How Can You Help ?

Send your used stamps, inkjet cartridges, mobile phones and toner cartridges to:

The Funzi and Bodo Trust, C/O R Farnhill, Titan Business Centre, Central Arcade, Cleckheaton. BD19 5DN

If you would like to make a contribution or establish a monthly donation, then the easiest way is to contact us by e-mail using this form.

We hope to have an online donation facility available soon

You can also write to us at:

The Funzi and Bodo Trust
PO Box 266
LS16 0DF

www.bag2school.com
Is your local school having a bag to school collection? Why not nominate Funzi & Bodo Trust to receive part of the funds raised

Having a BBQ (as if in this weather!) or a summer event and thinking of making it a fund raiser- think Funzi!

28th July- The Tailor

Ashley writes from Funzi

I was up at five thirty this morning, long before it is light here on Funzi Island.

We had to reach the mainland at Bodo but discovered the water was really low. Our boat was stranded on the mud bank. We had to call for the young footballer's team to come to our aid. We all pushed and pulled the boat, wading through the water in the dark creek trying to get to deeper part of the river. Then it was across the estuary with only the stars as light to find our way.

Our mission was to reach the tailor on Bodo and get him to hospital. He has a very deep open wound in his leg which bleeds and weeps constantly. We have been treating him for six months although he's had the condition for years. The result of a botched operation we believe. Today we were due to see the senior surgeon at Msambwani Hospital. If you don't get there by six you can miss your chance to see him. He has to act as surgeon for three medical districts so there are so many people wanting to see him everywhere he goes.

Hospitals are pretty grim here and medicines and drugs in very short supply. The cost of every procedure is listed but they have no relationship to the actual costs. The medicines are rarely available so you have to pay much more to get them and people pay to ensure they get seen or on the list.

After hours of waiting we saw the surgeon. On Friday the tailor will be admitted to hospital. He will have muscle tissue taken from his good leg and implanted into the wound. It's hoped that after several weeks in hospital the wound will start to heal. This is a procedure the tailor couldn't afford without our help. He has also confided to our manager, Ali, that if I wasn't here to oversee this he wouldn't have agreed. He is too afraid of furthering suffering and mistakes in hospital.


There's another reason. He is a very poor man. His house is little more than a few walls with sleeping compartments created by pieces of old cloth. He is the sole bread winner and more than five people rely on his meagre earnings as a tailor. We will not only have to pay for his treatment and his bed in hospital but also fund his family so they can eat . He wanted my reassurances about this before he agreed to go into hospital. For me this is a very significant moment in our charity's life. We have worked hard to get this man- who had been virtually abandoned- the prospect of recovery and a new life after years of pain.

Friday will mark a significant achievement which all our supporters should feel a share in.

Please keep Shee and us in your thoughts a prayers.

Send in your old stamps, cartridges and phones

Please redouble your efforts to send us your used stamps, inkjet cartridges, mobile phones, and now toner cartridges

They can be sent to:

The Funzi and Bodo Trust
c/o R Farnhill
Titan Business Centre
Central Arcade
Cleckheaton
BD19 5DN

Funzi Slide Set in the Making

Any suggestions for soundtracks?

Baby Idris

Today I got a closer look at baby Idris .

His father came to the house carrying him. The family who have a small patch of land at the rear of where we are staying are very concerned about him. We had all celebrated when he had his operation to turn his feet as they were facing the wrong way. The medical team told the family he would be able to walk and special shoes were 0rdered. It now appears the operation didn't go quite as anticipated and the feet are clearly facing inwards again albeit not so badly. There is a problem with one of the ankles which may have occurred during surgery. The family have been back to the hospital and we are funding new x rays for him ahead of a possible second corrective operation.

This is all work we are not funded for and we are finding it especially hard to support in the current economic climate when sponsorship is so hard to attract. But we remain both determined and hopeful that sponsors will come forward.

Faced with a vulnerable baby and his ever hopeful and optimistic father what more can you do ? After all he has great faith invested in us and we don't want to be the people to dash that. Anyone who has a child themselves will understand what it would be like to be told nothing could be done.

After all, it can be- the knowledge and ability to change his life - to give him a future- is there. It's only money which stands in the way. So many people say they would love to make a difference in Africa but don't know how.

Here is a very real difference which can be made, It is very specific and will last a lifetime. It will give this child a future he will otherwise be denied. A life walking tall or shuffling on his bottom, the chance to grow up playing with other children or being isolated, a chance to marry and have a job from which he can support a family or none of those things.

These are choices we can all help make for baby Idris and in the words of the part Kenyan new President of the United States -yes we can !

Direct from Funzi

This morning we have had a series of emergency cases to deal with.

Our nurse,John, was doing the morning surgery in the village of Bodo when news came of a young girl collapsing at the village school. She was rushed to him and the ambulance put on standby in case it was necessary to get her to hospital- about an hour away. We are waiting to hear what has happened. The ambulance was on the road very early today taking a man with no legs to hospital. He'd been involved in an accident and had a double amputation. The Funzi and Bodo Trust medical team are making sure that he receives the necessary after care and treatment.

Other cases today have included a woman from Funzi who started with a headache and other pains yesterday, By this morning she had spots and was feeling worse. The water ambulance was called and she has gone to see our medical team at Bodo. So quite a demanding start to Tuesday and we've not reached lunchtime .

We are waiting to see a young girl who is having a lot of pain in her mouth. She has been crying constantly. Her farther is a waiter at the nearby hotel but the family lives up country. She will arrive in a few days for further investigations. We may need to pay for her to receive surgery .

The clinics are now fully re-stocked with medicines and are seeing up to 20 people each day with varying degrees of illness.

There have been more concerns about cholera in Bodo but it's not on a mass scale. However, when it happens as it did to night watch man Juma a couple of days ago, you need to get to hospital rapidly . I am told that failure to respond after twenty four hours can be fatal. The symptoms are also most unpleasant and distressing for those who get it. We are taking great pains to make sure that we constantly wash our hands and only drink and eat food prepared with bottled water.

Heading out to Funzi

We are heading for Funzi Island and the village of Bodo on the mainland of Kenya- not far from the Tanzanian border.
There has been cholera in the village of Bodo and the two clinics run by our charity have been helping to combat this potentially fatal disease.

The medical team have been supporting officials from the Government's health service. We've also been trying to educate people on ways to avoid getting the disease. It's a difficult message in communities where sanitation is the key to avoiding the illness but there are no toilets . In Funzi there is currently only open bore hole and no clean water to drink . People are having to wait for small quantities of water brought to the island by boat and by car. We are looking at how this might be resolved. But we need more funds and we don’t want to rush to a solution which isn’t the best in the long term.

The trip will also bring all the usual dilemas. We will be approached on numerous occasions for help with complex medical cases- beyond the scope of our two clinics. Again, we don't have the funding for these but it is virtually impossible to say no when confronted by people suffering pain and discomfort. I have little doubt that whatever money we take will disappear as it always does. All of this means we must find a sponsor and people who will give small monthly amounts in the year ahead. An army of these sort of gifts can transform what we do.

We are looking forward to seeing old friends and being a part of the community on Funzi. This is what all our endeavours are about - people. When you see real people in flesh and blood how can you say no to helping them. That's only possible when it's yet another faceless statistic. There is o way can we ignore this need.

We will keep everyone in touch as the trip continues and stories become more evident.

How can you help?

How Can You Help ?

You can now send your used stamps, inkjet cartridges, mobile phones and toner cartridges to:
The Funzi and Bodo Trust, C/O R Farnhill, Titan Business Centre, Central Arcade, Cleckheaton. BD19 5DN

Show your support by joining the Funzi & Bodo group on Facebook and get your friends to sign up too!

If you would like to make a contribution or establish a monthly donation, then the easiest way is to contact us by e-mail using this form.
We hope to have an online donation facility available soon

www.bag2school.com
Is your local school having a bag to school collection? Why not nominate us to receive part of the funds raised!