Great Christmas Gifts!!!

ETHIOPIAN WOMEN COLLECTION.  We've had 4.25" x 5" greeting cards made using pictures of the paintings.  They are beautiful!  Proceeds from the sale of these cards goes to www.ethiopianhope.org to help change the lives of the women of Ethiopia.  You can email me at bananarama49@msn.com or call me at 480-595-0123 to order them.  They come in a box of 12 cards/envelopes for $17 plus shipping.  Anna

Joni Kabana - Photographer

These paintings were part of the auction pieces and were painted by artists,  Marless Fellows. Marless used photographs taken by Joni Kabana, a professional photographer from Portland, Oregon.  Joni accompanied us on our trip to Ethiopia this past February and we don't want to forget her valuable donation toward our fundraising!  Thank you, Joni!! 

Pictures from the Auction!!   From the top:  (1) Gloria Storms-Ruiz and Lori Spataro  (2) Grant and Molly Ingram (3) Jan Swenson and Patty Esralew (4) Lori McNeill (5) Dr, Michael and Greta Cheek (6) Molly and Matthew Ingram and Meghan Storms (7) Molly Ingram, Meghan Storms and Gloria Storms-Ruiz (8) Suzanne Millis and Erin VanderVelde (9) Jennifer Sweeney, Meghan Storms, Erin VanderVelde, Molly Ingram and Meredith Oksenholt (10) Vickie Morrow and Anna Ingram.

The Results Are In!!!!

On Friday, November 5, we had our 2^nd Annual Women Helping Women – Ethiopian Project 2010 Auction to raise money to fund the Prolapsed Uterus Fund at the Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. The hospital’s goal is to provide 2-3 prolapsed uterus surgeries a week which would make it about 150 surgeries for the entire year. We not only want to raise the money for these 150 surgeries, but also money to provide the women with transportation home after their surgery. This year with your help and generosity we raised approximately $14,000! These funds will provide 80 women with not only life altering surgery, but also a ride home!!!!

We want to thank all of the people who helped us with donations for the auctions with a special thanks to Marless Fellows for the series of beautiful paintings she painted of the Ethiopian women who had the surgeries this past February. Also, to Felicia Anderson from Dining in AZ Catering who provided the food, members of GedaLife who provided the live music, and Jeff Nicholson from McDowell Mtn. Auctioneering for managing the live auction. None of this would have come together without the gifts and talents of Anna Ingram and the amazing group of volunteers who helped put on this event. And, of course, we would like to thank all of you for your interest and generosity at our silent and live auction. None of this could have happened without all of your support!

Anna and I were not only encouraged with the number of women that we are able to help, but also with the new level of awareness and commitment to support these women from people who attended this event. It is hard to imagine that by helping one woman with this surgery we can be helping their children, their extended families and their communities.

Many of you have also requested a way to automatically donate on a monthly basis and we are going to incorporate this in the updating of the Deneke’s Hope Foundation website, www.ethiopianhope.org, in the next few months. Not only will the website have enhanced ways to donate, but it will also have updates on our fund raising efforts for the number of surgeries covered in the Gimbie Adventist’s Hospital Prolapsed Uterus Fund. We are also hoping to provide you with the pictures and testimonies of the women who have had the surgery and how your generosity has helped change their lives

We also want to encourage you to follow the progress of the Prolapsed Uterus Project, please sign up as a follower of our blog www.ethiopianproject2010.blogspot.com. This way we can keep you updated on not only the number of surgeries completed, but also any news related to this project.

Thanks again for your support and generosity in helping us raise the funds to help change the lives of 80 women, their families, extended families and their communities!

Diriba

This young man was the nurse assigned to "my preemie".  He was so good with her.  Joyce, the nurse practitioner, had a lot of confidence in his abilities.  His English was good.  He has gone as far as he can in the Ethiopian educational system.  He wants to be a Pediatrician but, of course, lacks the funds to pay for school.  So, Grant and I are looking into paying for his tuition and books until he graduates.

Woman At Work

We passed this woman carrying a bundle of limbs to town.  She will eventually sell them to support her family.  Believe me, the load was heavy!

Preemie

I'd mentioned earlier that I'd become attached to a beautiful little girl born premature at 35 weeks.  Of all of the experiences I had in Ethiopia this one was actually the most emotional.  Since the hospital does not have an incubator (they used hot water bottles to keep her warm) or an oxygen tank (very costly), and because the hospital generator kept quitting, the baby had to be revived two times.  She was being fed breast milk by hand through a tube from her nose to her stomach.  Both times I was in the room - sobbing and praying my heart out that she would survive.  (Joyce, the nurse practitioner who was working on her said that when the babies die the staff put them in a box and lay then at the foot of the mothers' bed.  The family then takes them home to bury them.)  I am very happy to say that the last time I saw her she was with her mother and nursing well!  Through an interpreter I told her mother how I had told her daughter not to give up, keep fighting, and grow strong to to great things in this world.  Her mothers' reaction is in the last photo.  Things we take for granted here in the US are simply not always available in third world countries.  The hospital could certainly use at least one incubator with a backup generator.  I'm going to be fundraising in order to send one to this hospital.  If you're interested in supporting this project please let me know.  Just make a comment to this post.  Anyway, here are some pictures of "My Little Preemie and Her Mother".