Sharing the love!

Hello everyone, we hope you've all had a great week!  This week our blog features some birthdays, a guest post by three amazing girls telling you about their candy-gram fundraiser, and a little bit about some of The Small Things' committees who are looking for people to join them!

Birthdays!

Saimoni (5 years old)

Today is Saimoni's 5th Birthday!  He is such an amazing boy who has done so well to overcome the rickets he suffered from when he was younger (especially not easy when living in  an orphanage full of more mobile kids) to become the happy, laughing and extremely imaginative little boy that he is today!

Left to right: Faraja (8 years old), Baracka (4 years old) and Neema ndogo (1 year old)

It's been a busy week birthday-wise!  Last Friday, we celebrated two other Birthdays: Faraja - who was at Nkoaranga Orphanage until the age of 6, when she left to live at a nearby SOS children's village - turned 8, and it was also Baracka's 4th Birthday!  And last but definitely not least, just yesterday Neema ndogo turned 1!  We are so happy that they are all growing up safe and happy, although it is very scary how fast it is happening!!

PS. Just in case we are confusing you, 'ndogo' means 'little'!

Candy-grams

by Carly Charlebois, Amanda Roberts and Ashley Pollari

"We are students at Camosun College in Victoria, BC and our team consists of Carly Charlebois, Amanda Roberts and Ashley Pollari.  We are currently taking a Sociology course: Introduction to Africa Studies. One of the main components of our class is to come up with a service-learning project, which positively impacts an African country in a sustainable way.

"All three of us have been to Africa at some point in the past few years.  Carly and Ashley have been to Kenya and Amanda was in Burkina Faso.  Together we have developed a passion for this incredible continent and the amazing people who live there.  Having that personal connection and the experience of being to Africa are important and provide us with a strong basis for this project.  We all connected to The Small Things organization through Kristina Alexander; who we know either through the African Awareness Committee at school, or work.  Having Kristina here at Camosun has been a huge help in developing our project plan.  Since connecting with Kristina and learning more about what The Small Things is doing for the orphanage, we have taken a huge interest in their future projects.

"Two members of our group, Carly and Ashley, are preparing to start the nursing programs in the fall.  Therefore, we are quite interested in how we could create a sustainable project for medical development on the ground in Tanzania.  Our hope is for these funds from our service-learning project to help build the HIV health care facility for the new children’s village, as well as aid in the employment of a full-time nurse.  In addition, Ashley and Amanda plan to make it to Tanzania next year to see the impact of our efforts, which makes the connection much more real.

"Our first fundraiser for this project was a Valentine’s Day candy-gram service that raised awareness and funds for the Nkoaranga orphanage.  For three days, we sold handmade cards, and Fair Trade chocolates on campus for two dollars.  Then they were delivered on Valentine’s Day.   

"We had a positive and optimistic outlook from the beginning about our candy-gram fundraiser.  Despite it being a last minute decision to do this fundraiser, we feel as though we reached out to many people and fostered awareness about The Small Things and their mission.  In the end, we raised approximately $150.   

"In the coming weeks, we hope to build on this success through a penny drive and bottle drive.  As we learn more in our Sociology class, we will continue to work with Kristina and The Small Things to support Nkoaranga Orphanage.

"Our reward will come when can visit next year and meet the children that we have grown to love though photos and stories."

Committees

We are looking for passionate and dedicated people to join The Small Things's committees!  Below is an outline of the different committees and the sort of people who we'd love to join us working on them.

Stevie, Andrea and David drinking the
filtered water provided by Project Maji

Strategic planning

• What it involves: discussing in what direction to develop the charity for the future and considering factors which influence this; planning how to implement these decisions
• Looking for: Individuals who have experience starting or building a successful company or non-profit
• Commitment: 1hr per week + 1 meeting per month

'The Mosaic Ladies' - a beautiful
quilt made by Sandra to auction off to
raise money to rewire the orphanage

Fundraising

• What it involves: Working with volunteers to support their own fundraising projects, organising events to raise money and awareness and developing products such as calendars etc to sell
• Looking for: People who have experience organising events, connections to companies or experience with general fundraising
• Commitment: 1hr per week + 1 meeting per month

The kids looking delighted in beautiful
clothes donated by 'Fred's World'

Child welfare

• What it involves:Consideration of how best to support the mental and physical health of the children in our care, developing advice for volunteers in the form of manuals and development charts, coordinating in-kind donations such as vitamins and clothing
• Looking for: People with medical, psychological, or child development expertise
• Commitment: 1hr per week + 1 meeting per month

If you are interested in working on any of the above, please get in touch with us at info@thesmallthings.org - thank you!

Vicky (2 years old), loving her new nappy
donated by 'Baba and Boo'

Thanks for reading!

Good Luck Gracie!

Beautiful Gracie

This week's news from The Small Things includes an exciting update about Gracie. Sweet Gracie, aged 2 years and 8 months, has left the orphanage and her Grandmother has brought her to the SOS Children’s villages. Gracie has an older sister already at SOS so they will now be together. Born very underweight on June 21st, 2010, Gracie Spent her first three months in the hospital and was very sick. Her mother was HIV positive and died shortly after birth and at around three months old, Gracie arrived at the orphanage. Since then, she has grown into such a beautiful little girl who has a great future ahead of her. This is a fantastic opportunity for Gracie and we are very happy for her. We will miss her so much, as will the other children! She is such a bubbly and happy girl who will no doubt make an impression and fit in well at her new home. Luckily she won't be far away so it will be easy to visit!

Gracie, I don't think that is where the nappy is supposed to go!

Gracie will not be on her own. Our wonderful Farajah is also there and thriving. Farajah will be turning 8 years old on Friday and has always been a very bright and mature young lady so we have no doubt that she will keep a watchful eye on Gracie as she settles in.


To find out more information about the work of SOS, click here.

More good news! The kids who had malaria in the last two weeks are now recovered and doing really well. Mama Pendo has informed us that Little Ebeni is crawling everywhere and very quickly! Little Neema is still "swimming" on the floor but doing well and is very mobile.

Poor Angel is fighting an ear infection that's leaving her miserable but she's otherwise healthy and really gaining weight.

Keep a look out for upcoming blog posts featuring guest blogs from our half marathon runners who are hard at training in preparation for April 7th, as well as details on our new fresh food program at the orphanage and an insight into our new addition to the media team - Chelle McCann!

Click here for The Small Things 2012 in review newsletter released today! And if you aren't already signed up to receive our annual newsletter by email, sign up now to avoid missing out next time.
(You can find the subscription link on the right).

Bekka with Grace on day 1

A very happy baby

Even happier when she got her independence and learnt to walk!

Gracie and Eman, amazing children. We will miss you Gracie!

We all love bubbles...

As I’m sure my parents, and probably a few others, would agree, having little children in the school holidays can be a bit stressful. If you then multiply the number of kids with too much time on their hands by about 24, you get the holidays at the orphanage.

The teachers at the orphanage are amazing, and going to school is huge part of the day for everybody from Zawadi and Neema’s age group upwards. It also works out some of their crazy excess energy so that they are all sleepy for naptime after lunch. One of my favourite memories of our recent trip was watching Kantate (one of the teachers) organise running races across the front of the orphanage grass before school in the morning, seeing Zawadi and Miriam showing off their best running styles, Big Ebenezer risk getting flattened as he wandered aimlessly across the racetrack, Eman winning every race effortlessly, and Tumaini really not being too happy about it!

As a result, when school is not on, everybody is full of beans and raring to go. One of the most fool-proof ways to entertain them, and work off some of that energy, is to get out the bubbles:

….and an hour and a half later….

They are always a hit and the kids really can do this for hours and hours. I hope everyone spotted Frankie trying to eat the bubbles in that last video! (13 seconds in)

(The real joy comes when there is a really big bubble that everyone wants to pop; the real challenge is learning to blow extra-big bubbles on demand as everyone shouts “Kubwa! Kubwa! Mimi kubwa!!” (Big! Big! A big one for me!!) every five seconds. Unfortunately we didn’t get a video of this, but the highlight of my bubble-blowing morning was when I did manage to blow a really big bubble, but if went too high and everyone missed it. After a lot of pointing and shouting and jumping, the kids stood literally open-mouthed, necks craning at the sky, watching this bubble get higher and higher and linger, still intact, right over the top of the orphanage roof. We never did see it pop, it went right up and over to the other side of the building! The only problem was that I couldn’t repeat this miracle on request – and there were a lot of requests!

Here are a few pictures, just to show you how much the kids really do love bubbles:

Pray's gymnastics and high jumps to get there first are always impressive - rivalled occasionally by Baraka 

Neema was determined to get whole clouds of bubbles all by herself.

Zi makes up for not being able to reach by swinging with her cardigan!

I think Ester was just posing really :)

And my personal favourite: Miriam is unable to contain her excitement!

One piece of good news this week is that the Small Things has been able to find sponsors for Daniel's education. Daniel is an orphan who was struggling to raise the money to start secondary school. He had already managed to get a part scholarship thanks to his impressive grades finishing primary school. From the newspaper article, it's clear Daniel has not had the easiest life. We are very happy that thanks to the generosity of Lonnie, Garry, Wendy, Susan and the Somji family, we will be able to pay the remainder of Daniel's school fees and living costs for this year, as well as put a bit away towards next year. It is really great to be able to help someone who will make the most of the support the way Daniel will.

Read more about Daniel at: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/28862-dreams-in-jeopardy-as-disabled-child-struggles-to-raise-fees.html 

On a final happy note, we are really pleased to be able to tell everyone who may not have seen it on Facebook that Neema Ndogo is much better and back at the orphanage, and is likely to be falling asleep into her food once again.

Baby Neema is almost standing!

This is just a very short post because we are excited about the fact that little Neema (who you may know from the 'We ♥ fat healthy babies!' facebook post (see here) is now standing...with a bit of help!

Up until now she has now shown very little interest in doing much else than sitting...and occasionally falling asleep whilst eating!  Although this is pretty adorable, we were keen to get her making some progress towards 'pulling to stand' which is the milestone she should be hitting soon according to developmental charts.

Neema after falling asleep whilst eating

It took a few times of Neema dangling in mid-air in a determined sitting position, but after a bit of perseverance she is now standing if someone holds her hands.  It's a small step, but judging by the way she sticks her tongue out in excitement and bends her knees to bob up and down like she is dancing (encouraged by the Mamas!), hopefully she should soon be pulling herself to stand all by herself!

She's always been persistent about staying in that sitting position - check out this video from when she was tiny! 

Parties and playing

The internet has been an elusive creature for the last week or so... power outages seem to magically time themselves precisely for my arrival in internet cafes. It's downright uncanny. That said, I have a lot of exciting news (and, as always, adorable photos) to share.

One of Mama Pendo's oldest with one
of the youngest!

Last Saturday we had a real treat – a local community development class graduated and held their ceremony at the orphanage. They provided a HUGE meal, and thanks to your donations, we were able to supply transportation for a number of older kids to come back to Nkoaranga from the places they are currently living. We had a group from USA River Academy (the kids who are enrolled with TFFT), as well as a group from SOS Children's Villages, which included Farajah and Aroni! We also had some kids from SOS who had been at Nkoaranga 16, 18, or even 20 years ago, when the orphanage had JUST gotten started, and was mostly just Mama Pendo in a small building next to the mortuary trying to take care of a few abandoned kids! Needless to say, it was fantastic to see them all back – and SO much fun to see the reunited kids playing together. It reminds you how much they really have grown up as siblings – being separated is difficult for them, and they are thrilled to be back together. Zawadi in particular jumped on Farajah and refused to be moved for most of the rest of the afternoon, even to come to me! She missed her “little mama.” All the kids also loved the cake – especially Neema, who ate four or five pieces!

Neema blissed out on cake 

Mama Cantate with Wema, Farajah, Pendo, and Aroni

Stevie with the memory book I made for him
with the help of many former volunteers' photos!

Ericki with his memory book 

The USA River Academy kids performing 

Overall, the day was wonderful – a pleasure to see all the kids, to see their excitement at the improvements in the orphanage (especially the playground!), and to see Mama Pendo honored for her many years of hard work.

Adam with Loveness
(top) and Baracka

Riz and Simoni

Adam and Riz have both arrived, and the micro-grants project is in full swing. In the last two days they've already done eight interviews, and are off today to (hopefully!) polish off the rest. Although many families just want chickens or other basic livestock, a few have really creative ideas – and we're hoping that bringing these families together will allow them to collaborate and share ideas and resources. The first class is later today - we will keep you updated on how it goes!

Adam and Neema

Of course, not all the time is dedicated to work on the grants project... Adam and Riz have also been loving their time with the kids, and vice versa! The kids are always so excited to meet new people, and especially when those people are “cool guys” - they don't have much exposure to positive male role models, so we are thrilled to give them a few. If nothing else, they love being thrown, flipped, and turned upside down – and the guys have been happy to oblige, and tire a little slower than I do!

Peace

Shujah and Peace are working on crawling, although they are currently most talented at spinning in circles on their tummies. Ebenezer and Neema are growing and thriving, and are now both sharing their beautiful smiles with us! Poor Ebeni was a little off this morning, and he seems to generally struggle a bit with digestion – we are hoping that the gentle preemie formula coming over with Claire, Dorothy and Patty on Sunday will help soothe him a bit! Neema continues to be a little stunner and captivate everyone when she bats those big brown eyes.

Neema

Filipo took his first steps last week, which was incredibly exciting. We had all been trying to coax him towards it for a while – but of course, it was Mama Pendo who finally got him to make the move. I swear she has baby magic. As soon as he got up, he hasn't looked back! Frankie is now all alone sitting on the floor – although even he took a few steps last week. Unlike Filipo, however, that hasn't tempted him towards full-time walking. He still prefers to be carried everywhere, and bawl loudly if that desire isn't immediately satisfied!

Mama Marie and Frankie

It's also been a huge pleasure to hang out with Marie and her mom - their donations have and continue to be thrilling and hugely helpful. Special thanks to the big, beautiful box of gorgeous organic kids' clothing from . As you can see, the kids also enjoyed just playing in the bags it was brought over in! They've also taken on the very exciting project of rebuilding and expanding the chicken coop - it is about half done and will be fully finished soon, allowing the kids to eat meat at least once, often twice a week! Huge progress.

Marie and Neema

Mama Pendo, Marie and the clothes donation

Ebeni and Frankie playing in the suitcase

Half finished new chicken coop

 And now, just a few of my favorite shots from the last week, because why not?

Beautiful Ebenezer

Me and my baby girl!

Coming up: A Wednesday kids' safari to the Arusha snake park and Mount Meru Game lodge, the arrival of Dorothy, Patty, and Claire, and a report from the first grants class. Stay tuned!

Update from Kristina - This week at NK

Baby Peace is sitting up and eating solid food - where does the time go? I'm thrilled to say that I'll be out there in just 11 days as another pair of hands - I can't wait! Thanks Kristina for the updates, and thanks to our fabulous incoming Danish volunteers Stine and Peter for funding a significant portion of the new dryer purchase. We appreciate it and can't wait for you to meet the kids this summer!

Grant us the serenity

I have always loved the serenity prayer, whether or not one connects it with religion or God - I think it's a really beautiful and powerful way to think about life, especially the difficult and raw parts that this type of work exposes you to.

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." 

Serenity

I never fully got the chance to honor and memorialize Rehema, a beautiful little angel who was with us for just a few short days. I am sorry I never got the chance to meet her, though Jasmine, Dora and Anna have given us a glimpse of her days at the orphanage, and assure us she was taken care of and loved. It appears her mother was unable to get to the hospital and gave birth in unsanitary conditions, then passed away - leaving little Rehema, already premature, with infections she was not strong enough to fight. Her name meant compassion, and I hope we gave her that at least. We will remember you, little girl, and strive to be compassionate to honor your memory. 

Courage

We couldn't help Rehema - but there are parts of her story that echo things we can help. Her birth was unsafe - we have made huge strides with Light Up the Night, and are over 80% of the way towards our goal. That means we've already raised enough to rewire and install solar lighting in the orphanage. Now we are just over $2000 away from being able to install solar lighting in the maternity wards as well. This is crucial - electricity is out several nights a week, and the incredibly hardworking hospital midwives cannot do their job properly if they can't monitor the laboring mothers and summon more help from the doctors when necessary. 

I also am thrilled to deliver an update on our beautiful boy Peace. As you may remember, he struggled badly to gain weight during his first month - he remained just two kilos. However, thanks to your donations, we were able to fund 24/7 care for him during his second month, and he more than doubled in weight! He's kept up that progress since then - take a look at him below with baby Shujah, who was not premature and is several months older than him. Same size! And Shujah is NOT a small baby! We're so proud of how beautifully they are both growing, and were thrilled to hear from Jasmine and co. that they would never have guessed on their recent visit that he had been so premature if they hadn't already known. 

Shujah (left) and Peace (right)

Wisdom

Asimwe cuddling baby Ebeni
a few weeks ago

Little man giving a sly
smile yesterday

Because this intervention worked so well with Peace, we have been able to help out another gorgeous boy who has been struggling, little Ebenezer Ndogo. He has been lucky to have some of the school kids home for a break from boarding school, giving him lots of extra loving - but we were still worried about his lack of weight gain, vomiting and diarrhea. So in concert with Mama Pendo, we decided to fund four weeks of one-to-one care for him as well - and the results already seem to be showing. Friend of The Small Things Steffi was at the orphanage this weekend, and sent along these pictures of Ebenezer Ndogo already smiling, and looking healthier by the day. We're thrilled that it's helping! 

Hope

Beautiful girl Neema Ndogo

Luckily, sometimes we are blessed with babies who are healthy and happy from day one. That seems to be the case with beautiful Neema (who will have to be Neema Ndogo since we already have a Neema, now Neema Kubwa!) who came in over the weekend. She's only a few weeks old, but already looks wise beyond her years, with a beautiful, thoughtful little face. Neema means hope, and she is ours - we hope that soon all our beautiful babies will thrive as she seems to be doing already. We hope that they'll all get as big, and beautiful, and sweet, and funny as our Neema Kubwa, two and a half and with dimples that can slay you from a mile away. I personally can't wait to meet both of our new arrivals, to see how Peace has grown, to try to catch the running toddlers that I held on their first days in the orphanage, just a few days or hours old. It makes everything worth it. 

Maureen, who I met on her first day, comforting baby Peace.
Keep paying it forward, little girl. 

39 days to go.