In Search of Solutions . . .

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For those of you who may not realize, we are in our fifth year at Tumaini.  Oddo and I teamed up in August of 2009 and began caring for our first 24 children.  Most of those initial intake children have now been with us for more of their lives…

What's New at Tumaini?

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 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…

Not a typical Tumaini morning . . .

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Oddo and I started our day with a meeting with a young mother who has two infant children, Aloise two, and Junior, my guess would be less than a year.  The District Agent sent them to us with a letter, asking us if there was something we could…

UPS and downs from Mama

Our deepest sympathies go out to families and friends of former volunteers, Canadian Kathy Hoey who was with us last year for two months and taught in our first grade class and her travel companion Jean Luc from France who were just killed in…

First Monday in December . . .

All of our primary students are home . . .   Nelson arrived yesterday from Dar es Salaam for holiday and Raymond left yesterday Dodoma after a quick trip back home for the weekend. The children are asking for bicycles.  Usually on holidays,…

Home with Watoto (Children)

We are here!  Jet lagged and baggy eyed (carried thirteen hockey bags this time) and cleared customs without a shida.  (Problem).  I am struggling with getting on the clock here, something I normally have little trouble with but the kisses…

...and the countdown begins

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The days are numbered until our departure . . . just 16 days until Mary, Reward, Lohai and I return to Tumaini to, first, help our children prepare for their end of year exams and then, to enjoy a safe and healthy Christmas together with a house…

Hello from Mama in Canada!!

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A Message from Mama . . . I am sitting at my desk (in Ontario, Canada) and a chickadee (a small bird native to our area) has been trying desperately, AND I MEAN DESPERATELY, almost all day to break through the glass of my windows and join…

Wednesday morning from Tumaini!

It is 11:50 a.m. It’s warm, hot, actually (sorry to those of you in the barridi “cold”), and the sun is shining.  All of our older students are at school and as I write this I can hear the children repeating their vocabulary words for…

Sunday morning/afternoon/evening at Tumaini

6:50 a.m. and the children are parading in to my room for morning kisses and cuddles.  We will have breakfast (mandaze [a doughnut], and chai).  I asked them if they preferred to have mya (eggs) now or badaye (later) with their picnic and…