‘Population explosion’ at Tembari Center

A baby boy sleeps soundly in his bilum that is hanging from a branch of a mango tree, while his mom helps out in preparing last Saturday’s special lunch for Tembari children. The bilum is a native carry-on bag woven from colorful threads. In the village, bilum weavers normally use fibers from a certain bark of a tree.

Macaroni -- the special lunch served to Tembari children on Saturday. (More pictures after story.)

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
A Friend of Tembari Children

WE HAD the biggest attendance during our special lunch on Saturday – 138 children.

The truth is that I was dismayed to discover this number in the midst of our feeding session.

The food budget for this weekly special lunch is for only 110, and I expected that this number won’t be hit based on our daily feeding program head count of beneficiaries who come for food every day.

I was told that the excess diners were actually new kids from the block who were still in the process of being profiled and therefore were not yet official members of our roster.

(I have been informed today, Tuesday, February 15) that after profiling the newcomers, the Tembari kids now number 162 -- 62 in elementary and primary schools, about 90 in preschools while the rest are non-school age yet.)

I monitored how the dish of macaroni was being served to see to it that it could go around easily. In fact, I cooked about 30 liters of heavy macaroni with lots of chicken meat, cabbage and carrots to make the dish a bit healthier for the kids.

When food dwindled to half of the 30-liter pot, I began to worry because I still could see lots of kids at the dining tables without food bowls in front of them.
I asked for a head count and the figure of 138 came up.

Since I am limited only to a budget of K400 for my special Saturday feeding – an amount donated by two sponsors chipping in K200 each every Saturday – I would have to reduce the amount of food served so it could go around to all our kid diners.

I asked Penny Sage-embo, Co-Founder and Co-President ; and Hayward Sagembi, Co-Founder and Director; of Tembari Children’s Care (TCC) that we should keep the number of our children to 100 only, due to our limited resources. But this is impossible to keep, as more and more unfortunate children from ATS Oro Settlement at 7 Mile are coming for food and preschool education.

Their growing number has begun to upset our resources – food and space.

Until last year, we were cooking rice at the rate of one bag (10kg) a day – from Monday to Saturday – for a total of 6 bags a week, or 24 bags a month. Our kids until the end of 2010 numbered only 114 – the official figure.

These days, we are forced to cook up to 15kg a day to cover all, and that means we are consuming 9 bags (90kg) of rice a week, for a total of 36 bags in 24 days.

This is apart from the snacks of biscuits or bread we serve to our preschoolers at noon after their morning classes.

We only get regular rice donation of 16 bags a month (good for 16 days) from a generous Malaysian executive and the rest comes from individuals who sent in a bag or two during the month. That’s why we are able to accumulate a bit of enough rice for the entire month.

Without the individual rice donors, we would not be able to afford to feed our children everyday – from Monday to Friday.

In short, we would need at least 36 bags of rice (10kg) a month. But since we are getting a regular supply of 16 bags a month, we would have to look for donors who are willing to fill up the gap of 20 bags.

Maybe, an individual donor could contribute a bag every month.This way, your rice donations would become sustainable as they would come on a regular basis.

This won't cost much. A bag of Roots Rice (10kg)is about K40 - the cost of two lunch meals at Grand Palace.

If you think you could answer this appeal, please let me know as soon as possible. I would be very glad to pick up your donation – rice or flour, or whatever foodstuff that you could share with the Tembari children.

The Tembari children while away their time chatting to one another as they await lunch on Saturday. The Center, a day care and orphanage facility, looks after 120 orphans, abandoned and unfortunate kids by providing them preschool education and daily meals.











Volunteer mothers cooking a special lunch for the children on Saturday.

Ingredients being added to the cooking dish.

And another ingredient to make the dish more yummy....

Macaroni dish is done, and is ready to be served.

Just before having lunch, the children wash hands, assisted by volunteer mothers.





A toddler gets a helping hand from a volunteer mom in washing his hands.

A volunteer mother scoops the dish into a bowl.

Food ready to go.

A volunteer mother carries a tray of food bowls.

A Tembari kid helps out in distributing food bowls to young diners.

Children having lunch.





Janet, administrator of The Center, interviews children to get their profile. They are joining the Tembari Children’s Center for the first time as beneficiaries.

14) Janet still at work while her baby enjoys his meal.

Melanie, 10, one of the beneficiary kids who is now in Grade 3.

Foster mothers with their young children.

Penny Sagembo (in center), Co-Founder and Co-President of Tembari Children’s Care, talks to the children, encouraging them to come to The Center everyday for food and preschool classes.

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Water at last at Tembari Center

The water bulk carrier starts pumping water into the 5,000-liter water tank on Saturday, finally ending the water crisis at The Center. The delivery cost K260, paid for by an anonymous donor. (More pictures after story.)


By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
A Friend of Tembari Children


WATER!

Oh yeah … it finally came to The Center on Saturday, spiking excitement from everybody – the children, volunteer mothers -- and in me.

It arrived in a form of a bulk carrier from Mauri Ranu, a water distributor licensed by Eda Ranu, the water agency here in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Soon after the carrier settled at The Center’s premises it pumped the 1,000 gallon supply into the water tank that had been in itself thirsty, just sitting on its throne for almost a month – waterless.

The reason was that the village water service at ATS Oro Settlement at 7 Mile, outside the city has gone kaput, keeping the area virtually waterless for most of the day.

For long, the Center suffered from this gross inefficiency of the village association called Oro Community Development Association (OCDA) which operates the village water service.

It collected from water users but did not pay the bills to Eda Ranu over the years that they piled up and are now about to hit K200,000! Now, everybody at the village was asking where the water money went. We can always have a good guess on this.

With water supply enough for use for the entire month, we can now move on with our lives.

The 5,000 liters would be good for 37 days, or five weeks, if we consume it at the rate of 7 plastic containers (19 liters) per day – three containers for drinking, 2 for mixing cordial drinks and 2 for cooking and washing dirty kitchen utensils.

And there would be extra for other uses such as washing the hands of the children before having their meals.

We may even start growing some veggies that could go into the daily meals of the children. Since they are served with tinned fish everyday, a good deal of veggies is needed to boost the nutrition of this dish.

A vegetable garden would therefore be a good idea to pursue now that water is no longer a problem at The Center.

The 5,000 liters cost K260, paid for by an anonymous donor, at least for the first delivery so we could restore sanity at The Center which we lost for almost six months until yesterday since water service at the settlement failed.

To manage the water efficiently, we will therefore allot 7 plastic containers (19 liters) for everyday use.

The water tank has been installed with a tap secured by a “key”, so that it could not be turned open by anybody – particularly the kids who are prone to playing water– unless it is opened with the specially-designed key.

The water tap key will be kept by The Center’s administrator.

Our beneficiary children whose number will rise above 110 this year will now be able to drink water at their heart’s content before and after meals, or when they feel thirsty.

A water dispenser would always be at the ready for them every-day.

The other day, the children had to settle to drinking fresh milk to wash down the food at dinner as there was not even a drop of drinking water at The Center.

The village tap went real dry during the day, and it was good that we still had a few packs of fresh milk that solved the thirsting crisis.

However, since water crisis hit the settlement, our beneficiary children had not drunk water for most of the time and just washed down food with cordial drinks.

Health-wise, it was not ideal because a person is supposed to drink at least 8 glasses of water everyday apart from other liquids taken -- something not easy to do for one reason or the other.

Last year,when we brought first few plastic containers of 19 liters to The Center for our Saturday special lunch cooking, the children downed the first container in just 15 minutes.

It only showed how thirsty our children had become during those days when water was that hard to come by.

With dry days at The Center finally over, we could all rejoice,and we thank our Lord for making our water facility project a reality.

Well, thanks to RH Foundation for providing us this vital water facility, and to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Ltd and New Zealand-based engineer Joe Buenaventura for supplying the materials used in building the concrete platform on which the 5,000-liter tank sits.

And urgently, we would like to appeal to individuals or corporate entities for a monthly donation of K260 that would defray the cost of our regular water supply.

Providing the Tembari children with this vital commodity, you would be contributing greatly towards enhancing their health and in making life at The Center a little better.

Our volunteer mothers would no longer have to stew the whole night waiting for water to flow from the village tap. This is now a thing of the past.

And always remember: Water is Life.

And it is life that you are giving away to the Tembari Children.

Be a part of their lives.


The water bulk carrier arrives on Saturday do deliver 5,000 liters of fresh water for use at The Center.

The water tank in the foreground with the bulk carrier seen in the background.

The water pump merrily hoses precious water into The Center’s water tank facility.

Children curiously watch how water is brought to the tank.

After the water thank has been filled, excess water is loaded into plastic containers.

Hayward Sagembo, Co-Founder and Director of the Tembari Children Care (TCC) Inc, having a feel of the first water flow from the tank.

The tap gushes freshwater into the plastic container. – All pictures by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ




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Profiling our foster-mothers

Penny Sagembo, Co-Founder and Co-President of Tembari Children Care (TCC), interviews a poster-mother as part of her task to build a data base for guardian parents with children under The Center’s care. More pictures at the end of story.)

By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
A Friend of Tembari Children

IT WAS a busy day at The Center on Saturday.

Aside from the usual cooking and feeding activities, there were long hours of interviews carried out with foster-mothers whose children are beneficiaries of the Tembari Children Center (TCC).

On Saturday, Penny Sage-embo, co-founder and secretary of TCC, interviewed more than 20 mothers whose profiles are being made for the first time. This way, it would give Penny idea about the guardians of the Tembari Children.

It would give Penny some picture why a particular child would be missing his/he classes, or why he or she would come late for classes.

At the same time, Penny is also building up data base of our children that would show basic details such as age, gender, parents, and their school performance. We would need this information when presenting request for funding assistance with funding agencies or potential donors.

And the task of doing this is getting difficult and slow as the number of our beneficiaries increase.

While the profiling and number compilation is in progress, we know that we have 62 kids in elementary and primary schools this year and a batch of 80 preschoolers. Sadly, they have not enrolled yet as we are still unable to find donors for their school fees amounting to K9,450.

The 80 preschoolers do not include the 20 first timers who would be joining the Tembari children for the first time. They are children of families with a complete set of parents – a mother and a father – who are able enough to support their needs.

But since it is only the Tembari that operates a preschool at the ATS Oro Settlement outside of Port Moresby, they are being taken by TCC as part of its services to the community, being a community-based organization (CBO) duly registered with the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA).

While we are appealing to NGOs, Business Houses and Individuals to sponsor school fees for our children, our TCC Founder and Co-President, Rishabh Bhandari, who is in the USA, is also carrying out fund raising activities to raise money to pay the school fees for as many children as possible.

With 120 children doing preschool,
are also faced with classroom problem.

These 120 kids would have to be divided into three classes of 40 each, a number which is no longer ideal for a class.

Two classes would be holding sessions in classrooms, while the third batch would be doing its usual activities outdoors – under the shade of a mango tree next to the classroom.

Right now,we are tryingto raise K50,000 to pay for the building of a multi-purpose hall that would house a third classroom for our outdoor preschoolers.

The multi-purpose hall which measures 15m x 4m would also provide a much-needed space for small office and kitchen

So far,we have already raised the first K7,000, a donation from Engineer Ariel Parro, managing director of AP Engineering Ltd of Kokopo, East New Britain,Papua New Guinea. Engr Parro has assured us that he would continue supporting this project. He promised to help us prepare the basic design for the building.

For those who would like to support this project, here’s an opportunity to do so: You can contribute the needed materials like roofing sheets, cement, bricks, timber materials and others.

Initially, the structure would require 18 roofing sheets 2.7m long and another set of 18 sheets 3.6m long; ridge cap 8 length x 2.8m.

If you wish to donate cash, please write the cheque in the name of Tembari Children’s Care (TCC).

Also, we have an account with Bank South Pacific through which you can credit your donation to BSP bank account 1001481651.

I hope this appeal would reach kind-hearted individuals and community-oriented business houses and institutions.

It is through your support and theirs that the Tembari Children’s Care (TCC) is able to make the lives of a group of less-fortunate children a little better by providing them daily meals and basic education.

We would be willing to discuss with you ideas that would help make our preschool classroom project a reality.


Guardian parents stand outside the makeshift office while waiting for their turn to be interviewed.

This is the spot where the third batch of 40 preschoolers will hold their daily class this year in the absence of an appropriate classroom. Once rain threatens to come down, the kids will be sent home, thus disrupting their class for the day. – All pictures by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

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Saturday feeding is always a special occasion

Special soup of the day. (More pictures after story.)


By ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
A Friend of Tembari Children

WE had 89 diners during our feeding gig on Saturday.

We somewhat expected this number since the 2011 school year will only begin tomorrow, Monday, February 7.

Most of our beneficiary children numbering 120 are still away from the settlement with their relatives, and may be still having an extended break.

But as usual, I thought my cooking day was great, seeing the kids slowly building up in number as noon time approached.

I asked The Center’s administrator to make a headcount of the feeding attendees and she came back with some 79 at the first count. Just before my special soup was served to the children at 11.45am, she made another headcount and found 89 at the dining tables.

Good figure, as we have enough of beef stew (12kg) to go around. We prepared fried rice this time, but it proved to be troublesome especially when you are dealing with 10kg of rice in one go. I’ll never try cooking this again.

Plain rice goes better with stew, I told our volunteer mothers, who suggested last week that I prepared fried rice for lunch as the kids looked tired of eating plain rice. This is one of the perks of having sufficient food at the storeroom – the kids could make some request!

But anyway.

“Soup was good, Fredo …” said one kid who was trying to cool his steaming soup. He wanted to gulp it down but it was just too hot for his throat to take.

“What did you put in here … tastes great …” one girl said, and commented that she thought it was her first time to taste it.

The soup I prepared was unique: I stir-fried onion, put in cubed bellfruit, add in two bottles of pasta sauce and seasoning. Then I boiled it in 28 liters of water for several minutes. The final ingredient to go in? Beaten yolks and egg whites from 15 eggs.

The finished dish looked great!

The skies threatened to open up, but I just ignored it, praying it won’t make good its threat.

So, things went all right. The kids had their fill of nice lunch, a far cry from their daily meals of boiled rice and tinned fish – from Monday to Friday.

Saturday lunch has always been a special occasion.

The kids could attest to this.

And they went home across the village with memories of another great lunch.

(Our special lunch for the first Saturday of February was sponsored by the Nanga Clinic and the family of John Ping Law, an executive at Homeguard Construction Ltd. The two sponsors each contributed K200 for the ingredients. Purified water was provided by Parklane International Trading Ltd.)

Children falling in line to wash hands. Now water is no longer a problem.

A volunteer mom adding an ingredient into the beef dish.

Mothers busy at work on the day’s special lunch.

A volunteer mom struggles with the fried rice.

Tembari kid splits firewood while a volunteer mom tends to the beef stew.

Adult kids chatting while food was cooking.

Children waiting for lunch at dining tables.

Food bowls ready to go.

A baby sleeps soundly in his bilum while mom helps out in cooking the day’s lunch.

A volunteer mom serves cordial drink to the kids who are now having lunch.

Kids having a lunch of beef stew, soup and cordial drink.

Preschoolers enjoy lunch inside the classroom

Other kids prefer to eat theirs while sitting on a floor mat.

Volunteer moms merrily clean used utensils. Now, water is no longer a problem.– All pictures by ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ

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