Insight into Life in Nkoaranga - Guest Blog

One of our remarkable volunteers, Mark, has recently left Nkoaranga after volunteering for 7 weeks with The Small Things. A teacher by profession, Mark brought his insight and experience into the lives of our children, leaving them with memorable and positive experiences. In this guest blog, Mark describes his experience volunteering with our Pilot House Program, as well as his experience with his host family in Nkoaranga. We can not thank Mark enough for his dedication and commitment to our kids, and are proud of all his hard work!

Mark with Ester

A Guest Blog - By Mark Russell Benedict

Since I've taught and worked with kids for many years, The Small Things asked me to be involved with their older kids while volunteering in Nkoaranga, Tanzania. So two days a week, I would ride with the 9 kids in the Pilot House Program to their school: The DINKA School is an English medium school, which is also a Dutch NGO initiative that teaches all lessons (except Swahili Class) in English. The NGO provides a beautiful setting and great student-teacher ratios (there were 12 students to 2 teachers in the class that all the pilot house kids attended) for high quality learning.

DINKA Class Room

On the way to school, I would pass around books that the kids would look through and attempt to make out a few words during the long drive. School began with the morning parade (a couple songs, a prayer, and a march to class), then lessons until porridge break/recess, more lessons until lunch, and then activities after lunch such as drama, art, sports, or music. Lessons focused on Phonics, Swahili, Mathematics, English, and Art. They lead teacher would instruct and drill the students while the assistant teacher and I would circulate the class and help with follow up and focus.

At the DINKA School

Being with elementary students is certainly much different than high school aged adolescents (the age I'm used to teaching). They need a lot of direction and focus, but I could tell that the kids from the Pilot House were making great strides in learning their numbers, letters, basic math, and word identification. After our ride home from school, the kids immediately began their homework with assistance usually from a Mama and prepared for their next day of school. In a country where kids can be up to 100 students in a class with poor quality food and facilities, together with teachers who may not be caring, it was encouraging to see the quality education the kids were getting the DINKA School.

I also had the privilege of staying with a host family. They had two extra rooms in their house with its own bathroom and shower. The accomodations were really comfortable and living with the family allowed me to understand more about Tanzanian (especially the Meru Tribe) culture. As well eat lots of delicious local foods! The family truly embraced me a not only a guest but a family member. One of the children even started referring to me as his brother. It was a great way to enrich my time in Tanzania.

My host family and I

The Small Things is always looking for volunteers of all different backgrounds. Whether you're a seasoned teacher, or still a student, TST is always in need of an extra set of hands. If you're interested in volunteering with The Small Things, please visit our Volunteer Page.

Additionally, the Pilot House Kids require sponsorship in order to attend the DINKA School. With 4 new kids joining the program next week, additional funding will be required to ensure the continuing support and education for our kids. If you're interested in helping us send our kids to school, please visit our Education Sponsorship Page.

DINKA Update

We are so excited to report that our kids in the Pilot House program have just finished their very first school year with DINKA Schools and they have done tremendously!

For those of you who don't already know, DINKA is "a newly established English medium school in Arusha that offers quality pre-primary and primary education that meets parents and pupils demands and current trends in education" - Mr Mchuma, Principle of DINKA.

In June and July, the kids' learnings were focused on plants, trees, flowers, and farming. DINKA arranged a school trip for the children to the Agricultural University in Tengeru. The kids loved the field trip, making it an enriching and exciting way to finish off the unit!

Fabulous photo of the children in the classroom, courtesy of DINKA! 

To finish off this year's school program, the DINKA students put on an end-of-year concert which almost all of The Small Things volunteers and staff were in attendance. One of our volunteers, Mark, is a teacher by profession and was able to assist the children with their performance which included a drama, song and dance. Everyone had a brilliant time!

We are extremely proud of their progress, seeing improvements in our kids' English language skills, cognitive reasoning, vocational skills, motor skills, mathematics and reading. While the successes are many, we will continue to work with the children on their weaker areas to ensure they are prepared for next year's classes.

A brilliant concert!

While the children have been on summer vacation this month, Anna, Auntie, Isaak, Queen and Agape from the Pilot House have left to spend the holidays with their extended families. We have also welcomed to the Pilot House a few of the older kids who were raised at the Nkoaranga Orphanage, but had gone off to boarding school through another organization, TFFT. As they don't have family to return to over this break, our Pilot House kids have welcomed their old friends, treating each other as brothers and sisters. Further, extra volunteer shifts were scheduled for the Pilot House to ensure the children received increased attention and stimulation during their break.

We are so grateful to have such dedicated volunteers who make such a difference to the lives of the children.

To top it all off, we will be welcoming four new additions to the Pilot House! This next upcoming school year, Baracka, Maureen, Miriam and Neema will be moving up from the Orphanage now that they have all turned five and are ready to join the rest of their friends at DINKA School! We are so excited to see them thrive in their new environment. That said, all four children will be in need of additional sponsorship to support this new chapter in their lives. If you or anybody you know might be interested in sponsoring their education, we'd be extremely grateful if you could take a look and share our Education Sponsorship link.

Beautiful girl, Miriam! 

Our stylish little lady, Neema!

Our funny and cheeky little man, Baracka!

Our fantastic little mama, Maureen! 

So, to complete this school year, The Small Things would like to say a MASSIVE thank you for allowing such projects to happen and to be so successful. The children are clearly happy and we cannot express our gratitude enough. Your gracious contributions and support are appreciated wholeheartedly and do not for a second go unnoticed.

Asante Sana! (Thank you very much!)

The Small Things

Happy and content children. The perfect picture.

Loads of Small Things for #SmallThingsSummer!

This week, we wanted to let the amazing supporters of the #SmallThingsSummer Campaign tell you about their mini-campaigns in their own words.  Every single person has put a lot of thought and care into their mini-campaigns for raising money. And the result? A diversity of unique and interesting ways to support The Orphanage Reform Project this summer.  We could only cover a handful of all the mini-fundraisers, so please feel free to explore the #SmallThingsSummer site to read about the rest!

'Please help me raise funds for The Small Things, a non-profit run by my daughter Bekka, to support the children of Nkoaranga.  I will be participating in a 100 mile bike ride in early September.'

David Ross Russell ($1535 raised)

'This summer I will be saving all my bottles and collecting bottles from my family, neighbours and friends to help make a HUGE difference in the lives of the children at Nkoaranga Orphanage in Tanzania.'

Kristina Alexander ($175 raised)

'I decided to skip all the unnecessary candy-shopping this summer and put all that small-change (coins) in a tin-jar and save it for the kids instead!'

Emelie Elmhorn ($228 raised)

'I'm climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for The Small Things - Nkoaranga Orphanage. Aside from it being probably one of the most challenging things I'll ever do in my life, I want to use the climb to bring attention to the beautiful children at Nkoaranga Orphanage in Arusha, Tanzania.'

Ruth Cardona ($5270 raised)

'To join The Small Things Summer campaign I have decided that for every beer I buy while watching a game this Summer I will donate the equivalent amount of money to the Nkoaranga Children. If you want to join me, donate a few dollars every time you watch a game and have a beer with your friends!'

Jakob Flou ($70 raised)

'I will be doing a few small things this July and August. I will be giving up chocolate for the month of July (groan) and donating the proceeds here. I will also be selling the jam Mete and I make each summer on vacation to the tourists that flow daily by my building's front door. And I will be organizing a small change drive within my building.'

Amy Fontaine ($1320 raised)

'Hi everyone! The three of us (me, Jordan, my mum, Nickie and my sister, Georgia) are trekking 29 miles through the Brecon Beacons in 12 hours on 7th June and want to raise money for The Small Things.'

Jordan Edwards ($1129.43 raised)

'Pennie Branden invited her sister Lori Higdon, an Rodan and Fields (R&F) Executive Consultant, to present an event at her home in CT, entitled Improving the World and Your Skin. The best part of the evening was that, as well as showcasing the R&F skin-care line, the attendees were introduced to The Small Things, Inc. All profits from any orders taken that evening, and for Pennie's and Lori's repeat orders from those clients through the summer, are coming to TST.'

Pennie Branden ($200 raised)

'Samba Treks held a mini-fundraiser to support Nkoaranga Orphanage and Samba Treks. [The Small Things] desperately need help funding upgrades in the orphanage, including more hygiene stations and solar heaters, redesigning their kitchen, hiring a staff nurse, and providing more training for caregivers. We are donating half of what we raised to The Small Things.'

Samba Treks ($500 donated)

'As part of my small contribution, I am running a toy drive. The children are in desperate need of age appropriate, educational toys & games (ages 0-5), so they can grow and learn together and develop the skills necessary for kids their age.'

Jessica Manna ($175 raised)

We hope you enjoyed finding out a bit about ten fantastic mini-fundraisers and the amazing people behind them.  We have been amazed by the dedication and creativity shown by everyone involved, so a BIG THANK YOU to all our fundraisers. Further, a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has supported us by donating, spreading the word, or by exploring the #SmallThingsSummer Page. With only two weeks left in the campaign, and $2000 left to go, we are beyond ecstatic about the success of the campaign, and cannot thank you all enough!

No More Orphans - TST's Newest Project

This summer, The Small Things was fortunate enough to be able to host interns Amanda Houser and Alison Anger, both Masters of Public Health students from Boston University. Through a partnership with the Nkoaranga Hospital’s Palliative Care Team, they were able to successfully launch TST’s newest project, No More Orphans (NMO). In the following guest blog, Amanda gives a behind-the-scenes account of this exciting project, with Part 1 describing their very first NMO Informational Seminar, and Part 2 highlighting the Training Session. Read on to hear more about the highs and lows of her experience this summer. 

No More Orphans (NMO) - Brief Overview

NMO is a community health initiative aimed at decreasing maternal mortality rates in Tanzania through the distribution of Misoprostol. This oral medication will work to prevent postpartum haemorrhaging, a leading cause of death for mothers in Tanzania, while saving the lives of many women in the surrounding community. Further, in keeping with TST’s goal of keeping families together, this project will ensure more babies are raised by their mothers, reducing the numbers of babies entering orphanages.

Part 1: NMO’s Very First Informational Seminar [Guest Blog by Amanda Houser]

Originally posted on That One Summer 

Ali and I had our first No More Orphans (NMO) informational session with the community’s Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) this morning. It started out a little (okay, a lot) hectic but it all came together in the end. 

We asked Esther, TST’s housekeeper, to make the chai  and mandazi for us to serve at our meeting, however only half the mandazi was cooked by the time we left for our meeting and she hadn't yet started making the chai. The printer also ran out of ink and we were only able to print 11  informational brochures for our attendees.

Deep breath...

Fortunately, we knew the meeting wouldn't start on time based on our experience here in this community. We even purposefully set the meeting for 10:00, knowing it wouldn't start before 10:30. Good news, the meeting didn't actually start until 11:15! Though, it didn't help that once the chai finally arrived, we ran out within minutes. Can you tell we're new at this?

Delicious mandazi. Better late than never!

Chai and mandazi break

Here's the thing though, we had no idea how many TBAs would be in attendance. At the last community health workers meeting, we kindly asked these community leaders to relay the message to the TBAs in their village, notifying them about the No More Orphans Project, inviting them to attend our first informational session to learn more about how they can get involved. We estimated 30 attendees, and felt that was being extra generous. We couldn't be sure news of the meeting would even reach the TBAs as we relied solely on word-of-mouth. And then when we woke up to pouring rain and muddy roads, we just assumed attendance would be low.

Boy, were we wrong. 

So, so wrong.

We had 41 women show up! 

Forty. One. 

Amanda and Ali's Presentation

All 41 traditional birth attendants

I still don't have to words to describe this morning. I feel extremely blessed to be a part of something with so much potential to make a difference in so many lives. Today's meeting was monumental. We've finally reached the TBAs! It took some time (about a month) but now that we've found out who they are, we can begin teaching them how to use and administer Misoprostol and hopefully reduce maternal mortality! 

(I may be getting a little ahead of myself, since reality check, there is a still lot of work to be done. It just feels so great to be on the right track!)

Amanda

Part 2) Training Day [Guest Blog by Amanda Houser]

Originally posted on That One Summer

We didn't get to bed last night until around 2am. We also ran out of printer paper, and still needed to find a pharmacy willing to sell us Misoprostol at a price that didn't make us feel sick to our stomach.

Frank, TST’s driver, picked me up at 7:30am this morning to go to Arusha but the first pharmacy I attempted to buy Misoprostol at was still closed, as were the next two we tried. We also had to go to three different stationary shops before finding printer paper. I had wanted to be back by 9:00, but at 9:30 I was still in Arusha, hadn't found a pharmacy with Misoprostol, and our meeting was set to begin at 10:00. 

Cue the anxiety.

Frank convinced me to let him try one more pharmacy and thankfully it paid off. They were open, had Misoprostol, and for some reason agreed to sell it to me for a real bargain. I made it back by 9:50 and we quickly printed what we needed to start the meeting, left Ashley, another TST intern, to finish it up, and headed for the hospital to begin the training session. We were counting on head nurse Mama Sarah to translate for us but I guess she decided to take the day off.

Awesome.

Our facilitator Dr. Bakari wasn't thrilled he had to translate but he ended up doing a really amazing job. Once again, the chai was late and the food even later. When our meeting finished around 12:30, the chai was cold and the food didn't arrive till 2:00!

In the end though, everything worked out. We had 43 traditional birth attendants and they all left with two doses of Misoprostol. I'm still unsure of how this project progressed so quickly and a little overwhelmed by its potential. I have been talking about this amazing opportunity since March and it's finally happened. The traditional births attendants are equipped to administer Misoprostol in an attempt to reduce postpartum hemorrhage and I am part of the reason precious lives will be saved.

That's pretty darn cool if you ask me. 

Amanda