Four of our abandoned babies have new moms just in time for Christmas! What better gift could we give them at this time of giving. Adoptions at Neema are some of the best things we do! We love them. We have had 32 of them!! It has always been our policy that no baby belongs in an orphanage.

In the last few weeks we have had two babies leave Neema with their new families and two more will leave in the next few days. That is pretty exciting and what an awesome Christmas present for them.

Little Brim above was abandoned outside a market place in Arusha. When he was brought to Neema the nannies got to name him. We are never sure exactly how old our abandoned babies are but we thought Brim was about 7 weeks old. At 9 months now he has a wonderful new mom and dad from Dares Salaam. His new mom came and spent a few days with us while Brim got to know her. We like that. It was sweet to watch the bonding that took place and the love this couple now have for their new son.

They asked that we not use their picture. Brim never had a sponsor while he lived at Neema.

Sweet baby Bethany, one of our happiest babies with the biggest smiles was adopted by a local couple who have lived here in Arusha for years. She had been abandoned by her mother shortly after her birth in the hospital. Bethany’s new mom was our first women’s program director at Neema many years ago. She later started her own NGO and Matt and Kelly are now running that program for her. Little Bethany will have an exciting life with her new family in Arusha.

Two more babies to be adopted in the next few days.

Baby Jack Pape will be going to his new home in the next few days. He was abandoned in May at about one year old. His new mom is staying with us at Neema for a few days to get the baby used to her. She is bathing, changing, feeding him and getting him to sleep. We like that.

Sweet Little Jade, was abandoned outside a mosque and had set on the ground for a long time before people began to realize that no one was coming for her. She was maybe a year old and very tiny and undernourished. She is still such a little thing but is running all over the place now. She will be going to her new home in Dar in the next few days.

There was a Social Welfare worker who lived in Arusha a couple of years ago and was transferred to Dares Salaam. He sends all his prospective parents to Neema to get their babies because he says our babies are the fatest and healthiest. He is right they are!

Bless you for helping us care for these four little ones until the new moms God had planned for them could get here!

Dorris and Michael

Yesterday our four Australian volunteers,

Sam, Alex, Tara and Jess along with Mariya our MAP coordinator and Safina and Ema went to Joshua’s Maasai village to take Joshua home for Christmas.

We loved seeing the pictures they took of how excited the family was to see Joshua. As the car pulled up Joshua ran across the dirt path as fast as his little legs would go to his grandfather and grandmother while others from the village ran to see him as well. You can see this sweet homecoming on the video link below. It is worth a look.

They all grabbed him and hugged him while grandmother cried and cried. The four Aussies said it was one of the best things they got to do while at Neema. Thanks for the great pictures guys!

I always love seeing the bright colors of the Maasai clothes. In a brown and dusty land they are like brightly colored birds flitting through the trees. You can also see behind the women the way this family has decorated their home in the mud plaster outside.

Below it looks like Bibi has made a new purple outfit. They love reds, blues and purples. Beautiful!!

Joshua has been in preschool at Neema since August learning Swahili and English. He is living with Safina at her home. He has done really well at school and learning his colors. When he first came to us in August he could not speak Swahili or English, only Maasai. He spent the first couple of weeks wandering around confused and not being able to communicate with anyone. Now he runs to you, gives great hugs and talks all the time in a mixture of Swahili and Maasai with a little English thrown in. Below is Joshua in front of the family kitchen and wearing one of the new outfits from America.

His father who never got to go to school wanted his boy to have an education but there were no schools available for him in his area. Many Maasai children do not go to school. As you drive out to the villages you can see young boys, sometimes as young as five or six, watching their cattle. That is their life.

Joshua’s mom had died at his birth and Jacobo, his father, had brought him to Neema when he was just a few days old. He saved his life by doing that. Without clean water, medical care, electricity or formula, nine out of ten of these babies will die. Below are eight of our toddlers who are Maasai and their mothers died in childbirth. Back left: Maria, Saruni, Nengai, Sharon. Front left: Joeli, Osiligi, Jackson and Zawadi.

Joshua lived with us for 2 years before his dad remarried and he was able to return home.

We brought him to town in August a year later and moved him in with Safina, our volunteeer cook who speaks perfect English. Joshua comes to work with her and attends our preschool. He is a little behind our other children in class but he will catch up. We are so happy to be able to do this for this beautiful family.

https://youtu.be/m1D9RtzaxV4

Thank you for helping us.

Dorris and Michael

Michael and Mr. Chandu inspect the new Chicken House above.

We were excited to return to Neema Village last week and find the gardens are growing, the cow is giving milk, the Mothering Center is being painted, the chicken coop is finished and the babies are getting big!

Bekah, Maria, the Volunteers and the babies on the way to church.

Yesterday we dressed seven of the babies up for church in cute dresses that we had brought in one of our nine suitcases this trip. A couple from Belton, Texas had donated 20 handmade dresses. They were so cute!

Nengai, Maria, Patricia, Destiny, Kristina, Sharon and Zawadi

With the recent rains everything is green and beautiful and we are eating fresh vegetables from the gardens.

Mo, one of our little abandoned fellows that we have had since his birth, is pretty excited about picking his first carrot which he got to wash and eat on the spot.

That is kale, above, growing next to the Blessing House. The nannies saute it with onions, grated carrots and butter from our cow. Mmmm delicious.

The baby home pictured above was built with cement blocks and a tin roof for $24 a sq foot, but still incredibly beautiful.

We continue to hear from surprised visitors that we are not your normal African orphanage. Yes, we are definitely not a “dirt floor orphanage.” The children are well dressed, fat and happy, the home is clean and there is laughter everywhere.

It is The Happy Place. Just ask our toddlers in the cute video link below.

Neema Village video on YouTube

Have a happy day!
Michael and Dorris

So many of you have brought gifts and clothes for the babies for Christmas and I can tell you they are packed in nine suitcases and ready to go to Africa! We cannot say Thank You enough. I could feel the joy you had shopping for them as you brought your gifts and told me where you went and how you found your gift.  Bless you for doing that. Giving really is more fun, isn’t it.

Now my challenge is to have a Christmas gift for the nannies. We love giving these hard working women a $100 bonus at Christmas. The average Tanzanian family lives on less than $100 per month. It is exciting to be able to give our 45 full time employees at Neema almost a full months extra salary at Christmas. You should hear them sing and see them dance when they receive their bonus!!

I dislike asking for money with a passion. But the scripture comes to mind that says, “You don’t have because you don’t ask.” Okay, so I’m asking. HELP!! Please.

Our nannies love these little abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies at Neema. One day I was at the hospital with a sick baby and it had gone long and was way past quitting time for the nanny who was with me. I was apologizing to her for keeping her late, she had already missed her ride home, when she stopped me and said, No, these are our babies too, I want to be here.

Watching all 10 of the crawlers is quite a job.  What a beautiful place for them to play, the front porch of the baby home at Neema Village.

We have a lot of laundry for the babies and big kids, our nannies carry laundry back and forth from the baby home, Montana Home and Ucare home to the central laundry – with a smile I might add.

Our nannys brave the wilds of Africa for our kids. Camels and snakes can be quite scary as Bakari well knows. It took a while for him to decide to get on the camel with Nanny Glory and then he wanted to ride again and again.

We have a piano teacher on staff. Below Sophia is teaching Malikia and Joycie piano lessons with Silke from Belgium looking on.

Our nannies help in school and they work with the children in crafts and they read to the babies, change their diapers, they play with them, they take them on walks and they feed and bath them, they give them medicines when needed, they get up with them at night when they cry and they wipe their noses and kiss their booboos! – all 46 of them!! They don’t really kiss booboos, that is my job. Below is Gertrude helping with painting.

Nanny Cessy below is reading to the crawlers.

.You can find Nanny Jenny playing on the trampoline with the toddlers almost any day.

Nannies Anna and Jenny feeding the toddlers.

Safina, our volunteer cook, learned to make biscuits for the visitors this year. Over 100 volunteers this year can tell you how hard Safina works!!

So there you have it. Nannys working hard at Neema. A Christmas bonus would be awesome for them. You can donate at www.neemavillage.organd mark it nanny’s Christmas bonus. It is tax deductible, just don’t put a specific name on it, the IRS does not like that. Thank you for helping!!

Michael and Dorris

From new babies, to cows, chickens and vegetable gardens, it has been a busy month at Neema. You might say, so, what’s new! Right, that seems to be life at Neema. As a busy baby home with more than 40 abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies it is always busy! And Loud! And Messy! And Wonderful!

We could have carved their names on a tree, “Linda loves Rusty.” They had a bond of love at first sight. It made no difference that they lived worlds apart. Rusty had been abandoned and we never knew how old he was, we estimated about three months. He was chubby cheeked, smiled easily and took his bottle in a single gulp like he had been starved. He was definitely Linda’s little love.

When she walked into the infant room at Neema Village, Rusty’s eyes went to her and never left her face. If she picked up another baby he would frown until she picked him up. Then the sun would come out on those round baby cheeks.

Since Rusty was an abandoned baby Social Welfare would wait six months to make sure no family member came forward to claim the baby. As the months passed and no one came to claim Rusty, it began to look like he would get a new family. And we were excited that there was a wonderful family waiting to adopt him. It was a good plan.

But Rusty’s adoption was not to be. His birth mother called her sister and said, “I have a baby at Neema Village, if you want him, go get him.” Once a family member contacts us the adoption is off.

The volunteers and I (pictured above) went to visit him shortly after he went home to live with his aunt. On Linda’s next trip to Africa she couldn’t wait to go to Rusty’s home for a visit.

As soon as Linda came in the door, Rusty came right to her, grabbed her around the neck and would not leave her arms until toys were brought out.

His new home was a bit disappointing but at least it was not a mud hut. His aunt loves him and does the best she can for him but it was pretty sparse with rough cement walls and cold bare floors and no toys for the boys.  So we brought toys.

His aunt is hard working like most mothers in Africa and supports the family with a small vegetable stand in Moshi pictured below.

It was disappointing to lose the adoption family for Rusty but as Social Welfare said, we cannot keep a child from his family just because they are poor. Most Africans are poor! We have placed over thirty Neema babies back with an extended family member. And just like with Rusty, we love to go out to their homes and check on them. When they go home we place their pictures on our wall at Neema so we will never forget them.

But Linda’s heart was touched with Rusty’s living condition and decided that she could help. On our next trip to see the family, Linda and Emanuel, our driver, bought paint, brushes and linoleum and hired a couple of neighbors to come help paint the gray cement walls into a soft yellow.

It warmed the room when they put the shiny green linoleum down so the boys did not have to play on the cement floor.

In one day Linda had transformed the room into a bright and cheerful playroom for the baby she loved.

I know we can’t do this for every baby we put back into their homes but who can stop love at first sight!

Linda had brought a Blessing for the house too, a transfer to put above the door.

I think the scripture fits Linda ’s heart too don’t you? “Blessed are the pure in Heart.”

And May you be Blessed too!

Michael and Dorris

So many of you made donations on behalf of our 20 climbers of Mt. Kilimanjaro this summer that I wanted to share our grandson Tanner’s thank you to his supporters. It touched my heart and typifies how most of our volunteers feel after they spend time with the Neema children in Africa. 

Tanner writes:

“Thank you so much for making a donation to Neema Village on behalf of the Kilimanjaro Charity Climb. I am touched by your support of such a worthy cause on my behalf and it spurred me to reach the top. Each climber chose a child at Neema to honor in the climb. I chose Shabani.

He did not have a sponsor and his story touched my heart. I spent a great deal of time with Shabani during my month long visit to Neema. It was life changing to finally meet these children who have endured so much, and yet have so much love to share. Shabani really is sweet and as passionate about reading as I was told.

All of the children are more filled with life and love than I can put down in words. Also I am happy to report that Shabani has a sponsor now!

(Left Shabani’s cute baby picture) He is a big boy now but still sucks his tongue when he gets upset.

Reaching the 19,341 foot top of Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, was truly an adventure and I feel it will always be a lifelong accomplishment. But the summit was only a small portion of this life changing experience. (Below Tanner pictured with four of our big kids.)

I walked away changed not by the struggle against the mountain, but by the interaction with the people of Tanzania. (Below Tanner with Maasai children in the village.)

I walked away with a deep love and respect for them.

I am most honored to be a part of the group of people who sacrifice and serve at Neema to care for the babies and children who otherwise wouldn’t have a chance. Thank you for partnering with me to bring attention and support to the precious children of Neema Village Arusha Tanzania!

(Below Tanner pictured with his Aunt Bekah and four Neema babies.)

Sincerely

Tanner White
Age 20
Chemical Engineer major at Montana State Bozeman

(One last picture of Tanner below eating fried termites just like his grandfather fifty years ago. Getting the first one down may have been as hard as climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro!) Great Job Tanner, so proud of you!

Grandmommy and PaPa

Over the last five years, Neema Village has cared for over 130 babies!! Currently there are 45 babies in the house. Below is a picture of our little crawlers having their morning bottle.

Astoundingly ninety one, 91, of our babies have been adopted, returned home or were cared for in their own homes through our outreach program. We think that is impressive! Think of it another way, we have been able to put 70% of our babies back into a family!!

There are a lot of orphanages in Africa and we are not one of them. You don’t have to tell me that orphanages are not the best way to care for children! I was raised in one. Neema Village is not an orphanage, we are a Faith based, Christ Centered rescue center! Our goal has never been to keep these babies.

Below are pictures of new babies at Neema. We need your help to care for these babies until we can safely get them back in their homes.

Baraka, pictured above, was born on 27th of May, His mother went to another region about a 10 hour drive from Arusha in Tanga to look for land so she could farm and make a living. While there she got pregnant and gave birth to Baraka. Unfortunately she got sick shortly after and passed away. Her family didn’t know anything about what happened, so the neighbors in Tanga took care of the baby. They searched for the family and found the brother of Baraka’s mom. When the uncle found out that his sister died and had a child, he decided to take the baby with him back to Arusha. He has a big family to take care of, two wives and six children. Some are the same age as Baraka. So, he feels he cannot take care of Baraka at this time. The uncle went to social welfare for help and they referred him to Neema Village.

Abbas was born on the fourth of September. He came to Neema weighing around 4lbs. His mother had a rough delivery and lost a lot of blood during his delivery. She was sent home but was not well. She went back to the hospital about a week later for a blood transfusion. Unfortunately her heart was failing and she passed away in the hospital. Neema was called by social welfare and we picked Abbas up at the hospital and brought him to Neema.

Joan was born on the 21st of May. She was abandoned by her mother who ran off with Joan’s two year old sibling. The father has filed a police report, and is having the police try to locate his wife and child. For now Joan is at Neema and is a very happy, healthy baby. The father is a good dad and comes to visit. We like that.

Update News!! Joan has been able to return home. Her grandmother from Moshi will be able to keep her. We loved her while we had her but are so glad she is back home with her family.

Majaliwa, above, came to Neema on September 10, 2017. He was one week old. He is very healthy, over seven lbs. (3.5 kg). His mother died during his birth.  He is the fifth sibling in his family. We hope to reunite him with his family when possible.

A baby who loses his mother in Africa has only a one in 10 chance of survival. When there is no electricity in the home, no clean water, no refrigeration, very little medical care and formula costs $16 per can many of these little motherless ones out in the villages will not make it without help. We stopped for lunch on a trip last week and these little guys came to watch. Yes, we fed them their first peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

We gave them some clothes we had in the car.

It can be a rough life in Africa for children and babies. It is our privilege to stand in the gap for these little ones.

But we cannot do it alone! We need your help to do this God Given work. We have made it so that almost anyone can sponsor a baby at Neema, it starts at $30 per month.

Of course that does not keep a baby at Neema. It costs us over $300 per month to keep a baby. That pays our Tanzanian nannies and workers salaries, food, formula, utilities, petrol, medical bills. It does not pay for buildings, land purchase nor director’s salaries.

We are a registered non profit both in the U.S. and Tanzania and in good standing with our auditors. We were voted the number one child care facility in this area last year.

As much as we love our babies we do not want to keep them. We want to get them back into a stable home and we work closely with Social Welfare to do that. They are precious, innocent children of God. Please choose one to sponsor, you will be happy you did!

Be Blessed!

Dorris and Michael

The one room house is barely big enough for the bed where she sleeps with her two children. It’s better than many houses in Africa, at least it’s cement, not mud. She rents the room for seven dollars per month. There is no kitchen and no bathroom, just the small bedroom with only enough room to walk around the bed. But it is neat and clean and she has an infectious smile.

Mama Noela lives alone there with her two children, Noela and the new baby who is three weeks old. They call mothers by their children’s names here. Mama Noela’s name is Felister. She has been carrying this seven year old girl on her back for seven long, weary years. She loves the child and would have continued to carry her but she became pregnant again.

We met her at a local church where she had the seven year old on her back and was eight months pregnant. She was totally exhausted from carrying this big girl. Her minister asked if we could help. I told him God’s people are good, surely we can find help.

So we found a home for handicap children and drove to Moshi with the child’s bag packed, but they wouldn’t take her. They told the mother if she loved her child she would continue to care for her and then told her they would find the husband and make him pay. They didn’t and she does love her child. She is just so weary.

That kind of government help makes me weary. So we have hired a house girl to help her with the children.

We are giving her $30 per month to pay the house girl. Now with our new MAP “Mother’s Against Poverty” program we can work to set up a more permanent solution for Mama Noela. I suggested making jewelry to sell which she could make in her room. Later she showed us her chickens in the chicken coop and asked if we wanted to buy some eggs from her neighbor. Below is her chicken coop made from old mosquito nets.

We realized she was more into chickens than jewelry. Through our MAP program we can help her get started in an egg business. But first we will need to build her a bigger, better chicken coop! Below is where she cooks for her family when she has wood. Other times she cooks on the porch with charcoal. The chicken coop is behind the kitchen.

Since this is our second egg/chicken business we know how much it will cost to build a wooden/cement block chicken house and buy 40 chickens. About $400.

If you would like to help individuals such as Mama Noela with starting a business please consider contributing to our MAP program.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galations 6:9

Bless you!

Dorris

After a busy summer of volunteers we are down to just three who are living in the Pape volunteer house.

Silka from Belgium, Emily from Colorado and Sumera from Chicago are pictured above.

It is a big job to love so many babies, so say a prayer for these three hard working girls!

If you are new to the blog we are a baby home and we only take in babies who are two years and under so it takes a lot of volunteers. The babies are all either abandoned, orphaned or at risk. At risk means they have lost their mother or they have some physical condition that would lessen their chance of survival out in remote villages.

Volunteers Silka and Emily got to go to the hospital last week to pick up a new baby. They had to take clothes to dress him, the hospital does not have clothes or blankets to give out. If we don’t take clothes we bring home a naked baby!!

This little one had just lost his mother. Babies under five who lose their mothers have only a one in ten chance of survival in rural Africa. This is due mainly to lack of electricity, clean water and adequate medical care. We have cared for over 130 babies like this in the last five years.

Amazing, isn’t it?

Volunteers are a great help. We have had 87 volunteers since May of this year!!

They hold babies, change diapers, teach class, sing songs, read stories, help bathe, wash dishes, peel potatoes, organize storerooms, mow grass, teach women’s classes, and did I say hold babies.

They may build things like play grounds, put in flower beds, dig post holes and lay some bricks on occasion.

They come from all over the world like Belgium, Australia, Italy, England, Norway, America and many other countries.

But they all have one thing in common, they want to help these little ones who have lost the most important thing to a baby, their mothers.

Like our newest baby, Abasi, pictured below.

He weighed a tiny 4 lbs at birth and the hospital called us after his mom died. We will keep him until he is stable and off the bottle, hopefully before age two.

We can only keep these little ones because good people like you chose to sponsor them. We do not take money from the U.S. government, from Tanzania, or from adoptions. Our monthly support comes from people who sponsor a baby at $30 per month or more. And remember no one takes a salary from Neema donations except Tanzanians. 

Our 45 full time Tanzanian staff could not possibly give these little ones all the love and attention they need. That is why we have volunteers. If you came to volunteer this summer, Bless You! I wish I could mention each one of you by name but I would surely leave someone out. Just know that we remember you and miss you! Thank you so much for your hard work this summer.

Love and Blessings,

Dorris and Michael

I think I heard my first Aggie joke over 50 years ago. We were living in Southern Tanzania and a visitor said, “How many Aggies does it take to screw in a light bulb?” The answer, “Four, one to hold on to the bulb and three to turn him around.” At the time I remember thinking, what’s an Aggie? If you, like me, are not up on Aggies, they are students at the prestigious Texas A & M university and are called Aggies. It’s a tough school and the students have to be just a cut above to make it so they developed these Aggies jokes to make people think they are really just normal people. We have learned differently.

This summer at Neema I learned a bit more about who Aggies are.

They are educated and talented, especially face painting.

They can be loud when needed.

They will make good professors.

They go bananas quite often.

They major in bubbles and fun.

They are beautiful people!

They are creative.

They are touched easily by poverty.

They are loving.

They are willing to try new ways.

They are patient even with Osiligi.

So How Many Aggies does it take to love 45 little Neemaities? Seven was just the perfect number. Thanks Aggies for Christ at Texas A & M for helping to make 2017 Summer at Neema Village a blast.

Love and miss you!

Dorris

You never know what might come from something as simple as walking down the road to teach a bible class. Emily Broadbent from Billings, Montana visited Neema in February and she came with the idea of walking down the dirt road in front of Neema and just see if any children were interested in a bible lesson.

Yes, they were, especially since we had bubbles and candy!

We stopped at a lady’s house and the children came from all directions. She was very kind and brought out chairs and benches for us to sit on. We blew bubbles, passed out candy, sang songs and Emily got to teach her class about the birth of Jesus.

We have since gotten to know the sweet lady who shared her yard that day. Her name is Happy Mollel. Below is a picture of Happy in front of her kitchen behind her house.

She is the mother of seven children and tries to make extra money for her family by buying milk and reselling it to make a small profit. Her problem is that quite often her children need the milk so she is not able to sell very much.

With Casey McMullen and Lexi Koon from Abilene Christian University, two business majors spending the summer at Neema, we decided to visit Happy and see if she would be interested in starting a business though our MAP (Mothers Against Poverty) program.  We talked for a while about things she might could do to make extra money for her family and finally realized that she loved to fix hair. She sits outside her house and fixes her neighbors hair but she had never dreamed that she might someday have a chance to have her own business.

And so we talked and listened to Happy talk about her idea and watched as that spark of hope grew in her eyes. We got pretty excited with her.

To begin this entrepreneurial journey with Happy, we decided it would be best if she did an apprenticeship at one of the busy hair salons in downtown Arusha.  We found a successful shop that agreed to take her on as an apprentice and now Happy rides the Dala Dala to the shop downtown on Tuesdays through Saturdays. They are teaching her everything she will need to know to start a business. She is loving it and we are so excited to be a part of this with her.

One of our volunteers from Houston, Lori Thompson had her hair braided by a Neema nanny. Very Pretty Lori!

The total cost for a three months apprenticeship, lunch and transport for Happy to learn the hair business is $261. dollars. When we told Happy we wanted to help her get started in her business she could not stop shaking our hands and thanking us and asking God to bless us. I wish you could see the light of hope as it comes to women like Happy when they realize they might actually have a chance to do something to help their family. We are thrilled to be a part of this incredible dream for Happy.

Wouldn’t it be just the coolest thing for some established beauty salon in the U. S. to partner with an enterprising, hard working woman in Africa in her dream to help her family by fixing hair!  By helping Happy pay for her $261 dollar apprenticeship you can be a part of changing the lives of this family in Africa!! Just put a can at the desk in your shop with Happy’s picture and see how fast your customers will fill it for you!! I think your heart will be filled up too, I know ours is.

You can donate any amount on line at www.neemavillage.org. To make sure it is tax deductible for you please do not put an individual name on the donation. Just put MAP program at Neema Village. Who knows you might come to Africa someday and need a new hair do like Lori!!

And to think it all came from a walk down a dirt road to teach a bible class! God is amazing!

We commissioned an artist at the Maasai market to design an icon for our women’s center. Isn’t this bold and beautiful!! Notice the baby on the back.

Love to all you dream makers out there,

Dorris and Michael