Join us for #SmallThingsSummer !

You are officially invited to join the #SmallThingsSummer Campaign to help us kick off The Small Things' Orphanage Reform Project!  By the end of this post, you will know everything you need to know about the campaign and how YOU can make a difference.

What is #SmallThingsSummer?

#SmallThingsSummer is an online crowd funding social movement taking place July 1st to August 31st, 2014. The campaign is based on the premise that if many individuals could do one small thing to make a difference, together we can produce BIG effects! We've found that many people want to help our kids, but worry that anything they could contribute would be too small to make a difference. #SmallThingsSummer is all about showing what a big difference even the smallest actions can make when we work together. Regardless of how you'd like to contribute, all the small things can add up to big effects, and together we can create sustainable, long lasting impact.  You can read more on our #SmallThingsSummer website!

How can I get involved?

Engage in "Small" Actions - Make a lemonade stand with your kids, host a charity BBQ, or opt out of caffeine for the summer and donate the savings. There are endless possibilities in the things you can do to make a difference. Create a Mini-Campaign Page and share your efforts now!

In-kind donations - We would be delighted to receive your well-loved (but still in good shape) books or children's toys.  Perhaps you enjoy sewing and would like to take on the challenge of making a dress (or more) for our children, like Kristina and her mum, Sandra (pictured below).  Pick something which works for you!

Beautiful dresses made by Kristina & Sandra, proudly modeled by Marueen.

Raising awareness - Spread the word via e-mail, letter, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or any other social media outlet! We appreciate any help, big or small!

Make a Donation - Any donation, big or small, will help support the Nkoaranga Orphanage, giving many children a brighter future. 

Where will the funds go?

Funds raised from this campaign will go towards the Orphanage Reform, upgrading the facilities of Nkoaranga Orphanage to increase the level of health and sanitation for its young children, ultimately increasing quality of life and preventing disease and illness. This includes but is not limited to: increasing the caretaking ratio, installing more sanitation and hygiene stations, providing efficient cleaning solutions, installing more solar heaters, redesigning the kitchen, hiring a staff nurse, and providing more training for our caretakers.

I'm in! What next?

Visit the #SmallThingsSummer website to set-up and customize your own mini-campaign page,  making it easy for people to donate. We are also excited to feature as many projects as possible on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram over the course of this summer, sharing the stories of a the all the "small" things that people are doing. We also encourage you to share your photos and experiences using the hashtag #SmallThingsSummer or e-mail development@thesmallthings.org if you'd like us to post them for you! If you need any advice on your fundraiser, our Fundraising Committee is always on hand with advice.

In the meantime, what can I do?

Our campaign officially starts on July 1st, but that doesn't mean that you can't get thinking and planning (and even running) your ideas ahead of time!  To get our campaign off the ground, please help us spread the word by supporting our ThunderclapIt Campaign, which will exponentially help us spread the word through social media. We need 100 supporters so please take the one minute of your time to do one "small thing" to help support the cause!

Small actions can result in BIG changes. We know that each person's effort will help bring us one step further in completing the Orphanage Reform and we couldn't do it without you! Your support will play a HUGE role in the future of the Nkoaranga Kids, and we greatly appreciate any help, big or small!

Tanzanian Recipe: Mandazi

This week, we would like to give you something fun for you to try! One of the children's culinary favorites is a Tanzanian specialty called Mandazi. Mandazi are East African donuts, and we are going to tell you how to make them!  If you get a chance to try out this recipe, we would love to know what you think!

You will need:
-  2 cups of warm water
-  4 tsp baking powder
-  4 cups of flour
-  ½ cup of sugar
-  2 tablespoons of butter
-  Salt
-  Oil for deep frying

Instructions:

To begin, mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl to form a dough.

Using your hands is probably the easiest technique!

Next, as demonstrated here by the beautiful Zawadi, roll out your fresh dough with a rolling pin.

Zawadi very happily demonstrating how to roll out the dough.

When you have a nice flat dough surface, cut the dough into shapes in preparation for frying. Here are some examples from the Lamai Serengeti Blog of shapes traditionally used in Tanzania. 

Image by Lamai Serengeti blog

Once you have your mandazi shapes, you are ready to start frying! Sounds simple, right? It is! Be very careful when placing your dough pieces into the hot oil. When you see them turning a lovely brown colour, turn them over to fry the other side. When each mandazi is completely cooked, as shown in the picture below, they're ready!

Image by Lamai Serengeti Blog

Serve them hot or cold; both are delicious! Take a look at some of the children thoroughly enjoying their mandazi!
Please feel free to post a photo to our Facebook page of your own attempt at making mandazi. We would love to hear from you!

How dare you interrupt us enjoying our mandazi!?

Peace and Frankie tucking into their mandazi.

Ebenezer  doesn't care whether there is a camera pointing at him or not. Nothing will stop him devouring his mandazi!

Outreach: Meet Jemima and Mama Max

As most of you will know, The Small Things works in the community as well as in the orphanage itself. This is so important because we believe that the best solutions are those that allow vulnerable children to stay with their families. It's amazing how much a little basic support can do to make this happen.

Today we would like to introduce you to two women and their families who have recently needed our help.

Jemima

Jemima on a visit to the orphanage site

Jemima is a 31 and has 3 children (ages 10, 8 and 4 months). She has been married twice, but suffered severe beatings from both of her husbands. She is now divorced and receives no support from either of them to provide for her children.

Her second husband left her when she was 5 months pregnant. She was able to trade out of her rented room until the baby came, but was then evicted for not paying the rent. She was temporarily taken in by a neighbour, but cannot return to her wider familiy because they were against her second marriage. 

Although she wanted to keep her baby, she was considering adoption because of her desperate situation. When her neighbour referred her to TST, she asked the orphanage to take the baby in, but the orphanage managers didn't feel this was the best solution.

How has The Small Things responded?

After home visits, background checks and a lot of discussion, TST decided to help Jemima clear her debts, provide her with food for the short term and support her in setting up a new soap-selling business. When asked what she would like to do, this was Jemima's preferred option because she can run the business from a small stall whilst caring for the baby.

The first two bags of soap were bought for 100 000 Tsh ($60/£35), with a third bag to be purchased only after a review of initial progress. In time, this should provide Jemima with a small but sustainable income and allow her to keep the new baby at home with her. 

Jemima (and baby in the carrier) and her initial soap stocks in May.

You can sign up as an outreach sponsor for Jemima here!

Mama Max

Mama Max in front of her home.

Mama Max is 50 years old. Since being widowed in 1990, she has been working hard to provide for her six children alone. Four of the children still live with her in her small, two-roomed wooden house, some sleeping on the floor. She hasn't been able to afford to educate them above primary level, and the family make ends meet doing odd jobs around the village. She came to our TST office to ask for help.

Mama Max at work in her living room/kitchen.

How has The Small Things responded?

With the support of TST, Mama Max has been able to start keeping chickens in the yard around her small home, giving her a more secure and reliable livelihood. 

With 200 000 Tsh ($120/£70) of The Small Things' help, Mama Max is now the proud owner of 15 hens and 3 cockerels, with the potential for more stock to be offered if the business goes well.

She really appreciates the business opportunities her new venture will bring her, and we hope it will really help her to support her large family into the future.

Mama Max and a sample of her new chicken stock.

You can sign up as an outreach sponsor for Mama Max here!



The outreach program is currently being managed brilliantly by Rehema, who has been a friend of The Small Things since it was set up. We are delighted to have her working with us, especially given the amount of local knowledge she brings. So much of the work done with Jemima and Mama Max has been down to her. Here she is with Jemima:

Rehema (left) smiles with Jemima and her new soap.

We initially use our own outreach fund to respond to the immediate need in outreach cases, as we have done for Jemima and Mama Max, but this can only provide food support, vitamins and baby formula for 2 months. In the long term we look for sponsors to provide more secure, longer-term support. The sponsorship needs of Jemima and Mama Max are very modest - just $50/£30 a month, split between as many sponsors as necessary.

Unfortunately, having paid out from the fund to cover their initial business set-ups, we will find it very difficult to take on any more Outreach clients unless we find sponsorship to cover the commitments we already have.
If you can sign up to offer anything to Jemima, Mama Max, or any of the others on our Outreach page, we would really encourage you to do so here. A little goes a very long way.

Building community relations

What is one of the most important things a not-for-profit or charity can do?

Listen.

When coming to work in a new community and possibly (as in our case) in a foreign country, we believe that listening to the needs of the community is absolutely vital if your work is going to have a positive impact.  Not listening, assuming you know best, dictating change, not considering the customs and values of the people you are working with - each of these things is a recipe for failure!  What The Small Things (TST) aims to do is to empower and give the community the tools necessary to make improvements.  And this can only be achieved through open communication: getting to know the people, finding out their needs and strengths, listening to them.

Preparing the delicious chakula ('food')

Because of this outlook, The Small Things has always worked to create and foster a strong relationship with the local community.  You have already heard about our Outreach Project so today I wanted to tell you a bit about one of the other ways that we try to do this - the monthly Mamas, volunteers and TST staff lunch!  We realized that it was really quite tricky for everone to have a conversation and get to know each other whilst at least five kids are also vying for your attention, so we decided to hold a lunch during nap-time!  This gives everyone a bit of space and time together, when the focus is not on the kids (aside from sometimes the odd toddler who couldn't sleep and is snuggled on a lap), but on the people who are working together to care for them.  Its an informal, get-to-know-each-other-a-little-better time, with lots of yummy food!!

The Mamas / volunteers / staff lunch is a time to share food & relax together

We have found that this lunch has been really successful in fostering understanding, respect and friendship among everyone who works at Nkoaranga Orphanage.  This lunch was really great as some of the mamas had just finished their first round of training at IBES. They shared what they'd learnt with the other Mamas and volunteers. It was interesting to see how much they'd learned: from first aid, to dealing with relatives, to child development and physical illnesses.  Dada ('sister') Ellie (left) and Mama Andrew (right) even did a little skit to show how to properly greet relatives visiting the orphanage in order to encourage a better relationship between families and orphanage staff.  It was great to see the impact the training had had!

Some role playing was a great way to share knowledge and have fun

What better way to build community relations than through listening (with a good serving of food and talking together mixed in!)?