Back to School - 2014!

Back to School – 2014!

 

Francis is missing from our Amani back to school photo but the rest of the gang is here!!!

Class II with newest day student addition, little sister Eva (in red).

Class III Tumaini (look closely . . . Teacher is expecting!!!)

Haradali preparing to return to school (Ema and Athuman are in the back!!)

Our first week back at school is complete and some of us are overwhelmed (Kelvin with the inundation of homework for 7^th grade . . . he attends classes from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:00 until 1:00 p.m and has TONS of homework . . . his school prepares Class VII for their national exam . . . Neema “Big” has joined Amani and is transitioning from Kiswahili school to English Medium and she is ecstatic.  We had her tested and because of her lack of English will be placed back two grades but the quality of the education she will receive now is light years ahead of what she was getting previously.  It was questionable if she would be able to pass her national exam next year.

Just some of gang . . . 

Mama Angela and Glory  is very sick.  She has been hospitalized twice in the last month and is incapable of walking.  You may remember that, having decided she no longer had HIV, she stopped taking her dawa (medicine) and attempted to stop Glory from taking hers.  Both went into failure and Mama has stopped yet again.  She had developed a tumor in her brain the last time she had these symptoms and we suspect the same but we must find SH. 295,000 (about $195.00) for a CT scan in order to confirm if anything further might be done. 

For those of you who have been to Tumaini and met Glory, you will remember that she possesses the most beautiful dimple on her cheek . . . I got to kiss that dimple today . . .

Rashid says thank you for our goodies from Ali and family

Marko is home but preparing for his return to Form II.  We hope that Raymond will “rest” for a day (Michael you are in so much trouble) from school and come to visit again as my husband Steve is coming for a visit next week and he and Raymond have not had a chance to visit for more than two years.  Jeremiah is home from his great adventure to the U.S. of A. and we must thank Alison and family for the many and much needed gifts they sent with him.  Car parts for servicing our lone vehicle, a new DVD player for Friday/Saturday night movies, school supplies, etc.  Thank you!

Harriri and his new "hair".

And enormous thanks to Helen Jones and her team for hosting a New Year’s Eve gala with us as the beneficiaries . . . thank you to Tumaini friends who attended and pole sana (very sorry) for the weather you are experiencing in Canada . . . I will not tell you that the sun has shone for more than two weeks and it has not been below 35 degrees in many weeks . . . no seriously, I will not tell you that the weather here is gorgeous . . . AND, I enjoyed my third standing shower (from the pipe and not a bucket) since my arrival in November, nor the fact that we have had NO water problems since just after Christmas . . . it just wouldn’t be kind to gloat about our blessings when you have been suffering through a record breaking deep freeze . . .

Thank you also, to our many Tumaini friends in and around Simcoe who staffed our Panorama booth and helped us raise much needed funds for school fees here at Tumaini.  It was cold and blustery and we are sorry you struggled but you’ll be meeting some of the children those dollars are going to help in the weeks to come so, thank you, thank you!

Love from all of us . . . 

We are well . . . some flu, some rashes, but absolutely nothing serious . . . our children are settling back into their routines at school . . . enormous thanks to my dada Rebecca, new kaka Michael, Rachel and Eliza from Australia for embracing the Kikwe family with aid, love and care.  This mother was widowed two years ago and has struggled since to keep her children fed and in school.  They live in a mud hut, but own the neighbouring land and she decided late last year to sell a parcel of that land so that she might build a solid house for herself and the four children who remain at home.  The fundi (tradesman), as is so often the case in these parts, was quick to take her money but also took advantage of her ignorance . . . he installed termite infested wood for doorframes and the blocks from which he built the house crumble because he did not use enough cement in his mix . . . shortcuts we see regularly if a fundi is left unmonitored but now the money is gone, her house stands unfinished and the long rains come.  Our friends have put a fund together to cover the exterior of the house with a solid layer of cement to prevent erosion once the rains start, replacement of the bad wood, installation of a front door, solid lock and grill to detract theft, the construction of two sets of bunk beds to allow the children and their mother to get off of the floor when they sleep and we are bringing the family to Tumaini weekly to monitor the health of the children, especially the baby, who, either from malnutrition or neglect sits lethargically and without enquiry into his surroundings.  We have started a milk program for the children and will begin her into a new business selling mboga (vegetables) which will allow her to be away from the house only two days per week instead of daily, as she has been in the past.  The children visited us at Tumaini last week for the first time and were ecstatic when volunteers Shivaun, Nina, and Eliza, bathed and reclothed them, fed them and after new haircuts, sent them home with some new toys . . . happy, and hopefully soon to be healthy children . . .  

Thank you for our new PJ's!!!

Nelson returns to Dar tomorrow to prepare for his final examination of secondary school.  We have applied for a scholarship to the University of Toronto in Canada so please, keep him and his dreams in your prayers if you would . . . there is a very good chance that our wonderful Raymond may intern for a few months in Australia later this year with repeat volunteer Isabel and her father.  He works in public administration in education so the fit would be absolutely ideal for Raymond and his plans to return to Tumaini one day and oust me from my position . . . I couldn’t think of a finer person to relinquish my job to . . .

A special prayer to B.C. who is struggling right now and whom we may lose . . . you are in our prayers.  Happy birthdays to Vitalis and Paskali this month (Lohai’s brothers) . . . and thank you, thank you to all of you . . . we are and will forever be, so very grateful for your continued love and support . . . be well.

BYE!!!