News from Mama . . .
Well! The Maasai Market has burned down and for those of you who have visited you can attest to the gravity of this loss. Hundreds of people have booths, jammed side by side and separated by some very old (very dry) wood partitions. Most were covered with a corrugated tin material but many, MANY plastic tarps, covering leaks, fueled the inferno. There was no insurance. An enormous thank you to Gail Walker and The Runner’s Den in Port Dover for collecting gently used running shoes! Our children, our outreach families, even Oddo, thanks you!! Baba Kaka pictured is teaching Fadhilla to tie her first EVER pair of running shoes . . . she is 15 years old . . .
THANK YOU!
To Avondale United Church in Tillsonburg! Avondale’s Sunday school and Youth Group worked alongside parishioners to collect the funding required to support Esther for another year and all we can say is Asante, AND . . .Sophie Edmunds!! Sophie volunteered with us at Tumaini and was moved to help us help our kids. Doing what she knows, Sophie enlisted the help of friends Rachel Maxey, Ellabeth Little, Sandy Thompson, Monika Papayova, Peter Thompson and sister Rachel and they hosted a concert benefiting us here at Tumaini. Sophie’s orchestra raised 561 British Pounds!!! Asante Sophie and friends and thank you so much for remembering us!!!
I would like to thank new sponsors Amy (and Dad) for embracing Said, and Sara for assisting our outreach performer Joseph and thank you Heather and Colin for sponsoring the needs of Rosie. It is only with your help that we can continue to provide opportunities for these children and a deserving collection of children these are! Asante . . .
Rashid’s CD4 is 814, Glory’s is 1165 and Mary holds at 423.
We need you Help!
On one of my first trips to Tanzania I stopped at an orphanage in Manyara called the Children of Concern Foundation. I met an employee there named Peter. He struggled to find support for the children staying there and I was moved by his dedication. A year and a half later Peter came to see Oddo and I. He had begun (and ended) a relationship with a woman who gave birth to a child named Princess. Peter had outfitted the mother with a room, bed, cooking utensils, etc. “Mama” cleared out the room of everything, locked the door and left Princess on the floor. She cried for two days until someone came to help.
Peter brought Princess to us (four years ago) and we were able to place her, as an infant, at the Cradle of Love Baby Home. She lived there until she was 2 ½ years old at which time she was forced to leave. (The Cradle of Love has an age ceiling on the children they are willing to provide care for.) She moved to another orphanage where some underhanded efforts were made to have her adopted without her father’s consent. A judge, in the final stages of the adoption located Peter’s phone number and called, “just to be certain”. Peter clarified the situation, the orphanage became frustrated and Princess has been ousted.
Peter is not in a position to have his daughter at the orphanage with him and his salary restricts his ability to provide her school needs. He has located a respectable boarding school for his daughter and her aunt, Peter’s sister, will welcome her on holidays. What is needed to facilitate all of this is 1,135,000 TZS or CAD 782.00.
Equally critical is the ongoing sponsorship of our precious Bibi (Grandmother) Anna. We met Anna four(ish) years ago when she and her struggle were introduced to us in an outreach capacity. Her only daughter had died, leaving three grandchildren for Anna. A new stepmother disliked her “extended” family and was particularly cruel to them which was accepted by their father. Anna, in desperation, took guardianship of all three of her daughter’s children, Samuel, Andrea and Jennifer, but struggled terribly trying to find money for their care, food and school fees. When I met her she was washing other people’s clothes in the river for 1,000 TZS daily, or about, 70 cents.
We moved Bibi and the children into a two room house (40,000 TZS monthly plus electricity), help with school fees and provide weekly food for the entire family. Emergency medical care is always covered if needed and we outfit the children and Bibi with their domestic needs. The needs of this family cost 2,140.00 annually or almost $1,500.00. Can you help?
It goes without saying that we thank you for your continued love and support. We can do nothing to care for these precious children without you, so . . . thank you. For your love, for your prayers, for your support, for your money. Thank you. Be well!
