Oxen&Palm delivers goodies

ALFREDO P HERNANDEZ
A Friend of Tembari Children


DAVID SLAPE, the general manager of Hugo Canning Co Ltd, emailed me the good news:

His staff delivered to The Center last Thursday 10 cartons of canned goods, which his company produces and/or distributes.

The foodstuff consisted of sardines, pork luncheon, curry chicken and tuna.

On phone last Thursday, Dave told me his company may be able to provide the kids with protein on regular basis. I cross my fingers to that. Cheers!

He said Hugo Canning usually gives assistance to many Care Groups in the country as well as foundations that included the PNG Children’s Foundation.

The PNGCF is the latest benefactor, along with Hugo Canning, to support the activities of Tembari Children Center (TCC), a day-care center at ATS Oro Settlement at Seven-Mile, outside of Port Moresby.

And The Center is the latest Care Group and community-based organization (CBO) that PNGCF has assisted with funding to pay for the fortnightly allowances of its three volunteer-teachers.

This means that with Thursday’s foodstuff delivery, our 83 beneficiary children comprising orphans, neglected/abandoned and vulnerable children are now getting improved diet everyday.

The Ox&Palm delivery came very timely as it would go with rice and veggies that the children will be having every lunch time, six days a week.

Rice is being supplied on a monthly basis by two generous business executives based in POM.

Until late February, the kids were only having kawkaw (sweet potato), boiled veggies and sliced bread and cordial for lunch. The reason is that The Center did not have enough cash to buy rice for their lunch.

In terms of nutrition which rice provides, the day-to-day meal wouldn’t have much at all in terms of nutrients, although it could satisfy the children’s hunger for food.

So far, with more people coming forward to help us with cash and goods, the acute nutritional deficiencies of the children are hopefully being covered a little bit at a time.

I would say that getting the kids in top health would be tough job for us overseers of The Center.

Considering the long period in which these children did not have proper regular meal – a decent meal at that -- certain health anomalies could have uncoiled in their fragile systems -- like malnourishment a.k.a. undernourishment.

Malnourishment means to ways – it’s either a kid is eating a lot but it’s the wrong food – e.g. junk food, or, that he is getting a lot of food but it’s lacking in the required nutrients needed by the kid’s for a healthy body and wellbeing (example, the previous kawkaw-sliced bread-boiled green daily lunch of the Tembari kids)

Undernourishment is when a child gets less proper food (balanced diet/healthy food) than what he should take normally.

But I can tell you by the looks of it that we are slowly inching on but surely getting to wherever that goal of ours hibernate in the wilderness of funding and resources crisis.

Thanks a million Dave – may your tribe and that of Hugo Canning’s continue to prosper so that more and more needy Papua New Guineans could continue benefiting from the good fortune.

Well, this is all for now.

Happy Easter to all of you folks.


Email the writer: alfredophernandez@thenational.com.pg
jarahdz500@online.net.pg
freddiephernandez@yahoo.com