I leave in Four Days!

Antimalarials? $280.00-Spices for our cook? $44.00- 100 backpacks? Free-you donated them! Extra baggage fee I must pay to take Christmas to 100+ on the other side of the world? $640.00. The look on their faces when they see the love you’ve sent them & the look on yours when you see the look on theirs? Absolutely, without a doubt, tear generating, smile building, warm feeling in the pit of your stomach-PRICELESS!

Thank you soooooooooooooo much for loving these little ones.  We will have the greatest Christmas ever, because of your love, your caring, your giving.  Things have been insane preparing for departure and I haven’t had a chance to say goodbye or a proper thank you to so very many of you.  Pole (sorry) for that, but please, do know that from the very bottom of my heart and with every bit of gratitude one human is capable of mustering I send my sincerest thank you.  I am the happiest of happiest Mamas bringing this holiday celebration to these children who have never enjoyed a Christmas.  You, all and each of you, has made that possible and because I cannot find the words to express just how wonderful that feeling is, I will ask for you to close your eyes and imagine for just a moment a child, perhaps your child, who has suffered and struggled just to stay alive this past year – heck, all the years of his or her life.  He or she has lost a father, or a mother, or both! and every moment of every day is a battle to stay alive, to find food, to get help when he or she is sick.  And then along came a slightly crazy, but love filled Mama from Canada who has many, many good friends who help her bring life, and health, and food and hope (tumaini) to that child for the first time ever.  Now, and here’s the great part . . . extrapolate that to 47 children – to 107 plus children! – not to mention the adults whose lives we have impacted.  Feeling pretty good inside by now aren’t you?  Well you should.  You’ve done that and that’s how warm and wonderful and excited I feel!

A quick story.  As you know our daughter Amanda has been teaching at St. Joseph’s School here in Simcoe in Mrs. Long’s Grade 5 class and as part of their literacy program each child has received the bios for one of our children at Tumaini and written him or her a letter.  Some have wanted to bring gifts for their new penpal.  Well one little girl approached Mrs. Long and Amanda yesterday with a box.  Inside the box, she explained, was a bear, which used to be thebear she would take on sleepovers or trips where she felt she might become frightened . . . this bear had comforted her along the way, and so, with Connie as her Tumaini pal, she took that bear to Grandma, who has sewn Connie’s name onto it and Amanda is to deliver that bear to Connie so that she may enjoy the magical powers it possesses in making a child always feel safe and loved.

And, not to be forgotten . . . Just yesterday I was informed that the children of St. Eugene’s School in Hamilton, with their “Tumaini Toonies” program have raised almost $800.00 for our children!  That more than sends one of our kids to a quality English school for a year!!!  Unbelievable!!We’ll be in touch. . . we’ll have tons of photos and stories to share and we have a special thank you planned so stay tuned!  Please remember our Christmas gifting program, you are welcome to make a Christmas donation online, and that we still have children looking for sponsorship support.  Follow us on twitter @tumainimama or send me a private message here.  Be well and stay safe!  I’d better get back to packing!

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