Board Bio: Bethan Crisp

My name is Bethan Crisp. I am 21 years old and I am currently studying Anthropology at Brunel University in West London.

In the Amazon!

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to pursue my studies and career in Law. That was until I began planning some time out of studying in order to travel to Tanzania. Suddenly, my head was filled with adventure, spontaneity, getting ‘out there’ and experiencing the world, (as cliché as that may sound!)

I visited a few universities  and it was during one visit that the realization fell upon me that spending the next, however many years in a dull, brown bricked classroom, (which is how this one particular Law department looked!) was just not for the person I was becoming.

I changed my course and I could not be happier with my decision. I have been on an inspiring placement to Ecuador where I lived in an indigenous Quichua community in the Amazon for 6 months and the confidence it has given me is brilliant and extremely encouraging.  

Anyway, how did I get to Tanzania? I originally went to Tanzania through the organization “Oyster Worldwide” in September 2010 as part of my gap year between college and university. I taught English at a primary school to a class of 70 students for 6 months, until meeting some amazing volunteers in Nkoaranga, also there through Oyster, who took me on a visit to the Orphanage. I fell in love with the children and from that moment, I just knew it would be impossible for me to keep away.

Big Franky with Pray and Fillipo during music class

Such happy faces make working for The Small Things and being a volunteer at Nkoaranga so rewarding!

I was nervous at first to meet the children. Before Tanzania, I had never really been a ‘children person’ or very natural with babies. The children at Nkoaranga completely changed me. They were so welcoming and full of love that I had no time to be shy. They were just such brilliant characters and made an immediate impression and I suddenly felt like I had come to the place that I was destined to go to since arriving in Tanzania. Something had always been missing and until I met these children at Nkoaranga, I didn’t know what that missing thing was.

This year whilst I was back in Nkoaranga, I saw the arrival of baby Hope. It is a very bitter sweet situation to witness the arrival of a new resident of Nkoaranga Orphanage; to be able to hold and interact with such an amazing form of life but to have to wonder about the tragic circumstances that have brought him or her to us. It was fascinating looking at such a small bundle of 'Hope' in her blankets with her eyes closed and thinking about her future. It was very emotional for me as I stood in the baby room looking over at all of the small, sleeping little people. I can only be glad that they are in a safe place surrounded by love and people who will be there for them for years to come.

Baby Hope in her bundle of blankets, the first day I met her. 

I didn’t expect to become so involved and connected to the orphanage. I think that may have been due to every time in England if I was given a baby to hold, he or she would immediately cry their eyes out! Here, at Nkoaranga, a baby would stop crying and feel content if put into my arms. I felt needed. I felt infinitely responsible to care for them and ensure I could be a part of their lives and a part of giving them a future they deserve; a future that any child deserves.

This is why I now work for The Small Things. It gives me the opportunity to do just that – have the ability to contribute to the livelihoods of these beautiful individuals from England when I can’t physically be there with them. I was first in Tanzania for 10 months and I returned for the Christmas and New Year of 2011. This year, after 18 months, I made my third return and saw such a wonderful difference. Such big, gorgeous, healthy children! I had the opportunity to visit the older school children at USA River Academy who had been at the orphanage on my previous visits. How amazing to see them as such flourishing individuals, learning, happy, running around on the grass together and absorbing life.

Visiting the older children at USA River Academy this year. I first met them in 2011 in Nkoaranga Orphanage. It is so great to be able to see such wonderful, physical changes and pure proof of development.

Life at Nkoaranga Orphanage is tough, to say the least. The mamas and, not forgetting, big Franky, do outstanding work. I'm sure many parents would say that looking after one or two children is hard enough. But imagine two mamas a day with over 20 babies, toddlers and young children craving their attention, not enough toys to go around, or not enough of the same toys to prevent any arguments! Sounds challenging, right? 

Loveness taking care of Isaac. The older children can be so helpful when there aren't enough hands to feed a hungry mouth or to sooth a crying baby.

I grew very fond of big Ebenezer. It seems so ironic for him to now be named 'big' Ebenezer (now that we have another little Ebenezer in the orphanage too,) considering he was so tiny and so sick when I first held him back in 2011. I feared for his life. So to see him again this year was indescribable. He is such a funny boy who absolutely loves a cuddle and although he seems relatively sweet and innocent, he definitely has his cheeky moments! He certainly knows how to win your heart, even after you send him to bed and wait for an apology after he has misbehaved, he quickly makes it up to you with a kiss on the cheek!

A tiny, premature baby, Ebenezer,  who became so sick that it was touch and go as to whether he could pull through. 

....But he did! And he is such a fun, lovable, beautiful and, most importantly, healthy little boy today! 

I love a good challenge and what better motivation to complete one, than to do it for the kids? Upon return from Tanzania my first time, I conducted 'Project Maji' which raised over $1,000 for water filtration systems for the orphanage and hospital. 
Then, I went a step up and in December 2011, planned for myself and 4 other previous Nkoaranga volunteers to jump out of a plane and skydive! I still to this day have no idea how I managed that. I not only have a fear of planes, but also of heights! So if THAT wasn’t a challenge, I don’t know what is!
This April, I also took part and completed a sponsored half marathon in aid of The Small Things. I’m not a huge fan of running, especially a run that goes on for more than 2 hours! But I did it and I would do it all over again for the children.
I am of course now thinking and planning my next challenge; something bigger and better. Ideas are on the cards so you will have to keep a look out to see what I plan to get myself into next time!

Success of Project Maji! Stevie, Andrea and David drinking safe, clean water.

High up in the air! A terrifyingly amazing experience.

At the finish line! My first half marathon which I plan to do again next year and beat my time.

  

There are too many amazing memories of the children and Nkoaranga Orphanage for me to go into here. This is why I would tell you to go to Nkoaranga and experience it for yourself and to make your own memories!

 
I am very grateful to be a part of The Small Things because it allows me to play a part in the continuing development of the present and the future of these children. I am a member of the communications, fundraising and volunteers committees and I love being able to assist and help prepare new volunteers who are set to travel out to Tanzania. I am thankful to have met such devoted people and to work as part of a team where our strength grows immensely due to the support of all of you who take the time to read our blogs, keep updated on the children, provide feedback and donate to our projects.

Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement to The Small Things but also to the steps of my past that led me to where I am today. 

Happy Birthday Miriam, and Beginning to Spread the Light

Today is an exciting day for us at The Small Things, and also for our friends over at Cradle of Love orphanage, another orphanage in the area that cares for children up to two or three years old. Last April, you may remember we had a very stressed out delivery of a gorgeous little girl named Miriam. She had had a difficult go of it - her mother was and is seriously mentally ill and several other babies she had before Miriam had not survived. It was time for Miriam to leave Cradle, but there was nowhere for her to go - the aunt who had brought her in now had Miriam's mother living with her, and didn't think she could keep Miriam safe. So she came to us instead - and it's been a blessing. Today is her third birthday.

Her first few days were heartbreaking - she was so scared of everything and everyone, and basically didn't stop crying for days. The only times she calmed down were when a foreign volunteer held her - we now think this is because she had formed a close bond with a wonderful volunteer from Cradle named Kezia, and so she felt like we were safe territory. It was so hard to watch - from my house just below the orphanage, we could hear her crying day and night, and just didn't know how to help. 

Miriam and Kezia at Cradle of Love

Warming up at the birthday party

Luckily, she came at a good time - two days later was the day we held a birthday party for all the kids (since they don't usually get acknowledgement of their individual birthdays), so they all got cake and new toys - a nice welcome for a tiny scared girl! She began to brighten up and interact with the other kids. In time, she became very close with the other little girl almost exactly her age, Maureen kubwa. Since Maureeni is a little bit of a bossypants, they made a very cute and funny couple, Maureeni showing Miriam how things worked at Nkoaranga - both just barely two years old. 

Vicki and Miriam

This December and January she made another close friend, as Vicki Crisp (the older sister of our board member, Bethan) joined us to meet the kids. Poor Miriam had a case of malaria and needed some extra cuddles. By the time she was feeling better, she had attached to Vicki like a barnacle - and vice versa! - so they were inseparable for a few weeks. Miriam is quiet but sneaky - she gets under your skin and into your heart fast. 

Miriam is so big, beautiful, and confident now, and we are so honored to have her with us. She's just started preschool with us, and will be ready in two years for sponsorship and to start school with The Foundation For Tomorrow. We're so happy to have her as part of the Nkoaranga family.

Beautiful girl just last week!

In other news, Light Up the Night is progressing beautifully. We raised the first $2,200 we needed, and so the electrical rehabilitation of the orphanage has begun. Construction officially started this week on the 27th. The first priority is getting all outlets and switches repositioned out of the range of the kids. Then the underlying wiring will be examined inch by inch and replaced wherever necessary, and the entire system will be properly grounded to prevent shorts and surges that are dangerous and also seriously shorten the life of the all-important washing machines. It's a huge undertaking and we're thrilled that it has already begun. Thank you so much for your generous donations. We still need to raise another $3,800 for the solar panels in the orphanage, and another $3,500 to install solar panels in the maternity ward as well. Later this week I'll share a story that emphasizes how crucial that part of the project is. You can go to the page for more details, or click below to donate directly to "Light Up the Night." 

Thank you for being part of our journey!

Bittersweet milestones - three first birthdays

This is a happy and a sad week - it's been one year since three fantastic kids came into the world.

Vicky, November 26th

Filipo, November 28th

And today would have been Reziki's first birthday, November 29th. I can't do better than Amy's beautiful post about his short life, here. All I can say is that we love and miss you, and you are not forgotten.

As part of honoring his memory, we're doing everything we can to keep Peace, our newest little preemie, healthy and strong. As of this morning, he is 3.25 kilos - which means he's gained a half kilo in the last week, which is FANTASTIC news. We hope that our providing the funds to have one mama caring for him exclusively has helped, and we look forward to him being a happy, healthy member of the Nkoaranga family.

Facing up to our limitations

For all the ways that we try to make growing up in Nkoaranga orphanage wonderful for our kids, we can never fully compensate for the lack of a family. For the older kids, their relationships with each other are so beautiful that we can sometimes be forgiven for thinking they are just as well off. In many ways, they are. But there are serious, long term consequences of rationing their care - consequences we are facing now.

Little babes all in a row

When January of 2011 rolled around, we had seven babies under six months. Gracie was six months, Frankie and Maureen were four months, Filipo and Vicki were two months, and Ebenezer and Reziki were one month. We were down to just a few volunteers, since most of those who had been with us in the fall had left to spend the holidays in their home countries, and the next cohort hadn't yet arrived. Both Ebenezer and Reziki were profoundly premature and very sick, and despite the best efforts of all the volunteers and mamas, there were days on end where the babies didn't make it out of bed. Reziki came to take up more and more time and energy, as his physical state deteriorated, and he passed away at the end of the month.

Things improved slowly after that - as the babies got bigger and some of the toddlers, like Baracka and Maureen, became more independent and needed less help, we were able to get the babies up every day, outdoors every day. They began to eat formula and then food, to gurgle and sit. By the time my father, Dr. David Ross Russell, did physicals on all of the children in April, none of them were too far out of line for their age. Unfortunately, since then, several of the children have plateaued. Gorgeous Frankie and Maureen, who are both over a year, are yet to crawl, although they are making attempts with their arms. Their weights are normal and they seem to be otherwise healthy.

Frankie definitely
 isn't underweight!

Studies show that children in orphanages lag an average of one month of development behind for every three months they stay in the institution. When the children are spaced in age, and we have enough volunteers, we can often thwart that delay - with this cohort of children, we have failed. We don't know how long it will take them to catch up, or what it will take, or whether it is even possible. We hope that it is. We're already planning intensive intervention with the children during our December trip, and to train the volunteers arriving in January to continue that work. But who knows if it will be enough?

The truth is, any time that we don't fail, it is a matter of luck. There are twelve women covering the orphanage, twenty four hours per day, seven days per week. That means that there are between two and three caretakers at any given time for thirty children. The orphanage is desperate to hire more staff, but they cannot do it without help. Consider that those women need to complete, every single day, shopping for thirty children, preparing food from scratch for thirty children, boiling water to drink for thirty children, washing clothes for thirty children, changing and washing cloth diapers for at least ten children, and running school for all the rest. When the water is out, or a child is sick, a mama will be unavailable for anything else until the problem is resolved. The mamas are heroic - but they are human. The children are resilient - but not invulnerable.

They need more time than we have been able to give them. That's why I want to talk about one very specific and direct form of donation. It costs $100 USD, or about £65 GBP, to employ a caretaker for a month. Not all of us can commit to that full amount - but what about half of it? What about a quarter of it? If we can get the financial backing from you, we will hire new staff and have them working with these children SOON. Think about the upcoming holidays - is there anyone on your list who would feel good about giving a chance at normal development to an orphaned child? Who would rather know that a woman in the developing world has a job, and a group of orphaned children have a caretaker, than have another piece of electronic equipment or jewelry?

This isn't just a fuzzy, feel-good approach to combating the problem - numerous studies have shown that even severely neglected children, which these children are NOT, can recover to an amazing degree once they are given the proper attention, exercise, and encouragement. Look at Zawadi, who was not only unable to crawl at a year old, but had severe worms and rickets - and now she's walking up a storm. Simoni, who couldn't walk at two and a half years old, only scoot, because no one had had the time to work with him to overcome his rickets. And now he's running all over the place. Our babies can recover, and given a chance, they WILL recover. Our job is to give them that chance, and to give the orphanage the resources so that we don't face this problem with each cohort of children.

After that, it's out of our hands.

Hire Orphanage Staff

Full Sponsorship : $100.00USD - monthlyHalf Sponsorship : $50.00USD - monthlyQuarter Sponsorship : $25.00USD - monthly

This is in honor of:

References: 1, 2, 3, 4

Goodbye Baby Daniel

Today we say goodbye to another Nkoaranga baby, but for a happier reason - baby Daniel is being adopted! A missionary family who already has two adopted African daughters has taken Daniel home with them. While it can take some time for the adoption process to go through, Daniel will live with his new parents and sisters until that happens.

Gorgeous baby Daniel

Growing, laughing, playing! 

Earlier this year, little Joyce (now Soana Joyce) was also adopted by a wonderful family, making it a great year for the Nkoaranga orphanage kids. She's gotten so big and beautiful in the meantime!

Not such a little shrimp anymore!

In both cases, the youngest child in the orphanage was the one chosen. This is the general pattern, and it is understandable from the adoptive parents' point of view - they want to raise their children from as close to birth as possible. However, I can't say it doesn't hurt a little, knowing for our older kids that each day lessens their chances of having an adoptive family. Below are Vicki and Filipo, who came in as newborns during my first month. Look how big they're getting!

Baby Vicki

Baby Filipo

We are thrilled for Daniel and wish him all the best in his new home. Meanwhile, we will work to keep all the rest of our babies healthy and happy. It will never be quite the same as having parents - but it's important to make the Nkoaranga family the next best thing.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I was dreading the arrival of this day, and now it has finally happened - I looked at a photo of one of the babies and literally didn't recognize them, they had gotten so big.

Vicki now

Vicki on day one

Filipo (left) and Ebenezer now

Ebenezer on day one

Filipo on day one

I honestly thought the first picture was of Maureen, not Vicki, or a new baby altogether - she has changed that much! I guess babies do that, but it doesn't FEEL like I've been gone at all. Meanwhile, seeing Ebenezer doing so well is a huge relief after his nasty health scare in April - malaria, pneumonia, and meningitis, poor little scrap! In the meantime, some changes have taken place for the better...

Pendo smiling and happily adjusted to life at Nkoaranga

And some never change.

Pray peeing in his pants. Of course. 

Good news, not so good news, very good news, the mountain.

Today was a full day at the orphanage - and yes, I know I haven't posted about the Safari yet, I will soon, I promise! - but with some very exciting results. First of all, and most thrillingly,

ZAWADI'S HIV TEST CAME BACK NEGATIVE!!!

Happy HIV negative babies!

This means that I have to take an unnatural interest in her poop to determine whether she has worms, but it's obviously very, very good news. Also fairly good news is that Emmanuel was deemed too young to start school this January, which means that all of the kids who are ready for school are sponsored and set to go - specifically, the twins Asimwe and Nisima, and Farajah.

Farajah looking serious, me, um, not looking serious.

So that's very good.

As for the not so good news, we have two new babies, who are five and seven days old today. That in and of itself is always heartbreaking. In addition, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful Mama Margaret, who is retiring - well deservedly! but we will miss her desperately. On top of all that, Mama Pendo, who is the heart and soul and brain of the place, is gone for a month for vacation, which is, again, extremely well deserved but will leave us a little helpless in her absence.

Vicki

Philipo

No idea what we'll do without her!

But. All that said, today was a very exciting day, because we got to go ahead to move forward with some very important projects for the orphanage. Right now, the water situation for the orphanage and the hospital it is next to is precarious at best. Water comes from capricious springs in the mountains, and they are so high up that tapping into any other source is impractical. As a result, during the dry season especially, both the hospital and the orphanage are frequently without water, sometimes for days on end. That means choosing between giving the kids water to drink or bathing them. It means no water to cook food, so they ration what they have. It means more bugs, skin infections, and degeneration of the facility they would need to go to in case things get bad. Even when we have water, the kids frequently don't get anything to drink because it takes so long and so much gas to boil and sanitize it. Food is similarly precarious, as so much depends on the cash flow that particular month.

How can you not want to help those little faces?

Enter our projects - my housemate Peter is converting an old toolshed into a chicken coop and planting a circle of banana and plaintain trees, which will be fed by the food waste that is currently being burned. Meanwhile, Guilia and I are co-funding the drilling of a well to supply water first to the orphanage, and then to the hospital. It would be preferable to have two wells, but each well costs almost $3000 US, and that is beyond our current budget. HOWEVER, if more of you lovely people jump on the bandwagon (already populated by many wonderful, wonderful family and friends, thank you!) we might be able to fund two. In addition to the big projects, there are a few other things I'm hoping to fund while I'm here. Thus, the mountain. In no particular order:

-My incredible American grandparents have commited to help me send Rehema, one of my students, a brilliant twenty-two year old with excellent secondary school grades and a perfect record at Tamiha, to go on to college to study computers and information technology. She actually cried the day I told her, we are currently working on finding the right school and preparing applications. She immediately said that she wanted to sponsor someone else in her position when the time comes, and I know she will.

-A small library of kids books, as right now there are literally a grand total of three in the orphanage, and they're decimated. It will have to be kept under lock and key, but it's still a huge improvement from the current situation.

-A ceiling fan to keep the flies off the babies. I know that sounds unpleasant, but the truth is that the tiny babies spend a lot of time on mattresses on the ground, of necessity, and the toddlers have actually begun copying our waving motions to shoo away the flies.


-Replacing the slide of death with something that won't, you know, knock out the front teeth of five or six kids a year (no joke.)

This thing is terrifying.

-Beginning sponsorship for next year's group of kids - at least three of whom are unsponsored at this point. I'm hoping maybe two or three people would be able to come forward and pledge a half, or a third, of the $900 tuition - which covers more than just school, take a look at the website of the organization that facilitates the placements. I'll write more about the specific kids soon.

-And because I'm a sucker, and as much as I should be objective, I'm simply not capable, and because even if she's HIV negative she's still tiny and vulnerable and sick all the time, I want to make sure that Zawadi is ok. I don't know exactly how that will look, but I need to know that I'm doing everything possible to keep her safe and healthy. And if you don't understand why, check out the two videos below from today.

And yet again, if that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will. Happy babies, happy day!