The day before I left Lagos for my Christmas trip to the States, I was able to make a trip out to visit one of our charities who had recently moved into their new location. Beth Torrey Home for the Handicapped had been in the process of building these new facilities for about 9 years. They could only work as they had donations come in to fund the building, so it took a long time, and I wondered if I would ever see it happen. I was so pleased to see them in their new home -- it was so much more spacious and comfortable than their old place. This home currently has about 18 residents and they now have room to have up to 25 residents.
I delivered our gift bags to the staff.
This is a classroom, used to teach living skills.
All the bedrooms were neat and clean and all the beds had mosquito nets.
This is the meeting room for the residents.
The pantry had the yams lined up on the shelves.
They didn't have a washing machine and so they had to wash the clothes by hand. I made a long list of furniture, appliances and equipment that they could use and ConocoPhillips helped them with a big donation. I wish I could have been there to see the excitement of the staff at getting some new things to outfit their new facilities.
The land was donated for their new facilities and they had much left undeveloped.
They were setting out breakfast while I was there.
Janice always has a big smile.
Some residents have physical disabilities as well as mental.
They had a lively song and prayer session before they sat down to eat.
Beth Torrey was the recipient of a donated vehicle from a raffle where the winner didn't claim their prize.
We had a wild time on the ride home from Beth Torrey trying to get through some gigantic potholes.
I thought this message on the back of this bus was helpful, based on the state of Lagos roads.
2 comments:
What an experience you're having there, Carolee - and what a great influence you've been for the people! You're awesome!
I'm interested in the Yams that were lined up on the shelves. At Thanksgiving Lauren and I were trying to get the real scoop on the difference between yams and sweet potatoes. We had concluded that all the things called yams in the U.s. are really sweet potatoes. Those yams were enormous! Are they yams or giant sweet potatoes?
The pothole in the road - reminded me on one we encountered in Costa Rica. They just painted the lines on the road to go around the pothole. I must say the Nigerian pothole appears to be twice the size of the Costa Rican pothole - didn't know they could get any bigger than that.
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