Going the Extra (26) Mile(s) for TST

We, Joe Wyatt and Claire Wyatt, are very close siblings and have decided to take on a challenge.  On May the 31st 2015 we have signed up for the Edinburgh Marathon in aid of The Small Things.  The marathon is 26 miles!  To say this is a challenge is an understatement.  The founder of The Small Things and our cousin, Bekka Ross Russell, has really inspired us both to help support such a great charity.

Claire and Joe

Claire:  I am very passionate about The Small Things and I am so pleased that we are able to run in aid of this great charity. I have been out to the orphanage in 2012 and 2014 and have seen not only the children develop but also the charity itself. It is a very special organization and has opened my eyes in so many ways and I will always be thankful for the opportunities I have had to work in Tanzania. I am fortunate enough to be heading back out to Tanzania this June and July.

Nkoaranga kids and Claire

I am studying at Loughborough University and playing hockey regularly.  However, hockey is based on interval fitness with short bursts and rest!  Running has always been a hobby but distance has always been a hobby but distance has always been problematic.  I like to run short and fast so the marathon is a huge task that really requires me to change running habits.  Training got off to a slow start with injury creeping in.  One sprained ankle meant two weeks off training.  However, my training has reached up to 20 miles which I am very pleased about.  I have experienced running in the snow of England and in 30 degree heat in Bermuda (as seen in the pictures).

I cannot wait to finish the marathon alongside Joe.  Not just an achievement but an experience that I am able to do with my brother!   
 

Cold training conditions

Joe:  I am very excited but nervous for this challenge.  I have found it difficult training with a full time job.  Training takes three hours out of your day so when I finish work at 7:00pm all I want to do is go to bed but instead I have to run.  I am very happy that we can support The Small Things as it is a charity very important to our family.  Bekka, our cousin, has done a fantastic job and we are glad we can support her.  My training is going well and I have reached 20 miles.  I am looking forward to proving to people that we can do this!  

Hot training conditions

 If you would like to support Claire and Joe in this impressive challenge, you can sponsor them here.  Best of luck, Claire and Joe!

Thank you for Spreading the Love!

The Spread the Love auction has come to an end and we have raised a total of $10,000 thanks to all our generous supporters!

We have been amazed and humbled by the community involvement in this event, from receiving a plethora of varied and lovely donations to the generous bidding on these items, to say nothing of the number of Fund-a-Need items that were purchased.  

For those of you wondering what the most popular items were, we can tell you that the most bids were made on the Google New York headquarters tour and several of the Tanzanian items, including a soapstone sculpture, the hand-carved Noah’s Arc set and the hand-crafted Rosewood elephant serving spoons.

Some of the most bid on items

The items that raised the most money for us included the diamond and tanzanite pendant set in white gold, donated by Swala Gem Traders ($525), two of our beautiful Tanzanian quilts made in Tanzania by local women ($450 and $400) and a one week stay at a Vermont country home donated by Dorothy Goldberg and David Ross Russell ($450). 

One of our supporters, Paul Shaw, with the beautiful bowl for which he was the successful bidder

We have also had an amazing number of Fund-a-Need items purchased for our Happy Family Children’s Village.  A total of 68 items were sold with a total value of $3090.

To give you an indication of just how much we have needed your help with the Fund-a-Need items, one of our most lively Pilot House children, PrayGod (not known for his daintiness or vigilant nature), recently broke one of our new bunk beds which we had thought were indestructible.  Happily, someone very special has offered to fix this bed (and everything else Pray has broken) – stay tuned for an amazing story that will feature in our blog in the coming weeks!

PrayGod looking deceptively angelic and one of our new bunk beds

The Pilot House kids are so eager to move into the Happy Family Children’s Village (and particularly excited about their new beds).  We will be bringing you updates and photos of the move soon!  

Well, that’s all from us about this year’s Spread the Love auction.  Once again, a heartfelt thank you for all of your support and generosity, and we hope you enjoy your spoils! 

Guess who's back?

Many of you have been supporters of The Small Things long enough to remember when our ‘boarding school kids’ were just tiny tots at the orphanage.  Stevie, Ericki, Dainess, Pendo, David and Ema are amongst The Small Things’ oldest kids.  When these children ‘graduated’ from the orphanage, The Small Things partnered with The Foundation for Tomorrow, and we were able to facilitate a boarding school education for these children – a great opportunity for kids who otherwise would have had no schooling and no guarantee of a stable home life.  Indeed, up until about ten years ago, children ‘aging out’ of Nkoaranga Orphanage would be sent back to homes or communities in which many were abused or neglected.  

  

We are proud and happy to say that boarding school is no longer the best we can do for these children, though.  These kids have just come back into the full custody of The Small Things, and we are able to send them to day school, which means that they can grow up in a family environment outside school hours.  These children will be moving into the Happy Family Children’s Village (help us fill these new homes with furniture!) with the Pilot House kids very soon, and we are so pleased that they will be returning to the community from which they came, to live with children and mamas they know and love.  Our (former) ‘boarding school kids’ will be attending DINKA School along with the Pilot House children and they are pretty excited about the prospect.   

 

Left to right: Andrea, Ericki, David, Pendo, Dainess and Stevie 

Top: Abdulli  Bottom: Ema

Additionally, the passage of time has seen a change to the circumstances of the families of some of these children.  A number of these kids now have a father or grandparents whose situations are such that they can care for their little one on weekends and/or school breaks.  This is particularly wonderful because family reunification, where it’s in the best interests of the child, is really what we are all about.  Of course, these families will often need a helping hand in the form of our outreach support, and where The Small Things is able to assist with school fees and the like, we are more than happy to do so, particularly if it means that a family can stay together.    

You may also recall our children, Andrea and Abdulli.  ‘What is the situation with these kids?’ we hear you ask.  Well, Andrea's family and sponsors have agreed that he will remain under the care of The Foundation for Tomorrow for the time being, and Abdulli will continue to be supported by The Small Things to live with his father and attend a special needs school.    

None of this could have happened without the ongoing generosity of our ‘boarding school kids’’ sponsors, and we are immensely grateful for this support.  But assuming full-time custody of our ‘boarding school kids’ necessarily means that it will cost us more to care for them.  The Small Things is currently looking for additional sponsors to help us cover the costs of the extra care we’re providing for these children.  If you would like to sponsor a child and watch them thrive in their new home, you can learn a little bit more about them here or you can contact us at sponsorship@thesmallthings.org  

 

Fund-a-Need items that will go to the Happy Family Children's Village

And, as a final note, with all these kids moving into the Happy Family Children’s Village, we are also looking to fill the new houses with furniture and other necessities.  You can help us create functional, happy homes for these kids by participating in our Spread the Love auction.  Click here to start bidding on fabulous jewelry, holidays, handcrafted Tanzanian goods and more!  Or purchase a piece of furniture that will go directly to our children’s village by going to the Fund-a-Need section of the auction’s website.  Thank you for the support!   

The Final Countdown to the 2015 Spread the Love Online Auction

The Small Things’ Spread the Love online auction is only five days away and with donations and support coming from across the globe, it’s shaping up to be a truly wonderful event.

For those of you who don’t know, the Spread the Love auction will be raising money for the purchase of furniture and other essential items for the Happy Family Children’s Village (see TST’s last blog entry for an update on the remarkable progress of this project).  The Pilot House children are moving in soon, but we need to ensure that the houses are properly outfitted with sturdy furniture, mosquito nets, kitchen equipment, toys and other necessities.   

We have had so many amazing donations from some very, very generous individuals and businesses from all over the world, and the auction website is looking pretty impressive – check it out at tinyurl.com/spreadtheloveauction. Tell your friends about this great opportunity to simultaneously help out some beautiful children and possibly snap up the bargain of a lifetime – jewellery, gift certificates, holidays – all of these items and much more are up for grabs! 

Auction items (clockwise from top left): Fair trade Kilimanjaro & Chagga coffee basket; custom-made African beaded necklace; Mary Kay skincare set; gift certificate for J. P. Licks

Additionally, the ‘Fund-a-Need’ section of the auction allows visitors to the website the option of purchasing an item that will go directly to the Happy Family Children’s Village.  Here we’re showcasing some lovely hardwood furniture (specially built to withstand generations of children’s antics), as well as non-furniture necessities such as a mama’s salary for a year and water tanks (multiples of both on offer). 

Fund-a-Need items (clockwise from top left): mama's salary for a year; kids' bunk bed; field trip; water tank

                                    

As a final note, if you or someone you know would like to donate an item to the auction, it may not be too late!  Please get in touch with us at auction@thesmallthings.org – we’d love to hear from you!

Remember, the auction is launched next week and will run from the 15^th of April for just over two weeks, so don’t forget to get your final bids in on the 1^st of May.

As always, thank you for your support and compassion.  The lives of many deserving kids are greatly improved by your generosity.  

Five days to go… Tick, tick, tick…