February 17, 2010
2010 has been an exciting year so far at the Casa Jackson. As the new volunteer coordinator, I am planning on writing bimonthly updates about the happenings here.
We have had 15 babies since the New Year and MANY volunteers. It is exciting to have past volunteers return to continue working with us. Many of our volunteers are friends of other volunteers which means word is spreading quickly and the volunteers love being a part of the work we are doing here. We have also had several special volunteers who have brought their own expertise to the table. There was a child physical therapist who showed us the best ways to hold the children and stretch, teach, and work their little muscles. We have had volunteers who are interning with infant nutrition and helping our nutritionist, Dinah. Currently we have a volunteer who is a nutritionist and midwife that is working on a picture book on how to care for and feed a child after leaving the Casa Jackson. This is a wonderful gift to us because many of the mothers are unable to read.
Jessica - Jessica is a nine year-old who arrived in August. She came with three of her siblings, but her mother couldn´t/wouldn´t take her back because of Jessica´s inability to walk. So when her siblings left the Casa Jackson, staff and volunteers became her family. She stayed with us until the middle of January when she was brought to a facility called Oasis. There she can get the physical and speech therapy that she needs. The doctors there think there is a small chance she could learn to walk. She has more space to move about with her wheel chair, fresh air, and kids her own age to socialize with. Two of our volunteers, Nora and Juan, visit her and like to keep up with her progress.
Currently we have nine children, all under the age of two. One, Angelica, will be leaving us on February 24 after a service team has put a concrete floor and a roof on her family´s home. There is also little Brayan who came to us at 20 days old weighing just over 3 pounds. We have two new boys as of Sunday, who are still adjusting to being here and smiled for the first time today when a volunteer was playing soccer with them.
Every day we have something exciting happening and I have attached a few pictures.
For more updates and pictures look for us on Facebook under the Casa Jackson and the GOD´S CHILD Project. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Casa-Jackson/125344517055?ref=nf
Andrea C. Johnson
Volunteer Coordinator
