A Double Whammy

August 27, 2020

This little 1.8 kg baby (below) was born three weeks ago at the hospital. The mom and baby had been staying in the hospital because they had nowhere to go. The hospital does not have food service so family members must come to the hospital to cook for the patients.  Since the mother, Mariam, had no one to cook for her the nurses had been trying to bring her some food and snacks. 

Her husband had given her AIDS, then abandoned her. She was alone in the hospital. The hospital staff called to see if we could help.  We brought her home to Neema today and put her in the women’s shelter bedroom at the Mothering Center.  

 She is depressed and afraid to nurse the baby so we are supplying formula, bottles and clean water for the baby and good nutritious food for Mariam along with some counseling and encouragement.  She also got to go into the “Dress For Success” room in the Mothering Center and pick out some clothes. We will have to make a business plan for her later when she is stable.  The baby is so tiny he gets lost in the blankets .

Another mom, Happyness, came with her little eleven-month-old handicapped baby named Purity today. It’s another one of those sad stories where the husband cannot take the stigma of having a handicapped child and abandons the family. This one left with all the furniture and possessions of the family and Happyness came home to find her sole possession was one foam mattress on the floor. 

She has been walking around the neighborhood with Purity on her back begging in the little village below Neema. She stopped at a poor widow woman’s house and the old woman decided she could stay in an empty room in her house for 5,000 shillings a month (about $2.50).  There was no water or electricity.

The very poor mud and stick house was on a small hill just off the road down to the Moivaro Coffee lodge.  The village leaders heard about Happyness begging around the village and called Neema to help. 

The old lady’s two daughters in law came into the room when Anna and I came to visit and the six of us could barely fit in the room. But she said her son is coming home now and she will need the room back so Happyness and Purity were homeless again.

Below, our MAP Director Anna in the middle, met Happyness on the road looking for a room where Happyness and Purity could live. Anna also took them to the Neema Village Day Care for Handicapped Babies and got Purity enrolled.

After finding a room, Anna took Happyness to the African market for a bed, chair, table and gas cooker. I can never go with Anna on these buying trips. When an Mzungu shows up the price goes up! Anna also bought her some dishes, pots and pans and some food. Now Happyness and Purity have a home!

We prayed with both these girls today and told them they were not alone, that Hope and Help were available and they would be happy again. We told them that God is a Blessing God and loves to bless His people who then bless others. We will start Happyness in a small business selling staples like sugar, flour, salt, soap, veggies, etc. We pray Walmart never comes to Tanzania!  It would ruin all these little businesses we are setting these women up in,  all 74 of them now!

When we arrived back at Neema this afternoon, we got the call that the truck was on the way to Neema with the crate we had shipped back in March (pictured at the top).  Then we got the call that the box with the pasteurization machine sent through DHL quick delivery, had also finally arrived. It took a month!  The crate had been opened and we are pretty sure it had been pilfered.  I guess someone needed those diapers more than we did!