Part 1 - Update on the school kids

A massive thank you for all your support which allows all these kids to attend school!

Bethan with Tumaini (left), Eman kubwa (back right), Eman dogo (middle) and David (front right)

This week Bethan (above) writes about how they visited all of the school kids to find out how they were doing and, especially, to give you a long-awaited update on how our new four - Pendo, Andrea, David and Abdulli - are settling in!  This involved visiting Usa River Academy in Usa to see most of the school kids there, and to visit Abdulli in Tengheru, where he is staying with his family.

Tumaini (left) and Dainess (right) skipping/jumping rope

"So, the Usa visit was brilliant! So nice to see all of the kids! Emelie, Bekka, Riz, Mama Pendo and I went there two Fridays ago. The Nkoaranga kids suddenly ran up from nowhere! They must have all been playing together in some other place on the field. Olivia, a volunteer here from America (my friend) sent me with some skipping ropes which the children immediately wanted.  There were some Nkoaranga kids that I didn't know as they had left earlier than when we were first there but nonetheless they were still so friendly."

"They all spoke very old English, particularly Tumaini! But it was impressive to hear Andrea, David and Pendo who have only been there since January also immediately speak English. They all seemed very happy and it was lovely seeing them all together with strong bonds just like when they were in Nkoaranga.  They all looked very smart in their uniforms.  Mama Pendo brought a suitcase of new woolly hats and jumpers that had been donated and which the kids all loved and crowded round to receive.  A couple of kids came running to the car as we were leaving to see if we had any left - luckily we did!  The school grounds are beautiful and there is so much green grass and outdoor space for them to run around in. As we left, they were all going back to their dormitories. I hope to visit again before I leave in 3 weeks."

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

Dainess, Tumaini and David in their hats

"Unfortunately the SOS children's village visit to see Gracie, Farajah, Aroni and a couple of other Nkoaranga kids was unsuccessful. We arrived to find that very recently they have brought in a new policy where we have to make an appointment to visit any of the children, which never used to be the case. The secretary was not prepared to make an exception, so although we had made the journey especially to see the children and came so close, we were not allowed any further which was such a shame."

"Later at day, we met with Abduli and his father in Tengheru where we then drove to where they stay. They have just one room for Abduli, his father, stepmother and their other young son.  The father spoke of the few problems they are having such as the tiredness he faces everyday having to get up at 5 to journey into Arusha to drop Abduli in at school and then back again later. The Small Things do pay for the transport costs but the time it takes out of the day to get to Arusha twice means that they lose out on some money from their salon. Additionally, Abdulli is wetting himself every time he sleeps, including any naps he has at home. This is a problem as it costs extra to boil water to wash him twice or three times a day. He is still having some problems with being violent and hitting at school."

"Despite these issues, they are determined to keep Abduli with them in their family at home, which is brilliant. They want to work through the problems which we of course will help with wherever possible, as long as Abduli stays with them. They seem like a very strong unit.  Abduli spoke of his best friend at school which was lovely to hear about and he wrote his name down for us in a notebook.  He is enjoying it.  But we will talk and look into other options like a closer school, and also speak to the school about how they are managing the students and just get their opinion on how Abduli is doing."

Mama Pendo with some of the many kids she has raised and who were delighted to see her!

We will continue to monitor how all the kids who are at school with your help (THANK YOU!) are doing and to help out wherever we can, and keep you updated!  We have lots more pictures of individual kids that we will share with you all on facebook - there just wasn't room for them all here!  Thank you, Bethan!

Heri ya Pasaka!

Like Christmas, Easter (Pasaka) is a fairly big part of the Tanzanian religious year. Unfortunately this doesn't permeate much into the orphanage and chocolate is not really on the Easter agenda. As we can't show you the kids cracking open chocolate eggs, let's go for some other Easter themes:

Chickens

There's plenty of these around in Tanzania. One of the Small Things' projects has been to build a new coop for the orphanage and expand their stock of chickens. Thanks to Marie and her mum, it now keeps 10-15 chickens safe and secure so they can provide us with a reliable supply of eggs. Not only do the kids get vital protein out of it, they also get the immense joy of chasing, pointing and shouting at the chickens, as well as occasionally getting into the coop and refusing to come out.

Our new chicken house, which is now complete and occupied.

Playing outside this January, Pendo came running up to me shouting frantically, "Abdulli piga kuku, Abdulli piga kuku!" ("Abdulli hit a chicken, Abdulli hit a chicken!"). Abdulli was indignant at this accusation, and I knew he probably couldn't have even caught a chicken, let alone hit one. He'd also been with me the whole time. When questioned, Pendo confidently told me that Abdulli had got up in the night, sneaked out and started hitting the chickens, with Stevie cheerfully verifying the whole story. Abdulli was very relieved when he didn't get into trouble for this shocking imaginary crime!

Tiny, tiny hands.

New Life

Of course, the reason we have eggs and chicks at Easter has to do with the celebration of new life, which is a good excuse to feature Angel, the newest life at the orphanage.
When they arrive they always seem so tiny, swaddled up in their huge mounds of blankets - Tanzanians take keeping their babies warm very seriously! Here's Angel when she arrived in December, and again in mid-January having already grown beautifully.

Angel shortly after she arrived.

Having kicked off some blankets in mid-January.

Back from the hospital and healthy again.

I'm sure she's much bigger now, having recovered from her bout of malaria. I can't wait to see the new pictures that will be coming very soon.

Hongera! (Congratulations!)

Today, most of the board members of The Small Things will be in one place, which is extremely unusual; we're gathering for the first part of a very international wedding. Bekka Ross Russell is marrying Riz Kaiser, and they will soon be heading off to live as close to the orphanage as possible in Tanzania. Congratulations Bekka and Riz!

Bekka with Zawadi and Simoni

Riz with Zawadi

This is made even more exciting because it brings the adoption of Simoni and Zawadi one step closer. The two of them have already completely accepted each other as brother and sister and are very excited to go and live with Bekka and Riz - even three months ago they couldn't stop talking about it!

Simoni and Zawadi

I noticed that in Swahili, Pasaka means both Easter and Passover, which I think is quite nice, despite the fact they are the celebrations of two different events. Heri kwa sikukuu ya Pasaka to everyone!

Off to school!

As promised, I will now tell you all about Andrea, David, Pendo and Abdulli heading off to school!

Before I start, a quick update to say that the final total from Beaconhurst School's Christmas Carol Concert fundraiser was £1,770 - thank you so much to everyone involved in raising this fantastic amount towards Project Education!

David, ready for his first day at school

As Emily was last year (read here), I was so grateful to be able to be there to wave the kids off at their first day at school at USA River Academy with the help of The Foundation for Tomorrow and, of course, their fantastic sponsors.  Andrea, David and Pendo were collected by TFFT on 7th January, but we wanted to wait until Abdulli had also left (on the 14th) so that we could tell you about them all at the same time.

Abdulli before leaving with TFFT

As the TFFT car pulled up outside, all the younger kids got very excited.  We held back with them whilst the Mamas, who have known the kids since they were babies, got Andrea, David and Pendo ready for school, changing them into bright new clothes and filling a bag each with extra things which they would need. It was all a bit of a whirlwind and a bit overwhelming for them, as any first day of school is...

Left to right: David, Andrea and Pendo in their going-to-school clothes!

..but they were all very excited and couldn't wait to get into the car!  So after lots of cuddles and goodbyes, they climbed in.  David even got to sit in the front seat!

Andrea, Pendo and David enjoying their lollies!

Abdulli will be attending Step by Step Learning Centre in Arusha (about 30mins drive away) which is a day-school; therefore, we have arranged for him to live with his biological father who will accompany him on the dala dala (bus) there each day.  On my last day in Tanzania, Mama Pendo took Abdulli for his compulsory medical check at the hospital and then the excited waiting began all over again while everyone waited for the TFFT car to arrive to pick him up and take him to his father's house.  Although I was not there to witness the reunion with his father, I can tell you all that his father has been very involved over the last couple of weeks and is really looking forwards to being involved in this new chapter of Abdulli's life!

Abdulli showing off his artistic skills!

We are so proud of the four kids - starting school is such a huge step in any child's life, and especially for Andrea, David, Pendo and Abdulli who have left the orphanage very infrequently during their lives.  However, I speak for all of us at The Small Things, when I say that I know they can handle this new adventure, and we can't wait to see the incredible things they achieve.  Eriki, Dainess and Stevie have all done fantastically during their first year of school and I'm sure they will all be there to look after their younger 'siblings' if they need it whilst settling in!

Andrea (middle) surrounded by Eman (left) and Eriki (right)
who are already at USA River Academy

Thank you so much to their sponsors and to anyone who has supported Project Education - the chance to attend a high quality school really will change these kids' lives.

Beaconhurst School supports Project Education

I thought that Christmas Eve would be a lovely time to tell you all about the fantastic success of our Christmas fundraiser carol concert which was run by Beaconhurst School and raised money for Project Education.

Pendo two years ago, and Pendo this Christmas - starting school in January! 

I attended Beaconhurst School from the age of 4 until 18 so I have many fond memories of it.  The school has a fantastic music and drama department and I enjoyed taking part in many musicals and concerts during my time there.  My mum is a teacher at the school, and it was on her suggestion that I approached Mr Bain – the head of music at Beaconhurst School – in late May about the possibility of the school holding a concert to raise money for The Small Things.  Although I knew that the term calendar would already be very full with other exciting things, I trusted her advice and asked Mr Bain what he thought.  To my delight he was extremely enthusiastic and supportive of the idea and suggested that he organise a Christmas Carol Service in which many pupils from the school would take part! 

David this Christmas, starting school in January!

David when we started work with Nkoaranga

The concert was held in Dunblane Cathedral on 13^th of December and included a range of different music performed by pupils and teachers of all ages.  We organised a slideshow of pictures of the kids and mamas from Nkoaranga Orphanage to play before the concert began, to give the audience an idea of who the concert was raising money for.  Both the junior and senior choirs performed, and the audience also enjoyed listening to duets, ensembles and solos.  After a short speech which told them a bit more about the The Small Things and the work we do, the audience tucked into some mince pies and mulled wine during the interval.  One of the highlights of the evening was the more light hearted sing-off between the two sides of the audience: one side sang ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ with great gusto, whilst the other side were determined to out-sing them with the less well known ‘Pine Cones and Holly Berries’!

I wish to say a huge thank you to everyone who made the concert such a success.  I want to thank my family so much for all their support of the concert.  I also want to extend a special thank you to all the staff at Beaconhurst School who were involved in organising the concert – I know from experience how much effort goes into such an event, and without their hard work it just wouldn't have happened.  And of course, a massive thank you needs to go to all the pupils who performed so fantastically on the night!  Finally, thank you to everyone who came to support Beaconhurst School and The Small Things – I cannot thank you enough.

Tumaini  with Baba Christmas 2 years ago

Christmas Tumaini this year, about to
 start her third year with TFFT!

The final amount which was raised was over £1000 which was incredible!  The exact figure is still to be confirmed, but I will let you know as soon as I can.  All proceeds will go to Project Education, which will allow four of our beautiful children to begin school this January (less than a month to go!).  I am so lucky that I will be returning to Nkoaranga Orphanage in time to see Pendo, David, Abdulli and Andrea start school with The Foundation for Tomorrow.  It is because of everyone who has supported Project Education that this can happen, so I just want to finish by thanking you all for giving these children the change to become the incredible young people that they are meant to be.

From all The Small Things' board members, and on behalf of the Mamas and kids (who had an amazing time with Baba Christmas today, and are looking forward to their Christmas meal tomorrow!) of Nkoaranga Orphanage, I wish you all a very happy Christmas!

Happy Birthday David!

It's getting to be that time of year again... time for the kids to start school. Today is the fifth birthday of an amazing little boy, David, who has been through more in his five years than many of us will have to face in our entire lives. Today we want to celebrate his journey and how far he's come!

David's had the same great smile since day one!

David in 2010

David's mother was sadly mentally ill, and in light of the lack of mental healthcare available in Tanzania, she abandoned him as an infant at the orphanage. At 15 months, he was badly burned in a fire at the orphanage caused by an electrical short - see Project Light Up the Night for details about the fire and our (now completed!) project to rewire the orphanage to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. Thanks to Mama Cantate, David and all the other babies in the fire were saved, and after six months in the hospital, he recovered with full mobility. However, he's had some serious emotional repercussions from the long period of hospitalization and painful recovery. When we met him two years ago, he was completely incapable of handling any time of opposition without completely losing control and striking out violently at anyone who was around him, including mamas, volunteers, and other children, leading to alienation from many of them.

What a far cry from where he is today! David now has close and loving relationships with the other orphanage children, and even helps out frequently with the babies and younger kids. He loves to help and gets will happily escort little ones around, grab napkins, and help hand out food. His tantrums have declined to next to nothing, and he can frequently be convinced to stop himself before losing control. He still has some trouble with rocking and retreating when he's in pain - in August he had a bad blister of some sort inside his mouth, and I only discovered it because I went to ask him why he was rocking in a corner instead of playing with the other children. He still didn't say anything but dissolved into tears from the pain when I asked him repeatedly what was wrong. The poor boy is still afraid of the hospital and prefers to try to hide his illness - but he's improving in leaps and bounds, and we are working hard to constantly reaffirm his secure and loving place in the Nkoaranga family.

Playing field hockey with Claire

In order for David to start school in January, he needs his year-to-year sponsors and up-front sponsorship - thank you to Kristina, her parents Wayne and Sandra Leland, and Emma Shaw for funding his future!  As for the up-front tuition, we have now raised over $7,300 of the $8,800 total we need to pay for two years tuition for each child (David, Andrea, Abdulli, and Pendo). We are just $1,500 away from that goal - but if we do not reach it before January, they cannot start school. Go to our Education page to donate to getting these wonderful kids started on their educational journeys!


David, we are so proud of you and how far you've come, and we know you are going to do an incredible job in school next year! We love you!

Update: Our wonderful boy Abdulli is also now fully sponsored! Huge thanks to Emma Shaw, the Williams family, and the Bianucci family! Now we just have to find that last $1,500 and all the kids will be able to start school in January! Thank you to all our amazing supporters. 

Happy Birthday Abdulli and Desperately Seeking Sponsor

UPDATE: The Williams family has offered to take on quarter sponsorship for Abdulli's schooling! That means we are looking for just $825 more per year. If you are able to commit to a three quarters ($825/year or $65/month), half ($550/year or $45/month) or quarter ($275/year or $23/month) sponsorship for him, please let us know. 

Thursday was the sixth birthday of an incredible little guy, Abdulli. Take a look at Abdulli over the years, thanks to pictures from amazing former volunteers! Then read on below to find out about the plans for his future and how you can help. 

Discerning readers will notice that Abdulli is turning six, a year older than the age that most kids leave the orphanage to start boarding school. That is because Abdulli has some developmental delays, we think due to a cerebral infection he had as a young child. When I first met him at age four, he barely interacted with volunteers and would barely talk, and often resorted to violence to communicate with the other children - we worried worried about potential autism. However, he has come an incredible distance in the past two years. He is a warm, sweet, and much more verbal boy who has developed good relationships with lots of other children. Our fantastic pre-school teachers have worked with him closely, and although he has difficulty following along in a group setting, he has done extremely well in one-on-one work. He can count well in Swahili and is working on writing his name - right now he can get most of the letters out, just not in the right order! However, he loves school and is a hard worker, and is so proud when he makes breakthroughs. 

Megan and Abdulli

Life for individuals with disabilities is incredibly tough in Tanzania. We feel incredibly lucky that we have been able to locate a great school in Arusha with the help of TFFT that works with children who need extra attention, who are willing to take Abdulli on and give him the one-on-one tutoring he needs to potentially rejoin his friends at USA River Academy in a few years. Step by Step Learning Center was founded by an incredible woman with an autistic daughter, and it caters to children with severe mental retardation all the way through slight cognitive delays like Abdulli's. It is a day program, but Abdulli is lucky enough to have a father who loves his son very much, and with financial support for his food and care, Abdulli can return to his father's home. However, he still needs sponsorship. It will cost $1,100 per year for Abdulli's tuition, food, medical care, and transportation to and from school (click here for more information on our sponsorship program). We are looking for yearly sponsors totaling that amount - are you able to take on a full, half ($550/year) or quarter ($275/year) sponsorship for this incredible boy? It is so important to us to provide opportunity for all of our children, regardless of special needs. I know most of you reading have a loved one with learning disabilities or cognitive delays of some sort - it shouldn't hold them back and it shouldn't hold Abdulli back either. 

To become a year-to-year sponsor for Abdulli, email us, or to donate towards his two years of up front tuition, click below or go to our Education page. Thank you so much for helping give this incredible boy the chance he deserves! 

Give this incredible boy a chance. Sponsor him today! 

Nkoaranga Angels: Finding Magnolia

First daughter, Magnolia Zinashi,
chowing down with Ababi (dad)

This wonderful family is currently in the process of adopting a second daughter (this one with some special needs) from Ethiopia. Instead of taking out a standard loan or asking for unrestricted donations, they came up with a very cool and innovative concept - the "Give it Forward" loan. They ask people to donate towards their adoption costs - however, each month, they pay back an installment of those costs (usually $200), plus 10% interest, plus a 10% matching donation from an anonymous donor. These payments go to charities voted on by Finding Magnolia's readers - and this month, they chose us! Thank you so much to everyone who voted for us - we love this entire concept and the idea that each donation to this wonderfully family is effectively doubled, as it helps them with their adoption now, and then has a second impact as a donation to a charity as they pay it back. What a cool idea!

We have decided to put their $240 donation towards Project Education - we are now more than half of the way to the total amount we will need to raise to get all four wonderful kids enrolled next year! In case you need a reminder, these are the fantastic kids we are working to get into The Foundation For Tomorrow's amazing program, which puts them in high quality Tanzanian boarding schools, with fantastic extracurriculars, emotional and academic support, and care and transport over school breaks. This donation will help with the two years of up-front tuition required to enroll each child - however, we are still looking for long term sponsors for most of these beautiful kids. A quarter sponsorship is just $19 per month! Take a look at our beautiful kiddos, and then check out the Project Education page for more details on them and the program.

Andrea, our sweet silly boy - one quarter sponsored

Abdulli, our sensitive little man - not yet sponsored

Pendo, our loving girl - fully sponsored

And David, our little firecracker - one quarter sponsored

Mosey on over to the Project Education page to find out more about the program and how to get involved and help give these wonderful kids the future that they deserve. Thank you again to Finding Magnolia and everyone else who has helped us come so far! 

My African Homecoming

So, I'm back!

I can't describe how amazing it feels to be walking into the orphanage at 6 each morning again, because, in all honesty, it feels like I never left. I feel like I'm 'home,' just with extra big babies and kids around me that seem to have grown overnight!

They are absolutely awesome. I didn't think they could get more beautiful or funny or wonderful but they've certainly grown up and are maturing and outshining anything I could have imagined. The Mamas are, of course, still doing a fantastic job of caring for these individuals and truly deserve more praise!

One person I would really like to mention that doesn't get heard about so much is big Franky - an amazing role model for the children who, despite being deaf, works tremendously hard for the kids, is so reliable, always there to help out, blowing up balloons for the Christmas tree, caring for any crying children and cheering them up in no time, making us volunteers laugh just as much! He really is a fantastic, selfless human being. I can't think of enough words of praise to give to all of these people!

Baby Peace in a Christmas hat

So, after a very tiring 10 hour bus journey from Dar, it was all made worth it to hear the calls of "Bessan!" as I arrived at the door to the orphanage. I was greeted by a massive hug from Eman Ndogo which was such a lovely surprise. Seeing all of the toddlers up and running, the babies crawling and our two beautiful newbies; Peace and Shudja. So gorgeous and precious and extremely smiley.

As for yesterday, wow, what a very dazed group of children as they awoke to find Baba Christmas out in the garden! All very sleepy and not really knowing what was going on, they soon hyped up to play with the masses of new toys and books that had very kindly been donated by Tracey, Wendy, Anna and Rebecca Woolf - so a big thank you to you all for your generosity and for making this Christmas extra special for the children.

So with lots of balloons, photos, presents, food, soda, cake, fake snow, the Nkoaranga Christmas party went very well. Lots of messy, sticky, smiley laughing, children; what a perfect way to spend my christmas.

Abdulli with a Christmas toy

As for the general welfare of the orphanage, it is going wonderfully. The play area is great and much safer and enjoyable for the children (and I might well brave the adapted slide now it no longer resembles a vertical drop!) The chickens are all healthy, growing, laying, clucking and doing everything chickens do! Everyone is doing a great job and I have never seen the children so happy and developing so well.

In particular I would like to mention what a huge change I have seen in Abdulli. He's developed much better socially and is so interacting with the other children lots more, playing games rather than sitting alone and is also more verbal. Very pleased with him so lets hope he can keep it up!

More updates to come on the children's development. To all of you lovely readers, thank you for your support and love for the children, a very merry christmas to you all.