Term II Report Cards!!!!

From Mama back in Canada, (with Lohai, Mary and Reward)

I have returned to Canada safely and soundly to family and friends and a mountain of paperwork and some wonderful projects and speaking engagements and hopefully . . . a soon to be newly launched website for Tumaini!  Thank you so very much to Robert and Orv for all your hard work and to all of our supporters for your patience.

L/R Kelvin, Lazaro and Francis with the model Lazaro received
from his sponsor Mama Bonnie for his birthday  . . . F U N !

I was driving down into the older part of the village of Usa before my departure and saw a goat depositing his business into the river running along the road while, just slightly downstream a woman filled an ndoo (bucket) with water she would take to her home . . . This is a recurring observation in these parts but it never ceases to amaze me how we survive with so little clean water . . . AND, how we manage in a “modern” world with such intermittent electricity although I will remind you that we at Tumaini enjoy solar living thanks to Baba Dave and friends from British Columbia and Ontario Canada.  In a night of no power Tumaini shines out brightly as the only illumination in the neighbourhood . . . thank you again!

Speaking of survival, we are well.  Most of us anyway.  Some have caught a nasty flu bug we cannot seem to shake and Nasma has acquired some ugly rashes on her legs I fear may be a recurrence of bed bugs but I have found no bodily evidence yet.  Please pray for us as the cost to replace what we must sacrifice in an infestation is exorbitant.

We celebrated little Daniel’s birthday with cake and gifts and must thank Robyn for remembering his day.  He loved his card and we will go to town together for new shoes and lunch.  Oddo’s 48^th birthday, shared with all the boys for whom we have no birthdate was celebrated and included Gaspar, brothers Lazaro and Stephano, Antony and Ayubu, all of us and cake and ice cream.  Familia Noah from Germany were special guests and joined us for dinner also.

Our August birthday days with Teacher Oddo and his new son Reuben . . . Happy Birthday!

 All of our primary students were home for the month of August and returned the first week of September to classes.  Secondary students have not had a break yet but Raymond is home until the end of October on his break from university and OH is it good to have him home!!!

It is difficult to judge people’s choices here in a country of such severe poverty but I was more than dismayed by a theft which could only have occurred from someone inside Tumaini.  One of us stole the week’s food allowance . . . the culprit is either one of our staff or one of our bigger children, as a youngster simply would not know what to do with such a large amount of money and its location prohibited a smaller person from taking it.  I respect the enormity of the “need” in this country but to take the food from our children’s mouths . . .

Five circumcisions . . . FIVE!  Said, Liadi, Emmanuel, Rashid, and Daniel all went under the knife!  Wanaume is the Swahili word for “MEN” and I was chanting it to the boys before our departure and they grunted back at me in unison . . . “Wanaume!  Hmph!  Hmph!”  All began full of courage but the tide turned after the anaesthetic wore off.  After reaching out for comfort due to the pain I told Liadi that now he was a man . . . he assured me he didn’t want to be a man anymore.   One week later, almost all of the boys had removed their own bandages (after walking around without chupis (underwear) and donned in kangas (African fabrics about a meter square), except for our little man Liadi who insisted Mama go with him to the doctor for the “removal”.  He was VERY brave, nary a tear and only a whimper or two.  Afterward, he even said thank you to the doctor and has been showing off his “doodoo” daily.  He marvelled that it was red but slowly, slowly (pole, pole) it has turned back to “Tanzanian”.  VERY FUNNY!!!

And Happy 11^th birthday to Christina!!!  We are so proud of our young lady . . . when she came to us we

believed her to be relatively learning challenged . . . she has surprised us with not only an astute knowledge of English (she was the first to write a proper letter), but has a special gift of remembering dates . . . EVERYONE’S birthdate . . . she is growing into a happy and studious young lady and we love her dearly.

Congratulations!  Teacher Winner (2^nd grade) is off this month preparing for her wedding and will return September 25^th.  Our 2^nd graders have been working with volunteers Isabel and Renske who brought Kinnex and the children built a house and a piki piki (motorcycle) of which they are very proud.

Sadly, we have experienced a spate of robberies lately and the most recent one resulted in the death of an askari (security guard).  He was a friend of Tumaini and has left two children without support for their education and futures.  A band of armed (sticks, pangas) robbers forced their way onto the property and into the house looking for money, jewellery, electronics, etc.  They beat him . . . too severely . . . please include he, his children and Tumaini in your prayers.

Glory and her nw shoes 

And while you are speaking to the big guy would you please say a prayer that we finalize our land.  We have been negotiating for over a year now and things look hopeful . . . a delay in negotiations occurred as a result of the death of an executive officer of the village which left everything up in arms but please do say a prayer . . .

                              

And thank you to everyone joining us in Waterford, Ontario for our second annual Tumaini Tournament of Hope!  It’s a sellout!  And enormous thanks to Chairwoman Bonnie Wardell and Lisa Engelhardt – Robinson for your hard work . . . AND!!!  Asante sana Mama Korosho and friends (Becky, Diane, Bri, and others) for working so hard towards yet another successful Tumaini Yard Sale raising more than $3,000!

And I must say a very generous merci beaucoup to french friends of our Tumaini amie Maddye.  Thank you  so much for your kind donations Jean Christophe and Marie . . .

We are well.  This was one of my best trips to the children as they are beginning to grow and change and are learning empathy and appreciation and respect.  They are gentler with each other and more sensitive to what is occurring around them.  Each of them is so very precious and I am so terribly proud to be called Mama . . . to each of you thank you.  The beauty I see . . . the growth and the health and the changes are a reflection of the compassion you have shown towards us.  We could not take these steps without you.

We in Canada have some big help from several other countries including Australia who, chaired by Michael McCann put together a video with their fundraising objectives in support of Tumaini.  Please have a look.  It made mama cry, in the very best way . . . thank you Michael, Tay and friends for an incredible effort . . .  

Happy Birthday Tony!!!

Congratulations to Teacher Winner and her new husband Bernard.  Congratulations to Mary and Reward who have earned their university degrees.  Congratulations to Raymond who has completed his first year in university and anticipates a successful second.  To Lazaro who built his first model (a jeep) and our second graders who built a building and to Francis who will have his birthday AND his confirmation next month.  To Ayubu and Wema who are VERY confident (please pray for them) that they have passed their national exams . . . to our circumcised wanaume (men)!  To my partner Oddo who attended his first meetings as chairman of our parish . . . and to our volunteers who work tirelessly to ensure the happiness, health and future success of our children . . . congratulations . . . and thank you!