We Need Some Power!

October 9. 2021

Baby Ruth came to Neema in September with her 18 year old mother, an orphan herself, who had some very horrible things done to her and as a result became pregnant and contracted HIV. We are not sure what the future will hold for this little one. Please be praying for emotional healing that only God can give to this young mother. We are grateful to be able to stand in the gap for this mom and her baby but with five new babies this month we cannot do this work of God without you.

We have had a great group of volunteers this month thinking up fun things for the babies to do. They worked hard, loved well, sang a lot and played good. Exactly what we love about our volunteers. Bless you Jack and Sylvia Pape, Paul Pape, Ken and Joan Preslar, Joy and Mike Stevens, Ryan and Valene Roseke, Stacie Schaefer, Marquisette Bickford, Edwina Gramuska, Sophia Hays and our long term volunteers, Ashley Berlin, Kassie Stanfield, Bekah Johnson and Director Kim White on the right.

Kim and Bekah have had to deal with some tough problems this month including this desperate mom who showed up with her baby needing help. We took them to two different hospitals but neither hospital would take them. The baby does look very contagious. Kim brought them back to Neema and they are in isolation in the Mothering Center. Our nannies are bringing them food.

Another mom, Mary came to Neema Village looking for help this month. Her husband used to beat her and had left the family when she was pregnant. He took all the family belongings except the foam mattress Mary and her four children were sleeping on. When she couldn’t pay the rent she became homeless and would walk the village, dragging the mattress, during the day asking for a room for the little family to spend the night. This is where Anna and volunteers met her. in a borrowed room

She said the people she stayed with would give her clothes but it became a big thing and she could not carry the clothes too as she went house to house so she would leave them on the road. Anna loaded up her few belongings and brought her to Neema Village. Now Mary has a room with two beds, a table and chairs, a stove, pots and pans, blankets and sheets and a safe place to sleep. Praise God and thank you to the beautiful people who built this house for these homeless moms. Mary will begin classes at Neema, including the Women’s Rights Classes which teach these women they have the right not to be beaten. She will start a vegetable business soon. You can help these moms by donating to the MAP (Mothers Against Poverty) program at Neema Village, just put MAP on the purpose line.

The poor mom below came to Neema with a horribly burned leg. She says a pot of porridge was spilled down her leg but she also says her husband pushed her. She has been dealing with this huge burn for quite a few months. Neema took her for surgery yesterday along with Flora, one of our MAP moms who also had a burned foot.

With 55 babies currently in house, 87 MAP moms, going to classes and seminars, 75 full time staff, 12 special needs babies, and 13 buildings on campus Neema Village is a busy place. It takes a lot just to keep the place running and the lights on! The red buildings with green roofs were built for $24 a square foot. They look magnificent but they are just cement blocks and tin roofs with no air conditioning. They just had a good designer. The baby home was first drawn out on a napkin in the cafeteria of Harding University with Bob Gibson! Thanks Paul Pape for this different view of the village.

With 13 buildings on campus it takes a lot of power to keep everything running. We often do not have enough power to run the milking machines, water pumps, hot water heaters or pasteurizing machine so we are trying to get our own power lines and transformer.