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UK
Charity Commission Registration Number 1120536 |
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Project Taurus Providing physiotherapy and speech therapy treatment for disabled children in Little Stars' west bank clinic, and extending the provision to cover general health plus dental and optician facilities |
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| Please scroll down the page to read our earlier reports | ||||||||||||||||||||
March 2010 The new dental surgery was opened by the British Ambassador Sir Dominic Asquith in March after the appropriate licenses to run the surgery had been obtained from the Egyptian authorities. Initially the surgery will be run on four days per week. |
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January 2010 In January 2010 a dentist was appointed to the clinic and equipment was bought in Cairo and shipped down to Luxor in a large wooden crate. The floor of the room earmarked for the dental surgery now has to be removed so that the plumbing and drainage for the equipment can be installed. The actual installation of the chair will be done by the supplier. The cost of the equipment was covered by a donation from the British Embassy.
November 2009 The British Embassy Port Said Fund has made a grant of 25,000 le towards the cost of setting up a dental surgery in the west bank clinic. The grant will be used to purchase a dental chair and all the equipment necessary to treat children's teeth. A dentist has already been appointed and work on the facility will start within the next few weeks. We are exceptionally grateful to everyone who worked on the application for this grant. Funds are now needed to help with the running costs and to provide the children who use with surgery with toothbrushes and toothpaste etc, a personal donation was given to Little Stars by Lord Carnarvon to start this part of the project, September 2009 The addition of Madam Dowlett to the clinic's staff as a speech therapist has been great success and has extended the range of treatment offered at the clinic. This September we were awarded a magnificent grant from the British Embassy to help cover the cost of installing dentistry equipment in the clinic and work will start soon on preparing a dental surgery for the children. We are delighted that a senior pediatrician from the International Hospital will soon be joining us as this will allow us to offer the widest range of free health care possible for the disabled and disadvantaged children on the west bank.
Our provision on the East Bank is minimal and, funds permitting, we hope to address this problem in the not too distant future. There is an obvious need for a drop-in centre on the East Bank where street children can call in for a hot meal, clothing and health checks. A night shelter where children can sleep in safety is also desirable and would be incorporated in the scheme. However, we do not at present have the funds to even consider looking for premises. In the meantime, we have received a request to help the group of destitute families with young children who live on a rubbish dump near Luxor and we will do our best to ensure that they receive the help they need. Stop Press: Little Stars has been just been given a grant of £2,700 (25000 le) by the British Embassy Port Said Fund in Cairo towards the cost of installing a dentistry facility in the clinic. We have a room suitable for this purpose and work will start tiling the walls and adding plumbing in the very near future. As this room will not be required every day, we hope to be able to make it dual purpose by creating an area where children's eyes can be tested.
March 2009 The clinic in Qurna has proven to be a great success and thanks to your support now has a speech therapist as well as a physiotherapist, both of whom specialise in the treatment of children. The success of this clinic and the remarkable growth in the number of patients that can be treated has led us to plan for a Little Stars clinic on the East Bank of the River Nile. The main reasons for the clinic's success are its accessibility in that it is on the main road and can be reached by local transport, its welcoming atmosphere as it is very child friendly with toys and a play area and the immense enthusiasm of its staff. All these points will be taken into consideration when planning the location and design of other Little Stars clinics. Little Stars has now withdrawn financial support from the old Manacare clinic at Karnak. Manacare is a totally separate organisation from Little Stars and is now fortunately able to resume financial support of its own clinics. Little Stars' focus is on the treatment of children and the clinic at Karnak is treating an increasing number of fee-paying adult stroke victims, which is a very worthwhile service, but is outside the scope of our remit. Support for the Manacare clinics was a temporary measure and the new Little Stars clinic, which will be built as soon as funds allow, will offer the same excellent services that are offered in the west bank Little Stars Carnarvon Clinic. Support is still given to the Good Samaritan Home on a monthly basis to cover their transport and doctors' fees and to pay the wages of new teachers in their school. This support will continue for as long as funds allow November 2008 The new west bank clinic opened in Qurna on the 1st November 2008 as planned and there was immediate interest from the local community. Just before opening we were fortunate to have an official visit from the British Ambassador Sir Dominic Asquith and the British Consul Mr. Richard Fielder who congratulated us on our achievement. The new clinic also acts as a food distribution centre as well as a free physiotherapy clinic. We are fortunate to have the services of a young and enthusiastic doctor who devotes her time to the clinic for six hours each day. This has enabled us to treat many more children than had previously been possible. Eventually we hope to have a mother and baby clinic at the centre and a free dental service for the children. There is still a lot of development to be done at the clinic but initially it appears to have been a great success and we thank everyone who made it possible.
September 2008 When Little Stars began its work in May 2007, we could not have anticipated how much support we would have. It has been immense as the plight of the children we aim to help has touched your hearts. Six months after Little Stars started we were asked if we would fund the two clinics that had been run by Manacare. There was still a great need for the clinics but funding had become a problem to them. We accepted responsibility and have completely funded the clinic at Karnak Charity Hospital and the one at Seul for the last year. It has only because of your tremendous support that this has been possible.
The free clinic at Karnak was exceptionally well run under the care of Hussein and Dr. Ahmed but the clinic in Seul, although it had dedicated staff, was run down and ill-equipped. It soon became apparent that the clinic was not well sited and was hard for many people to reach if they were not collected by the clinic's hired bus. The number of patients was dwindling and the a lot of the equipment was broken. A renovation project was started but this only temporarily filled a gap and it was evident that a new clinic was needed. In the summer of 2008, premises were located on the west bank close to Qurna Hospital. The premises consisted of two adjacent flats that could easily be converted into a purpose-designed clinic. The lease was signed and work began soon after. New equipment was bought in Cairo and it is hoped that the new clinic will open in the Autumn. The old clinic will be closed temporarily and then re-opened as a free nursery school for disadvantaged children who might otherwise never go to school. Renting premises instead of buying them has been a deliberate act as we feel that a project of this size needs a trial run. It would be foolhardy to buy land and construct a building without first seeing if the clinic is in the right place and offers the right facilities. At present we have a four year extendable lease but if we feel that the project is a success then either the lease will be renewed or, if funds allow we will build a new extended clinic close by.
In February 2008, the Trustees of Little Stars made an arrangement with the Good Samaritan Home to fund their doctor's and medicine costs and to pay the cost of hiring extra staff in the school. The Good Samaritan Home treats children who are in its direct care and also collects more than twenty children from the surrounding villages to bring them to their school. However, their physiotherapy equipment is almost non-existent and there is desperate need for even the most basic of items but Little Stars has already replaced their wheelchairs and will replace more items when we are able to.. Physiotherapy is not only needed for those that are born physically disabled or who have been crippled through injury because there are children who have suffered badly not because of deliberate cruelty but because of ignorance. We are aware of two mentally disabled brothers who were kept in a small outhouse of their Luxor home. They were uncared for, unclothed and untaught but that does not mean that they were unloved. They lay in their own excrement until it was hosed away and never learned to walk or talk. They are now both in the care of the Good Samaritan Home and with intensive muscle stimulation one of the brothers has learned to walk but the other brother is still locked in his own world. Neither has ever learned to talk. This situation is not rare. Disabled children are often thought of as a shame on the family and are locked away which can lead to unintended abuse.
Please help us to complete these projects either by making a donation to boost the Little Stars Trust Fund or by looking through the wish list to see if there is any piece of equipment that you can bring out to Luxor with you. If you work in the caring professions or are coming to Luxor on holiday or to live, then perhaps you might like to volunteer time helping at one of the centres. Or, if you have time on your hands, you might like to act as a fund raiser for Little Stars to provide the things that the children so desperately need. Your help is vitally needed. Please contact us if you can help, Thank you.
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