the others you do, they don't count! The Thunderclap is mandatory. Its only a few clicks to help us out.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Whisper Receives a Heart-Rending Request from a Mother of an Extremely Sick Little Boy

We were recently approached at our headquarters by a woman clutching what appeared to be a very sick little boy in her arms.  He had a sizeable and protruding growth on the right side of his head – it looked like a brain tumour.

When we followed the woman back to her house, we could see that living conditions were extremely poor; food lay in baskets exposed to the elements and was surrounded by livestock, chicken feed and faeces. The woman explained to us that her son had been receiving medical care from a local hospital but despite both she and her family working all hours of the day to fund the treatment, their resources were fast dwindling.

We learnt the woman had six children but was only living with two of them; five from a previous marriage and the little boy, whose name was Isaac, with her current husband. When we pressed her on this, the woman became upset telling us that she was forced to leave her other children with her former husband in a village five miles away because she could not afford to support them. Relations with her former husband and his family are strained –she rarely sees the children. Her eldest son, Zachary who is 14, also lives with her as he is able to work and therefore support himself; he gives what he can to help fund his brother’s treatment.

 

 

Whisper receives a great number of requests for help of this kind from families who simply do not have the resources to pay Ugandan medical bills –which are among the highest in the world when compared to the average salary. As a result, we are only able to help in a select few cases and our investigations are on going.