Greetings from Director Laura Sharpe, The Nigerians in our town of Kano just broke the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan! During the fasting season, it is hard for many of the parents to bring their children, so we have been able to spend more one-on-one time with fewer children. It is exciting to see the progress they are making in their skills! Among many successes, Halima is able to spell her name now. Mustapha is reading. Khalil has started playing with blocks and using his hands. Suleiman is better able to communicate. Abdulrahman is able to use his words to express himself, instead of having tantrums. So many of our kids are truly making exciting progress. In other news, my son and soccer athlete Noah Sharpe has built a wildly popular Instagram page for Shield City with more than 11,000 followers. Some of his videos have gone viral with more than 70,000 views (wow!). Through Noah's photography, you can see so much more of the Shield City story: Find us @ShieldCityFA or @ShieldInitiative. And lastly, we have big news. We are relocating our center! Our current location is in a deteriorating outbuilding, and we are trying to move across town. Read on to find out how you can help. Best, Director Laura Sharpe P.S. We've added a new "thank you to donors" section at the end of newsletter. Check it out! |
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| | Loss of Our Sweet Girl Raihanna This past month, we lost one of our sweet children at Shield City. Raihanna was a precious almost-2-year-old who had been coming to the center since she was almost six months old. Raihanna was visually impaired and had cerebral palsy. We all loved her dearly. We were so saddened when she passed away suddenly. She came to the center on a Thursday and played in class. She sang with us, played ball and was her happy self. She became ill on Saturday morning with a simple case of diarrhea and passed away by Saturday evening. Access to good health care in Sub-Saharan Africa is always difficult, particularly for our families with special needs children. We know life is fragile truly and this is a reminder for us at Shield City to treasure each of our moments with our sweet kids. It’s also a reminder of the difficult living conditions many of our children face in Kano, with few affordable doctors or medical facilities. As director, I’m still in touch with her mother as she grieves the loss of her daughter. We will miss you dearly, Raihanna. May you rest in peace, little one. | | |
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| | Soccer Athlete Uses Shield City Grant to Start Bakery One of our athletes, 17-year-old Ali, has had huge success this year with a bread-baking business he started in his neighborhood. Thank you to our sponsors Andy and Katie Nichols of Texas for helping Ali find a sustainable way to support his family! Ali proudly shared he has already made enough money to help purchase his brothers and sisters clothing for their upcoming holiday. Ali’s father passed away several years ago. In Nigerian culture, as the oldest son, Ali is responsible for securing funds to provide for his household. Previously, he was working small odd jobs as they became available, but this was hard to depend on for the needs of his home. He plays central defender on our Shield City team and loves to make everyone laugh. It is heartwarming to see his bakery do so well for his family. Click the button below to discover more ways you can support our athletes and their small businesses. | | |
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| | Child of the Month Feature: Noor This month, we are featuring 5-year-old Noor, a little girl with down syndrome. Her personality is so cute and fun. Her favorite activity is to play on our tire swing outside! The word in Hausa for swing is "lilo", so she walks into the center asking to “go to the lilo“ immediately! Noor came to the center two years ago. She takes classes for speech development, fine motor skills and gross motor skills development. Noor and her mother Halima take a rickshaw taxi to the center twice a week from their home several miles away. Her mother says Noor has seen great improvements in speech and social skills. Click here to see a video feature of Noor and her mother! To sponsor Noor or other sweet children like her, click the button below.
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| | GoFundMe for Relocating Center In our temporary location, we have really outgrown the area and need a more permanent location. Our alter-abled children have needs ranging from autism to down syndrome to cerebral palsy. Some are in wheelchairs or braces. We need a safe, clean playground and rooms for the kids to play, have group classes and physical therapy sessions. Finding and renting a large new building in Africa is ALWAYS complicated and time-consuming. We have identified several potential locations, but need a strong financial push to get us there! Consider a donation of $30 or $40 or more to help our move. GoFundMe link is here: https://www.every.org/shield-city-empowerment-initiative/f/a-new-center
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Update on Our Orphan Suleiman Look how happy Suleiman is in his new holiday clothes (donated by Shield City)! He has just flourished in the past two months as he makes friends and takes classes at the center. In fact, we found a sponsor for Suleiman! In honor of the late Judith Zichelli of Montclair, New Jersey, a donor has stepped in to help our student. Thank you! Suleiman, who has cerebral palsy, continues to walk to the center each day for a meal, as well as snacks to share with his friends, who are also beggars. This past week, his grandmother came to visit him. She was so thankful that he has been able to start classes. Suleiman is taking classes for speech therapy and learning to use his hands better. He is showing so much improvement after just a month of therapy. Our courses are changing this little guy’s life and it is heart-warming to watch him grow. | | |
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Thank you to our sponsors this month! Lenora Hamrick of Alabama sponsored our physical therapy for a month Andy and Katie Nichols of Texas are sponsoring our soccer athlete Ali's new bakery A donor has acted on the behalf of the late Judith Zichelli, to sponsor our student Suleiman indefinitely! Jerry Lemke of Spokane, Washington is sponsoring one of our students. Bill Turner of Alabama has opted to support our milking goat program in Niger for a year!
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