A Sparrow Falls

June 24, 2015

A Sparrow Falls

I just finished fixing my breakfast and it made me cry. I had to throw away a half a loaf of bread because I couldn’t eat

it before it spoiled. As I let it drop into the trash I thought, we just lost a baby at Neema because she was literally starved to death. That is what the Doctor said, she was starved. Does that still happen in our world today?

I have been a little shaken this week by some comments made because we were trying to save the life of baby Noreen.

“Why don’t you save babies in America?” and “Is there really much purpose in saving a baby like this?”

Almost a year old, Noreen weighed about eight pounds, had

pneumonia and was HIV positive when she was brought to Neema House Arusha. But those were not what killed her. AIDs is manageable, you can live a fairly normal life now with it and she was being treated for pneumonia. She died of starvation. We tried. We had nannies staying with her 24/7 around the clock, she was in ICU in the best hospital in Arusha and being fed around the clock but it was just too late when we got her.

Would we even be asking those kinds of questions if it were one of “our babies” here? We would want the doctors to pull out all the stops, do whatever it takes, don’t mind the cost, do everything you can, try something else. Wouldn’t we? What makes some lives worth more than others? I know, I know this is my soap box but really if a child were dying here every minute from drinking unsafe water wouldn’t we be up in arms? God help us.

And with hundreds of government programs to help the poor in America and ninety five percent of all charitable giving staying in America do we have to hear that question once again!

Unfortunately children still starve and mothers still die at alarming rates in parts of this small planet we live on. Most of you read my blog because we are friends, you’re not looking for sensationalism and I don’t write for sensationalism. I just want you to see that Noreen was real, she laughed, she smiled, her mom had dreams for her and she cried more than she laughed. And I want you to see that hunger is real. I’m sorry but you need to see this.

Noreen

Every life is precious, if God knows when a sparrow falls, His heart must have been broken when this little one fell. We tend to want to blame God. I think the answer to the question, why does God allow starving children in Africa, is more – He doesn’t, we do.

Is what we do at Neema House Arusha worth it? Ask these little guys.

Neema’s Ebenezer

Neema’s Maxine

Neema’s Frankie Boy

Neema’s Elesha

I could go on, about sixty eight more times.

Thank you to all of you who supported us through this trying time with your notes of encouragement.

dorris

One Shipping Container, Two Baby Girls and Five Aggies

June 13, 2015

“One Shipping Container, Two Baby Girls and Five Aggies”

What do they all have in common? They are all at Neema House Arusha now!

The Shipping Container out of Global Samaritan in Abilene, landed in Mombasa over a month ago and has been sitting on the dock racking up a daily charge of $65 dollars a day. It finally got to Arusha on Thursday followed by a big crane to off load the container onto the pad out at the land. Unfortunately the crane could only lift 7 tons and our dear friends from Nacogdoches and Temple had loaded nearly 10 tons of goodies into that container. It was loaded from front to back and top to bottom with building supplies, play ground equipment, power saws, mowers, an incubator, furniture, high chairs, diapers, car seats and even a trailer, to name just a few things.

Jack Pape who was out at the site with Matt writes that it was quite precarious as the crane made some scary attempts to get the container off the truck. They ended up having to sit it down and unload items out onto the grass to get it light enough to pick up, swing it over and sit it down on the pad.

There is an old song that keeps popping into my head as I write this little blog, “You loaded 16 tons and what did you get, another day older and deeper in debt.” I’m sure our guys who didn’t get home until after 10 that night felt another day older! A big Thank You to all involved in another great adventure in Africa! There is never a dull day at our home for abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies in Arusha, Tanzania.

Two new babies joined the Neema family this week. Beautiful Patricia whose mother cannot keep her is getting a welcome kiss from Nanny Zawadi.

Noreen whose mom died of AIDs, is eleven months old and weighs just 8.4 pounds. This precious baby is HIV positive, severely undernourished and is battling pneumonia tonight. Please help us pray for complete healing for this baby girl. Psalms 77:14 tells us that God is a God of miracles. We could use one for this little one.

Her medical bills are going to be high this month. It would be awesome for some cool doctor’s office to take on the sponsorship of medical bills for Neema. There are some months when it is tough to pay the bills.

But I am so glad that Neema House never refuses to take a baby no matter in what condition the baby comes to us.

The long awaited Five Aggies for Christ: Hayley Strawn, Alex Miranda, Cole Dotson, Chandler Young and Andy Hounsel, have arrived at Neema and from all reports and the happy looks on their faces are having a blast helping with the building, holding babies and doing some volunteering at the local government hospital. Whoo Hoo! Go Aggies!

And finally the “David and Lyndy Edwards Home for Widows” is going up on the land. It thrills my heart to be able, with God’s help and the generous help of the George and Dorothy Dawson family of Abilene, Texas, to build this home for women who have lost so much in a land where people have so little left to lose.

May the LORD our GOD look with favor upon you.

Dorris and Michael Fortson

Emergency Trip Back to Africa

There are few things worse than having your baby girl hurt, but when she is halfway around the world, it’s worse! Bekah broke her ankle in Arusha,Tanzania a couple of weeks ago and is needing surgery to set it and put in a pin. But there is an infection now, so they have to wait on the surgery. It was a compound fracture and there is about a 5 inch cut on the inside of her ankle which has gotten infected. Dads are not good “waiters” so Michael is heading back to Africa tomorrow to be with her. If you are new to the blog you know we have just gotten back from Africa. We could use lots of prayers right now for Bekah and Michael.

(Bekah in the middle baby room)

Bekah was born in Africa at the Chimala mission hospital back when the lions still roamed the courtyard of the hospital and monkeys swung from the trees outside the door. Actually the monkeys are still there.

She has always had a heart for Africa and babies, so with her EMT skills, our home for abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies in Arusha, Tanzania was the perfect combination for her.

She could use your prayers right now and financial help, she doesn’t have insurance, not that it would be good in Africa anyway. Thanks for helping. You can give on the website donate button www.neemahousearusha.org and just mark it “medical bills”.

Blessings, Michael and Dorris

Bekah checking meds at Neema House Arusha Baby Home.

A Hedge Around Us

April 20, 2015

A Hedge Around Us

Wednesday morning I awoke to sounds of babies crying, which of course was impossible since we are home in Temple, Texas now. After four months of living in the center of our home for abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies in Africa, maybe the cries of our thirty plus babies are permanently imprinted in my mind, I know their faces are certainly imprinted in my heart.

We miss them terribly when we are gone from our home in Arusha where we live with these incredibly beautiful babies. I miss the full body hugs of Frankie who when asked if he had fun at school answers with a lispth “Yeth,” and the cute head ducking of Carolyn Sue which means “You can pick me up now” and tiny abandoned baby, Neema Joy, with both sides of her head shaved from a bout of pneumonia in the hospital with an IV stuck in her scalp, and the chubby cheeks of Bahati and the wrinkle nose smile of Doris and the big eyes of Julius and Ebenezer and … Okay I miss them all! I even miss putting calamine on the 21 Neema babies who had Chicken Pox this trip!

The building site (below) for Neema’s new home is progressing, not as fast as we would have hoped but dirt is moving.

The sites for the baby home, the unadoptable baby home and the widow’s cottage have all been cleared and the road through the property has been levelled. The fence is up and the concrete pad with the one ton generator bolted onto the slab is finished. (Matt and Michael at the delivery of the generator, a gift from the Dorothea Haus Ross Foundation.)

Now the village council just has to decide that we have jumped through enough hoops to warrant giving us the building permits! They had at first asked us for 54 million shillings in capital gains tax, a figure they pulled out of a hat somewhere and which translates into a whopping $30,000 US dollars. Since we had not gained any capital in our six months of owning the property we were not inclined to agree to the astronomical price. Our Tanzanian lawyer got the figure down to $5,000 which we have paid and which can now hopefully be passed on to the sellers who actually gained the capital.

Matt, Kelly, Michael and I had a dedication of the land before we left Tanzania last week. (right) It was very sweet and brought tears as we walked around the fence, read bible verses, prayed and put down tent pegs with scripture verses. We asked God to build a hedge of protection around us and give safety, health, joy and vision to all who will live and work on this beautiful land God has provided. Job 1:10

Our daughter, Rebekah (below), has now moved in at Neema and has taken over the medical issues with the babies and nannies. With twenty one babies and two employees covered in Chicken Pox this trip she has had her hands full. Carolyn Sue, (below) one of Neema’s abandoned babies, with Chicken Pox.

As an EMT on her last trip to Neema, Bekah saved the lives of a number of Neema babies and we are blessed to have her living in the baby home now. Kelly, along with homeschooling her two daughters and managing the 32 full time employees at Neema, has taken over the huge task of managing the volunteer program at Neema. Michael over the last three years has spent many hours emailing, sending applications, answering questions, helping with visas, scheduling bed space, calming fears, etc for hundreds of potential volunteer applicants and is overjoyed at handing this over to Kelly so we can concentrate on fund raising and getting sponsors for the babies.

We had over a hundred volunteers last year from twenty one different countries. So if you are interested in volunteering at Neema contact Kelly Erdman at [email protected].

“Volunteering at Neema is hard work but someone has to do it, like Rhiannan from the UK.”.

Hope you enjoyed these cute pictures of Neema House Arusha babies. If you are not already sponsoring one of these babies jump on board! We need you! As a registered non profit your gift is tax deductible and no administrative salaries are paid from Neema donations.

Blessings of Neema (Grace)

Michael and Dorris Fortson

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