Last month, Sharon from the Point Foundation visited the Noel Orphanage in Rwanda. We have been supporting Noel with the help of the Point Foundation for several years – the orphanage is located next to the tea plantation where our everyday brew is grown!
We love receiving these updates from Sharon as it’s amazing to see the impact your donations have on the lives of the children and young adults that live at Noel, especially those part of the Disability Programme.
The disabled children at Noel are gaining new social abilities and mobility skills at the nearby Ubumwe Centre and your donations go a long way to ensuring transportation to and from the centre to the orphanage.
We’ve also been able to donate a digital blood pressure monitor and thermometer which helps to pick up signs of infections or other health issues at an early stage. Dietary improvements have also been made thanks to your donations, with milk being introduced.
As more and more children are becoming ‘reunifed’ and leaving the orphanage to begin new lives in family based homes, it is becoming very apparent that it’s unlikely the disabled children at Noel will ever be found families to care for them. It is now even more vital that the Point Foundation continues its work with the children on the Disability Programme.
For younger residents like Esther, Keza and Claudine, being part of this programme ensures they will benefit from medical progress and achieve an improved quality of life. And baby Sonjia, blind from birth, will be assisted with all the necessary skills to help her cope as she grows older.
During Sharon’s visit, she and the volunteers arranged a day trip to nearby Lake Kivu for the older Noel children, helped by your donations. Very few of the children had ever been to the lakeshore, let alone feel sand between their toes or paddled in the water. One touching aspect was when some of the older children heard about the trip, they made their own way to the lake to come and offer extra assistance. The children spent the day as one happy family, chilling by the lake, playing ball and hoops games and lunching on food brought by the food sellers on the beach.
Also during Sharon’s visit she was able to meet with the teapigs sponsored students – your donations have ensured these young adults can go to university. They were so happy to receive their official sponsorship certificates and a ceremony was held for the presentations of certificates, teapigs bags and badges. (Rwandans love a ceremony!)
Head over here to find out more about our work with the Noel Orphanage – and don’t forget we donate from every pack of everyday brew sold and you can make donations at the basket on any order.
