Blog: November 2013

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Introducing........The Small Things' Spread the Love Auction 2014!

The Small Things are proud to announce our first ever online auction fundraiser!

We will be auctioning off a number of exciting and unique items to bid on in order to raise money for, not only the amazing children of Nkoaranga Orphanage but also for the benefit of other orphaned and vulnerable children in the surrounding community who we are able to support. The more items we have the more money we can raise.

We have lots of fantastic opportunities to bid on!

Items that have already been donated by friends of The Small Things include:

- $100 Gift Certificate towards a 7 night cruise
- Handmade multicolored Kitenge quilt cover - a unique Tanzanian item!
- Hot air balloon ride for 2! Choose from 150 cities
- Hand crocheted sterling silver and pearl bracelet
- Fantastic 7 night resort vacation of your choice!

Other items available to bid on will fund a specific need at the orphanage. For example:

- New uniforms
- One month preemie care
- One month's food
- Six month internship
- One year's mama salary

Happy Lulu!

When? The auction starts on February 1st, 2014 and will end on February 15th, 2014.

Where? As previously stated, this auction will be fully accessible online, wherever you are in the world! Check out our Spread the Love Auction to view current items that have already been donated, how to donate an item yourself, and to see how it all works!

Why? Our goal is to buy a 3.5 acre piece of land to create a children's village, where the children will live until they are in their late teens, as opposed to the current system where they are put directly into boarding school at the age of 5.

Not only that......but the children's village will also allow us to take in many more orphaned children, including those with HIV and other health conditions, as well as expand our outreach program to keep children with their families whenever possible.

Can you help? We are still in search of more items and/or services to add to our online auction! Whether you have 1 or 100 of these to contribute, your participation is an invaluable part of our fundraising efforts. You can donate an item or service online by clicking here. You can donate cash, or even become a sponsor and have your company's logo placed on our site so you could develop new business and be helping the children at the same time! Promotional considerations are available at Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze levels. Or, come and bid in February!

Have fun with this! There are so many exciting things available to bid on, with such successful and rewarding outcomes to be achieved. We would love for you to be a part of it.

With love,
The Small Things

Beautiful Miriam and Maureen

Thursday, November 21, 2013

'Give to Receive' - More about this year's Project Education kids!

You know that we are raising money and finding sponsors to send these 6 awesome kids to school...but what exactly makes each one so awesome and unique?!

Isaak

Unfortunately, we haven't had much time to get to know Issak and his sister Auntie (below). They are the older brother and sister of Hope and Shalom, who have both come to the orphanage fairly recently. They belong to a very large family and their father was finding it very difficult to provide for them all. It is impossible to do his job in town with young children at home, but he clearly loves them very much and wants the best for them. This is a great opportunity for them to have an education they would have been unlikly to get otherwise.

Auntie

We'll make sure you hear a lot more about Auntie and Isaak when we've spent a little more time with them, but in the meantime, we think they are a pair that are definitely showing a family resemblance - I'm sure we could probably spot it in the pictures of Hope and Shalom on Facebook as well (although Hope may be a bit tiny yet!)

Queen

...is a lovely, silly and funny little girl! She has a cousin called Angela who she adores, and sometimes insists that she is called Angela. She loves to dance to different music videos along with the other kids. She only arrived at the orphanage fairly recently to join her little sister Vicky. Her father was finding it hard to look after her at home, but he visits when he can and is very keen for her to get a good education.

Although the next 3 are already sponsored its still nice to get to know them a little better!

Loveness

...has just lost her two front teeth! She is also the only girl in the orphanage who is patient enough to have her hair braided. She is very caring and good at looking after the younger kids. She has the loudest screech in the orphanage, with the possible exceptions of Baraka and Pray, although it is heard more rarely than both of theirs. I'm sure she and Pray will make sure that school never gets too quiet!

Anna

...is Little Neema's big sister, who has been living with their grandmother. It's a shame their family has had to be split up like this, but they come from a very poor family and after their mother died it would have been very difficult for them to look after both children properly. You can see little Neema on the picture above too - could it be any clearer that they are sisters? As Bekka is fond of saying, 'they just have the same face!'

Pray

...is such a great little boy who is always so full of life and energy. He is especially good at building a tower of chairs and tables to try to turn on the TV! He also has his quiet moments: I have seen him completely absorbed in reading 'The Cat in the Hat'.

Although Loveness, Anna and Pray are already sponsored, Isaak, Queen and Auntie still need sponsors to begin school. If you are interested in becoming their sponsor, please check out our sponsorship page for Project Education here or email us at info@thesmallthings.org for more details!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Holiday Sponsorship Drive

'Give to Receive'

Since it is now just over a month until Christmas, we are excited to begin our holiday sponsorship drive! As many of you may remember, last year we ran 'Project Education' which raised money and found sponsors for 4 amazing children - David (below), Pendo, Abdulli and Andrea - to begin school! The project was a huge success and they are all doing really well, so THANK YOU!

This year, our first priority is to continue the work of Project Education for our next 6 children (just below!) but, unlike in previous years, we're not done once the kids entering school have sponsors!

Our first priority...

...is to get the remainder of these 6 awesome kids sponsored to start school in January. We are delighted to say that Loveness, Pray and Anna are already sponsored, but Queen, Isaak and Auntie still need your help. If they can get sponsors, they will be starting at a fantastic local school called Amani (Peace) Academy, which has ranked highest in the region on national tests for the last several years, and in fact ranked within the top 25 schools in all of Tanzania. Unlike in previous years, they will be attending as day-students and living in a family-style house which we have set up, rather than boarding. We would love for you to read more about this aspect of the project as we are very excited to be able to provide them with a more family-style environment.

...following this, we want to try to find sponsors for all of the orphanage children to help fund their care in the orphanage.

What are the holidays truly about, if not about opening up the warmth of a family to a child without one? As each child gets a sponsor, we will add their ornament to the tree we can be seen on our holiday fundraising page, so you can see the progress we are making. Let's fill it up! Here's a little sneak preview!

We also have an extra incentive for our wonderful supporters to donate over the holidays. From now to January 1st, any new sponsors will receive a special thank you! ALL new sponsors will receive a beautiful handmade African ornament as a token of our appreciation (check them out to the right of the tree), and full sponsors will also get one of our 2014 Calendars (also now available for purchase). Of course, we realize that many people are unable to commit to a sponsorship but would still like to contribute and for this we are extremely grateful! For one time donations between now and January 1st, we would also like to offer several different gifts to express our thanks - find out more on the holiday fundraising page. Finally, calendars or donations in someone's name make a great gift, and recipients will get a beautiful card as well! Sponsor or donate now!

Donate

Whatever support you can give, whether it be spreading the word, buying a meaningful gift for someone special, or becoming a sponsor, it will make a difference and we are so grateful.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

20 photos of children full of strength, love and hope

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of posts on Facebook directing me to '30 of the most powerful images ever' or '29 photos that put all of our struggles in perspective.'

So today, I'd like to demonstrate a day in the life of Nkoaranga Orphange. We, at The Small Things always like to show how happy our children are in Nkoaranga and to do all that we can, with the help of our supporters, to keep these smiles on their beautiful faces forever.

I name this post, '20 photos of children full of strength, love and hope.' I hope you agree!