Team Small Things to run 13 miles this Sunday!

This week has been an exciting week for The Small Things.

The happy couple!

Not only did we see Bekka, the director and Chair of The Small Things become married to Riz on Thursday, but they have now moved house and are living in Tanzania and are settling in great. We will soon have a lot more information on how the kids and Mamas are doing as well as recent developments on our projects. So stay with us for lots of updates coming soon!

This Sunday at 10.30am, Bethan, Charlotte, Emily and Jake will be running 13 miles in a half marathon in their home town of Taunton, in order to raise money for The Small Things. Together, they are hoping to raise approximately £500 and this money will go directly to the orphanage.

Training has certainly been challenging, not to mention, sweaty!

Charlotte with Filipo in January 2011
 (Now 2 years old)

So why The Small Things?

One of our runners, Charlotte, says how lucky she feels to have had 'the privilege of volunteering at Nkoaranga Orphanage with the amazing children and staff. I miss seeing the wonderful children and admire the work that The Small Things are doing to help make a difference to the lives of the people at the orphanage. This is why I have decided to run the Taunton Half Marathon to raise money for The Small Things. I am not someone who is particularly good at running so this is definitely a challenge! Training is so hard! However it will be worth it for this amazing cause.'

And how are our runners feeling about the big day coming up?

Bethan explains how 'The nerves are really starting to kick in now! I'm sure the adrenaline, the atmosphere, and the support that we will receive on Sunday will keep us going and get us to the finish line. It's certainly been difficult training at the gym and going on runs in such chilly weather! Not to mention trying to balance studying for a degree! But I'm confident we will all do well and that we will encourage each other to reach the end, however long it may take!'

Bethan with Maureen Kubwa
 (3 years old - soon to be 4 on April 22nd!)

We feel very proud of our four runners who are taking part in this challenge purely for our kids and the Mamas. This is another act of support that keeps us dedicated and thankful to you all who help us at The Small Things.

Click here to sponsor our team and to get them closer to their target. Any amount will be greatly appreciated by us all and a little goes a long way!

Keep an eye out next week to find out how the run went as well as updates and new photos of the beautiful children coming soon.

Good luck for Sunday to Team Small Things: Jake, Emily, Charlotte and Bethan!

Greetings from Nairobi!

Peter and Andrea

Greetings from Nairobi! I'm currently on a brief trip up north to Kenya to drop off Riz at the airport – I'm going to miss him! The kids loved hanging out with the “big boys” this summer, and they'll be disappointed now that Peter, Adam, and Riz are all gone. Andrea and Simoni were especially thrilled to hang out with them – there are some very cute pictures of them together. All three guys are hoping to make a return trip at some point, and we also strongly urge any guys considering volunteering to take the leap – it's a really wonderful experience and the kids benefit hugely from having positive male role models around.

It's been a rough week at the orphanage – everyone still has the flu, and it's hit the little ones especially hard. Ebenezer is still in the hospital in town, although his fever and vomiting have subsided, so now we're just waiting on the diarrhea to stop so he doesn't need the IV fluids. Peace is also in the hospital, although he's been able to stay at Nkoaranga – the fever that was mild and transient in the other kids has been high and persistent for him. However, we're hoping he'll also be out soon. Medical students Martina, Lorenzo, and Daria (from SperanzaTanzania) have been of immeasurable help with keeping a watchful eye on all the kids, going on hospital visits, and helping us to figure out when to seek more help.

Riz and his baby Peace

I had the flu early and so was out of commission most of last week, but have been available now that more of the kids have been hit. That said, we've been having lots of meetings and hospital visits, so it has been busy for me too! Meanwhile, many of the mamas have also come down with the flu, and since we've needed even more staff than usual to stay in the hospital with sick kids, many of them have worked straight through it. We are so grateful for their superhuman strength and dedication!

Mama Pendo has started her management course, and is enjoying it despite having to get up very early in the morning to make it to Arusha on time! Although we and the kids miss her daily presence at the orphanage, it is worth doing without her for three weeks for her to attend such a prestigious program. We're confident that it will help all the staff and kids in the long term.

In completely unrelated but fun news, Chundvi and Pili Pili (our rabbits) have apparently been having fun together in their hutch – I'm told Pili Pili is pregnant! Once she gives birth, we'll be separating the males and females to avoid a rabbit overload. I'm excited to hand raise a few of the babies to be pets for the kids – it's good for them to learn responsibility and compassion, and it might just keep them from trying to chase down the chickens! The other rabbits will eventually be either sold or eaten – while I am officially neutral on which course they choose, I would prefer not to be present for the eating of the bunnies! That said, anything that leads to better nutrition for the kids is a plus in my book.

Anne with Neema

Anne has been busily at work on some great English/Swahili books for the kids, most new ones and a few translations of our favorite classics – currently working on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. Leave a comment if you have any ideas for good books with simple vocabulary that might work for the project! It's going to be really useful for instilling an early love of books in the kids, and for volunteers who want to improve their Swahili. We're very lucky to have Anne working with us!

I'm in contact with Mama Pendo and the other volunteers daily, and I'll let you know as soon as possible if there are any changes with the kids. Keep them in your thoughts!

Microgrants guest post: Riz

Hey everyone! I'm here to give you all a general update on the progress of our microgrants project, before my colleague Adam posts a more detailed version in a couple of days, but first I will take this time to tell you all that Bekka was right - Tanzania is AMAZING. Being here and working in the local community and orphanage has been much better than I anticipated, and I couldn't be happier for this experience. But now, we get down to business.

The project is going extremely well, we're ahead of schedule, which has given us plenty of time to head up to the orphanage and hang out with the kids - who've all fallen in love with us, and definitely us with them! They are amazing kids who are taken care of by wonderful, and patient mamas. Mama Pendo especially, must be some sort of baby whisperer (Watch out, Cesar Milan!), seeing as she has the magic to make a crying baby smile in seconds, she is truly an amazing woman.

We've met with a number of families who're struggling to provide for themselves, and we are going to do our very best to give them the tools and materials they need to succeed - whether it be through the kukus (chickens!), or growing vegetables.

One situation in particular touched me the most - though that doesn't discount the rest of the families we've met with. It is of a grandmother in her 80s, who lives with her grandson, Frankie. Unfortunately, both of Frankie's parents are no longer around, giving his grandmother the responsibility of raising a young child on her own. Raising a child can be difficult at times for anybody - but for this grandmother, she's doing it on an extremely low budget with which she can barely feed herself, so she sacrifices her hunger for the sake of her grandson. She told us she spends most nights crying because she doesn't see a way out of this situation. It was a very moving meeting. As we were about to leave, she shook all of our hands with such passion, and told us that she thanks God that we came to see her.

Dad watching his son
during the first class

One other situation I was moved by included the story of a single father, raising his 6-year old son while trying to improve his struggling business. We met the young child, and he was full of zest (where do kids get the energy from?!), which was great to see. We want his father to have a successful business which produces enough revenue for him and his child to have a good life. We don't want them to be neglected, not when they desperately need our help.

Hanging out with the teachers

That is why we're doing this project, to allow families like these who deeply love their children to stay together without having to make such racking decisions. We want to help as much as we can, but by giving them the tools to improve their own futures, rather than through handouts.

While things have been going extremely well, we are working with a limited set of funds which is making us pay extra attention to finances. Currently we are trying to divide our original grant pool into 15 rather than 10 grants, which means less money for each person. We would very much appreciate any donations you can provide - even a small amount like $30 can go a long way to helping us help the families. So please give anything you can! We (and the families) appreciate it greatly.

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!

Micro Grants Project

Whenever possible, we at The Small Things believe in keeping children in their communities with whatever family they have, be it biological or adoptive. According to UNICEF estimates, as many as one in six families in East Africa is caring for at least one orphaned or abandoned child. As part of our work with Nkoaranga orphanage, we are developing a pilot program which seeks to help those in the surrounding community who are outside of the structure of an orphanage, but who are nonetheless playing an active part in caring for orphaned children. We choose to support them not just because it is the right thing to do, but also to investigate whether this is an efficient and cost-effective way of keeping children well cared for without the intervention of orphanages.

Thriving local marketplaces

The program will seek to help families affected by parental death - whether they are families caring for orphaned children, families who have lost a parent and are in danger of having to give a child to an orphanage, or young adults who have been orphaned. The program will run for 6 months, and will target from 8 to 10 participants who fit the following criteria:

• Are living in extreme poverty, AND 

• either run a struggling business OR 

• want to start a new business. 

We are targeting individuals for whom a small lump sum grant (from $50 to $100), along with business training, will realize their potential for growth to the point where they are able to sufficiently care and provide for their households in the long term. We will also build an incentive component into the program, with a further grant allocated halfway through the program if they are meeting mutually agreed upon targets. Follow up will continue for six months using personalized “report cards” created for each participant.

Adam

We have a fantastic team working with us on this project. Learn a bit more about each of them, below!

Adam Ross Russell: Adam is an American third year business student at Bryant University who will be heading up this project. He has developed a simplified business curriculum, and will be working in conjunction with Rehema and Vaileth to teach it to the participants. He will also lead the participant selection.

Riz

Riz Kaiser Din: Riz is a graduate of the University of Hertfordshire, in southern England, holding an HND in Computing, an undergraduate degree in Software Systems for Art & Media, and a Master of Arts in Interactive Multimedia/Information Design, as well as prior experience in East Africa. He currently works as a graphic designer, and brings to this project his real-world experience of running an independent/freelance design business in the UK. He has developed templates for selection interviews as well as sample documents for the business course. He will also be leading the design of the personalized report cards, and lending his expertise on creating promotional business materials.

Rehema

Rehema Mussa: Rehema is a local Tanzanian young woman who was taken in by extended family at a young age, and studied through a local vocational program for orphaned youth after secondary school. She has experience as a secretary and teaching basic computer skills in the area, and knows the community and orphanage extremely well. She will be our head translator and assistant teacher as well as primary follow-up coordinator, and is also looking forward to developing her own computer training and graphic design business further.

Vaileth

Vaileth Pallangyo: Vaileth is a recent secondary school graduate who grew up in Nkoaranga and has attended school through The Foundation For Tomorrow, the same organization that oversees our kids’ schooling. She has recently started training as an accountant. As she wrote on The Foundation For Tomorrow’s blog, “Bookkeeping is my favorite subject in school. Some students dislike it but I find balancing books challenging... And because bookkeeping is my favorite subject, would you be surprised if I say I hope to become an accountant someday? I would run my own company after gaining enough experience working in other companies. I believe this is possible. I can make this happen.” We hope this will be a positive step on her path.

Thank you to the donors who made this project possible, including Joanna Waley-Cohen, Ramya Subramanian, Dan and Ellen Hart, Ed and Susan Brubaker, Erik Budlong, Emilie Jensen,  Kate Lamb, Max and Hilde Goldberg, Todd Learmonth, Josh Brownstein, Mary Jo Carter, Valerie Lamb, Allen DePalma, Lisa and David Loeb, Michael dePascale, Penny and Peter Branden, Ben Hart, Rita and Oliver Hart, and Ellen and Michel Plantevin!