What’s New at Tumaini?
Happy 6th birthday (March 1st) to our littlest man Liadi, who is not so little anymore. He is stretching out and growing taller and leaner and has lost any hint of the baby boy he was. His tabia (attitude) is still that of a precocious little person who knows he is adorable and also knows how very much he is loved. He has begun writing letters and I am often the beneficiary of his prose and it never ceases to bring me joy to know that Tumaini, as is the case for all of our children, has been the catalyst, since the death of his mother in providing his care and learning.
Other March birthdays include Latifa (6th), Nelson, (15th) who just turned twenty!, Zawadi (16th)and Gerehad (25th).
We have now celebrated so many repeated birthdays . . . a mile marker indicating just how long most of our children have been with us at Tumaini . . .
I had some business in Dar Es Salaam and enroute to the airport (Oddo drove me), we passed an accident and the victim was lying not two feet from our car, and very much lifeless. The driver of the gari (vehicle) who hit his piki piki (motorcycle) had fled the scene which is a not too uncommon event in this country I am sorry to admit. It was garishly shocking to witness and a very sobering reminder of the dangers of driving here.
We are on the mend after a hellish three weeks. Typhoid took down eight children, violent vomiting and diarrhea caused from some contaminated fruit. Hardest hit it seems was Harriri and Jenny who vomited through the cake and ice cream part of Latifa’s birthday celebration while, simultaneously Wema brought me Connie who was bleeding profusely from her mouth as, yes, she had fallen and broken her front tooth! This is our fourth broken front toothed child! I think we might use it as a Tumaini child identifier if things continue.
Anna has shilingi and Rashid is finishing a dose of antibiotics to clean up a chest infection but for the dregs of a very nasty virus leaving most of us with a rasping cough, and all typhoid stricken patients aside, we are recovering, myself included after four days with my own gastro-intestinal issues. I am just coming up for air now.
Exams went well last month and we have seen improvement in Rashid, Harriri, and others and the children are not unhappy with their adjusted study regime and most VERY pleased with such marked improvement in their grades. Some of them are very serious about their academic performances.
We are BUSY in outreach! You may remember the “Kikwe” family we assisted? Well they are happily ensconced in their new, improved, furnished and stocked home, children are glowing with health and we are in the midst of assisting mama in the startup of a new business which will allow her to be home with her children more, AND! Brothers Joseph and Jackson Gabriel have just been outfitted with uniforms for school, fees have been paid and they start on Monday! Baby Emmanuel and Ramon (3 1/2) will remain with mama for awhile longer!
So many thanks go out to Tumaini Holland and Tumaini Australia for providing the funding. See the story on our website www.tuchifo.com “Outreach, Helping others in our Village”.
Mama Kikwe was here today and shared (be VERY proud of yourselves Australia, Holland and Belgium) with me that with all of the good food baby Emmanuel is eating, he has begun to walk! This is especially poignant to us because his little legs just didn’t seem to have enough in them to EVER let him stand up and get moving but moving he is! Thank you again to everyone who participated in this outreach project!
And, a second family, Mama Hadija and her five children have moved into THEIR new home! Tumaini Holland and Belgium teamed up with us (Canada) and we are changing seven lives . . . dramatically! The eldest child, Hadija (11) is a shining example of all that is good in the world and although this family has suffered like few else I have come across she is sweet and gentle and incredibly grateful for the assistance she and her family are receiving.
Swalehe gets help with his shoe from Tony . Swalehe (6) is a darling boy and Rukaiya (2) is the gentlest, sweetest, cuddliest child I think I have ever met.
In a part of the world where there is so much pain and suffering, the love this Mama has shown her children is blatantly evident in their dispositions . . . well, almost! Mulky, (4) is a bit of a terror (but he gave me a GREAT “pull a 10″ tapeworm from his behind” story for you) . . . Mama is schedule for surgery this Tuesday and eldest Hadija (11) and Swalehe will come to Tumaini for day school!
And you may remember our little sun glassed guy Aloise and his brother Junior who were abandoned here by their mother? Well, she went off to jail, Dad came and took the children home to his girlfriend and yesterday we got a call saying Junior is sick. Oddo, Mama Korosho and I were in town and so stopped in to check on the little guy . . . the “house” is a shack.
A mud walled “structure” full of holes and nothing but the mattresses we gave them on the floor to sleep. And Junior? He has bronchial pneumonia which was diagnosed after we scooped him up and brought him back to Dr. Lyimo. He will recover here with loving from Mama Korosho and Dada Mary . . . he may never leave! A belly full of pabulum, milk and ndizi (banana), a warm bath and new and clean pj’s and he’s off to lala land! His medication has started and I am certain not even a sniffle will go unnoticed with all the attention he is getting.
We are drafting our Memorandum of Understanding for the new land and hope to have it completed and approved by month’s end . . . WE HOPE!
The rains have finally begun and although things are “muggy”, we are grateful for the they are critically needed for crop production . . .
Several of our children are fasting for lent and so we have VERY early breakfast dates in the mornings now!
We will be in touch! Please mark September 14th on your calendar for our 3rd annual Tumaini Tournament of Hope again at Springview Farms Golf Course in Waterford, Ontario and if you haven’t yet, please send me an electronic photo of you, our sponsors so that I might update our sponsor pages on our new website . . . www.tuchifo.com
Nothing here can continue to thrive without your continued love and support and I know that, so, thank you. From the very bottom of my heart I give thanks to each of you who continue to love us so very much from so very far away! Be well!
