January/February 2019 News from Mufindi

January / February 2019 News from Mufindi

 

BABY HOUSE:  On 23rd January another new baby arrived at the Children’s Village only a few hours old.  Sadly the mother passed away but she made sure she wrapped the baby girl up and put her in a safe place, tried to get help, but unfortunately she was too far away from the nearest hospital or medical help.  Our Social Officer, Joseph, was called in by the local Village Children’s Protection Committee to request that this little baby came to the Children’s Village where she will be loved and cared for until she is old enough for her family to look after her. She is the third baby to come to us over the last year and the house mamas are dedicated to caring for them and all the other little ones in the Baby House.  They work extremely hard and we are so grateful for their love and care. Shown above, one of the baby house mamas with Jordan, our long term volunteer from Peace Corps with the latest babies.

DENTISTS WITHOUT BORDERS: Always welcome to the Children’s Village, Dentists Without Borders, organized by our regular volunteer dentist, Dr Bodil Sandin, arrived in February.  They all  help the children learn to look after their teeth and also on their outreach work spreading the word about dental hygiene and treatments in remote schools also giving each pupil a new toothbrush. If children need treatment the school arranges for them all to visit the Mdabulo Dental Clinic together.  23 children from one school, Mwefu, took four hours to walk there, luckily the school organized a small bus to return them. There are no dentists in Mufindi, so their work is invaluable.

NEW SCHOOL BUS: We have, very generously, been donated a much needed bus that can now take all the children to school. This replaces the vehicle  that was running double trips because there are more children attending school. This also means that Hezron, 22 yrs old, our young man with Cerebral Palsy, can now get to school much easier and thoroughly enjoys it. As you can see, his wheelchair is very old and a little small so needs replacing with one that is made specially for him and are fundraising to replace it. If you would like to help, any amount, it would really be appreciated. He is a lovely person, never complaining always smiling! Thank you.  

https://www.goldengiving.com/charity/orphansinthewild

We would like to thank all our sponsors for their support and generosity over the last past year. Without your help our children and local Tanzanian staff at the Children’s Village would not have a happy  and safe home.    

Happy New Year 2019!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Peaceful, Happy New Year

Everyone worked hard to prepare a lovely Christmas celebration for the children at the Children’s Village.

Whilst the House Mamas prepared the Pilau Rice and cooked the meat for their dinner,

 

 

the older boys dressed the tree, washed the floor and set up the room for the Christmas Show.

 

 

 

After dinner the fun started – time for singing and    dancing!

 

 

Thank you  

for your help and support, without it our 60 children would not have their safe, caring family home at the CV in mufindi

 

 

 

RAISE THE ROOF FOR CHRISTMAS

THANK YOU  for your support so far, some of you have donated anonymousy and therefore, unable to send a receipt and thank you, we would like you to know this is very much appreciated!

 

Your help in invaluable!

 

 

 

 

RAISE THE ROOF in the Igoda Children’s Village.
Just £10 will buy a sheet of roofing material, £50 will buy a big drum of roof paint.
We need your help to raise £4,000 as many of the village house roofs are in urgent need of repair before the rainy season starts. Please click the link below to donate & help keep a good roof over the children’s heads.   

https://www.goldengiving.com/secu…/donation/orphansinthewild

If you would like to know more details, please contact us.

Thank You!

 

 

Rest in Peace, little Winson

Winson, 6 years old

Such sad news from Mufindi of a very special little boy who we were all very fond of.  A sweet  boy, just six years old. He suffered from severe epilepsy, having multiple seizures in a day. Since he first came to live in the Children’s Village nearly two years ago, he had made good progress, with his one to one carer helping him with mobility and communication. He made lots of little friends and won the hearts of us all. On the 27th November, he lost his battle for life. Thank you to all the Children’s Village family who looked after Winson with love and dedication. Thinking of you all. Rest in Peace, little Winson.

RAISE THE ROOF

RAISE THE ROOF.
Loving care from one of the House Mamas in the Igoda Children’s Village. Please help us keep a good roof over their heads.

Our target of £4,000 will allow us to do essential repairs.
A monthly donation can allow us to plan, or a single donation of £50 will buy a big drum of roof paint, £10 a single sheet of roofing material. Please click  on the donate button  and give what you can. Thank you! 

Or here’s a good way to start our Christmas appeal – a wonderful book which will make an excellent present. Flying Snakes & Green Turtles – Tanzania Up Close

This entertaining book describes the life and adventures of Geoff Fox MBE and his wife Vicky, founders of Foxes Community & Wildlife Conservation Trust (FCWCT). There cannot be too many couples who can claim to have run an East African tea plantation, discovered the cause of a virulent cattle disease, fought off cattle and ivory poachers, help the local population fight off the deadly HIV/Aids, set up an orphanage, schools, outreach and wildlife a conservation programme – but such is the life of Geoff and Vicky Fox. Their story, much of which is extremely funny, and so much more, is described in this wonderful book which costs £15 plus first class £3.45 or second class postage £2.95 for the UK.
100% goes to OITW.   If you would like a book, order through our Golden Giving donate button above, fill in the details and in the comments section, add ‘Fox Book’   Thank you.

Here’s another easy way to help us raise £4,000 we need to repair these roofs – AT NO COST TO YOU! The Giving Machine links to over 1500 well know retailers and it’s very simple to use. Please have a look and help maintain the welfare and security of the children in the Igoda Children’s Village. Click here to see how it works and chose Orphans in the Wild as your cause:  https://www.thegivingmachine.co.uk

 

A few Snippets from Mufindi

Outreach Medical Help –  

Our two medical Volunteers have arrived in Mufindi. Dr Leena Pasanen, and Dr Bodil Sandin (Dentist) They have also brought with them other short term volunteers including ‘Dentists Without Borders’ from Sweden. They are making such a difference.

A post from Dr. Leena: Oct 20th “We visited this lovely lady on Monday. She had difficulties with walking and fell down on and off. We found the walker at Mdabulo Clinic store which is a big help to her.”  These items were donated by container from us here in the UK, sourced from many donors.

To catch up with activities, do visit our Facebook page, there are some lovely posts. This one is of a gorgeous little toddler helping House Mama with washing, like all kids they love helping and getting soaked at the same time!

The Children’s Village

is home to some special needs children and young adults.  Hezron, pictured here,  has Cerebral Palsy. Both his parents and aunts died of HIV/AIDS when he was very young. His grandmother was his sole carer, but because he was unable to walk and had become too big to carry, she had to leave him at home most days on the mud floor. As a result, he became very sick and began to suffer. The village council, along with his family, asked if Hezron could live at the Children’s Village where he would have access to the health care and educational services he needed. Hezron is still not able to walk but is thriving, and always smiling! Since the provision (thanks to a kind donor) of transport, he can now attend school with his one-to-one carer, Stefano, who also helps him with physiotherapy exercises and general needs. The one-to-one care is provided by the Children’s Village/FCWCT. Hezron lives now at house No 3 with the older boys and Joseph the house father. Because of his needs, the Children’s Village remains Hezron’s home, he has been part of our family for 12 years, even though he is now well past the usual maximum age of 18.    Three other of our children have full time carers, a young girl with mental health problems, a 6-year-old boy who has several epileptic fits a day, despite medication, consequently retarding his physical abilities and the severely burnt young 15-year-old girl now been with us a few months. The care and dedication of our mamas is invaluable.

Reaching Out – In 2014 FCWCT initiated a social welfare programme, based on earlier valuable work done by Project Leaders Geoff Knight & Jenny Peck, who have now after 10 years returned to the US, and appointed its own trained Social Welfare Officer, Joseph Majembe. 

When families suggest that children can return from the Children’s Village to live with them again, Joseph assesses the proposed arrangements, liaises with the village councils and government officers. Once all is agreed, he monitors the children on a regular basis. He offers advice and practical assistance. Sometimes small things, like the cost of a pair of shoes or exercise books for school, can make a huge difference to a family’s well being. Joseph regularly visits the 16 villages in the project area, seeing families who are struggling to cope, alerted by the village elders or our own village volunteers. Often early intervention can prevent a child needing additional care and therefore keep the family together. He is also called by the Village Councils alerting him to other vulnerable children who need our help.

Thank you for all your support without it none of these activities would be possible. 

If you would like more information, please contact us.

 

 

GOODNIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT – PHOTOS FROM HOUSE NO 2

GOODNIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT.
Thank you Ezra for these lovely pictures, and a big thank you to everyone who helped to pay for this new bedding. It’s so good to see money raised put to use so quickly.

  

Bed time at House #2, Children’s Village

  

Goodnight, Sleep tight – The New Mattresses and Bedding Have Arrived!

 Great excitement!

The children & staff at the Igoda Children’s Village are very excited at the arrival of the new bedding, purchased through your wonderful help. As we reached more than our target we can also repaint the children’s houses so they are as bright as the bedding!

 

 

 

 

Some of the Mattresses arriving in the one of the three lorries, all hands on deck, children and staff helping.

thank you 

once again, for your generous contributions!

     

July 2018 News

HALIMA: We were approached by Julie Hepworth, Founder of Water for Africa, Australia to help a young 14 year old girl from Mafinga. Halima fell in a fire a few years ago, abandoned by her mother, her father dead, lived with her elderly grandmother. She is terribly burnt, has several epileptic fits per day and there other medical problems. She has undergone three plastic surgery operations sponsored by them for her eyelid, a neck  release and the most recent on her hand to enable her to use her fingers.  We are pleased to let you know we were very happy to include her in the Children’s Village to receive the love and care she so deserves and needs.

She has now been with us for almost a month. Sheree, our volunteer nurse, has taken her to the Unilever Hospital for tests to get her medications up to date. She lived with her elderly grandmother who was unable to care for her nor afford her medications, so was being neglected. Halima needs a lot of help with feeding, cleansing and dressing and now has a full time carer to look after her. She is a special girl who comes ‘alive’ with company, she does miss her grandmother but we will make sure she gets to see her! In the meantime, if you would like updates on her progress please let us know.

LOUISVILLE UNIVERSITY, KANSAS MEDICAL STUDENTS:  27 University of Louisville Medical students arrived at the Children’s Village, including a few tutors. They stayed at the Volunteer houses which created quite a challenge for electricity, water, transport and translators. This is the fifth year running they have been, the biggest group yet, together with 45 bags of medical items which will certainly boost our stocks. 

They are an amazing group of people and they made a tremendous difference to those who needed medical attention in outreach villages. At the few clinics spread over a very large area covering over 35,000 villagers, there are only medical officers, no doctors. To have so many doctors treating the patients that kept coming was not only rewarding but a huge benefit to Mufindi.

The Medics used three local clinics, Mdabulo, Igoda and one at the Children’s Village, they also went into remote villages and set up clinics in the school rooms.  

There were three Dentists amongst them who used the Dental Clinic set up by Dr Bodil Sandin at the Mdabulo Hospital. There are no dentists in this very rural area except when Dr Bodil goes for a few months of the year and the Dentists without Borders that she organizes a couple of times whilst she is in residence. They treated hundreds of children and many adults.

A HUGE thank you to each and every one of those medics and Water for Africa Au. for sponsoring Halima.