May 21, 2026

We are a baby home, so people often ask, “Why do you have moms living on campus?” At Neema Village, every baby has a tragic story, but our hearts have always been to keep mothers and babies together whenever possible.

How MAP began: On July 25, 2014, a baby was left on the streets of Arusha. The police were called, who then contacted Michael from Neema Village to come pick up the baby. By the time Michael arrived, neighbors had identified the mother. She was standing there crying as police took her into custody.

The young mother had been living on the streets, yet she had cared for her baby well. Little Shabani was chubby, smiley, and overall in good health. As Michael and a Neema volunteer carried the baby to the car, it became clear that this young mother did not belong in jail — she needed help, support, and hope.

That heartbreaking day planted a dream in our hearts: to build a mothering center where vulnerable women could find safety, guidance, and a chance to raise their babies. From that dream, the MAP Program (Mothers Against Poverty) was born.

The dream blossomed BIG when a Beautiful Mothering Center was built by Ken and Joan Presler in 2020. Today the Preslar Center stands as a refuge for abandoned and abused women and is known throughout the city by officials and medical staff as a place that helps mothers.

Today many women come and go daily through the Mothering center gates attending classes, counseling sessions, sewing and learning about a God who never lost sight of them.

Like Sarah above who at age 12 was left alone and destitute. She could no longer go to school and finally found a job in town as a house girl. Later she married a truck driver and had children with him but on one of his long trips he just never returned. Sarah was alone again. She struggled to keep food on the table and her kids in school.

Earlier this year, Sarah reached a breaking point. She had nowhere to stay and no way to feed her children. In the middle of this struggle, Sarah remembered a moment that gave her a small light of hope. One day at the market, while searching for work, she met a preacher sharing the Word of God. She asked him to pray for her and shared her situation.

After praying with her, he explained and directed her to Neema Village.

Today women like Sarah above come and study to learn ways to support themselves. With God’s help Neema gives them Hope and a future.

When we visited Christina, she was living in a small, dark mud house, with a 4×6 bed and a half mattress that had been given to her, she had no food, and no cooking stove. Her husband had abandoned her taking everything she owned. Today, Christina is enrolled in our MAP Program. Neema Village is covering her hospital bills to ensure a safe delivery of her baby. We are also helping her find a better house and providing the basic household items she will need to restart her life with dignity.

Christina is not attending classes at the moment due to her pregnancy, but after childbirth, she will begin sewing classes, counseling, and Bible study at Neema Village.

Married to a man who practiced witchcraft what would you do?

Read Suzana’s complete story on Neema Village’s web site under “Ministries” and see the strength of these lion hearted women of Africa who struggle to protect and provide for their children.

Suzana’s story involves abuse that would put her in the hospital for a month, abandonment and even the murder of her son which would send her husband to prison. And yet these women struggle on working in such poor conditions you wonder how they can survive.

Many of these women have such horendous life stories that we cannot even print them. But thank God people are praying and lives are being changed.

At thirty four years old, Rehema’s life changed forever when she suddenly became a widow, left behind with three young children and three months pregnant with her fourth baby. Her journey into widowhood and deep hardship began on June 8th, 2023, when her husband tragically lost his life in a car accident. Deserted by her husband’s family, Rehema began working in homes and fields for other people to get some money to buy food, pay rent and put her children in school.

Yet despite all the hardship, Rehema never abandoned her children.

She remains one of the strongest and most resilient of mothers — choosing every day to hold her family together even in the middle of overwhelming pain and uncertainty.

Through the support of Neema Village, Rehema’s six months of rent debt will be fully paid along with several upcoming months of rent. She will receive monthly food support for one full year to help stabilize her family.

In addition, Rehema will begin tailoring training to equip her with practical skills for a sustainable income. She will also participate in group therapy sessions, Bible studies, women’s rights education, and entrepreneurship training to help prepare her for opening a small business in the future.

Six lovely furnished apartments were built for homeless, abused mothers by the widow of Jeff May when she visited Neema Village one day. It is called The Rehema House, Rehema means Mercy which all of us need. Later a friend with the Aggies at A & M added four more rooms and the ten rooms are now set up to hold two mothers and their children. The rooms are usually full. Since the moms are in class all day, Neema hires a cook to have nutritious meals cooked for them every day and along with the daily classes Neema sponsors big events when all the women who have been through the program come in for exciting entrepreneuship day trainings, banquets of encouragement and devotional talks by volunteer speakers.

We love to see how the moms bond together and support each other through this time of training at Neema Village. Every mom learns she is not alone, that God has never left her and that God’s people care about each one of them.

These mamas are going to make it and most importantly, they will know that they CAN. We can’t wait to share “the rest of the story”.

Above, Shabani in our first story is a big school boy now and has a grand mother in his life. She lives 4 hours out in the wild country where the elephants come through and eat her corn. Shabani who has become a Christian now had his name changed to Jackson, a Christian name. He lives in Arusha with one of our Neema Nannies who has become his foster mom. He makes good grades and his life is full of hope and promise but right now he is just hoping for a big bike someday.

We love you all so much!

www.neemavillage.org

May 13, 2026

“What a remarkable thing to spend Mother’s day with Motherless children,” writes Tonya Wilson.

“Last week, I flew into Kilimanjaro Airport with my daughter Basden for her month-long adventure at Neema Village in Arusha, Tanzania. Neema, which means “grace” in Swahili, began as a rescue center for orphaned, abandoned, and at-risk babies. And yet over the years it’s become so much more. Neema offers housing for single mothers and their children fighting poverty, ongoing training for childbirth and childcare, a youth and adult soccer outreach league, and apprenticeship programs for young men and women. And this still barely scratches the surface. In caring for orphaned and abandoned babies, Neema Village has grown to care for an entire community.

One of the things that has most surprised me about Neema Village is the palpable culture of joy and hope. Every baby here has a story: Born blind and left to die in a field; cast out as “cursed” when born with a deformity; natural quadruplets thought to be just one baby, whose births completely overwhelmed their struggling mother and father. Just yesterday, two day-old babies arrived at Neema – a baby girl whose mother died suddenly during childbirth, and a baby boy whose mom left the hospital and entered sober house. One was likely born with HIV, the other with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Long roads ahead for these two precious ones.

And yet.

The stories are shared with hope. With reality and with lightness. No matter the circumstances, everyone here is excited about a baby. Neema’s Tanzanian nannies are constantly singing and smiling. Throughout the manicured complex, children are playing, sleeping, laughing, and crying. All the time and all at once. The babies – all 80 of them – are the VIPs in Neema’s landscape.

During this morning’s Mother’s Day church service, Basden and I cradled infant orphans. ”

Baby Joanna is one of Neema’s new babies this month. Abandoned at the hospital she is named for the Fortson’s daughter in law, Joanna Craig Fortson who walks with the angels now.

“Meanwhile, a group of children we’ve quickly grown to love, each with significant disabilities, played and danced at our feet. Humming along with the children’s choir, and then a Masai women’s tribal choir, and then listening to a sermon in Swahili over a passage from Luke, my thoughts drifted to the women who sacrificed their lives for these babies. So many of these little ones lost their mothers during the very moments they were born, like baby Mason below.

Others are trusting Neema with their babies until they can better care for them.

Motherhood. Beauty and joy, and always sacrifice.

Reminds me of Someone else I know.

Happy, happy Mother’s Day to all of you lovely mothers ~ may our hearts be filled with the One who willingly, intentionally, gave HIS life for us. ”

Thank you Tanya for a beautiful blog.

This could be you! Shane and Amy Miller from Houston, Texas in the newborn room at Neema Village having a blast.

Neema Village now has 82 babies, the most we have ever had! We could use some help! Come hold the babies or send someone from your group to help, or just send a donation. We’re not picky we will take anything, but especially remember those serving and volunteering in the mission field with lots and lots of prayer. God is Still Good!

To donate go to www.neemavillage.org and click on the donate button.

Quick Update on Michael, we are “Holding Steady”, doing all we can while we wait for that miracle or for a cure to be found. There is good news coming soon for pancreatic cancer. Keep Praying!!

Love you all so much!

Kim, Kelle, Michael and Dorris

April 25, 2026

It Takes a Village

Ever wondered what it takes to keep a busy baby home in Africa running day in and day out? We’d love for you to meet our amazing staff at Neema Village and step into a behind-the-scenes look at life on campus.

(Grab a big cup of coffee—this is a longer one—but stick with us… it’s worth it!)

Visitors are always struck by the beauty and peace of Neema and it takes a lot of help to keep it that way. Yes, with 70 babies give or take each month, it is peaceful! I have heard visitors say as they look out over the campus, “I feel like I am in heaven!”

Meet our Director of Human Resources, Angel Macha. Angel keeps our 104 staff members working, hiring and firing, getting the sick days covered and listening to the concerns of our busy Tanzanian staff. If you didn’t know, Tanzanians are the only ones paid at Neema Village.

Our largest group of staff is of course our wonderful nannies. They are the mamas to the babies changing diapers, bathing, feeding their bottles, checking for sickness or problems with each baby.

With three shifts of nannies for 24 hour care of the babies, the nannies also do a lot of loving, hugging, kissing and rocking. When adoptive parents cannot be found for a baby, our nannies will often step up to foster the babies who have no home.

They sing, dance and do most anything to entertain the babies in their care.

Everest is our head farmer, with six helpers he manages our large vegetable garden. We were buying 20 or more watermelons a week, so growing our own watermelons is a big money saver for us. Everest has a degree in farming and we hired him fresh out of college.

He is always willing to try anything, even asparagus! We tell him if we buy it in the market then he should be growing it.

Healthy food makes healthy babies and staff.

Did you know there are over 1,000 varieties of bananas. We grow a number of different kinds at Neema including cooking bananas, little sugar bananas and these sweet red bananas. Babies love bananas.

Feeding the 5,000!

Some days I’m sure it feels that way to Ephram our head cook at Neema Village. We feed between two to three hundred meals every day. On Sundays we feed 5,000!!

Its bananas in the large pot in case you didn’t get it.

Neema hosts lots of special events, conferences, AA meetings, women’s groups and feeding Sunday church groups often with over 300 attending. It takes a lot of food to feed everyone and Gertrude is the best!

With close to 300 volunteers a year coming to hold babies it takes two full time cooks to keep them fed in the Pape Volunteer house. From African curry to morning biscuits that melt in your mouth, Ritha and Nuru are our famous cooks for the volunteers. Many people have asked them to write a cook book.

Keeping Neema beautiful is not only for beauty, but because we are on the side of a mountain. We have long retaining walls and grass and hedges that help keep the top soil from washing down the hill in the monsoon rains. With two helpers, Wilfred is our head gardener, planting colorful flowers, fruit trees and keeping the grass alive.

He also takes care of our 20+ orange trees, 150 coffee plants, and lots of fruit trees like mangoes, papaya, and tangerines. The Passion Fruit juice at the breakfast table is fabulous.

Just a few months ago, this little apple tree was just a few, dried twigs and we thought we would have cut it down. Now look at those apples!

Mama Heavenlight helps with the gardens. She spends most of her work day bending over so this is a rare glimpse of her face.

Ema is our contractor and takes care of the buildings on campus. Whither we are building a new building or painting the old ones that get weathered in the hot African sun Ema keeps Neema’s buildings looking beautiful

In the maintenance shop on campus Baraka keeps our 17 cars, trucks, vans, bus and occasional bycicle running when they break down on our rocky dusty roads. He also manages our large welding shop.

Helping men find jobs has become a big concern for us. African men who don’t have jobs lose their self respect and often leave their families. For a few years we have had an apprentisship program at Neema teaching one man at a time how to weld.
When they finish the program we buy them a welding machine, a helmet, gloves and rods.

Gadi is Baraka’s right hand man and helps with the apprentiship training.

A whole lotta moppin going on!

A baby home is messy in case you didn’t know! Between spilled milk, poopy on the floor, spit ups and baby food throwers it takes a lot to keep Neema’s floors clean enough for the babies to crawl around on.

Dr. Anold is our vet caring for our 15 big Holstein milkers, the new baby calves, the 150 laying hens, a pig named Kevin Bacon and150 broiler chicks which we slaughter every 6 weeks for meat. He designed and built a small aquaponics room with shelves and large pans of water for growing healthy greens for the cows and chickens. He takes care of our biogas system using cow pooh for cooking.

Dr Anold has a phenomenal voice and when he leads singing at church can sing Aretha Franklin under the table!

Milking starts at 6:30 every morning and goes again at 6:30 in the evening. Our original Holstein cows were shipped in from Norway and then trucked in to Arusha. They give so much milk at times we are able to share milk with the orphange down the road. We also have one jersey cow who gives milk with lots of butter fat and we make our own butter.

We love to tell folks the cows are just big babies, they came with cow mattresses and we grind their food so they don’t have to work so hard to chew! Scratch their ears and they will follow you all around the yard!

Trying to cut down on our meals served with expensive beef, Kim decided growing our own tilapia would be cheaper. Most Tanzanian do not eat a lot of beef in their homes so we think our staff will really enjoy the fish.

Anywhere from 80 to 120 eggs a day is enough to feed our large staff, volunteers and the big babies.

Talk about Job Security! With 70+ babies in the house this job never ends, day or night, our washer ladies are washing, drying and folding baby clothes, diapers, sheets, blankets, towels, etc. You can hear Mama Beni singing about her love for Jesus as she folds clothes most any time of the day.

Soccer has become a big part of Neema’s outreach program. We bring young people to Christ almost every week through this crazy soccer progrm. Plus our soccer games are just fun to watch. High energy Kelele, Maria’s nephew, is our head coach. We have games almost every day and managing the field, equipment, scheduling matches and some tutoring has become a full time job for Kelele.

Our Senior staff keeps Neema running smoothly every day. Priscilla has been our Office Manager since we were in the rent house downtown. She keeps totals on what we are spending in each area; baby care, MAP programs, building, water well drilling etc., and makes sure the money has receipts for every purchase.

Mama Musa, our very first employee, is now our government liason. She keeps us up to date on the ever changing government requirements and laws. She meets with government officials on Neema’s behalf. She attends meetings and also personally knows most of the commissioners and officials in town which is a big help when we need advise or help.

Our fun-loving purchaser, Cliff, goes to town almost daily getting good deals on products like diapers, soaps and medicines that we need to keep Neema running. Prices seem to double when we wazungu try to buy things. Ashley and Cliff fell in love while teaching bible classes to our large groups of kids and late night pick ups of volunteers from the airport. Ashley keeps him in line or is that visa versa?

Our water well crew does an important job for Neema, bringing water out to dry and dusty Maasai villages. A water well changes the life of the village, the mothers, the babies as well as the food they eat. When we bring them water to drink then we are invited to tell them about the Water of Life.

Ester is Maasai and she is just what we need to run our large Save The Mothers midwifery program. She knows the Maasai villages and keeps twelve different traditional birthers coming every month to Neema for a week of safe birthing training. She keeps lists of the women who have gone through the programs and once a month goes out to the villages to check on them.

Dr. Teddy was an eight year veteran pediatrician and our favorite doctor at a large local hospital when we hired her to come work at Neema. Kim compared what we were spending taking babies back and forth to the hospital almost daily, keeping preemies in NICU units for weeks on end and she realized we would actually save money by hiring our own doctor.

So we hired two! Dr. Sarun is Maasai and we treat a lot of Maasai mothers and babies who speak only Maasai. Dr. Sarun checks each MAP mom and her baby and you can see him as he walks around the campus to the different buildings, checking on the sick. He goes out on medical mission trips with Preacher Paul and is a good Bible scholar translating scripture and occasionally preaching himself. Ester is our nurse in training and we are sending her to nursing school.

Napendaela is Neema’s director of the Rehabilitation Day Care for special needs babies on campus. She loves each baby and tracks their progress each month. The day care starts out with Napy’s bible class every week morning. There are 7 to 8 women who help with the daily training, helping each baby to learn to walk and talk and reach their greatest potential. Napendaela’s beautiful name means “I Love God!”

Grace Maasa directs our large women’s programs including MAP, (Mothers Against Poverty). She teaches Bible classes and conducts the group therapy meetings for women who have been abused and thrown out. She organizes all the conferences that meet in the Preslar Mothering Center. Grace has a university degree in Bible as well as a Social Work degree. Well respected by everyone, Grace is just what we need for this huge and important work at Neema Village. Almost 200 women have gone through the life changing MAP program.

Pastor Paul serves as the minister at Neema Village, faithfully pouring into both our staff and the surrounding community. His days are spent preparing sermons, counseling, and visiting those who are hurting or in need. He also finds time to play a little soccer each week.

Paul coordinates our Men’s Conferences and leads Bible studies using the “Jesus Films,” which he takes out to Maasailand several times each month. Over the past two years, evangelism efforts have grown significantly, keeping him very busy as more people come to hear the Gospel.

As the number of new believers continues to increase, we are praying for just the right person to come alongside Pastor Paul—someone who can help disciple those who have made the decision to follow Christ and have been baptized.

Keeping volunteers going in the right direction is a huge job. Vivacious, bouncy and huggy Caroline who was our music teacher has now moved to Volunteer Coordinator. We have nearly 300 volunteers each year. Making sure we don’t forget one at the airport and making sure they get to see everything they want to see on their once in a lifetime safari to Neema Village is just a part of the huge job of taking care of our volunteers.

Heavenlight joined Neema Village in 2022. Born into a Muslim family, she began searching for something more at the age of 16—and she found Jesus. Though she was not supported by much of her family, she made the courageous decision to follow Him. Today, Heavenlight boldly shares who God is and what He has done in her life.

She began her work at Neema Village as the Volunteer Coordinator—the first Tanzanian to hold this position—and she did an incredible job. Heavenlight is now pursuing a degree in counseling while serving as the assistant to the MAP Director, where she counsels our young mamas and helps guide them toward a hopeful future.

When Max came to Neema Village, Heavenlight instantly fell in love with him and stepped into the role of his mama. She has since adopted him—and what a blessed little boy he is.

Help! I’m scared to end this blog in case I have left out someone! And we definetly would not want to forget our guards who keep the babies, the property, the staff, volunteers and everyone safe.
All our workers are important and hopefully they know how much we love and appreciate them.

But without YOU, our supporters, we would have no staff or babies or cars to repair or food to cook or floors to mop! You are the glue that holds us together. We know that God is empowering you to be good stewards. Thank You to everyone who keeps this incredible mission working, saving babies and women in Tanzania.

Kelle, Kim and Dorris

www.neemavillage.org

Ever had someone ask if you were real, like you might be a robot or pink elephant or something? The ironic thing is that the person who asks the question is actually the robot.

I saw a post of a phython swallowing an elephant once. You just can’t trust anything you see to be real any more can you!!

There are funny arguements that go on occasionally between commenters on Neema Village’s Facebook page. “This baby is not real, it is fake,” said the first person. “No, it looks real to me”, said another. “It’s not, it’s fake, look at the eyes.” “No, I think it is real, see it has dried milk on its mouth.” “No, it’s fake, they made it up.” But when someone says, “It’s real, I’ve been there.” That pretty well clinches the argument, doesn’t it. It’s real because I’ve been there, I’ve seen it!”

That is what Dr. Pam Greene, OBGYN from Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas would tell you. A three time volunteer to Neema Village, Dr. Pam loves going out to the Maasai villages to work with the traditional birthing attendants in Neema’s Save The Mothers program. She also loves sitting on the Pape Volunteer house front porch with Maria and Abdulradzaki. To date, January 1 to April 1, 2026, we have had 120 volunteers who can tell you Neema Village is real!

Neema Director Kim sends news, “This is a hard story to write. The people who found the baby deep in the forest, laying by a stream, named her Rose. They don’t know how long she had been there but her thin little arms and legs were covered by scratches and bug bites. Someone cared for her once because her ears are pierced. Perhaps her mother felt she couldn’t care for her baby because, what I haven’t told is you is, our little Rose is blind and possibly deaf. Its hard to image what she thought as she lay there day and night, alone. She is old enough to know the person who cared for her is gone. But Rose is safe now. Dressed in warm clothes, with a healthy breakfast in her belly, she attended her first session at the Neema Village rehab center today.”

Yes, it is hard to write and hard to read, but imagine how hard it was for Rose to live through. We will need your help to raise this baby. Chances that she will be adopted are slim to none. They believe babies like this are cursed, noone wants them. We believe they are a blessing and we rejoice at the opportunity to love this little one. You can help us by setting up a sponsorship for baby Rose. Sponsorships start at $30 a month. It cost $300. a month to fully sponsor a baby at Neema. Go to www.neemavillage.org and click on the donate button.

You will be blessed.

River Crossing Story

It was a busy day at Neema Village. Late in the afternoon, Tuesday March 10, 2026, another baby arrived, bringing us to 71 babies in the house. Baby girl Bahati comes from Longido. Her mother was pregnant with twins and began having serious complications during delivery. They attempted to take her to the clinic, but the rains have been so heavy that the river was flooded and the car could not cross. Because they could not reach the clinic in time, Bahati’s mother passed away, and her twin brother did not survive. Social Welfare was able to rescue Bahati and brought her safely to Neema Village. She weighs 2.7 kg (5.9 lbs) and appears to be healthy. We do not yet know what the future holds for this beautiful baby girl, but we do know that God will be walking with her every step of the way.

PRAYERS NEEDED for new baby JESCA.

It was a long and dangerous trip from the Ngorangora Crater to Neema Village for one month old Jesca. Her mother had died of sudden heart failure leaving behind 5 children. Within a few minutes of arriving at Neema our staff knew something was wrong. The baby wasn’t breathing properly. Quickly she was given oxygen with the portable oxygen tank and taken to the big hpspital down town.

Watch Neema Facebook to keep updated about baby Jesca’s condition. Neema will keep Jesca until her father remarries or family can be found to take her home. She will need a sponsor. You guys know how expensive babies are, Africa is no different, formula is about $19. USD a can.

The Quads

This poor mama must have thought she was having a really big baby! After going to the government hospital and having a c-section she was presented with 4 baby boys each weighing about 3 pounds. Mama couldn’t produce enough milk to feed 4 premature babies so the hospital called Neema Village. After a good check up with Dr Teddy she said 3 of the babies were healthy but very small. The smallest baby will need extra care in the Neema Village NICU. Mom is anemic and needs help, too.

So the decision was made to put everyone, the mama, all 4 babies and even grandma in the MAP emergency apartments. Tonight everyone is sleeping soundly with full bellies.

Connie MacCormack and her group from Edmond, Oklahoma got to hold the quad babies. The babies are our second set of quads.

March 21 saw over 300 men come to Neema for a Men’s Conference. They said you could hear a pin drop as Pastor Dave Roberts spoke about “It’s Not Fair” from the story of the pouting Jonah. Men like these two young men above were repenting and dedicating their lives to Jesus, over one hundred of them! As Jonah complained that it wasn’t fair, we are reminded what God says, “My son didn’t get Fair.”

In the fifteen years that we have been taking in babies at Neema Village, I am reminded today of how hard some of the baby’s stories are to read. We do not like to hear this kind of story. We like happy! But as Kim says, “Mom we can’t make this kind of stuff up.” The babies are real, their stories are real and not glossed over. What we do at Neema Village is real and if you want to be part of something lasting and life changing please help us by sponsoring one of the new babies.

The Million Dollar Plus fund for Neema Village in Michael’s honor is growing and I think close to $150,000 now. Please let me say a huge THANK YOU to those of you who have already given.

Love you all so much!

Michael and Dorris

Checks should be sent to:

Neema Village.
P.O. Box 21553
Waco, Texas 76702

www.neemavillage.org

February 18, 2026

A Real Hero is hard to find nowadays!

I think we found one!!

As founder of Neema Village, after retirement, and at the ripe old age of 69, Michael followed God’s call back to Africa to care for the most vulnerable – abandoned babies, struggling mothers, and families in crisis into one of the poorest countries on earth.

In 14 years, more than 500 babies have been saved, many babies have been adopted, or reunified into a stable family, and many others are in school today thru Neema Village and 68 little ones are waking up for their bottles this morning at Neema Village. 179 women have been launched into small businesses, and over 700 Maasai grandmothers have been trained to help save lives in childbirth. Amazing!

Michael deeply loves Africa and it’s people and he lives out the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40 “Whatever you did for one of the least of these… you have done for Me.” He believes every child is fearfully and wonderfully made. He believes no mother is beyond hope. His life is a testimony to quiet obedience, deep compassion, and unwavering trust in God. Michael doesn’t just talk about faith; he lives it in action every day.

Other programs such as drilling water wells as a free gift of precious water to Maasai villages, a top-rated Rehabilitation Center for handicap babies, an exciting soccer program keeping young people off the streets, and a preventative program called GIFT encouraging young girls to stay in school and forgo early marriage are all Neema Village programs that have evolved over the last 14 years. And they aren’t finished dreaming.  A medical clinic and a men’s trade school are both on the horizon.

And he has done it all as a volunteer, has never taken a salary — simply and quietly loving and serving like Jesus while giving God all the glory.

Neema Village: Honoring Michael Fortson

GoFundMe: Neema Village: Honoring Michael Fortson

As many of you know, Michael has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. It is beyond hard for Dorris and the family. We know if God does not step in we will lose him. Many of you have asked how to help. Pray!! Pray for a pain free day! Pray for a Miracle, we are!

One other meaningful way is to ensure the ministry he gave his life to will continue.

From The Neema Village Board of Directors:

1. To let Michael know that Neema Village will continue saving babies for years to come we will raise A Million Plus for Neema’s Legacy Fund. Before it is too late, we want him to know that you have given in his honor and Neema Village will continue rescuing babies and moms. Remember Neema Village is a 501(c)3 so gifts are tax deductible. EIN #46-2762501
2. And Pass it on! Call every one you know, call those you don’t know! Nothing is too small but big would be greatly appreciated, too!
3. Some of you have told us you want to leave your house, or car someday to Neema Village. Let us know of your intentions so we can count that in as part of the Legacy gift. We can refer you to our Neema Village financial advisor to help you set that gift up for the future. Call Michael Robinson at Edward Jones 254 751 0288
4. Commit to give and let us know so we can count you in!  email Kelle at jksamsill@gmail.com if you have questions
5. Click on the link below and Help us raise A Million Plus for A Real Hero!

GoFundMe: Neema Village: Honoring Michael Fortson

Michael continues to run his race faithfully. Be Praying for him and for healing and for pain free days. He is a true hero. Now we carry the torch forward — for him, and for the Faithful God he served.

To learn more about Neema Village, visit neemavillage.org.

January 13, 2026

God is doing amazing things at Neema Village!

In 2025 we had 37 new babies come to Neema Village. Thirty babies were reunified with a family member and eight babies were adopted this year. Just thought you might like to know.

Dr. Teddy gave our first baby of the year a good check up and pronounced her perfect.

She was our favorite pediatrician at the hospital for many years. Now she works at Neema village and we keep her busy with a full house of babies every month. The babies all had a bug this month so it has been a bit rough around Neema Village.

Baby Camilla’s adoption day! Neema Village averaged 67 babies in house each month in 2025. Since we are not an orphanage we try to get the babies adopted or back into a family home as soon as possible. Do you have any idea how many dirty diapers 67 babies can make in a day?

Our first baby of the year, little Bettyann’s mom died of Eclampsia and we have now added Eclampsia to our teaching schedule for the Save The Mothers program at Neema Village every month. Dr. Sarun teaches that class along with midwife Wema. Since these TBAs (traditional birthing attendants) grandmothers do not read or write they get to do a lot of role playing to learn how to help the expectant mothers in their villages.

Each Bibi takes turns learning lessons like baby CPR.

When they learn that they can actually save a new born baby when he is not crying they get pretty excited. Below is our last graduating class for December 2025.

SAVE THE MOTHER’S (STM) ANNUAL REPORT from 2025

144 TBA’s were trained in the weeklong midwifery classes.

8 remote villages were visited for follow-up and evaluation of TBA’s deliveries as well helping their communities with deliveries of food.

STM opened 4 small businesses for older women from these villages who were found to be in extreme poverty.

12 Classes was taught on how to make liquid soap for a potential business

Many of the women from each class agreed to give up FGM.

6 TBA’s who were diagnosed with serious medical conditions

Required surgical interventions and were helped by Neema Village.

STM helped reduce maternal and neonatal deaths in the Maasai communities from preventable causes such as retained placenta, shoulder dystosia, poor nutrition, results of FGM and Eclampsia.

STM has now trained 724 TBA’s since the beginning of the program 5 years ago, from two Regions and Districts separately; LONGIDO (ARUSHA REGION) and SIMANJIRO (MANYARA REGION)

One of our new graduates, Magreth, from the MAP program had started her business, a small food shop, when all her goods were stolen from her shop. Neema helped by restocking her store so a much smarter Magreth is now back in business. Some A & M students helped reload her store.

MAP, Mothers Against Poverty, has continued to transform lives like Charity, leading singing at Women’s Rights above, restoring hope and dignity to mothers in crisis. Many mamas successfully launched or expanded businesses, grew in confidence, and became able to provide for their children independently. The supportive environment at the MAP Apartments with nightly bible classes contributed to emotional healing and growth.

MAP Totals

In 2025 twelve new businesses were begun, other older businesses were boosted adding things such as mannequins, enlarged stock, Mpesa banking, renting larger stores and entrepreneurship classes.

85 counseling sessions for abused and abandoned women were held.

65 English classes held

72 Reading and Writing classes held

Sewing classes held daily M – F.

Daily Bible classes held for the women in the Neema apartments.

12 sessions of “Women’s Rights” were held in 2025.

Our first large women’s conference was held with appx 400 women present, including our MAP moms.

31 moms were housed in the MAP houses on campus in 2025

Currently the rooms are full with 13 moms living in 10 rooms.

A new much larger sewing room was built.

A computer lab was remodeled and equipment added.

A daycare building was completed for the children of MAP moms.

In 2025 a Tanzanian counselor was hired for MAP moms and is currently taking classes to be better equipped to help women brought to Neema in traumatic situations.

A total of 179 moms have gone through the MAP program at Neema Village.

Nasiri is up and going on his new arm crutches!

Our Rehab Center on the Neema Village campus is a bright and cheerful place for special needs babies. And as always the services are free to the babies and moms.

New equipment and the innovative work by PT Noelle Cedeno has made Neema’s Rehab Center one of the best in the country.

The Rehabiltation and DayCare Center Report for 2025

Twenty Two babies with cerebral palsy and various delayed developments have gone through the treatment center this year. Nine children gained independence in 2025.

The Day Care has 12 to 14 babies daily in attendance.

Medical checkups, family guidance on nutrition and daily home activities are provided by the center.

Regular home visits are made by the director.

Our babies are growing up! Memusi, Jojo, Nengai and Big Zawadi are in boarding and local schools in Arusha. Neema will send 44 of our big kids to school this next year.

Thirty Eight of our 44 school kids were able to come back for Christmas. Talk about a big family reunion! Our school fees have become one of our larger budget items but nothing will change Africa like educating it’s children.

Our volunteer program saw 267 volunteers come to Neema in 2025. They love, build up, encourage, work hard and tell of our work when they get home! We love em!

God is doing amazing things at Neema Village. Spiritual growth continues with 147 baptisms reported for 2025. Church at Neema is vigorous, exhilarating and participatory worship every Sunday. It’s Africa folks and you don’t have worship without movement here!

An AA chapter was begun at Neema in 2025 and we continue with mens bible classes, soccer kids bible classes and feeding over 150 kids every Sunday after church. Three men’s conferences were held last year and 267 men attended the last conference. We believe if you change the men, you change the family. You change the family, you change Africa!

We continue to drill water wells out in the villages with a goal of one well a month. The latest well out in Mkuru is producing lots of sparkling clear water for the local Maasai school who had been hauling water in every day for the children.

Maria, Memusi and I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of how your prayers and donations have worked at Neema Village in 2025.

Kim, Kelle and Michael and I pray God’s Blessings upon you as you continue to care for the “least of these” in Arusha, Tanzania.

On a personal note, please be praying for Michael and I as we return early to the States for medical reasons.

And remember I cannot see your comments on Messenger because I do not exist on Facebook!! UGH!

Email me at dorris@neemavillage.org instead.

Bibi Dorris

www.neemavillage.org

December 11, 2025

It’s time to decorate the tree! We think God decorated ours!

Good News! Tiny Robison, an abandoned baby, now three months old is up to 2.96 kg (6 1/2 lbs). Born on August 9th, this tiny slip of a human has been in Neema NICU and finally moved to the newborn room. He is alert and wiggly and cute as a little button. You should come hold this baby!!

It has been a great time for babies returning home or being adopted these last few weeks. Babies Diane, Glory, Michael, Yohana and Berthan have all found a forever family and are in their new homes. It’s what Neema does best!

Baby girl Diane was adopted on November 29th! She had been abandoned at the hospital 1 year and 4 months ago but a good family from Tanzania has been coming for months to visit her. Now she has a new mom and dad, a grandfather who is crazy about her and a big brother. Her mom has a job in Maryland. She will never be abandoned again!

Last year a young school girl who hid her pregnancy from her family came to Neema with a 1.2 kg baby. She was begging for help to be able to finish school. Today she was able to bring her grandmother and sister and the family was reunited as baby Glory went home with her mom. Glorious day!

This sweet baby girl was reunited with her parents today. Little Berthan had been abducted, but her father never stopped fighting to find his daughter. Neema Village stepped in and cared for her while the investigation continued.

Today, the abductor is in jail, and Berthan is sleeping in her own home with her mama and daddy. We’re pretty sure they’ll be holding her a little extra tight tonight.

An early Christmas present for this precious family.

God is good! Thanks Kelle for this sweet story.

Our volunteers love working with our MAP moms and this fun afternoon they got to go up to the Preslar Mothering Center and make bracelets with the moms living on campus. When you come to volunteer think up something fun to do with the MAP moms, crocheting, knitting, baking cupcakes or even quilting like Jackie Swift does. They love anything you can teach them.

Neema started a much needed AA chapter this month and this was the kick off; a full day with counselors and others who plan to attend, speakers, breakfast chi and lunch. If we can just help these men who desert their families because of alcohol and drug abuse, we will go a long way to making a difference in this beautiful country.

We noticed our little peewee soccer team was pretty shoeless so volunteers Lorna and Stacy decided to buy some of them shoes. Neema made sure that all 28 boys got a new pair of tennis shoes.

A hard morning of soccer and then they wait for lunch and Bible class. It is amazing what God is doing with this little soccer program. A young man died with a dream on his heart of a soccer field in Africa and his widow made it happen. Amazing!

We have had a dream for a long time of bringing water to Mukuru village and this month it happened. It was not a gully washer but it is enough. It will supply Joshua’s village as well as the nearby school. Thank you to those of you who help with the Tanzania Water Project of Neema Village.

Our Save The Mothers program is going strong and we are branching out into new areas in the Maasai villages. Folks, this program works! It is saving lives almost daily as our trained TBAs safely deliver babies when moms cannot make it in to the hospitals.

Rainbows are supposed to mean rain, right? Well, we have not had any in months! It is very dry at Neema Village but as always still beautiful. We thank God for this land and for those of you who support this precious work.

As we get close to the end of the year here are a few ways to help Neema Village:

1. Required Minimum Distributions “RMDs” – Did you know that it is possible to satisfy your RMDs from your Traditional IRAs without paying taxes on the distribution? This can be particularly attractive when the IRS requires a greater withdrawal from your IRA than you would otherwise like to take. To accomplish this, you can direct your brokerage firm to make a direct contribution of cash or securities from your Traditional IRA to Neema.
2. Stock with large Unrealized Gains – Do you have stock in your taxable brokerage account with sizeable unrealized gains? Selling the stock could generate a significant taxable event, but gifting the stock provides a way to 1. Support Neema, 2. Avoid paying capital gains tax, and 3. Provide a reportable deduction on your income tax return.
3. For our supporters who may have a Donor Advised Fund, Neema is a 501(c)(3), EIN #46-2762501, and would be a qualified recipient should you direct the fund to make a distribution to Neema.

Please speak to your financial professional for more details on the above ideas, or our financial advisor Michael Robinson with Edward Jones in Waco would be happy to discuss more in depth if you have questions. Work #254-751-0288.

Love,

Kim, Kelle, Michael and Dorris.

www.neemavillage.org

November 21, 2025

After three months of traveling and speaking from Kentucky, Indianapolis to Florida and Texas, we are glad to be back at Neema (Grace) Village in Arusha, Tanzania.

Our big kids at Neema Village love music class with Ms. Caroline singing “Jesus Loves Me This I Know.” They are in front of the new gorgeous mural at the preschool. Volunteers at Neema just do the most amazing things! Thank You!!

Three new babies came to Neema Village this month. Sweet little baby Robison, above, was abandoned at the hospital. He makes 70 babies in the baby home today. Baby Robison is a preemie, weighing about 2.1 kg, and is in our NICU unit at Neema Village getting great care from our nannies and doctors. We are so Thankful to be able to rescue these little ones.

It is hard to think what desperation would make a mom walk out and leave her baby. But in one of the poorest countries in the world, it happens. As we tell folks, it is not our job to judge. Neema Village is a place of Forgiveness and Hope. Hope for the babies and Forgiveness for the moms. We pray baby Robison will have a new mom and dad someday and he will never be abandoned again!

It is hard to put this story together but little Berthan came to Neema from Social Welfare. She has two women claiming to be her mother! Hopefully the police and social welfare will be able to figure this one out soon and she can go home. Two women were in the hospital, one went to get some pain meds for the other but when she came back the woman had taken the baby and left. The police eventually found the woman, who also claimed the baby was hers.

I know… you can’t make this kind of stuff up!! As many of you have reminded me, “Oh, for the wisdom of Solomon!”

New baby Kendric Gipson came to Neema this month. His mom exposed him to “the sickness” and refused the medicine. She is a college student and has asked that we help so she can finish school. We have started baby Kendric on preventative medicine and he should be fine. Please pray for the mom.

We are so Thankful for our daughter Kim White who has been at Neema for three months directing the work on site. With seven different ministries it is a huge job. She is amazing and totally up to the task! We have returned to Neema so she can have a few months home with her hubby, Bruce, the Saint.

Remember only Tanzanians are paid at Neema Village, the directors are all volunteers. We like that!

Important on a personal note: Facebook has decided that I am not me so I no longer have Facebook or messenger. If you have wondered why I am not responding to your messages please complain to Facebook – if you can find them!!

We’ll survive!

Some of you may remember in 2013 when twins were brought in late at night and we realized one of them was blind. Malikia and her twin Julius have been our babies ever since the night their mom died out in a Maasai village.

Now that little baby, Mali, is home from Braille school for Christmas break and we caught her helping wash dishes in the Hallelujah house yesterday. We are so thankful God has allowed us to do this precious work for almost 14 years now.

We are most Thankful that you have come along with us on this exciting journey, following our posts, praying for the moms and babies, coming to volunteer and giving from your heart so the work can continue.

Love you all and please come for a visit, you will be amazed at what God is doing here!

And please remember our fun loving, hard working Nannies and the Christmas bonuses. We now have 103 full time employees and we try to give each one a $100 bonus for Christmas.

Give a Christmas bonus at www.neemavillage.org

Michael and Dorris

October 23, 2025

If you can’t come for a visit, maybe you can just drop in by drone! Isn’t it amazing what God has done at Neema Village!!

It’s been almost fourteen years since the little rent house in town and now seven different ministries are serving the people and loving the babies of Tanzania on a seventeen acre campus.

Four day old Kendric Gipson Mollel, our latest baby, came to Neema Village last week. He makes 70 babies currently on campus. His mom exposed him to the sickness that still afflicts so many people in Africa today. Our doctors have started him on preventative meds and he should be ok. His mom is a college student but she is refusing to take the medicine herself. With 70 babies in house today, we are needing sponsors! What about giving a baby sponsorship to someone for Christmas!! That would be too coo!! To get a baby who needs a sponsor email Hayden Francher at sponsorship@neemavillage.org

A New Business is born. Stella has opened her shop selling everything from soap and salt to sodas.

Her name is Stella, she is the mother of two children and her husband left her when she found she was pregnant again. She had no money so moved into this mud hut in the slums. She began to feel very sick and after going to the clinic found that her husband had given her the sickness. The Doctor who was treating her contacted Neema Village after he found she had no money for food.

Very few people are able to pull themselves out of such poverty without some help.

I always tell them you have come in contact with Jesus people, help is on the way!

You may not be able to guess who this little guy is. It’s Lecumo! He was almost starved when a group of volunteers from Neema who had been out in the Maasai villages doing a medical mission saw the little guy and knew he needed immediate help. Kelle was not sure he would survive the night. His tummy was very large, hard and distended but his arms and legs were like fragile twigs.

Lecumo is eating everything in sight now. A fried egg sandwich Yum. This little man, (as someone said) who looked like he had been chewed up and spit out is cute as a little button now. He has a chance at Life!

We are not just about getting food in their tummies, we are about getting God in their hearts. I love this photo.

Now how did this photo get in here!! Hmmmm.

We miss our home in Africa, but little Jack, our great grandson, is one of the few things we really do miss about living in Africa.

Matthew 19:29 “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much…”

Please be praying for Kim, Kelle, Ashley and Michael and I as we leave our homes in America and work in this incredibly beautiful ministry called Neema Village.

www.neemavillage.org

October 6, 2025

As you get ready to come to Neema Village to volunteer you might be asking yourself, is this worth it? What is spending a week volunteering at Neema Village like? Let’s follow one of our recent groups.

Well, first of all you have the suitcases to contend with! Did they all make it to Africa and then is that picky agent in the airport going to charge me for diapers that I’m bringing in for the babies.

Smiles and tears from exhausted, sleepy volunteers begin to explode when they hold their first Neema babies.

As you spend your week at Neema we try to make sure you get to see some of all the seven Neema programs, from holding babies, to teaching classes, doing a Saturday VBS, holding the hand of an abused mom, yelling for the Neema team at the soccer field, praying for the water wells or just sitting and visiting with the neighborhood kids after church.

Seeing our Rehab Center for Handicap babies will grab your heart. These little ones who have been hidden in dark, back rooms, now have a sunny bright place full of music and light where they are encouraged to reach their highest potential. It is a joy filled place but be sure and bring a box of Kleenex.

Going on a MAP (Mothers Against Poverty) interview doesn’t happen for every volunteer group. We go when we are called. It might be with a woman begging on the street or asking for help from Social Welfare or in the hospital with no home to return to.

For these young volunteers from Wisconsin who can’t imagine what life is like when you have no where to turn, no family to help, no government programs to step in and you’ve been abandoned by everyone you know, going on a MAP mom interview can be a life changing experience.

And then seeing a finished product when a mom sets up her new Neema business is a great afternoon adventure for volunteers. The Wisconsin group got to see Florah’s new hair salon business.

Florah was homeless and sleeping on a church bench when she was brought to Neema. She was about eight months pregnant living at Neema when she accepted Jesus and was baptized!

Pray for a great success for Florah’s new hair salon!

Many of our babies are Maasai whose moms have died in childbirth. Volunteers love going out to the Maasai villages.

They are always so gracious to show our volunteers their culture, their dances, how to build a fire from donkey dung, how to make medicine from roots, how to kill a lion, and they might even kill the fatted goat for their lunch.

Going out to the villages for the GIFT program is one of Neema’s most important preventative programs. Encouraging these young girls to stay in school and not have babies at 13 or 14 is saving lives and giving them a bright hope for their futures.

And occasionally a volunteer group will get to pull off something really big! The Village church from Mosinee, Wisconsin planned, studied for, organized, taught and paid for our first Women’s conference at Neema Village. Three hundred and ninety nine African women came for the day of singing, classes, lunch, prizes and just a whole lot of fun. Was it worth it Wisconsin?

But if you just want to come to Neema to hold babies we are good with that too. We think a lot of volunteer lives are changed just holding babies.

As David Platt says: “Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms, but once you do, everything changes.”

But just one more story of why volunteering at Neema Village is worth it. Because Dr. Sarun was working late one night which he often does, and because he happened to be in the baby home just when baby Janet couldn’t breath, and because we had the medical equipment he needed Dr. Sarun was able to save her life.

But really little Janet gets to live because a volunteer from Fort Worth who owns a day care decided to go on a medical mission and watch Dr. Sarun work and decided we had to hire him and informed us she would pay his salary! And little Janet gets to live because some volunteers from Canada bought the exact medical equipment he would need to save her life. Was it all worth it? You bet!

Last year we had over 250 volunteers, next year could be your year and it will be worth it, I promise you!

Love and Blessings,

Michael and Dorris

www.neemavillage.org

September 15, 2025

I am in Awe of what God is doing here! What is happening at Neema Village today is way bigger than the dream of two retired people wanting to care for abandoned babies.

It is bigger than one baby like Jasmine who was abandoned on the road and brought to Neema this month.

It’s bigger than the over 450 babies cared for at Neema in the last 13 years…

it’s bigger than our gardens feeding 200+ meals a day and the 15 cows giving milk and the chickens giving over a hundred eggs a day and the little preemie calf, named Dana, too little to survive but surviving anyway…

It’s bigger than the three Neema adoptions last month or soccer games with bible classes for young people or hundreds of men meeting to learn how to be good husbands and fathers.

it’s bigger than the 15 buildings on campus.

I think God is doing something Mighty and Lasting at Neema Village and we are standing back in AWE!

Kim, Kelle, Marq, Ashley and Michael and I all feel it, we can see it happening we just don’t know how to explain it all to you!

It’s even bigger than the dream of a trade school where men can turn “wine into milk” for their families and regain the respect and dignity that men need to stick around and raise a family.
Thanks to Mitch and Carson from Georgetown we now have a cleared off and leveled pad waiting for a trade school where men can learn to weld or repair small engines or become tailors or bakers or electricians or plumbers and learn to love and provide for their families again.

What’s happening is bigger than the dream of a big co-op warehouse full of MAP mom businesses for our women; hair businesses, used clothing businesses, sewing, vegetable stands and in the middle a cool coffee shop offering prayer with chicken salad sandwiches and fresh baked bread.

Our little MAP moms who have been kicked out, abused, hopeless, come to Neema and spend 6 months to a year being loved and cared for and taught how much Jesus loves them and has never lost sight of them and taught all kinds of classes and then we send them out alone to run a business.

I see a co-op where they can support and help each other as they learn to start their businesses together. I see it so decorated in front that as you drive into Arusha town you cannot miss it!

It’s even bigger than the 30+ Maasai men who have come in so far this year for baptism. I see men coming in by the hundreds, repenting and giving their lives to Jesus.

Yes, it’s way bigger than two old people with a dream.

It’s you and us together flowing out God’s love and his promises of a better life in places where it has been so very dry and drained and empty for so long.

I think Kim said it best, “God is Here!” and that dear ones is the exact Miracle that we need.

You’re gonna wanna come see this!

We will see you at the banquet in Fort Worth Saturday the 20th at 6pm!

The link or QR Code to start biding on auction items is:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/neema-village-tanzania-incs-silent-auction

Tickets are still available for the September 20th Banquet/ Auction in Fort Worth to help us continue the work with abandoned babies and women in Tanzania. Just scan the QR code below to get your ticket and hear Payte Baldwin talk about his experiences volunteering at Neema Village.

Kelle could still use more auction items just email michael@neemavillage.org

See You There!

Michael and Dorris Fortson

www.neemavillage.org