Summer Newsletter 2005
The Tsunami
Just after Christmas, as Peter and I were looking forward to a quiet week at home catching up with our backlog, the Tsunami disaster struck. It was devastating for Indonesia and surrounding countries and everybody wanted to help. It was difficult for us to cope with the numerous telephone calls of people wanting to help, the mountains of gifts arriving at the shop. At first we could only say it was not possible to do this without a reliable link with whom we could work. After a few days this link came and the Maldives Embassy asked for help. We took their list of requests and quickly found helpers to pack a load of existing medicines, ready to be air freighted. We waited and waited but the promised air lift never materialized and after many days of vague responses it was refused. The money donated has instead now been forwarded to CMS, the Church Missionary Society who have project workers in both Indonesia and Sri Lanka and are able and willing to use the money to help the Tsunami homeless as many of the big international charities have sufficient. Our medicines were re-consigned to Afghanistan where they have been gratefully received and much of the clothing went to Romania and Bulgaria. Many charities had the same experience as we had and were flooded with clothes, often unsuitable, that they could not deliver and passed them to us.
Afghanistan
At the end of March Peter and I again flew into Kabul. This winter has been severe with much snow. The dry river bed had turned into a fast flowing river again and for once we had hydro-electricity almost every evening and sometimes even during the day. Just a week or two before we arrived our Mother and Child Clinic was attacked by a group of male insurgents, men wielding sticks, who tried to attack the staff. Armed guards had to be called to remove them and Dr Farid decided it was no longer safe to run the clinic. Attacks on NGO’s and their staff are a growing problem. Most of the medicines have been distributed to other clinics and hospitals to avoid further raids. Peter and I stayed low key and there were no shopping or unnecessary outings. We had one container in customs that had arrived at Christmas time and had still not been released due to the latest regulation quality checks. Another container arrived just before we did and that truck was stuck in customs, driver and all, for more than a week. We had plenty to do! Dr Farid eventually managed to crane off the container at customs and the fraught driver escaped back to Pakistan! Happily customs decided to release the earlier container also, for a small fee of course, and we were able to distribute the supplies to six needy hospitals. The week passed very quickly, most of it on bureaucracy, and we thank God for our safe return. It was good to see the extent of the rebuilding around Kabul which is providing work for many of the Afghans. Most people are still hopeful that they will have a better future, though the peace is still fragile. Our clinic must remain closed for now and we must be willing to adapt the work we do to what is possible.
Just now we have another container about to leave Peshawar and our prayers go with it, especially for a quick release from customs. The Afghan Red Crescent Society has a new lady president and we are hopeful that the society will be able to help us through the quagmire of bureaucracy in future. In turn we hope to help to supply their hospitals and mother and child clinics in Kabul and also throughout Afghanistan.
Romania
Now to Romania. In March Titi and Brandusa managed to finalize the purchase of some land in Siret to enable us to build houses for our Rehab young people. The cost was greater than expected and we paid £9,000 for the land. This leaves us little in hand for materials to build but thankfully we have received a gift of £3,000 from Beverley Minster Church towards this. The plans are now being drawn and I am pleased to say that all the Rehab kids are still working and saving up with anticipation! We plan to start with two blocks of four terraced houses, housing the older kids first. They will help to build their homes and we hope to start on the work by autumn. Another sponsored bike ride will take place at the end of August. A few more riders are needed so please call us if you would like to come. Our rehabilitation project has proved to be extremely successful and we are very proud of the work that our Romanian staff have done so expertly.
Bulgaria
In January we were able to send a container of aid to the Municipality of Gotze Delchev in Bulgaria. It was shipped into Thessalonika and has been safely delivered, but not without a few paperwork problems at the port! We hope to be able to send another container before the end of the summer. Although the economy is slowly improving many people are still very poor and there are still many orphanages, old peoples homes and gypsies in need of help. By working through the municipalities the social needs of the communities can be accurately targeted and the load spread fairly. We are thankful for Maggie and George Serguiev who responsibly organize the transport in Bulgaria and monitor the supplies.
Poland
In February we received a request for help from Poland. The SOS charity needed some supplies to help children and adults with great social needs. Their warehouse was empty and ours was full so it was not difficult to help them. Our prayers were with the nation when Pope John Paul died and we shared their grief. He was so loved by so many people but he was very special to Poland and they will all miss him.
Losses and Changes
Just before Christmas we lost one of our most loyal members, Tony Barry, who died from cancer. He was our first lorry driver recruit who couriered containers to Poland often for us and for twenty years has been there for us when we needed help. We give thanks for his life and we shall all miss him. Our prayers are with his daughter and son in their loss.
We sadly have also lost another volunteer, George Johnston, husband of Julie, one of our retired admin staff. He died suddenly after a short illness and our prayers are now with Julie.
Now news from home. Plans are well ahead to erect a small modular building at the warehouse site to house our office staff and pill sorters who work in our home. We are now close to confirming the order of the building but need about £10,000 more to do it with comfort. The charity trustees have agreed to take a 25 year lease of the warehouse site and it will be much more efficient to have all our workers together on one site. The plans to relocate the learning disability adults from the Outreach Center in Beverley to our warehouse site are going slowly and nothing is yet certain but we hope that project will also go ahead eventually.
Two important new members of staff have arrived at Jacob’s Well. Mike Greatorex has replaced Susan Leeding as administrator and Melanie Patrick has bravely taken up the post of personal assistant to me. Her work is mainly to help with the running of the Beverley shop but she has skills that will also be useful to the charity on the logistics side. We welcome them both and pray that they will become strong as we decline! We wish Susan Leeding much happiness in her retirement and we marvel that she sustained the course for so many years in our office. Many people still ask for her and she is not forgotten
Finally I would like to thank all our, trustees, staff and volunteers who have worked so hard to keep our supplies moving and to all our donors who have faithfully supplied us. Peace be with you all
Beryl Beynon, Medical Director
The Tahya Maskan ARCS Hospital, Kabul
Meagre Supplies in Tahya Maskan Pharmacy