DOB – “August 23”, 2009

Came under Tumaini care in 2005.

Malki is the fourth of six kids in his family.  He is the brother of Hadija, Hussein, Swalehe, Rukaya and Sumaya.

There was not a bite of food . . . mom was so sick she couldn’t walk and we had to have her assisted to a hospital.  It turned out Mom (HIV+) had a TB tumour growing in her stomach and required immediate surgery.

Tumaini got the surgery for mom, rented a house and put all the school aged children into school.  Mom would convalesce for a couple of months afterward, then began disappearing in the night, leaving big sister Hadija home alone to care for everyone.

About six months after mom’s surgery, one day, Hussein (we had put Hadija into boarding school) brought the younger children to Tumaini along with the keys to their house and informed us that mom had ridden away the night before with her mattress, on the back of a piki piki.

Unbeknown to anyone at Tumaini, Malki (who was 6 at the time) and many other Tumaini children were being tortured by their teacher at school.  One day, Malki entered my office and, without saying a word, rolled up his sleeve to show me his wounds.  The teacher had used pencils to twist the skin on his arm.  The teacher was fired immediately, but Malki still bears an armful of scars.

Malki is quick to endear himself to new volunteers.  He is quiet at first, but then is quick to show you his goofy side. Malki, like many of our younger children at Tumaini, loves to have help with his homework – he especially loves to show off his improving math skills!  Definitely watch your phone around this little guy – if he sees it out, he is quick to take it and fill your storage with self-made videos of him dancing and playing.