Category Archives: Uncategorized

Off Campus Babies (March 2015)

“Off Campus Babies”

Neema House Arusha has helped seventy two babies since opening our doors three years ago. Fortunately some of them we were able to keep in their homes and bring monthly supplies and support out to them. They are our off-campus babies. Since our return to Africa in January we have been out to the Maasai villages to visit seven of those children. The ones in the picture above with Michael are Yacinta and Lucia, Frankie’s triplet sisters and Meshack, Frankie’s half brother. Frankie was too sick to leave and was brought in to the hospital and has been with us since the beginning of Neema House. Since Frankie is in school now the girls mother is anxious to get the girls in school, too. We will see how we can help with that. Most Maasai people do not have money and instead live off the land and their cattle and goats. Most of them never go to school.

Right are twins about four months old we have been helping in a remote Maasai village. Mothers out in the villages barely have enough milk to feed one baby much less two or three so Neema steps in to help. We were amazed at how many children were actually living in this one room mud house.

The set of twins to the left are about fourteen months old. They live in a small meager village with a herd of goats in the middle of the fly infested compound.

We believe in “Homes not Orphanages” so when it is possible we prefer to keep them in their home. With an abandoned baby, that is not possible and many times when a mother has died, custom will not let an unmarried man have a nanny live in the house to care for the baby. So unless there is a grandmother who can move in, the dads have to make other arrangements and many times we are called to help.

We have never had any of these off campus babies sponsored.

Visiting the villages is a long hard full day trip and we usually take enough food to last a month.

You can find the off campus babies pictured on our website www.neemahousearusha.org if you would like to sponsor one of them. Sponsorships start at $30 a month and are tax deductible. If you have been waiting to help send a child to school, now is your chance.

We were tickled to have our oldest daughter, Kim Fortson White (above) come to Neema and bring her two friends from Billings, Montana. Carol Wald and Jane Garnett were awesome volunteers.

Carol had brought soccer balls to give out and it was such fun to come upon a group of boys playing soccer with a roll of plastic sacks tied with string and watch Carol walk out and give them a new soccer ball. The men in the villages enjoy the soccer balls, too, like the man pictured below.

After a few weeks with impetigo at Neema House, the evil Chicken Pox struck. We have had nineteen of our babies come down with the pox, like Julius below.

We took a water well drilling company man with us out to Frankie’s village and lots of men from other villages got in on the fun of where to put the well. They each wanted it as close to their village as possible (pictured below). They told us some of the women walk as far as ten kilometers to haul water.

We have since contacted another company who has been in business longer and knows the area so we feel more confident they will find water for Frankie’s village. They spent three days at the village and did magnetic testing on three different plots. They found that some water was available at 70 meters but lots of water was available at 130 meters. If you have never prayed for a well to come in, now is the time to start!

We are continually amazed at the hard work being done mostly by hand at the new property site and that we are building for $24 a square foot! God is indeed Good! Pictured above, the foundation for the generator is being poured, so progress is being made and Matt Erdman is overseeing along with our builder, Mr Chandu Lodha. It is pretty exciting to think that in a few months we could have a new baby home, widows home, mothering center and a home for the unadoptable babies, like Malikia below.

We want to bless you again for being a part of this ministry to abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies in Tanzania.

Michael and Dorris Fortson

Baboon Soup (February 2015)

“Baboon Soup”

Getting ready for the daily walk outside Neema House

From our early years in Africa and today at Neema Baby Home in Arusha, Tanzania, we have had a lot of fun with the Swahili language. Thursday we had walked down to the volunteer house for dinner.

The Volunteer House is just fifty steps from Neema.

Since Angel the volunteer house cook was off duty, I had made fresh tomato basil soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for the volunteers. When we returned to the baby home the night nannies wanted to know what we had eaten. Michael said we had eaten Nyani Soup. They scowled and wanted to know if it tasted good and he answered, “Yes, mmm, very good.” It created quite a heated discussion with the nannies wrinkling their noses and saying, “Hapana, (No!) Mbaya Sana (Very Bad).” The word for tomato is Nyanya not Nyani which means Baboon. Oops!

Nannies holding babies at Neema House.

But it has been amazing to see how much Swahili, after 50 years, has come back to Michael. He was asked to speak at a small mountain church a few weeks ago. He

The small mountain church

told the group he would start in Swahili and switch back to English when he got into trouble, but he was able to do the whole sermon in Swahili and the interpreter translated into English. The amazing thing was I understood him! I was never that good and still use a very basic “kitchen Swahili.” I’ve been known to answer a greeting of great respect “Shikamo” with the word “Maharagwe” which means “Beans” instead of the proper response of “Marahaba.”

Angel, Angelous, and Franky ready for school.

Something worse than the “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (an old movie in case you are under 50) has struck fear and trepidation at Neema. Our little pre-school children brought home the dreaded Impetigo and we are washing hands at every turn to keep from getting it ourselves. But it is making a horrible grab for the beautiful brown skinned bodies of our babies! Dr. Smelser advised using triple antibiotic so if you are coming our way soon slip in a few tubes of that to help stop this Alien invasion.

Lest you forget while looking at our well dressed happy children above, this is still Africa. Frankie’s village has many children like the child to the right. We believe visitors to Neema House Arusha can see that funds donated

Baby at Frankie’s Masai village

to Neema go to the Neema babies.

We have also had three babies in the hospital this month which has shot a huge hole in our medical budget. We don’t have insurance so we pay out of pocket for each stay in the hospital.

Neema Joy in the Hospital

Our littlest baby, Neema Joy, was in the hospital for almost three weeks. Neema Joy is an abandoned baby and weighs about six pounds. Please take a moment to say a prayer for this little one.

Elesha also spent a few days in the hospital but is back home at Neema now. His hands are now grasping toys and his legs are almost straight. Dr. Swa

Elesha, who has Beals Syndrome

nson says he was born with Beals Syndrome of which there are only a hundred known cases in the world. So of course all the med students here studying tropical medicine are whipping out their cameras to get a photo of him. We are believing this little one will walk and be able to use his hands someday!

Rose June, ( with Michael) is one of our abandoned babies from last summer who also spent about three weeks in t

Michael handing Rose June to her new mom

he hospital as well this month. Rose June came home from the hospital and has now been adopted. Two of our babies have flown the nest this month, Michael and Rose June. We love this! That makes 12 adoptions in three y ears, not bad, since there is not even a word in Swahili for adoption. We take them to local Tanzanian churches to find homes for them and are constantly searching for couples to take these precious little “thrown away” babies into their homes.

Meet our newest baby below, Kathy, abandoned and being held here by her namesake, Kathy Strong from Nacogdoches. It is our prayer that God will find Forever

Volunteer Kathy holding abandoned baby Kathy

Families for these babies and that they will never be abandoned again!

It is time to end another blog in our African Safari to save abandoned babies. Thanks for coming along with us. Stay tune for exciting news of the new building going up for the Neema babies on the next blog.

God is surely Good!

Dorris and Michael Fortson

Forward this email

Neema House Second Annual Formula Fund Run

NEEMA HOUSE ANNOUNCES….

SECOND ANNUAL FORMULA FUND RUN

(BUYING FORMULA FOR NEEMA BABIES)

MAY 2, 2015, 8:30 AM

TEMPLE, TX, PEPPER CREEK TRAIL

About one hundred-forty participated in our initial Formula Fund Run last year. If you were one of them, thank you!

Registration before the Run

The 2014 5K was a great success, and we are praying that our 2015 5K will be even better. A wonderful group of volunteers are now making all the preparations, T Shirts being printed, refreshments being readied, etc. It is going to be a lot of fun! And most importantly, it will help provide formula for our thirty-two babies at Neema House in Tanzania.

Whether you are a runner or not, this 5K is for you! It is your opportunity to make a difference for the Neema House Babies. You can register on-line for a small $30 fee and get a free T-Shirt too! Those 17 years and younger register for only $15.

And They’re off!

If you are in driving range of Temple, I hope that you will come. Last year we had participants from as far as Houston and Fort Worth. Many runners were old friends of Michael and Dorris Fortson, so it was a great reunion too! I am praying that you will sign up for the 5K and that you will encourage your family and friends to come out to run and support this effort.

You should register right away at this link: https://neemaformulafundrun.webconnex.com/secondannual2015

A Special Time with Old Friends

A special note to those runners and supporters who are planning to volunteer at Neema House this summer or later. We are planning an after-the-run get together at The Vine Church, 4902 South 31^st, Temple, for about 11 a.m. We will show photos, give a report, and answer questions, and then enjoy BBQ, baked beans, potato salad, etc. Please plan to be with us. Even if you are not planning to volunteer, but want to know more about Neema House, come on!

Welcome To Baby Bedlam

Rhiannon Stevie, a travel writer from England, writes:

A Bushel Of Babies

Ground Breaking

Ground Breaking at Neema!

After almost twenty one hours in the air we are home once again at Neema House Arusha in Tanzania. For those of you just joining our travel log, Neema is our home for abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies in Africa. Neema means Grace for this is surely all by the Grace of God! Welcome aboard.

This beautiful sight was the Swiss Alps outside the window of our big 747 winging its way to Africa and our home in Arusha. My first thought was “I thought the Alps were bigger!” I guess it all depends on your view point doesn’t it? Surely what must seem so huge and insurmountable to us from our view below must seem like mere sand piles to the Most High God above. I must remember that as we go into the next phase of building at Neema. There are no mountains too big for God.

No matter what time we arrive, the night shift nannies are always up, holding a crying baby, fixing bottles, washing diapers or cooking their own dinner after the babies are in bed. We have 32 full time, 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, Tanzanian employees. Actually Tanzanians are the only ones paid at Neema. The nannies work in three shifts. They work three day shifts then three night shifts and then are off for three days. We also feed about thirty adults every day at Neema so it is a busy place all the time. I love to tell folks it is loud, messy and wonderful at Neema – most of the time!

Here is our famous cook, Safina, feeding abandoned baby Phillip Wood. Phillip weighed just a few pounds when he was left at the hospital. He then spent two months getting big enough to come home to Neema. He is a smiley little boy who is learning to give kisses.

There are 34 babies currently in our care at Neema and we love each one of them. They have grabbed our hearts with their stories and we cry each time a new one comes to us. Some of them were abandoned on roadsides, some on porches, in latrines, the bus station, in a front yard and at the hospital. As a registered NGO, the police or hospitals call us when an abandoned baby has been found. One little baby was left in a house by himself long enough that his diaper was stuck to his bottom and had to be cut off. One little newborn we named Dorothy was left in a gravel pit. The worst was a newborn found in an open pit latrine who had to have maggots removed from his ear. All our babies have a tragic story or we would not have them. They have all lost the most important thing to a baby, their mother. You can read their stories on our website. www.neemahousearusha.org.

NOTE: If you just type in Neema House in your search engine you will see there are lots of churches, orphanages, schools, hospitals and even people named Neema. If you are looking for us make sure you type Neema House Arusha. We have even had some people donate on the wrong web site! Poli Sana if you didn’t get your tax deduction from us!

We left Neema in September last year and couldn’t wait to return and meet the five new babies who have arrived since we left. In all there have been 64 babies come through Neema House, some have been adopted and some have been able to return home to a family member. There are also twelve babies we provide for out in the villages around Arusha as well. Africa is the 16th poorest country in the world and there is lots of work to be done here.

Meet our new babies:

Newborn abandoned baby Neema Joy, below with Betsy Ezell a volunteer from Harding Univ.

Beautiful Carolyn Sue, abandoned at a hotel.

Amiri, below, was found on the street. His family has been located and he may be able to return home to a grandmother or other family member.

Careen, below, was abandoned, had been abused and had a broken arm and leg when she came to Neema.

Newborn Christopher Justice, below, was abandoned on the road and covered with black dirt.

It is not our place to judge these mothers. Neema House Arusha is a place of Forgiveness and Hope, forgiveness for the moms and hope for the babies.

Yesterday was an exciting day for us at Neema House Arusha. It was “Ground Breaking Day” on the new land.

We took three of our bigger babies, Michael, Baraka and Gloria and they got to help dig the first hole.

For almost three years now we have cared for these babies in a large rented house in Arusha. Now we are praying by the end of August to be in our very own baby home on this beautiful land. If you can build, come on!

The children, along with Camille and Tabiltha Erdman, piled up twelve memory stones on the land yesterday just like Jacob did in Genesis and Joshua did at the crossing of the Jordan and we dedicated this new land to God. The stones are to help us remember that it was not us but God who made this happen.

As we step out into this new chapter in the life of Neema, it is a bit scary. I can only imagine how Joshua’s men felt as they stepped out into the flood waters of the Jordan praying the miracle would happen. We are stepping out before the miracle too, praying the rest of the money will come in as we begin in faith to build a new home to care for these incredibly precious and beautiful little “thrown away” babies at Neema House Arusha.

One last picture just to make your day. Below is Gloria all dressed up with her baby on her back and in a new dress made by Doris Rechinthin, a 101 year old supporter of Neema House from Temple, Texas.

See you next blog!

dorris

Nineteen New Babies in 2014

Nineteen New Babies in 2014

In 2014 we had 19 new babies come to Neema House Arusha!

Additionally 7 babies were adopted into new homes and 5 were able to return home! You can read the stories of these abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies on the website www.neemahousearusha.com or www.tanzaniaorphanhelp.com, just click on “See Neema Babies.” We thank God every day that we get to be a part of this incredible work!

Neema House Arusha, a 501c3 registered nonprofit in the U.S. and Tanzania.

Three Sets of Triplets

Dorris & Michael Fortson
December 8, 2014

You might be surprised if you do a web search for Neema House to find there are quite a few organizations, churches, hospitals, orphanages and even people named Neema. Neema means Grace so it is a popular name for groups. Make sure you type Neema House Arusha if you want to find our web site. www.neemahousearusha.org or www.tanzaniaorphanhelp.com .

Three Sets of Triplets

With thirty five babies living at Neema House Arusha in Tanzania, the thought of triplets is no big deal. During our two and a half years of operation, Neema has cared for three sets of triplets and four sets of twins.

The triplets, Anna, Esther and Deborah were special babies at Neema. That is Anna to the left at less than three pounds when she came to Neema.

We loved, fed, changed and watched these three baby girls grow into chubby toddlers. They are wearing dresses my sister Lottie made for them.

This summer the girls were able to return home. Sweet boy Baraka is kissing Anna bye in the picture below.

You can read their going home story on our blog “Some Days are like That.” We sent the girls home with toys, books, clothes, big bags of rice, beans, porridge, powdered milk, potty chairs and two water filters. The family is very loving but also very poor.

They live in a typical African mud hut with no electricity and no phone.

Kenzy Mize visited the girls in their home a month later.

Matt and Michael built the girls a bunk bed and we took out sheets and blankets.

It is quite a trip on rough, dirt roads out to the triplet’s home and with no electricity or refrigeration, fresh milk delivery was out of the question.

Instead with the great help of Neema’s Facebook friends, we bought a milk cow for them.

We’ll deliver food, medicines and supplies along with financial help once a month and when the girls are old enough we hope to send them to school.

We went to church with the family one Sunday and just as a reminder that this is Africa, a cow walked into the church and began grazing on the grass growing around the edges of the dirt floor of the church.

(Some of these pictures you have seen on Facebook but if you don’t have Facebook you haven’t seen them.)

Last summer we heard of another set of triplets living in Arusha town and we went out to check on those three baby girls. The young Muslim family lives in a one room house with their older children and the new triplets. There was one bed in the room and one gas burner on which they cooked the family meals.

The baby girls are identical and have large herniated belly buttons which is fairly common in Africa. We agreed to supply formula for the babies and later we would supply their morning uji (porridge).

The family brings the girls to Neema frequently so we can see how cute they are and how they are growing. Our commitment to supply milk for these triplets ends this year and we are praying the family will be able to take over then.

Neema’s Frankie Boy is from the first set of triplets that Neema has cared for over the past two years.

This spunky little guy, our first and oldest baby, is a favorite of nearly everyone who walks in the door.

From a remote Masai village, the Masai triplets, Lucia, Yacinta and Frankie, the mother, and older siblings were all living in a small mud hut along with a cow tethered inside in the corner. Frankie was about six months old and weighed less than five pounds when he was brought in to Neema.

The custom for centuries had been to feed the bigger baby and let the small one go in order to ensure survival of at least one baby. Poor Frankie so much smaller would have been the one left out.

The triplet’s father had two wives and had just lost his second wife in childbirth and the old grandmother had been trying to keep the new baby, Meshack, alive with raw cow’s milk.

Both Frankie and Meshack were in trouble so Neema brought the two little half-brothers in to the hospital in Arusha.

After a few months he was able to return home. He has survived and done well. He is now scared to death of the “Wazungu” who come out to check on him from time to time.

Frankie’s triplet sisters have done well out in the village on formula, food and medicine delivered from Neema, but Frankie is still fragile and not able to return home. He was originally diagnosed by Dr. Matthews with cerebral palsy.

We are hoping to keep this loving little boy who has stolen all our hearts and give him the best education we can find. Some of Frankie’s first words were “I wuv u.”

Frankie loves to go to church and he takes carrying his bible very seriously.

These three sets of triplets represent nine beautiful babies Neema House has cared for. You have to come to Africa to see them. Unlike the U.S. Tanzania is Ebola Free!

Now that the water well for Frankie’s village is paid for we need a water well for Neema House. We cannot start building the new baby home and the mothering center without water!

If you know of anyone who could help with that, let us know. There are 35 babies in Africa who could put that to good use.

Frankie’s village is so remote that there are still some of Africa’s beautiful animals running free like this giraffe walking down the road in front of our car.

We continue to thank God every day that He lets us do this incredible work.

Blessings and Peace to you,

Michael and Dorris

www.tanzaniaorphanhelp.com or

www.neemahousearusha.org

Naha, The Masai Mom

orris & Michael Fortson
September 20, 2014(If you can’t see all the great photos, click on “see images” usually at the top of the email)

Naha, The Masai Mom

Naha, the Masai mom, who has been living at Neema House, returned home this week without her babies. She has been sleeping on the floor in the big baby room at Neema with her tiny twins tucked into a bassinet by her side for almost a month now.

Naha with one of the twins

Kelly had found this mom and her week old babies when she went out to a Masai village a few hours from Arusha to visit the families of two of our other Neema babies, Bahati and Memusi.

Memusi and her family Thanks Kelly Erdman for a great picture

Naha’s family had been living in a meager, mud hut on the outskirts of the village and appeared to be outcasts, possibly because of a family deformity. The twins’ thumbs are stuck to their palms and their legs appear frozen and unable to straighten which according to Kelly, who is an occupational therapist, will have to be fixed or they will never be able to walk.

Look closely to see the baby’s stuck thumbs and his long Masai feet!

Life in a Masai village is hard if you’re whole but almost impossible if you can’t walk or use your hands. The family had very little food when Kelly found them and Naha’s milk had dried up so the babies were almost starved when they were brought into town to the hospital.

Camille and Tabitha Erdman in front of mud hut like Naha’s home

After they left the hospital and came to Neema, our nannies stuffed Naha with food each day and showed her how to feed the babies with sterilized bottles while hopefully she could build up enough milk to feed the babies herself. We bathed the babies and gave her oil to make them smell baby sweet.

One day Naha said, “If I smelled this good maybe my husband would come home.” He had left to find work in Dares Salem and has not returned. One of the nannies quipped, “That would have to be a really strong smell to reach all the way to Dar!”

Naha doesn’t speak English or Swahili and even though we could not talk together, we patted her shoulders and sat on the floor with her and cuddled and fed her babies and slowly she began to smile. One day I caught her dancing for the babies in the back room. Haika and Anna, the two nannies on duty in the big babies’ room, had been clapping, singing and dancing to entertain the crawlers while they waited for their nightly bottles when Naha peeked around the corner to watch the show. The Masai are famous for their dances and cautiously the two nannies began to draw Naha in until she joined them and began to show them the “shoulder-bounce” dance of the proud Masai women. Fortunately, for once I had a camera handy.

Nannies getting Naha to dance for the babies

When the dance was over, Naha ducked her eyes, shyly covered the beginnings of a smile behind her hands and walked quietly across the hall to return to her sleeping babies.

Over the next few weeks we feel in love with this simple woman who spoke not a single word we could understand. Naha has never been to school but fortunately we have a few nannies who can speak KiMasai. One afternoon Naha had brought her babies into the small baby room where we were sitting on the floor talking and feeding our ever hungry Neema babies.

As we talked to her through one of our Masai speaking nannies, we asked Naha if she knew Jesus. She had heard of him, but was not a follower. We talked with her for a short while about Jesus and forgiveness and the power he gives to live life, and then arranged to talk more when Michael returned. His Swahili is much better and he knows more Bible than I do.

So a few days later, after more discussions through Rose, our housecleaner/translator, (whom I am convinced was preaching her own sermon) we went out to a safari lodge swimming pool and baptized this sweet, timid woman into the body of Jesus Christ. I am quite sure she had never seen so much clean water in her life and I was amazed at her bravery as, unafraid, she climbed down into that deep pool of sparkling blue water and gave her life to Jesus. She had told us, “After I am baptized I will go after Jesus.”

Before Matt and Kelly took her home this week, we were able to find a Masai translation of the Bible for her which she said her older children would be able to read to her.

KiMasai Bible

As I slipped my cross ring off my finger and onto hers, I said a quick prayer that this gentle woman would find strength to live in the harsh environment of rural Africa and in her village without a single church and where life can be tough for women and children. I said a quick prayer too that she wouldn’t have to sell the ring to buy food for her family!

Matt and Kelly Erdman receiving gifts at Naha’s village.

What a fitting end to our latest trip to Africa. We are home now in Temple, Texas and are available to speak anywhere, anytime about this incredible work of saving abandoned and orphaned babies in Tanzania East Africa. Just give us a call! 254 541 4869.

For another great video by Emily Arnold from Casper, Wyoming, a current volunteer at Neema click on this link.

Michael and Dorris Fortson

Dorris Fortson
Dorris & Michael Fortson

We Thought You Would Like to Know

Dorris & Michael Fortson
October 28, 2014

(This post is a copy of a newsletter we sent out over a month ago, but never were able to post as a blog until now. Sorry for the delay.)

“We Thought You Would Like to Know”

In two and a half years, fifty-nine abandoned, orphaned or at-risk babies have been cared for by Neema House in Arusha, Tanzania. We have loved each one of them. Thirty-three babies live in the house today, our capacity is thirty. Ten babies have been adopted and fourteen have been returned to a family member. One baby is in foster care. We thought you would like to know how Neema House Arusha has done. But numbers don’t tell the full story, pictures help. Below are some of the babies’ pictures when we first got them and then how they look today.

Dorothy pictured above is our little “gravel pit” baby. She was left a few minutes after her birth at a construction site upside down in a gravel pit which scratched up her knee. The umbilical cord and placenta were still attached. She had colic the first few months of her life and we said our sweet daytime baby was exchanged at night with a crying alien baby. Fortunately colic does not last forever. She is adorable now as you can see from the second picture.

Below is Dorothy today, pretty cute huh!

Phillip Wood is the tiny baby to the left in the first picture above, at the hospital. He was a preemie and spent two months in the hospital before we could pick him up. Below is happy Phillip today.

Sweet baby Doris ( I did not name this baby) lost her mom during childbirth. At the hospital, the mother needed a c-section but the epidural was placed too high which paralyzed her lungs. Unfortunately she passed away and Doris’s dad could not afford to keep the baby. Formula is twelve to sixteen dollars a can and the average Tanzanian who makes less than a hundred dollars a month just cannot afford that. It is one of the saddest things to watch a dad on what should have been one of the happiest days of his life, now have to sign away his baby and then go home without a wife or a baby.

Below, Dorris the day we picked her up from the hospital.

Above Doris cutie pie today with Megan Delaney from Australia.

Below, baby Sarah was abandoned at the hospital. The mother had left the room and never returned and after a few days we were called to come pick her up. Sarah is beautiful with big dark eyes and a dimple in her chin. A sweet couple from Italy, now living in Tanzania selling solar panels began coming to volunteer at Neema and feel in love with Sarah. It was a happy, happy day when they were able to take her home.

Above is Sarah after she was brought to Neema from the hospital.

Below is Sarah on her adoption day. Kelly Erdman doing the hand off!

Newborn baby boy Dawson, below, was left on the road outside a mosque in Arusha town. He was just a few hours old and was taken to the hospital. In a few days the hospital called Neema to come pick him up. He is a handsome boy now and has a huge smile for anyone who will pick him up. He was named for our longtime friends in Abilene, Texas. Dr. Dawson delivered our first baby in 1965 and he and his wife Dorothy later came to help out at our bush hospital in Southern Tanzania many, many years ago.

Above Dawson being fed his very first bottle by me, Dorris Fortson. The hospital does not use any bottles!

Dawson today, love the little slobber drop.

Pictured below is tiny 2.4 pound baby Maxine who was abandoned at the hospital shortly after her birth. They said she was 3.4 pounds but she wasn’t and in just a few days we realized this baby was in trouble. Thank God our daughter, Rebekah an EMT, was staying at Neema and after a wild drive with Jack Pape to the hospital Bekah was able to quickly get her into the NICU unit and breath for her until the doctor arrived. A couple who lives just a few blocks from Neema fell in love with Maxine and is adopting her. As Bibi and Babu we get to visit whenever we want.

Above Maxine in the hospital with Rebekah Johnson.

Sweet Girl Maxine as she is today.

Below is Frankie, our oldest and first baby at Neema. Frankie had a huge knot on his head and we thought he had hydrocephalus but the doctor said it was more likely that since he is a triplet he was stuck up against the pelvic bone which formed the huge knot. When he first came to Neema from the Masai village he was under five pounds and six months old.

TahDah! Below is Frankie Boy today. He is taking it very seriously to hold Babu Jack’s Bible on his way to church.

I wake up everyday and can’t believe that I get to do this!

God is indeed good!

Love and Blessings,

Dorris and Michael

Goodbye to Neema Baby Home

Goodbye to Neema Baby Home

(The following letter was written by Emily Arnold from Thornton, Colorado who volunteered at Neema House Arusha this year)

“You know that feeling you get when you know you’ve forgotten something? It’s a kind of “sick to your stomach, heart hurts, can’t get your mind off of it” feeling. That’s how I felt driving out of Arusha, Tanzania to the airport to come back home.

I’ll never forget what I left behind though–a bunch of little people I’ve become incredibly attached to these past two months while volunteering at Neema House Arusha, a home for abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies.”

(Left is abandoned baby Phillip with Emily. We take different babies to church each week and this was Phillip’s turn)

Emily continues, “We walk from the volunteer house each morning to the baby home and I’m going to miss them running to us and yelling our names. I’ll miss the way they could never get Ashley and my names straight. I’ll miss their slobbery kisses and little arms wrapped tightly around me to give me a hug. I’ll miss their singing and dancing. I’ll miss watching them sing their prayer song and how cute they are when they eat. Or how cute they are all the time.

Two months has gone by so quickly–it’s a blip in the scheme of a lifetime. In reality, it’ll be a matter of days, weeks, months and they’ll forget my face and my name. I know there will be other volunteers that will come to love them, some of the babies will be adopted, some will return to their families. But right now, it doesn’t make it hurt less. It’s not like I was going to leave with a baby but believe me, if it were possible, it would have been a done deal!

(Right is Emily with Matilda Grace, an abandoned baby, on her back.)

But I’m not walking away empty handed, with nothing to show that I spent two months helping at a baby home in Africa. I’m walking away with a lot of love for some 34 babies in a place called Neema House Arusha (The Grace House).

I stood in the very back of the church on Sunday, our last day in Arusha, holding a little girl who’s mother had died during childbirth (they placed the epidural too high and paralyzed her lungs. (That is baby Doris with Emily to the left) Her father can’t take care of her right now. I cried my eyes out as we sang the song “God of this City”. There’s a line that says, “You’re the light in this darkness, You’re the hope to the hopeless.”

I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to sing that song with all your heart when you’re holding a little girl who’s lost her mother in a place where the death rate for women in childbirth is 1 in 39 and there’s several more at Neema with similar stories to hers. But what made me cry even more was I know deep down, it’s the truth. He is the only light in the darkness and the only real hope.

Love is a powerful thing. I never imagined how deeply I would love all those babies. Love is what makes me so sad to say goodbye. Christ’s love is what so powerfully resonates in my heart that even when I’m holding an innocent baby affected by the sadness of death in our world–I will praise Him for His love. He loves those babies way more than I possibly could.

I’m not trying to sound Debbie Downer but the only thing that keeps me positive is that God is present in those babies lives. There’s love for them to grow in, there’s people who love the Lord in their communities and there’s a chance for them–to see Him, to have hope and love in the darkness of the world.

(Emily with Gian, Tumaini, Angelous and Michael walking the neighborhood around Neema House.)

If the babies could read or understand what I want them to know, this is what I would say…I love you so so so much!! I pray and hope you all grow into godly men and women, who have love in your hearts, dreams to chase and a life of happiness. You all have blessed me more than you’ll ever know and I’ll miss each and every one of you!

(Above baby Zawadi with Ashley Berlin who traveled to Africa with Emily.)

Emily Arnold, A Volunteer at Neema House Arusha 2014

(Emily put together a great video of the Neema babies, you will love it. Just click on the link below and enjoy!))

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI_MUuMatf4

Michael and Dorris Fortson www.tanzaniaorphanhelp.com

[email protected]

Maxine Goes Home

Last year a tiny 2.2 pound baby came to live at Neema. She had been abandoned at the hospital and Grandpa Jack said she was not much to look at then.

Maxine in the hospital

A few days later we realized this baby we had named Maxine was in serious trouble. So we made an emergency trip back to the hospital where she stayed in the NICU unit for more than two weeks being fed through a tube in her tummy. Our daughter Bekah, an EMT directing Neema for a few months until Matt and Kelly could arrive, said this baby was strong willed as an elephant! That, and the incredible Grace of God, saw her through some tough days.

Rebekah feeding Maxine with a dropper

Now as precocious, cute and funny as they come, Maxine survived and found her way into the hearts of everyone at Neema House.

Maxine making a funny face

Instead of crying she made a funny Who –WAhh’ sound when she wanted your attention and had the cutest laugh I have ever heard a baby make. And she grew and became beautiful and chubby and funny and worked her way into the hearts of Ron and Stella, an Arusha couple looking for a baby to adopt decided she was the baby for them

Maxine and new mon, Stella

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So last Saturday Maxine got to go home! We had a huge party for her and all the nannies came in even those off duty. We fried 15 chickens, made a huge fruit salad and baked a cake to celebrate this incredibly happy, sad day. Stella and Ron gave each of the staff a gift and Stella read a thank you note to each one that began with Who – Wah.’ Ron had us all in tears as he said, “You have all done a good job saving this baby and we’ll take over from here.”

Maxine and her new dad. Notice the same facial expressions!

Stella, a Tanzanian, and Ron from Scotland both work for the UN. Ron had worked in the past tracking down warlords from the Rwandan massacres. I told him Maxine will be the only baby in Arusha speaking Swahili in a Scottish brogue.

Maxine with her cake

While the Music Man played, Ron waltzed Maxine around the room and through tears of joy my heart knew that Maxine had found her permanent home.

Dorris loving Maxine

Once again what the evil one meant for death, God meant for life! Praise His Name!

Michael and Dorris Fortson

If you want to read the story of Maxine published last year in our blog we hope to republish it later for your enjoyment!

We have had some great videos of life around Neema made this summer by volunteers.
Astrid and Edward from Belgium made a beautiful video and you can view it here. Having reviewed the published blog, I am now putting this disclaimer. The end of Edward and Astrid’s video contains material neither we nor they intended, and we can not find a way to delete it. Sorry The video they published is great.

Barry and Rebecca from Australia made a video that will touch your heart as you see this sweet couple loving the Neema babies. You can view it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuPsQwrgvHo