MAP Changes the Lives of Eight More Women in Tanzania
I know the following is long but please hang in there with me to the end, you could be part of something way bigger than all of us.
Mwajuma, pictured below with Michael, is 35 years old and has walked on her knees dragging her legs since she had polio at age 12. A few weeks ago she came to Neema Village looking for help. 
It is shocking that people still have to deal with Polio in this day and age! Mwajuma has a 12 year old son named Juma. The father has abandoned the family. They rent a small room in Arusha, Tanzania. Mwajuma knows how to make the beautiful shoes with handcut leather and colorful beads that are so popular in Tanzania. Neema Village will help her start her own shoe business.
Below is a picture of Mwajuma as she struggles to move around at her home.
It is sad and a bit ironic that Mwajuma will spend her life working on shoes, something she will never wear herself. Her business will cost 490,000 TSH or about $250 USD
Penina (below) is 21 years old. This beautiful young woman was working on the street supporting herself, her 88 year old grandmother and an aunt with Downs Syndrome and her own 2 year old son.
Penina has heard about Jesus’ love for her and knows about his power to save her life. The family was living in a mud house that was falling down but the uncle who owned the house has now kicked her out.
Before she moved someone stole all her goods including a stove which we had bought for her. It was an unsafe neighborhood so we were glad to be able to move Penina away from the area. She is now attending classes offered in the Mothering Center at Neema. She speaks good English and wants to start a Hair Dressing and Beauty business. We will send her to a 4 month Beauty School where she will get a certificate when she passes her classes. The school cost 690,000TSH or about $350 for school and $100 for 4 months transport. Her total schooling will cost $450.
Upendo, the mom pictured on the right, has a 2 year old son named Calvin, who was severely brain damaged at birth. After the birth the husband abandoned the family. The baby was malnourished and not processing protein when Upendo came seeking help at Neema. We put the baby in the hospital for about 4 weeks. She plans to start an Internet/Fresh Juice Bar busness. We have hired 2 college students to teach her how to use the computer three days a week for two hours for a month.
The teachers will also be available if she has questions or problems once she starts her business. Most people from our area of Arusha do not have access to the internet so they go to town to use the internet. Mariya brought computers from Germany and Upendo will have 2 computers to use to help start her business.
She will need a printer, a small fridge, tables and chairs and we will help her with the rent for a year. The shop is on a very busy street corner. and the neighbors tell us it will be a good business for her. I love the picture of her with her baby on her back as she learns about computers.
About $1,000 USD is needed to help start Upendo’s business.
Mama Iddi, pictured below, is a 63 year old grandmother struggling to keep a severely brain damaged ten year old granddaughter.
Her daughter abandoned the child with her. This grandmother is living in a house that looks unsafe and is about to fall down. She owns her own home so we will be looking for volunteers to help her work on her home.
Since she must stay home to care for the child we will help her start a chicken business so she can work and stay home. The Pape Chicken Coops and 40 chickens with feed for 6 months is costing $450.
Modesta, a widow pictured below, is 51 years old and has three children. The youngest is 2 years old and two of her children are also Albino.
When her husband died last year she inherited nothing, as is common with many widows in Africa, and the family had to move in with her aunt. But now the aunt says she cannot keep her any longer. Neema was contacted by a minister to see if there was a way we could help Modesta. She and her children had no place to go so we have moved her to an apartment close to Neema and will set her up in a day care business. She has worked at day cares in Arusha before so is excited to have her own Day Care business to be called “Happy Children” or “Watoto Wafuraha”. We have created a flyer for her to take around to her neighbors to help start her business. We have paid 6 months rent at $25 per month and bought supplies and a stove to help her set up her business. Business costs are $320.
Mama Pretty, pictured below with the chickens and the big smile, has two children.
In August she had little twins, Pretty and Precious. Unfortunately, one of the twins, baby Pretty, passed away because of heart problems caused by malnutrition. It is surely difficult to get over losing a child in any country but even more so in Africa where these kinds of deaths are frequent and yet so preventable.
Mama Pretty doesn’t want to just be given food she wants to make her own way. She has the true heart of an entrepreneur. We want to help her by setting her up in her own chicken business. We will help her buy 40 chickens and supply chicken feed for about 6 months.
The chicken coop was built and donated by friends of Maria Halapi so Mama Pretty’s business is now fully funded.
Evaline, pictured below with Mariya Halapi, has two children. Her husband left her some months ago . She was living in a one room mud hut with a rusty tin roof and was two months behind in the rent. There was no food in the house, she was depressed and close to being evicted when Neema was called to help.
Now look at this hope filled young woman! After we told her we would help with the immediate needs of rent and food, we began talking with her about how she could make a living and support her two children. She decided to do a used clothing and vegetable stand. Rent and food for 6 months will be $222 USD and the bundle of clothes is $75. Evaline’s used clothing business is $297.00. It is beautiful to see the smiles on Evaline’s face now as she builds a future for herself and her children.
Josephine is a widow, 36 years old, with 2 children.
She has a job working at the big flower export plant in Checkerini, a small town just down the road from Neema. But the doctor says she must quit her job because of damaged lungs due most likely to the chemicals used at the plant. Josephine thinks she can do a chicken/egg business at her home. We are wanting to build her a “Pape Chicken Coop” which is portable and will hold about 40 chickens. The chicken businesses are costing us around $450 USD to build the coop, buy the chickens and feeders and feed for six months. In a town of 1.6 million you can’t have too many egg businesses.
These are eight worthwhile women’s businesses if you would like to help. Gifts to Neema and the MAP program are always tax deductible. But the IRS tells us we may not have donations made with a specific name of a mom on the donation if you want it to be tax deductible. Please just put “MAP program” on the donation. You can always email me personally later with more information about your donation. I will be glad to get you in contact with a MAP mom so you can have the personal touch of actually Transforming a life!
To support one of these businesses please go to www.neemavillage.org and click on the donate button.
MAP (Mothers Against Poverty) has now started eleven businesses for women and has 16 more pending. We have given away eight sewing machines to women coming to the sewing classes at Neema.
