MIC Items on Sale!

Bracelet #111 above and #112 below

Bracelet #113 above and #114 below

Bracelet #115 aboce and #116 below

Bracelet #117 above and #118 below

Bracelet #119 above and #120 below

For those of you who don't know, things have gone from bad to worse for Hellen and Innocent. Hellen is still recovering from malaria, and Innocent has been injured in an accident. They are both recovering but now homeless. The hospital bills and being without work have been too much to keep up with. Hellen has been living in a part of the school that has not been finished. Of course, she didn't want anyone to know and worry for her.

Because of the urgency of the needs in Uganda, these bracelets are on sale! You can get one of the beautiful handmade bracelets for only $2!!! Each one is unique, so it is first come first served. Send me an e-mail at heatherlecount@yahoo.com telling me which bracelets you want. I will confirm that they are all still available. Then, I will give you a total price including shipping and send you an invoice. These would make great gifts, and they can even fit in with a letter!! And, for the bracelets that don't have charms, you can get a charm added for no additional charge! I have the following charms available: "friends", Hello Kitty, "love", and "laugh".

I have more that I will post- It just takes time to get them photographed and posted. I will make another post with more bracelets within the next few hours. Feel free to not be specific. I can send you a mixture of several different bracelets, if you don't have a preference. I still have several that I have not photographed, so I can send some of those to anyone who does not want anything specific.

All of the proceeds will go to help Hellen and the rest of the women with what they need to survive. I, also, have plenty of necklaces available still, so please let me know if you are interested in those. Thank you for your support of Hellen and the rest of the MIC group!

Reduced for Quick Sale! MIC Items

Bracelet #101 above and #102 below

Bracelet #103 above and #104 below

Bracelet #105 above and #106 below

Bracelet #107 above and #108 below

Bracelet #109 above & #110 below

For those of you who don't know, things have gone from bad to worse for Hellen and Innocent. Hellen is still recovering from malaria, and Innocent has been injured in an accident. They are both recovering but now homeless. The hospital bills and being without work have been too much to keep up with. Hellen has been living in a part of the school that has not been finished. Of course, she didn't want anyone to know and worry for her.

Because of the urgency of the needs in Uganda, these bracelets are on sale! You can get one of the beautiful handmade bracelets for only $2!!! Each one is unique, so it is first come first served. Send me an e-mail at heatherlecount@yahoo.com telling me which bracelets you want. I will confirm that they are all still available. Then, I will give you a total price including shipping and send you an invoice. These would make great gifts, and they can even fit in with a letter!! And, for the bracelets that don't have charms, you can get a charm added for no additional charge! I have the following charms available: "friends", Hello Kitty, "love", and "laugh".

I have more that I will post- It just takes time to get them photographed and posted. I will make another post with more bracelets within the next few hours. Feel free to not be specific. I can send you a mixture of several different bracelets, if you don't have a preference. I still have several that I have not photographed, so I can send some of those to anyone who does not want anything specific.

All of the proceeds will go to help Hellen and the rest of the women with what they need to survive. I, also, have plenty of necklaces available still, so please let me know if you are interested in those. Thank you for your support of Hellen and the rest of the MIC group!

Very Bad News for the MIC group!

Hellen is now homeless, and still trying to recover from the bought of malaria! Innocent, who had been running the MIC group for the past 4 months is not well either. He was in an accident and now has trouble walking.

Because of everything that is still going on, and the desperate situation of the whole group, I will posting some bracelets for sale soon. Please stay tuned!

MIC Group Update!

The MIC group has done pretty well with the sales on this blog. We have raised almost $200 in one month's time! I sent the last of the money from the sales yesterday- $60 plus the $8.55 wire fee. This money will be divided among the 30 women. I know there is still a long way to go, but the women and families are very appreciative of what we have done so far. Most of the bracelets have sold, so I will be posting more soon.

My temporary job is now over, so I will be able to catch up a little bit over the next few days. If you are still looking to purchase necklaces and bracelets, stay tuned for more great deals!

Hellen is doing much better now though she still feels dizzy. After several tests, the doctors have concluded that her pain is from her long battle with malaria, and with time she should feel better. She still needs to eat high protein food to help her body recover.

For those who don't know, Innocent (her brother) has been helping with everything MIC related while his sister has been sick. The last time I sent money, it was raining very hard and mud was every where. He had an accident and dislocated his hip bone! He has not been able to help with the group since then because now he is trying to heal!

All of this has kind of left everything up in the air as far as packages being sent and money being picked up. Once I knew that Hellen would be able to pick up a moneygram, I sent her the last of the money raised. She picked it up this morning.

Everything should slowly start getting back to normal. They both still have more recovery ahead, but at least they can do some things. I will keep everyone posted on any changes. Thank you for all you are doing for this group!

MIC Group Letter

I received this card from Hellen along with the other correspondence from the MIC group women and young men. I have been saving this card to post at a later date because it is quite lengthy, but I want to share it with you now. It was written by Hellen in January:

"Dearest Heather,

It is such a nice opportunity to write to you. Hope all is well with you there including your nice children and family. I am okay now though I had a very serious attack of malaria. Thank you for your prayers.

I write this note to appreciate you and your team for the work and effort to help the women and children. Everything started by faith, and now I see it coming to reality.

I have sent you the following: 450 pieces of triple necklaces; 100 pieces of long multi-colored necklaces; 165 short single strand necklaces; 15 bags including 5 pieces made with banana fibers; 11 aprons; 10 dolls and 2 elephants.

We are very excited that you are connected with us out there to have our stuff sold. This will have a very great effect in changing our household incomes. The speed at which the women are now making the beads are so horrible. Others have made 300,000 to 400,000 which when the sales move on... well, it will greatly help them meet their daily needs.

Other things like the African batiks, etc., women or men attire will be later when we get more incomes. We will, also, have to buy a tailoring machine which will help for making the dolls and bags.

Thank you for accepting to help us. We credit you with restoring our last hopes. May God bless all the works of your hands! Greetings to your family, friends, and sponsors.

Lots of Love from,

Hellen Owani

P.S. I have sent for you 5 triple necklaces, 6 singles as a present to you. You don't have to pay for them. I hope they fit you and if not, you can sort out from the bulk. I have tied them separately. We love you!!!"

*Side note- check out the picture of Hellen above. She is holding up a baby that has one of the triple strand necklaces around his/her waist. Another funny thing to note- If you look at Hellen's face, you will see she is smiling and on the verge of laughter. Now, look down below the baby and you will see that she is holding the baby up and away from her because he/she has urine running down their legs (The baby already got Hellen's skirt wet!).

Malaria, How do you feel when you have it?

Have you been to CI's homepage lately? They have a VERY timely article under "latest feature" about malaria. If you have been following this blog, you know that our MIC group partner Hellen was hit with a horrible bout of malaria. She had been battling it for a few weeks when she collapsed in town and was rushed to the hospital. She is recovering, but still VERY weak. Her family is caring for her as she stay in bed and off of her feet. Please keep her in your prayers!

Here is CI's article from their homepage called "Battling the Bug" written by Garrett Kenyon:

A staff member of Children International-Zambia wages the fight of her life.

Malaria is the number one cause of death in Zambia and a leading killer across Africa. In the spring issue of Journeys, we present a story about malaria and a sponsored child who battled the disease and won. As we were doing the preliminary work on this story, our communications coordinator came down with malaria. Once she had regained her strength, we asked her to answer some questions about her experience with this deadly infection.

When did you first realize you had contracted malaria?

I had been down with a flu for four days when I realized that I wasn’t getting any better at all. I began to get very frightened. I was beginning to convince myself that I had contracted the swine flu, but I wasn’t sure how that could have happened. From where could I have gotten swine flu? Little did I know, I was dead wrong. I had malaria.

What did it feel like?

I can’t imagine anything else that could cause a pounding headache like that. It felt like someone was hammering on my nerves with a steel hammer. I could hardly get out of bed because my vision was blurred and my eyes could not stand bright light.

I was experiencing chills that shook me despite the hot African weather with temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). I covered myself with two very thick quilts, but it was no good – an hour later I would feel so hot that I would begin to sweat profusely.

I got very dehydrated, my mouth was constantly dry and I remember drinking almost five litres of water a day. I would wake up countless times each night to drink more water. Every muscle in my body was aching.

Were you able to eat anything?

No. I would vomit just at the sight of food, and my mouth was so bitter that I couldn’t even taste anything I tried to eat. I vomited so much that I was left with nothing. This continued to an extent that I almost vomited bile. As a result of being sick so much, my esophagus became raw and painful.

You must have been afraid.

At that stage, I realized that I would not survive if I didn’t seek medical attention immediately. I summoned all my strength and managed to get myself to the nearest hospital where I was diagnosed with malaria and immediately admitted. I vaguely recall the nurse telling me she was going to give me an injection to relieve the pain. Then I was given Coartem, the malaria drug.

Three days later I was on the road to recovery, although I still couldn’t taste anything. My appetite was very bad. All I could keep down were fluids.

How long did it take you to make a full recovery?

When I was discharged from the hospital, I was still so weak that it took me another five days to gain my strength back.

Now that it’s all over, how do you feel?

Having malaria was the weakest point of my life. I was hopeless and out of control of my own body. Now that I have fully recovered and am strong again, I realize just how lucky I really am to be alive. I feel sorry for the people who are unable to afford to see a doctor when they have malaria. That’s why I’m so glad we provide treatment for sponsored children who become infected.

Update on Hellen

Hellen is still in the hospital and will remain there for a time as she recovers. She is conscious now, and ate her lunch on her own. She is in need of lots of rest!

If you would like to send her a get well card or any other items that you think she could use or help keep her mind on recovery, you can mail them to her at:

Hellen Owani

P O Box 32187

Kampala, Uganda

She will probably be out of the hospital by the time the cards arrive (fingers crossed and prayers answered), but any well-wishes are welcomed. On the off chance that she is still in the hospital when cards arrive, her brother or sister can bring them to her in hospital.

Thank you to all who are keeping her in your prayers and thoughts!!