June 14, 2024
The soccer field mural is finished! Local Artists submitted their art contest entries and Boniface from the Maasai Market won. We think he has done a tremendous job. What do you think?
This very tall wall is to keep the soccer balls from going out into the road. Next comes the grass and water, bleachers, goal posts, bathrooms, and solar lights. This is going to be so wonderful for the boys, girls and women in our local area. There is even going to be a nanny’s soccer team! It will be available for community meetings as well.
Madeleine Bloom and her dad Michael Hart are holding Neema Village babies above while they watch the Saturday morning soccer game. Bless you Paul Pape for the dream of this soccer field and Madeleine Bloom, Shanna Kurtz and True North for making it happen.
My Michael had prepared scripture stakes that we hammered into each corner of the soccer field and prayed as we walked around the field for God’s protection over those who would play and watch the games.
Last Saturday we invited a hundred of our neighbors in for lunch. They took tours of the campus and held the babies and listened to the Neema Story. Our local village committee had advised us that the people around Neema did not know what we do, so we invited them in to see! Our new director, Angel is giving this tour, and with ten tours going all over campus it took most of the day! We fed lunch to about 150 people. What a day!
“Welcome Neighbors“
Our MAP houses are full and Heavenlight writes a new MAP Mom’s story:
Martha was forced by her uncle to get married to an 80yr old man after she had become pregnant and was abandoned by the father of her baby. The baby was born handicap so her uncle wanted to marry her off to an old Man. With no father a man will never marry a single mother with a handicapped child (it is a shame but they see these children as a curse to their family) so the family wanted to get rid of her by marrying her to that old man! Martha is 22yrs old, a mother of one little precious girl named Neema.
Martha’s mother didn’t want that to happen to her daughter but there was nothing she could do (women don’t have much say here) so instead she helped her daughter to escape to a friend’s home. The “friend” found a job for her in Arusha. Martha had to travel to Arusha but unfortunately she lost the contact of the person that offered her a job when she arrived. So she started walking around with her baby on her back in the middle of the night with no destination because she knew no one in Arusha. Fortunately she met Good Samaritans who took her to their village leader, the leader decided to come to Neema Village for help and she is now a MAP MOM staying in the MAP apartments.
She is attending classes here at Neema Village including reading and writing classes (she has never been to school) and also sewing classes, Bible classes and group therapy. Her daughter Neema is also going to our special needs Daycare. Both she and her daughter are doing very well, they both have the CUTEST SMILES ever (thanks to GOD they are able to smile now.)
A Big Thank You to people who sent new pajamas for the babies. We always bring baby clothes in our suitcases when we return and it is hard to send personal Thank You notes from Africa but please know that we do appreciate every thing you send for these precious babies and moms.
We have always said Neema Village is a place of Forgiveness and Hope but it is also a place of great beauty as Maria shows off our golden arch of Pyrostegia. Maria is pretty much a beauty too!
Just in case you like many of our neighbors do not know what we do here at Neema Village, this is Liam today (on the left) and when he arrived here in December 2023 (on the right).
Keeping Up with your Baby
And did you know that Neema Village has had over 450 babies who have come through our program and average between 50 to 60 babies each month living at Neema. Since we are not a large corporation and try to keep our administrative costs down our sponsors are notified of their baby’s progress by an overworked volunteer. But each baby has an album on Neema Village Facebook and Ashley Berlin does post an update 3 times a year on their album. It always has cute updated pictures which you can “save as” and put up on your fridge and a short paragraph of what is happening in your baby’s life. Many people do not have Facebook but Neema Village is a public site so you don’t have to join Facebook, you can just follow us and watch for your baby update. That would be a great help to us and I think you would enjoy following the many ways God is working at Neema Village. Bless you dear Sponsors!