Fundraising

We are having a Fundraiser at the Bridgetown LaRosa's (6607 Glenway Ave.) on Tuesday, April 27th from 11am-10pm. You must present a flyer with your order in order for us to get 20%. Please email Jayne, Liz, or I for a flyer. We will be there during dinner. We are also having a pizza sale at Mount Saint Joe's on that day. Hope to see everyone there.

Thank you for all the support!

Burundi Update

On day six of our stay in Bujumbura we visited Hope Africa University. They currently just graduated their first class of nursing students in February 2010. They are also building an on site clinic where we will be working alongside their nursing students and nurses on our future immersion trip. The University has a radio station that is broad casted all throughout Bujumbura. We will be preparing health talks that will be translated into French, Kirundi, and Swahili and broad casted on the radio.


Day 7 We went to a village for international displaced persons. We distributed school supplies to the local school. There was a definite language barrier, but they enjoyed all the supplies we brought.

Sorry we have not posted in awhile. Currently we are working on getting the trip approved through the Mount and starting to set up fundraising events!

We will keep you posted.

Thank you!

Amanda

Notre Dame Orphanage

Yesterday we went to an orphanage about 15 minutes from where we are staying. We stopped on the way at a market to buy fresh fruits and veggies for the kids. We also distributed all of the scoool supplies that we collected. SHOING is sponsoring fresh fruits and veggies for the kids for an entire year. They were so happy to get the supplies. We have some more pictures on our snapfish account http://http://www5.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=759418027/a=1375718027/

Village Health Works Clinic

Yesterday we went to the Village Health Works in Bururi (about a 2 hour drive from Bujumbura). The VHW was founded in 2006 by a man named Deogratias, who is a native Burundian doctor, and the main character of the book Strength in what Remains by Tracy Kidder. The clinic has expanded to include in and outpatient facilities, malnutrition facility, pharmacy, technology center, and a demonstration garden. The garden is so important because the workers can show local Burundians what types of vegetables can grow in their climate. Currently, 65% of the children of Burundi are suffering from malnutrition as a result of consuming a nutrient poor diet. People consume cassava which is a tuber like veggie that provides no nutrients, but grows in abundance and is easy to prepare. VHW provides morenga, a nasty tasting herb that is dried and sprinkled over food, which provides all of the nutrients that the Burundian people are lacking. The morenga is given to treat malnutrition, and the seeds are given to the families to plant so that further occasions of malnutrition are avoided.

The clinic is very high up in the mountains with beautiful scenery. Even better than that, is the fact that the high altitude makes it so there are no mosquitos. The clinic provides food and housing for all volunteers and workers, which will come in handy for next years trip. The clinic has 1 Burundian doctor, 1 American doctor, 5 nurses (who are diagnosing and writing prescriptions, but are at the functional level of a Patient Care Assistant), and 2 translators. Also, the clinic is run entirely on US donations, and does not charge patients for consultations. However, if a patient is able to pay they are asked to (not always in money, but sometimes in livestock, supplies, or hours—once they are better). In the evenings, VHW provides English lessons for all of the doctors, nurses, and community members. This clinic would be great to go to next year. It is run entirely on solar power and produces most of the food that the patients eat (except for the rice). We were excited to hear the that they are starting construction on a new building which will serve as a maternal clinic for the Burundian people (hopefully it will be done by the time we come back next year!).

We were surprised when the Burundian Drummers came up the mountain to give us a private performance. To see the drummers and all other pictures that we took check out our snapfish page:

Thanks!

Liz, Jayne and Amanda

Click here to view photos

Clinic Visits

Today we visited the Clinton Health Access Initiative and Nurses Without Borders and got a lot of really great information. The primary need of the Burundian people is education. By working with both of these organizations, we can educate Burundian people and healthcare workers. One of the possible subjects that we can educate on is sexual/reproductive health to adolescents. We can educate the healthcare workers on proper hygiene and a proper diet, while they can teach us how to provide care in a resource poor setting.

Some pictures

Hi, rather than putting tons of pictures on the blog, we uploaded them onto snapfish. You can click the link below to see all of the pics
Click here to view photos

We're finally here!!

WE MADE IT! After a small flight delay in Washington D.C set us back a little bit, we made it to Bujumbura, Burundi at about 3:00pm Burundi time (about 8:00am Cincinnati time). We are still adjusting to the time changes, but slept most of the 28 hour flight. We had a delicious dinner provided by Tom and Jana, and enjoyed a leisurely swim. Tomorrow we are sight seeing, and Monday we are meeting with Nurses without Borders and a representative from the Clinton Foundation to discuss possible opportunities for next years trip. The internet is super slow, so we'll try to post some more pictures tomorrow

Thanks for all of the support

Jayne, Liz, and Amanda

12 days....

Hi!!
We leave for Bujumbura in 12 days and we are super excited. We would just like to thank everyone who has supported us and our trip throughout this entire process. We have been planning this trip for over a year, and its wierd to think that its finally here! Below are some pictures of the educational supplies that we are taking to the orphanage and the AIDS clinic that we are visiting. Thank you for all of your support!
Jayne, Liz and Amanda

Thank you to everyone who ate LaRosa's from the Bridgetown store today and made our fundraiser such a hugh success!!!

Liz, Jayne, and Amanda with our guest of honor Buddy LaRosa

LaRosa's Fundraiser Night 10/6/09!!!!!

Tuesday, October 6, we are have a fundraiser at the Bridgetown LaRosa's (6607 Glenway). All you have to do is order dine-in, delivery, or carry-out during the whole day and turn in a flyer, and we'll get a donation equal to 20% of your order. The flyer won't load onto this site, but we can email you a copy if you need it. Email us at shoing@live.com if you are interested in attending and we can send you the flyer or just come up to the LaRosa's and we'll have some extras. If you place delivery order, make sure to give the driver your flyer. Hope to see y'all there!
PS YOU NEED TO TURN IN THE FLYER FOR US TO GET THE DONATION
Thanks!!

Support the MS Society

Today we went to Camp Kern in Oregonia, Ohio to volunteer at the MS 150 Bike Ride. Matt Chalk (Jayne and Liz's cousin) participated in the bike ride and we went to cheer him on and to provide the other riders with a delicious lunch after the race. Below is the link to the MS Society website. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx

SHOING Fundraiser at the Bridgetown LaRosa's

Today, April 30, we are have a fundraiser at the Bridgetown LaRosa's (6607 Glenway). All you have to do is order dine-in, delivery, or carry-out during the whole day and turn in a flyer, and we'll get a donation equal to 20% of your order. Email us at shoing@live.com if you are interested in attending and we can send you the flyer or just come up to the LaRosa's and we'll have some extras. If you order delivery, ask your driver if they have any extra flyers. Hope to see y'all there!

Watch this...it's amazing!

Saint Joseph Home of Cincinnati Annual 5K Race

This weekend we volunteered at the Saint Joseph Home of Cincinnati Annual 5K Race. We worked the waterstop for the final leg of the race. A lot of the runners were happy to see us when they came up the hill! Here are some pictures of the event:
Liz and Amanda pre-race enjoying some delicious starbucks

Group shot of the 3 of us (Liz, Jayne and Amanda)

Liz and Amanda waiting for the runners to climb up the steep Wyscarver hill to the finish line

The start of the race

UPDATE of what SHOING has been up to!

Recent Events
· Stand with Africa Summit: held at Purcell Marian High School
· New contacts formed along with various information
· Selling SHOING bracelets (yellow and blue silicone wristbands that say, “Make a difference”).
· Selling blood plasma at PlasmaCare
· Established non-profit organization w/ tax ID number and PO Box address
Upcoming Events
· Volunteering at the Students for a Better Cincinnati Service Event on April 18.
· Volunteering at St. Joseph Home of Cincinnati for the Annual 5K Race (We are also distributing flyers at the race)
· LaRosa’s fundraising night: April 30, 2009 (we’ll also distribute flyers about our organization).
· Ladies Bunco Night: early June in honor of Emily VonderMuellen
· Sending letters out to friends and family
· Look into working at the stadiums, Kings Island, and Biggs Bagging
· Forming medical supplies drives

Some exciting news...

It's official! We received notification today that SHOING has been approved as a certified non-profit organization by the Secretary of State for Ohio!!! Stay tuned for information on our upcoming events!

Hi! Here is a picture of the bracelets that we are selling. We are selling the bracelets for $2 each. Please let us know if you have any questions, ideas, or would like to participate in our fundraising events! We will keep you posted. Thank you for all your support and generosity.

Just an update:
This past Saturday the three of us went to an African seminar and attended a workshop there that focused on health care. The workshop reiterated information that we have already obtained through research and from Lieutenant Col. Miller; but we also learned new information. For example, the African harvest is for about 9 months of the year and the other three months they have barely any harvest. During these months many struggle to get food. A current issue is teaching them about preserving food, so they will have surplus food to last them throughout the three months of no harvest. Another thing we learned is the mosquito nets that are often sent over there are not always used for the purpose they are intended for, preventing insect bites while sleeping. People use them for fishing, instead of protection. In Africa the majority of homes are not set up like a typical home in the US; multiple people can be sleeping in one bed. Therefore, it may be more beneficial for them to use the nets to catch fish. Screens for windows and doors could be more realistic to prevent mosquitoes and other insects from entering their homes. The meeting was helpful and informative! We also applied to be a non-profit organization on Monday, which will be called SHOING, Students Helping Others In Need Globally. Once we are establish as a non-profit organization, we will file for a tax id number and set up a bank account. Once we have achieved this we can start fundraising. We are eager and excited to start this process. We just received bracelets, similar to the LIVE STRONG ones, yellow and blue with white writing, that says, "Make a difference". We are in the process of uploading a picture of them. We are selling the bracelets for $2 a piece. Please let us know if you have any questions, ideas, or would like to participate in our fundraising events! We will keep you posted. Thank you for all your support and generosity.