DOB – March 25, 2005

Came under Tumaini care August, 2009

Gerehad, Daniel, Anna and Martha all come from the region of Songea in southern Tanzania, a desperately poor part of the country where many people walk around without clothes.  It is the region where my Tanzania partner Oddo’s family is from and many relatives still live there and share heartbreaking stories about children in need.  Gerehad is one of those children. Gerehad and Daniel came from a very isolated area and spoke no English nor Kiswahili and their situations were especially poignant to my partner Oddo.

Songea is desperately poor, as I have mentioned and is Oddo’s “home town”.  Oddo was born with polio and without the help of some German missionaries (despite the Tanzanian custom of naming the first born son after the paternal grandfather, Oddo was named, in gratitude, after the German missionary who got him medical care) he would have grown up to be what is referred to as a “crab walker”, a person who, lacking the strength in the legs to walk upright is forced to walk in a sort of reverse crawl on hands and feet.  Needless to say, Oddo is very sensitive to those people afflicted with polio and such is the case for Gerehad and Daniel’s fathers who both suffer with the disease.  They are, unfortunately, crab walkers and must resort to begging, which is extremely difficult in such a poor region as Songea.  Gerehad did not have a chance in his present situation, Oddo’s family shared the story of his plight and now he is here with us!

Now in secondary school, Gerehad works hard in his studies and aspires to be a Primary School Mathematics Teacher in the future!