September 27th, 2023

“No baby belongs in an orphanage” has been our belief since day one of Neema Village. We have our own Neema Social Worker, Angel Macha, who works as soon as we get a baby in to begin a plan to get them back into a family. We only take babies under two and we can usually get them back home by age three. In the last eleven years we have helped over 450 babies. Currently there are 63 babies at Neema Village and we are trying to get them home!

You may not realize but Neema Village now has 95 full time employees to take care of these babies. With nannies, cooks, guards, drivers, a nurse, cleaners, farm workers, maintenance men, cow men, etc., it is a big job! Remember no one is paid at Neema Village except Tanzanians. We like that.

This sweet baby boy lost his mom in childbirth. He was so tiny the father did not think he could keep him. It is not easy for families to keep a preemie baby like this but he will be able to go back home to his dad when he is bigger.

He weighed only 1.4 kg when his dad brought him in. Now he is getting big and has little round chubby cheeks. Neema has had many preemie babies, our smallest weighed only 800 grams!

Elesha is about 6 weeks old now and doing well. This is the baby that we witnessed his mother throw him across the room. Thankfully he was not hurt and does not seem to have any lasting trauma from that horrendous event. Kelle and I on the other hand might have!

ADOPTED! Nashooki and Esuvati were starving with big heads and tummies and skinny little arms and legs when they were brought to Neema by a neighbor. Their mother has the sickness and does not want to live so the babies were being neglected. The neighbor who came often to visit the babies has gotten permission to adopt the girls and they were able to go home to their forever family. We are so happy for them.

The little fluffy hair twins, Nyesu and Furaha were newborns when they were brought to Neema. Their Maasai mom had died out in the village. Through Social Welfare from their district they were able to go to their new home this month. They are Big girls now.

RETURNED HOME! Gian and Giana were born March 12, 2022. They came to Neema at twenty-one days old. Gian was a big baby weighing 4.2kg (9.25lbs). His little sister Giana weighed 3kg (6.6lbs). Their mother had sadly passed away due to blood loss after the birth. She tried going into the hospital a couple of times but they could not get the bleeding to stop.

The hospital was ready to give a blood transfusion but it was too late.

This is a heartbreaking story. Her first baby had died and then she had twins and they also died. She then had Gian and Giana and she passed away after only three weeks with them.

The twins were big and healthy and loved bible class. We will miss them, Gian was just learning to talk and with his gruffy little man voice would greet me every morning with “Hiiiiiii.” They returned home to their father and an auntie who has agreed to keep them.

Newborn Ruth came to Neema with her 18 year old mother. The mother is an orphan and is now being looked after by her late mother’s friend. Ruth’s young mother had some very horrible things done to her and as a result became pregnant and also contracted the sickness.

Ruthie was able to return to the family this week. This spunky little girl went home knowing there is a man named Jesus and He loves me! Ruthie loved to sing and clap to the songs at church. Go with God sweet girl!

This little sweetheart, Camilla, was abandoned at the hospital. Her mother just walked out of the hospital and never came back. The nurses soon realized no one was coming to nurse this baby.

Baby Camilla was adopted! Her new mom and dad are from Dares Salam and are already in love with this happy little girl. Praise God. She will never be left behind again.

Last year a tiny baby 1.7kg was abandoned at the hospital in Arusha and brought to Neema Village. The Nannies voted to name her Lottie after my sister Lottie McCormack who was so tiny when she was born she was put in a shoe box on top of a pot belly stove. Today this little sweetheart has a new mom and she will never be abandoned again!!

New Mom was so excited she was Praising God! Her son is 24 years old and grown and mom always wanted a daughter. When asked if she would keep the name Lottie she said no, her new name is Winner because she is a Winner. I think she is right, baby Lottie won the lottie-ery with this new mom! Go with God Winner!

We kept sweet baby Glory while her mom was recuperating in the hospital. She had had a c-section that got infected and had been in the hospital for a couple of months. We are so happy that she was well enough to take this precious baby girl home.

We will leave you with the happy, smily face of little Michael. Please be praying for all our babies and just remember that half way around the world there is a place called Neema Village trying to put families back together. I think God likes that, don’t you. Help when you can.

Love you guys,

Dorris

www.neemavillage.org

September 25th, 2023

We never get tired of looking at the mountain that stands watch over Neema Village. At almost 15,000 feet, Mt. Meru is the fifth tallest mountain in all of Africa. She is a volcano so we hope she is puffing out fluffy clouds and not smoke! In the garden surrounding the grass roofed gazebo we are growing our own oranges, bananas, coffee, guava, mangoes and avocados. The scripture benches placed around the garden make it a place of peace and rest for those who come to serve and love the babies and moms of Neema Village.

In America Sarah Lockett stands watch over the finances that keep Neema Village going. Sarah is a nurse and for many years has overseen Mission Waco’s program to the homeless of Waco. A true servant, Sarah has never charged Neema Village for her work keeping our finances straight and making sure we are in compliance with the US government and the IRS. That is Sarah and her cute hubby Scott pictured below drinking coffee on the porch at Neema Village.

Sarah tells us we continue to get information that donations are going to Neema House Geita that were meant for Neema Village in Arusha. We exist solely on individual donations, and always need your donations! We began as Neema House Arusha twelve years ago but quickly realized there were problems with lots of other Neema Houses; one in Geita, Tanzania and one in Eldoret, Kenya, plus others. If you are just doing a google search for us and type in Neema House you will get the wrong one. Because of this donation problem, a few years ago we changed to Neema Village, located in Arusha, Tanzania. But we continue to hear that people have set donations to the wrong Neema. If you believe you set up a monthly donation to the wrong place that can easily be fixed by contacting those organizations. They are nice people and will send the money on to us! To set up a new donation we are www.neemavillage.org.

With two new babies this month we are back up to 63 babies in house. That is a lot of formula and diapers!!

Above, new Baby Katarina’s mom bled to death from retained placenta. This is just so sad. We are working as hard as we can with our Save the Mothers program each month bringing in traditional birthers to encourage them to get these moms to the hospital and if not possible how to correct a retained placenta. Please Pray for this program!

Baby Rachel came to Neema today, September 25, 2023 with her grandmother. Rachel was born August 22, 2023. Her Maasai mother was not feeling well before the baby was born or after. A few days ago, the family took the mother to a Maasai clinic (near our first baby Frankie’s village). The mother had a fever and a cough and sadly passed away. Baby Rachel has three other siblings, the father is not around and the Maasai grandmother could not care for the newborn. They think maybe the father is working in Kenya and only comes home occasionally. We will gladly love and care for beautiful Rachel until future plans are made for her to be back into a family.

Pictured below Michael and I in outfits made by one of our young MAP moms. She was burned as a child and lost some fingers. The outfits are not our color or style but we are wearing them because she made them with her little burned hands on a treadle sewing machine!

Michael will be receiving a Distinguish Alumni Citation from Abilene Christian University at the Crestview church of Christ in Waco, Texas, 9am on Oct 29th. If you know him, you will know he is totally embarrassed about this!! He will also be sharing the latest Neema news at the 10am church service. We would love to see you there!

Remember we are Neema Village, look us up.

Dorris and Michael Fortson

www.neemavillage.org

August 23rd, 2023

Kelle tells about a hard day at Neema Village.

This past month at Neema Village has been a blessing. I am in awe every day to see first-hand God at work here in Africa. So much joy, precious relationships forming, moms learning how much God loves them, futures and hope blossoming, babies being fed and cuddled and lots of love happening everywhere you look at Neema Village.

That is what I expected when I woke up but I will never forget what actually happened. Social Welfare had asked us to just supply formula to a mother with a new baby but Dorris had known this mother before with her last baby, Ebenezer, and knew this new baby was most likely in danger.  We knew we had to go now to check it out.

We asked Baraka to go with us and he drove us to the house where we were all sitting inside quietly talking. I was sitting in the chair holding the baby and Dorris and the mother were on the couch.

With no warning suddenly the mother charged over Dorris and lunged at me and began to strangle her baby in my arms. I kicked her as hard as I could. She was strong and with her hands around his throat she ripped the baby out of my arms, lifted him over her head and threw him across the room. The sight of that little body as she swung him over her head and threw him at the wall will forever be imprinted on my mind.

By the grace of God, Mama Musa was in the right place at the right time to catch the baby. We were all screaming and Mama Musa quickly turned and ran out with the baby while Baraka wrestled the mom out the door to keep her from hurting anyone else. It was a chaotic scene and one none of us will soon forget.

We drove to the police station and talked with four different police to get them to pick this dangerous woman up but they said since she was mentally ill there was nothing they could do. It was a bit frustrating.

We learned she had had a birth control device put in her arm but she had bitten that out herself. There is no mental institution here so we are not sure what this poor grandmother, who says the girl has been biting her too, is going to do.

The baby is ok and is now safe at Neema Village. We are praying that he never has to go back to that house and that the mama gets the help she needs.

Later we learned that Bryson, one of our day care babies had been placed in ICU in the hospital because of a seizure I had witnessed with him that morning. That was hard to see for this normally happy little guy.

Yes, it was a hard day for everyone at Neema Village but God doesn’t promise all easy days for us. He does promise that He will always be with us.

God was all over this day!

It was a miracle that we decided to go check on this baby today; it was a miracle that we were there at the right time to see what the mother was capable of; it was a miracle that Mama Musa was in the direct line of fire and her hands were free to reach up and catch the baby; it was a miracle that Baraka had gone with us.  It was a miracle that God had gone with us!

It’s on the hard days like this that I am reminded of how God is continually working in our lives when we are listening. He is with us on the sweet easy days but it’s on the hard days like this that I really see how He goes before us in every situation. Thank God He is with us even on the hard days.

May God go with each of you and keep you safe.

Love,

Dorris

We headed out to Maasai land Monday to do three things, a medical mission for pregnant women, a “Days For Girls” program for young women and a mini VBS for kids. Our three docs visiting from Temple, Texas were ready.

I can’t even begin to explain to you how absolutely horrendous, incredibly wonderful the day was. We had packed everything except the kitchen sink in Bob the truck; medicines, food for more than 500 people, puppets, crayons, 350 feminine bags, exam tables, washing stations, a thousand bottles of water, even a mini sonogram so the pregnant moms could see their babies. The volunteers made 700 peanut butter sandwiches.

The Altrusa group from Temple Texas, friends from Arkansas and our water well drillers from Nacogdoches were ready. Who knew by the time we arrived every thing we had so carefully packed would be a jumbled mess covered in dust.

The pretty little clinic in Shambarai where we were headed had had no water, no bathrooms, no exam rooms, no tables or chairs, just whitewashed walls and a shiny, tin roof. To make a medical mission happen we had to take literally everything, from clipboards and gloves to exam sheets and wash stands. They had nothing.

They had dust. We sunk in dust, we breathed in dust, every time we slowed for a bump the dust billowed up slapping the windows of the cars so we were entombed in dust.

Poor Bob, our truck, had a hard time ploughing through the dust.

At times the tires sunk so deep they could not go on. The men cut brush to put under the tires to try to get traction. Twice they had to be dug out and pulled by a safari car.

I will forever feel guilty when I complain about how much rain we get in Arusha. It has been three years since they have had rain out here. It is easy to see why no one comes out here!

The government had promised a doctor if the people would build the clinic and a home for him. Although extremely poor, the people were desperate for a doctor and with the help of Pastor Israel they had managed to beg and scrape together enough money to put up the walls and roof.  Neema Village had provided the birthing clinic, drilled a well for water, laid the pipe to deliver the water to the clinic and built a separate bathroom with the water tank on top. Below, water from one of the three wells Neema Village dug for them.

Many of our babies at Neema Village are from Maasai villages where they have no medical care, very little car service and must walk 30 or 40 km to the nearest village clinic. Moms are estimated to die from childbirth at a shocking rate of one in nine out there.

On this trip we planned to see 50 pregnant moms, hand out prenatal vitamins and encourage them to come in to the hospital for delivery.

New little Maasai twins this month at Neema, Lepaso and Lemodia lost their mom in childbirth.

Thirteen people from the Altrusa club in Temple, Texas had been planning to come to volunteer at Neema since before Covid. It finally happened and three Scott and White Hospital doctors and two medical assistants from Arkansas came with the group. It was a medical mission wanting to happen!

The rest of the group organized patients, kept records, took blood pressure, gave out meds, and led people to exam rooms. We took translators since few of the people spoke English.

Our translators like Grace were fabulous, right Susan and Beverly? Besides the pregnant women there were a few hundred other people all wanting to see a doctor. With so many people pulling us in every direction Kelle remarked, ” I don’t know how Jesus did this.”

A fourteen-year-old boy who had been playing with an electric wire and barely survived electrocution sat patiently waiting to be seen. His arm was maimed and he only had one toe on what was left of his foot. There was a large hole of dirt and pus on his ankle. He sat patiently waiting to see a doctor and after Kelle washed and bandaged it he went over to color giraffe with the other children. It was sad to think this little boy had not been immediately rushed to a hospital. We were the first medical people he had seen.

Friends had hooked up a couple of donkeys to bring a woman in who had had a stroke. There wasn’t much we could do; she had just waited too late. One old lady had come with the beginnings of a goiter on her neck; we didn’t have any iodized salt so we gave her a bottle of prenatal vitamins which had iodine.

Don’t know if that will help at all but she will certainly feel better.

The twins from Arkansas, Melissa and Margaret, were everywhere helping.

And the doctors saw 55 happy little pregnant women, one with twins that we need to find and encourage her to get to the hospital when the time comes to deliver.

One sweet young mom had heard about the sonogram and asked, “Will we really get to see our baby?”  Can you just imagine.

The “Days for Girls” program was a smashing success. Our staff, Anna, Angel, Priscilla and Heavenlight along with volunteer Marquesette did the program and then gave out 350 bags with feminine washable pads for girls.

This program is designed to keep girls in school, delay early marriage and put off having babies until at least age 18. The music was loud and over 300 girls had a great time dancing, trilling and eating peanut butter sandwiches.

Ashley, Caroline, Debra and I had the children’s program but I soon left it with Ashley since she is so good at presenting the gospel message to kids.  They were scared at first and like most kids, they just wanted their mommies but puppets, lollypops and colors got them calmed down pretty fast.

That evening on the way back, we stopped to see an orphanage with 35 children that Pastor Israel supports. Seeing the girls’ sweet little faces and having grown up in an orphanage myself that was a little rough for me.

Thank You Temple Group and Dr. Pam Greene, Dr. David Dawson and Dr. Scott Ruiz from Scott and White Hospital and all the group for doing this medical mission.  You were Trojans!

Travis and Pam Russell, Julie and Steve Ruiz, Melissa Ricks, Margaret Cooper, Debra Hicks, Susan and David Dawson, Dana Sanger, Pam Greene, Beverly and Larry Luedke, Donna Darner and Sierra Goffigan. You were all amazing!

There were a lot of tired, happy smiles at a job well done at the end of the day.

Before he left one of the Doctors made a comment that touched me,

“The footprint of Neema Village is huge here in this country.”

We pray that people see God and not us in that footprint!

July 26th, 2023

We love to see our volunteers fall in love with Africa, with mission work and with the babies and moms at Neema Village. We have had volunteers from around the world this summer. God is Good!

(If you are short on time, just skip to the bottom and read a really important message. Blessings, Dorris)

I thought it might be interesting for you to hear from one of them this time.

Holly, volunteering at Neema, writes:

“After lunch on Monday, we went with Anna, Neema’s director of the MAP program, to visit a woman who was destitute and begging on the street. The young mother was sweet and invited us into her home, but it was very sad.

Eva has a 6-month-old baby girl and they are living in this borrowed room in a mud hut.”

The women we interview for the MAP program, who have been left out, pushed out, or abandoned and become destitute in their society are so depressed they can hardly hold their heads up as they tell their story.

“As we listened, Eva told us that when she was pregnant the baby’s dad had told her to quit her job and she could stay home with the baby. But after she had the baby, he ran off and left her with nothing. She couldn’t pay her rent so the landlord took all of her things for payment. She was begging on the street when a man told her he would help her if she sold herself for him. She refused and continued to beg for food and shelter.

Then a kind lady stepped in to help her. She found Eva and the baby a small room to stay in and she helps take care of the baby while Eva goes out and washes clothes for people. Eva makes about $2 a day washing other peoples clothes.”

You just can’t live on that even in Africa. After some training Neema Village will be setting Eva up with a new MAP business so she can support herself and her young child. Hope has come alive for this young woman!

It was good for us to see the outreach programs at Neema Village which are beyond amazing!

The babies are a huge part of Neema but Neema’s outreach programs to mothers, young girls and children are an absolute blessing to SO many people! ”

Above, Neema’s four newest babies, three of whom came in last week. They lost their mothers in childbirth. There are 63 babies today in-house at Neema but they care for many other children through Neema’s outreach programs.

There are twelve bibi’s, (Swahili for grandmothers) who are traditional birthers, (similar to midwives) from the Maasai Villages on campus this week for the “Save The Mothers” program. Twelve different Bibis come to Neema Village for a week every month to learn safe birthing practices to help save these young Maasai mothers from dying during childbirth.

They are brave older women who have traveled up to 4 hours to get here. They have never been to school and the men leaders in the village tell them they will come to Neema. They do not choose to come, they do not know us, whether we will feed them or have a bed for them or keep them safe and yet they come.

Kelley from Georgetown, Texas did a devotional with the Bibis this morning before the day’s activities. There is always a lot of singing and dancing with the Maasai.

Maria’s father had 8 wives, one of his wives came with this group so Maria (the Fortson’s adopted granddaughter) got to dance with her Auntie. This Maasai Bibi is also our night guard, Kilele’s mother which makes him Maria’s nephew… I think.

“After dinner tonight we went to sing with them again before bed. Dorris asked for one of them to tell us one thing they learned today in birthing class and there were at least 7 or 8 who wanted to talk about different topics.

They learned about male and female anatomy, how the fertilization process works and the growth stages of the baby in the womb. They did crafts, sang and danced, smiled and praised God. Hallelujah seems to be the same in any language. Both Neema programs, “MAP” and “Save The Mothers,” are wonderful programs at Neema Village that are truly making a difference in the hard lives of women and babies in Tanzania”

This photo below was taken by a friend and it broke my heart to see how hard these women have to work to survive.

Both of these programs for women are $24,000 dollars in the red.

One of our current volunteers has come up with an idea to help with funding for our outreach programs and is holding A Day of Giving for Neema Village. Here is her letter:

Dear Friends & Family of Neema Village,

What can happen in 24 hours when we all come together for the same cause? I am asking YOU to help me make July 29th a day to remember.

Over the last 11 years, we have proven that even though we are thousands of miles apart, together we are changing lives! Despite some uncertainty and change, we have witnessed incredible examples of hope, compassion and generosity.

As a volunteer and donor, I am asking you to join me in the FIRST ANNUAL Day of Giving for the moms and babies of Tanzania. July 29th will bring volunteers, donors, family and friends together to support a cause that we all believe in. In just 24 hours, we can provide much needed support to Neema Village.

This years Day of Giving donations will be specifically used for the growing outreach programs that have included the MAP program, Daycare for disabled children, supplying food to neighboring communities, school fees, women’s rights classes and many more.

Will you please join me on July 29th for the First Annual Day of Giving for Neema Village? Our dream goal is to raise $50,000 in just 24 hours! You can donate through the website or by clicking the direct link below. Please specify “Outreach” on your donation. I am also challenging you to copy and paste this letter and send it to 5 friends to encourage their participation.

God Bless You & Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your financial and prayer support!!  Click on either of the giving websites below to give your tax deductible gift. It all counts!

Sincerely,

Holly K. Doring

Wayne, Nebraska

June 29th, 2023

And just like that June, 2023 is tucked away in the filing cabinet.

Three new babies came to us this month and eight babies have flown the nest at Neema Village.

Last year a newborn baby girl had been abandoned at the local hospital and was brought to Neema Village. She was so tiny it must have scared the mother, and she just walked out of the hospital and never came back.

From a rough start baby Selah has had a few challenges but this week her forever family was finally able to take her home. We are so happy for you baby girl.

One month old Grace came in after dark from a remote Maasai village. Her mommy died during her birth. Mom was 22 years old, having her first baby and she just bled to death. This is so beyond sad. Baby Grace born May 19, 2023, will never know her mom but she will know Love at Neema Village. We pray she can be reunited with her family soon.

Little cutie pie Michael is one of our MAP mom’s babies. Mom is struggling with alcohol addiction and we have enrolled her in Pippi House for a year. Baby Michael will stay at Neema until mom is clean and sober.

We love our mountain as she stands watch over the babies at Neema Village and occasionally lifts her cloudy skirts to give us a peek of the grandeur that is Africa.

People from all over the world fly into Arusha to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and this summer the Burkhalter family came to test their skill and stamina on an eight-day charity climb for Neema Village. Only a tiny portion of people on the planet would attempt or accomplish this grueling feat and we watched in a bit of awe as they strapped everything they would need to survive for eight days on their backs and headed off to begin the climb.

They said they froze, they slid in dust and rock for hours, they pulled themselves up by their will, they collapsed at night too exhausted and cold to get up for a potty trip, plodding ever up and up, Poli Poli (slowly, slowly) with the top of the African world always just above the clouds. All this while their guides and porters seemed to skip up the mountain with the food, tents, water, potties, pots and pans, sleeping gear all on their heads to be waiting with a full camp set up and dinner on the fire when they finally trudged into camp.

They each had chosen a baby to climb for and when they began to wonder why in the world they were doing this, they would pull out the picture of their baby and remember what this baby has been through and then they knew they could make it. One of them had chosen little Max who was dropped in an open pit latrine and the bacteria had ruined his eye.

Mckenna, who has her pilots license had said I can’t wait to be above the clouds again. At 15,000 feet the clouds had slipped away and she was finally above the clouds.

Early Sunday morning our view of Kili from Neema Village with the sun just peaking out over the mountain was golden. I can only imagine how it must feel to see the world as God sees it from the top of this enormous continent of Africa.

And after eight impossible days, with only one sprained knee, they made it!  John, Mckenna, Aden and Nicole Burkhalter and friend Jacob Sparks, we are so proud of you and so grateful for the donations you raised from your friends and church family in Rusk, Texas. You are our Super Heroes!

A few hours before the Burkhalters were to fly home a new baby was brought to Neema Village. The baby had been abandoned in a field and we were thinking of a name for her when Mckenna walked by the isolation room and I knew then what the baby’s name would be. Angela, their mother, John’s wife had not gotten to come on the trip to climb Kili so I called the family into the isolation room and laid the baby in their arms. “Meet new baby Angela,” I said. When a grown man cries, everyone cries. It was a sweet moment.

May your day be filled with sweet moments and may you always see the world as God sees it.

“Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

www.neemavillage.org

May 31st, 2023

We have been back home in Africa a couple of weeks now and it always stuns us at how beautiful it all is, both the scenery and the people.

We were excited to see our big girl, Maria, and her little buddy Joeli. Maria is eight years old now and we think one of the sweetest humans on the planet! She loves the babies, is learning three different languages, loves to sing, loves every volunteer, is gorgeous in pink and makes straight As in school, almost.

Our granddaughter, Hope Taylor, graduated from OC in May and brought her roommates to Neema Village. They were able to participate in a Gift/Days For Girls project out in one of our furtherest Maasai villages. It was a perfect pink day for everyone!

Our Neema Village program for young girls is called Gift, which means “Girls Informed For Tomorrow.” A group of volunteers sat around the dinner table at Neema one night and dreamed up the Gift program.

Anna and Angel are certified instructors for the Days For Girls program which works to keep girls in school. Together with our GIFT program it is changing the lives of these young girls. They took volunteers out to the village and had a lot of fun teaching and doing a craft with the girls. Marquisette had designed a bracelet that keeps count of the days of the months for the girls. if we can keep them from getting pregnant before age 18 they will have a chance of a better life for themselves and their children.

About 150 girls showed up and they were each given a colorful bag with feminine, washable pads that they can carry to school. Many Maasai girls do not get to go to school and if they get to go, they are usually finished by around 12 or 14 when they are married off for the family’s bride price.

Much like this sweet little fourteen year old momma pictured above who came in to Neema this month with her new baby. Baby Moses was extremely malnourished, weighing only about three and half lbs at two weeks. This momma at age seven had been badly burned when her dress caught fire at the family cook fire in her home. She lost some fingers and her breasts were so badly burned she had no milk for the baby.

The baby is all skin and bones but with our round the clock nanny care he will soon be fat and happy.

After a warm bath and clean clothes baby Moses looked much better. He took a bottle and went right to sleep. The nannies have him on an every two hour feeding schedule. He will be a big healthy boy someday and his momma has agreed to come in from the village often to see him before she takes him back home.

Another new baby this month is Shadrack whose mom brought him to the police station and left him. She has the sickness and said, “life is just too hard and I can’t go on.” Kim asked her to come to Neema with the baby and we would try to help her but she walked out without even looking back at her sweet baby boy.

One of our Bibis, grandmothers, came in for a week of Save The Mothers training. She had a blinding cataract.

Neema helped her with the surgery and now she cannot stop blessing Neema Village for her beautiful clear eye.

Daniel, our Mothering Center guard, is finally out of the hospital and back out at his village. He had a blocked colon and had emergency surgery to remove part of his colon, a horrible surgery which is usually a death sentence here. Kim took volunteers out to Joshua’s village to take him home and a large crowd of family and friends came out to welcome him home and thank Neema Village for helping save the life of this young man.

Elijah, the young boy who was almost starved when nurse Ally saw him in the village was brought into town to see how we could help him.

This is Elijah after a few weeks of TLC. Amazing, isn’t it. Doesn’t look like the same boy. Thank you Ally for seeing him and not being able to leave him without trying to do something to help him. i’m pretty sure it is what Jesus would have done.

Elijah’s mother is very poor and did not have enough food for her family. She has been set up in a MAP rice business which will hopefully support the family so Elijah can continue to have good food when he goes home.

There have been a lot of baptisms at Neema this year as MAP moms have made decisions to become Jesus followers and one of them was a sweet volunteer from Colorado. Ella Carroll, we are so happy and proud of you.

It is still a full house at Neema Village with 67 babies in house. Two adoptions are pending and four little ones are going into foster care and boarding school soon. Remember Neema does not do adoptions. You have to live in Tanzania for three years to adopt and Social Welfare handles all adoptions so don’t let some shyster lawyer tell you differently.

The babies are warm and happy thanks to you who love and support this work.

James 1:27 “True religion is to care of the widows and orphans…”

Bless you for being a part of that.

Michael and Dorris Fortson

www.neemavillage.org

May 16th, 2023

I would have given up about a year ago but not Michael. We had been trying to drill for water to help the Maasai people for over two years and every time we got set up to drill out at a village a different part of the rig would break down. But Michael has been determined to see this project through.

We had heard horror stories of Maasai women walking for miles for clean water, standing or sleeping all night in lines at the government spigot only to have the water turned off before it was their turn to fill the bucket.

Many women get their water from streams just like this Typhoid infested one below. We were anxious to be able to bring them pure, clean water.

Bringing water to the women in a Maasai village means more time to care for their children, it means more time to grow better food, it means cleaner, healthier babies, it means children going to school with clean uniforms, it means time to work a business to better the lives of their families. It means everything.

It means lovely, healthy food like Neema’s below!

Young girls start early learning to carry firewood and water on their heads.   These young girls do not go to school, they must go for water and wood. One of the biggest investments we can do in this big continent of Africa is get young girls in school!

Since the drilling rig was given to us from a group in Nacogdoches, Texas and had come from Little Beaver in Livingston, Texas, machine parts had to be ordered from the U.S. and shipped to Tanzania. The last part to break down and need replaced was the motor which finally arrived in February this year.

In April the drilling team arrived from Dar. We had to use the down hole hammer to get through the rock but it punched right through and we have now hit water at three wells! .

Our Dar drilling team with Michael and I at our first unsuccessful well two years ago.

Thank you to all of you who have stuck with us through all of this and prayed for success in this newest Neema Village project.  Bringing water to thirsty people.

Our babies at Neema Village love water, too!

God is Indeed Good!

To donate to Neema’s Tanzania Water Project go to our website www.neemavillage.org and click on the donate button. Put “Outreach” on the purpose line.

John 4:14

May 11th, 2023

April, 2023 brought three new babies to Neema Village. On April first a new born was left under a banana tree in Arusha. Social Welfare brought the baby to Neema and we named her Lanie after one of our frequent beloved volunteers. I kind of liked Hannah Banana but Lanie won out.

Lanie is precious and beautiful and we are sure God has already planned her new mom and dad. One day Lanie will have a new family and never be abandoned again.  Making new families, it’s what Neema does best.

On April 20th Kim wrote: “It was a busy day at Neema Village with two more new babies coming through the doors at the same time. A little abandoned baby boy was left at the government hospital soon after birth. William Buie, (Buie) volunteering from Arizona, brought baby Bruce home to Neema.

“My heart breaks for his mother, Kim said, and what must have happened to her that she had to make such a difficult decision to just walk away from such a precious, newborn baby.”

The nannies voted to name him Bruce after their favorite Uncle Bruce White. Maria loves Uncle Bruce and is already in love with baby Bruce.” (That is baby Sarah with Bruce)

We love what Heather Kloss had to say: “We went to pick up a little abandoned baby at the hospital today. Such a sweetheart. As I carried him from the hospital building to the car, I couldn’t help but think about how he was left alone in devastation. Yet, now he is coming to Neema, where he will be loved and cared for. It reminded me of how we come from a place of devastation and hopelessness without Jesus, and then he comes and carries us into salvation and love and hope. My heart felt a glimpse of what God must feel when we go from darkness to light, from hopelessness to hope in Him. I hope Neema can find his mommy, help her, and share the Living Hope with her, too.”

The second baby, above, Lamnyake, brought in today, made the long journey from Maasai land to Neema after his mother died during his birth out in a remote Maasai village.

This village has not been reached with one of our Save The Mothers Safe Birthing Training sessions yet. We must work harder and faster! The baby’s Maasai grandmother and aunt accompanied him to Neema.

Kim reassured them that Lamnyake would be well loved and cared for until he could return to his village and his family, hopefully before age two.

With 64 babies on campus, please pray for our very busy nannies!

Last week Kim and our crew with Ole Bob, the truck, went out to Maasai land to deliver food and take pictures of our two producing water wells. Did you know we drilled and finally hit water?!!  Michael thinks these two water wells will give about 5,000 liters per hour of good clean water. Hallelujah!

On this trip they were delivering rice, beans and corn to the village when one of the volunteers saw someone she knew she had to help.

Ally Lane is a nurse from Illinois and while in the village she noticed a mentally challenged young man, malnourished, dirty, ragged and torn. It broke her heart and Ally knew she had to help. So, they brought twenty-year-old Elijah to Neema Village and took him to the doctor.

The Doctor said Elijah was starving and he was in need of a good bath. Our workers, Baraka and Godlisten, took Elijah to the shop bathroom at Neema, clipped his nails, cut his hair and gave him a bath. Ally and Heaven Light went to the store and bought clothes for Elijah.

Then they called Social Welfare. Unfortunately, there is no place for twenty-year-old mentally challenged people here, so Ally has agreed to pay for foster care while Elijah is being fed good food and brought back to physical health.  Then Grandmother, who loves Elijah, will take him back home to the Maasai village, but she does not have money to give him the food he needs.  So, Aly will sponsor Grandmother with a rice business. We can buy a 100 kg bag of rice for her for a few months. She can break that up into smaller bowls and double her money. If she will put some money back each month then she can begin to buy her own bags of rice. Wallah! A New Rice business is born!

Finally one more piece of good news, Daniel is getting out of the Hospital! After 4 weeks in the hospital, major surgery to remove part of his colon, and almost dying from fluid in his lungs, Daniel is well and coming home.  Thank you for your prayers.

Jacobo’s little brother, Daniel had been a guard at Neema Village for just a few months when he became sick. Jacobo is the father of Joshua, one of our very first babies at Neema and a favorite village for most of our volunteers to visit. When Daniel first became sick we took him to the emergency room where they recommended that he have immediate surgery. Instead, he was taken to the local Maasai doctor for a week. When he was finally brought back in to town, he was comatose and close to death. They did emergency surgery the next day but did not think he would survive the surgery.

Praise God, He has the last word!! Thank you for all your prayers for Daniel. And for the successful water wells and for the nannies and all the babies and workers at Neema Village.

It has been a good month at Neema Village.

Michael and I have been in Toronto with Vern and Mary Fernandes seeing Niagara Falls and attending an incredible fund raiser for Neema Village. Love Canada!

* New instructions from the Bookkeeper and Auditor.

If you want to help with Daniel’s medical bill, MAP businesses or sponsoring babies or drilling for water or school children or delivering food to the hungry or Save The Mothers check out the new donation categories on our website.

www.neemavillage.org

May 4th, 2023

I have been holding this story for a few months, trying to decide if I can print it. All our MAP moms have a tragic story but sometimes it is just hard to write them and hard to read. It is easier to read about puppies found in a trash can.

But I can’t let it go and I think you need to hear it. If it helps it does have a happy ending.

One of our lead nannies at Neema Village, was walking home recently when she saw an old friend from her primary school days on the street. Her friend was begging for help from anyone who would listen. She had been beaten up, cut and badly bruised and had a two year old with her and a four day old baby on her back. After talking with her friend, our nanny called Anna, the MAP Director at Neema Village.

The next day Anna and a couple of volunteers went to the house to see her. It was not much of a house, one room mud, just big enough for a double bed given to her by the people who owned the house and a thin foam mattress given by a neighbor. Since she had no money, the neighbor was also giving her food, a little dagaa (dried minnows) and corn meal. But the house was soon to be torn down so the little family would be homeless again.

We will call her Imani. She is 34 years old and had two children with her, she had left her three little boys out in the village. The baby was only a few days old. Her husband had left her and Imani had been working the streets to buy food for the family.

Street beggars are fairly common here since there are no government programs to help the poor.

Imani’s family was hungry so she agreed to carry drugs by swallowing them in a bag and walking across the border into another country in Africa.

On one of the trips, she and her friend were caught and the friend was shot and killed. The police threw her and the body of her friend into the back of a truck and took her to prison. It was a horrible ride, she told Anna, with her friend dead, blood everywhere, bouncing in the back of the truck with her.  In prison, in a foreign country, she had not realized she was pregnant again and after having the baby a kind policewoman tried to help her by getting her a ride back home with a driver hauling corn across the border. The driver asked for sex and she begged that she had a new baby and could not. She was raped anyway.

As she talked to Anna she was crying, “I’ve learned a lot and I really want to change my life, I just do not know where to start.” She didn’t want Anna to leave and was begging her to please come back.

Imani had no idea she had just come in contact with the One Power who could actually change her life!

We moved Imani into the MAP houses at Neema Village and she began meeting with other women who have been through abuse, and abandonment and had made really bad choices. She started classes; sewing, English, Bible, women’s rights, counseling seminars and twice a week she joined a Bible based group therapy session with the other women. (Imani has the red scarf on)

She began coming to church at Neema and one afternoon Kelle Samsill spent a couple of hours talking about Jesus and the power to have a new life and how to become a Christian. Imani knew that was what she had been looking for. She was a Muslim and one glorious Sunday morning Imani decided to announce to the world she is now a Jesus Follower by being baptized.  As we were walking back to the baby home Imani suddenly fell on her knees, held her arms up to the sky and thanked God for her new life.

There is much more to the story of Imani, faith is not always easy but she is growing. She has graduated out of the MAP house now and began her small business selling items like soap, salt and cokes. She returns to Neema for seminars where one day hopefully she will tell her story to encourage other young women coming in for help.

I love this!! Imani with her new MAP business. May God richly bless you if you have been supporting the MAP (Mothers Against Poverty) program through “Outreach” at Neema Village! It is amazing to see Hope come alive for these women!

There are classes everyday in the new Preslar Mothering Center. Women like Imani. who have been marginalized from society, kicked out, told they were unworthy and unloved are coming to know and accept Jesus and are being baptized. Lives are being changed. It is pretty exciting to watch God work at Neema Village!

Yes, God is still in the business of changing lives!

Love,

Dorris and Michael

www.neemavillage.org

April 1st, 2023

Five of our Fort Worth Christian girls volunteering at Neema Village this month went with Kelle Samsill, a Neema board member, and Anna Kimambo, our MAP Director, to visit a grandmother with her granddaughter. We had heard from Social Welfare that this poor grandmother needed help.

It was amazing how happy this widow woman was with her special needs granddaughter. The grandmother and girl could not stop smiling!

They were living in a mud hut with no electricity, no running water, no inside toilet, no car, no family, no medical help, and especially no government or non profit help to support the little family and they couldn’t stop smiling!

Going up into the mountains in Maasai country, the FWC group had to park the car and walk in over a foot path that gets pretty slippery in the rains, through a gully and up into the dirt swept yard of the mud hut.

Janet, the little special needs granddaughter was eighteen years old. Grandmother asked if any of the girls in the FWC group were that age. Kelle said they all were seventeen and eighteen years old, just the same age as Janet. The girls may have been in a bit of a shock.

As she held her, Kelle was surprised at how tiny Janet was, During her bath you could see there was not much to her little eighteen year old body.

The girls listened as grandmother talked about her life caring for her granddaughter. She didn’t complain or accuse anyone and she was not angry at what life had given her. She just seemed full of joy at being able to take care of Janet.

She wasn’t asking for a hand out but she had heard that Neema helps mothers and widows with small businesses. Anna gave her some money so she could buy a little food and then Kelle and Anna worked out a plan for a goat business for her. You don’t have to do a lot of hard work for goats, just feed them and watch them have babies so you can sell them. It sounds like the perfect business for this busy grandmother.

So, this week Kelle and Anna loaded up the cars with goats and volunteers to get grandmother started in her goat business.

Ally, Melanie, Nancy, Elaine and the goats went with Kelle to meet Janet.

This funny little goat below seems to be saying, “Is this my new home?”

We were so grateful to be able to help this sweet family.

Martha ran away from her Maasai village at night. Her father had died and the village elders wanted her to marry an old man who already had other wives. She walked to the highway about three hours at night to get to the main road where she hitched a ride with strangers to town. I cannot imagine how brave you have to be to do this! There are hyenas out there! In town Martha heard about a place that helped girls who ran away from early marriage and FGM. It was the sweet little church orphanage down the road from Neema Village.

The girls from the orphanage come to Neema Village on Fridays to sew and that is where we met Martha. She quickly became a leader in the group, leading the Maasai songs and the girls in prayer before they begin to sew. Dora the sewing instructor says she is a very good seamstress. After finishing the course, Martha received her own sewing machine from Neema Village.

Now she is ready to start a sewing business out in another Maasai Village. She has learned to make school uniforms. All school children wear uniforms here. To get her started we will buy her 3 bolts of fabric, good scissors, thread, other notions and a chair. She will also need rent for six months and money for food for six months. She is young and energetic and will do very well. If you want to help women like Martha please go to the Neema Village website www.neemavillage.org

We just finished our 17th Save The Mothers session helping twelve very brave grandmothers learn how to save mothers during childbirth.

I have to tell you after a week of working with these brave, smiling, lion hearted women I have begun to wonder if maybe we are not the ones who are in need of help!

Be Blessed dear ones,

Dorris and Michael

www.neemavillage.org

March 16th, 2023

I know that sounds backwards but it is really what happened. For this little one it was an end to a pretty sad existence when Social Welfare brought her to Neema Village.

Baby Kelle was covered in bug bites, her skin was red and crusty and I remember she didn’t cry a lot then.  I guess, like all abandoned babies, she had learned crying didn’t work, so why bother.

Kelle was about 3 months old when she came to Neema Village. Her mom had abandoned her in the house while she went out to work the streets.  A neighbor took the baby to the hospital because she was dehydrated and so weak she could not open her eyes. It took weeks to clear the baby’s damaged skin and much longer to heal the scars of abandonment.

But Kelle grew and became a sweet little girl. Always a bit afraid of visitors and shy around most people, she would hide behind us and cry when visitors came to see her. We had prayed someone would overlook that and she would find a Forever Family soon.

God is Good and at two years old he sent just the right family for Kelle.

Jamila and her husband had had one child, a girl named Lightness, who on the day she was to be promoted to bank manager found she had an enlarged heart and soon passed away. The parents were devastated. Dad said it was like a light had gone out of their home.

But they had their daughter’s teenage girl to raise and, on the day all three came to Neema to see about adopting a child, Kelle was brought out to see them. Would she scream and cry like usual when she met strangers? Thank God, not this time, to our surprise she crawled up in a lap and made herself at home. It was love at first sight.

In just a few days the family came to take Kelle home. They changed her name from Kelle to Lightness and dad, with a bright smile, said because a light had come on in their home again. So it was the end of a tragic start and the beginning of a new life for LIghtness.

Yesterday we were invited to their home. We don’t often get to see the new life of our adopted babies so we were pretty excited. They wanted us to see how good she was doing and dad gave us the ok to post so you could see. Marquisette, Heavenlight, Kelle, Aly Lane and Ashley loved their beautiful home and sweet smiles.

Kelle O’ Pry Samsill, baby Kelle’s namesake, had brought a sweetheart cake, lollypops, and toys and stickers.

This time baby Kelle hid behind her new mom’s skirts and didn’t want to come out to see us. It was a really good sign.

She eventually came out for the cake and after her second piece she was letting Kelle show her the stickers.

After a prayer of blessing and protection for their home, we left with full, happy hearts. Once again what evil had meant for death, God had meant for Life.

May the light and love of Lightness and her new family bring you joy in your family, too..

Saving babies one at a time at Neema Village

Dorris and Michael Fortson

www.neemavillage.org