First of all, I should say that the appointment went well with Victor's doctor and counselor and we continue to work on more ways we can ensure uninterrupted HOCET oversight of his medication schedule and are working on designating key people to attend his future visits: people who will be informed of his condition and will not only take him to appointments but visit the doctor with him to make sure instructions are communicated to the office. Victor himself was thrilled that we've got the pills right again since he'd been double-dosing and was feeling awful because of it.

However, as soon as he realized he wasn't fatigued anymore he ran around to play football (soccer) with the boys - without shoes - and injured a toe on his foot. I'm sorry, actually he (queasy people beware now), the toe from his second toe on his right foot was completely removed somehow when he scrapped rock/road going for a kick and the skin and flesh under it was badly torn. The boys immediately brought him to me ('cause I've kind of become the doc here) and I, after yelling first for them to leave me to get some work done, brought him into the house (which I guess has kinda become a ward). I sat him down and washed his foot over a bucket to get a look. At first I was about to pluck off the skin thinking he'd merely cracked his toe diagonally down the middle. But when I flipped it up I quickly realized it was skin (and more) and (queasy people, I warned you) I believe I saw the tip of a bone. ...poor little guy, he was really trying to suck it up through all of this. I got him some water, some cookies and put an early Jet Li movie I'd picked up on the street earlier for him to watch on my computer while I cleaned him up as best I could. He sat with me to watch the rest of the movie with his foot up on another chair so it would have time to dry before I wrapped it. I took him back to the house and, within an hour, he was putting all his weight on his bad foot and executing high karate kicks with the other despite my instructions that he absolutely take it easy for at least a couple of days. I honestly don't know what HOCET's can do about him: his spirit is not a flame within him, he is a raging fire. ...a hilarious fire but, still, raging.

Other drama includes some action at the school site where a brand new teacher seems to have gotten out of line - way out of line - with inappropriate talk with a few of our students. The students apparently told some teachers, who told the headmaster but, while he was apparently working things out, the students decided they'd take matters into their own hands and perpetrated a sting. I won't get into it here but suffice it to say that, even were this teacher to have remained (he won't) he'd have had 35 or more boys menacing him at every move. ...and he certainly wouldn't have wanted to join them for the daily football matches.

So now we're also working on how to expedite official action (removal, immediate suspension during investigation) surrounding certain claims as well as, of course, how to ensure that the students realize the school is not the streets from which they come and that The Student Body as Mob 101, isn't a an independent study course.

Our kids come from high-risk circumstances and, even when they become a part of the HOCET family they can continue to be at risk while they are perceived as poor or without guardians. So far, it's history is almost nothing but cause for celebration. As HOCET grows, however, it will have to remain ever mindful that they are still protected - from the arrival of new help and even each other ... and this will be difficult.

In other news: we may have the largest monthly donor pledge begin this month: 500,000/= (about $385) each month for at least a year from a local donor I met at one of the churches visited with the choir. That's what I'm working on now so I'll get back to that.
Remember, you can visit donate, too - monthly even - by visiting http://www.hananasif.org/donate.php!

~aB