Progress Report - January 2009

I (Isabel) wish you all the best for this new year from a heart filled with gratitude for all the blessings that have rained down on this project. Thank you all!

On the 12^th of December Prof. Coetzee operated on Amos. For a few days he was beside himself with pain, barely surviving from one pethedine injection to the next. For quite a while he could not talk, and had no control over his salivary glands, and by the time he was discharged he was still feeling very fragile. 

A week after his discharge, on a Sunday morning, Amos let me know that his tongue had been bleeding from the previous day already. Quite by chance I had been in Menlyn the previous day, walking past a book shop. Something caught my eye and I went inside and picked up and opened one particular book. Again, one particular paragraph caught my eye, which contained a "boereraad" recipe for dealing with any bleeding of the mouth. The recipe was: 1 teaspoon of red pepper placed in the mouth to dissolve, followed by a glass of fruit juice to wash the pepper down. What perfect timing! Nothing else we tried had had any effect. In the end it was only the red pepper that stood between Amos and disaster. Half an hour after he'd drunk the red pepper/fruit juice mixture the bleeding stopped!  

The operation was a success in that Amos' speech has improved greatly. The costs of the apparatus needed for the second operation is R54,000. I am completely confident that this amount will be available when it is needed. 

The funds in the trust have also been used to buy Amos a fridge, as well as to cover the costs of accommodation, food and other necessities for his family for December. This enabled him to recover completely, knowing that his family was being well cared for. 

There is now also a new challenge: Amos can open a tuck shop in a room in the house where he is staying. Dieter and I are positive that this will be a good learning experience, and Amos has enrolled in an entrepreneurs training programme!  

In the mean time Amos is back on the street, distributing letters, and in so doing marketing himself. 

Thank you for all your good wishes and enquiries about Amos' progress, and enjoy his smile - you are part of it's reawakening! 

Best wishes 

Isabel

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