WE DID IT!!!

The "22 in 22" event has ended and we reached our goal of $22,000 in 22 days!!! We are so very appreciative to have had so many people contribute to this project-- thank you guys so much!!! I went out to the new orphanage yesterday to get updates and take pictures and I was AMAZED when I saw the progress that has been made. The first floor walls and rooms have been completed and the second floor slab will be started next week!! While the "22 in 22" event has ended, we would still love to have you spread the word about our work with the Tuleeni Orphanage to all your friends and family and encourage them to donate so that they too can be a part of making the dreams of 84 orphans come true. 

Here are pictures of the construction!! We still have a lot of work to do, but this progress is so exciting! The new orphanage is so large, I could not get it all in one picture, but I got some of the different sides! The holes/spaces in between in the walls are for windows and doors, which will be put in later on! 

Many more to come!!!! 

Other fun story-- Mama Faraji calls me "mwanagu" which means "my child" in Swahili and she tells everyone here that I am her daughter, and about two weeks or so ago, Mama Faraji told the children that since I was her child, they should to call her Bibi, which means grandma, and to call me Mama instead... It was such a special moment for me. We all still call her Mama because we couldn't break that habit, but now, when I walk into the orphanage, all my little babies scream "Hi Mama!!" or "Hi Mama Neema". It is truly amazing to hear them call me Mama, and my heart is filled with joy every time they do it. 

Look for more pictures and stories coming this week!!! 

xoxo love always,

Neema 

The Next Chapter...

Sorry I haven't blogged in about two weeks--things have been crazy around here as usual! Enjoy the pictures of the kids below!!

These are just pictures of us all goofing around. In the top left corner, Samson, Mwita and I found a few corn stalks that fell over, and with these children and their imagination, we wound up pretending to be soldiers/warriors and the corn stalks were our weapons. Below that picture is of Tina and the kids-- she had painted all the girls' nails and the boys were so jealous, they wanted to join in the fun and begged tina to paint their toes as well. It was actually pretty cute! Both center pictures are of Lucky-- on top, Tina and him were wrestling, and Lucky grabbed Tina's leg and wouldn't let go... Tina was hopping around on one leg for about 5 minutes... soooo funny. Below, in the picture of Lucky and me, he was trying to be an "intellectual professor" after he found these random glasses, and proceeded to wear them very low on him nose like bifocals. 

Now for 4th of July pictures!

Tina and I dressed in red, white, and blue and put our USA tattoos on our face and walked down to Tuleeni super early that morning. We put tattoos on all the kids and then went inside where we made over 100 water balloons! We set up these "do it yourself" games that I found on Pintrest, both were amazing. First, we decided to do a sort of bean bag toss...but instead of bean bags, we used the water balloons. We picked team captains and made two different teams. Then we set up 5 different baskets/bowls on the ground, each with different point values, and drew a "stand here" line where the kids would toss the balloon from. In order for the points to count, the balloon had to stay inside the bucket and couldn't bounce out. After we played this game, we played a catch and throw game with the water balloons-- we cut 2 liter water bottles in half and just used the top part of them-- if your turn the top half upside down and hold it like an ice cream cone, it creates like a little bucket, and the kids tossed the water balloons back and forth catching them in the water bottle and tossing them by ONLY using the water bottle. The edges of the little water bottle catcher things were rigid, so the balloons often popped when the kids caught them, and then splashed water all over their faces! The LOVED the games. 

Here are our puppies!!! On the top left, Tina and me are holding two puppies that live at Tuleeni-- they are brother and sister. I am holding Simba and Tina is holding Nala. They are about 10 weeks old. On the top right, Tina and I are holding OUR puppies-- Bella is with Tina and Pendo with me. Lucky named Bella way back in January when she was first born. He wanted to name her Cinderella but I told him that was a really long name for a dog, and he picked Bella instead. She is about 8 months old. Tina and I took her to get all her shots and vaccines and now she lived with me and Pendo inside my new house :) Her and Pendo play AMAZINGLY together, which you can see in the picture on the bottom right. On the bottom left, Pendo is standing with my third dog, which used to be Edward's dog, which he named Edward. Everyone calls him Edwardi, and he is HUGE, but is such a love! He, Pendo, and Bella play all day long together, chasing chickens through the corn fields, and running in circles around my kitchen table. I love having three mutts :) Rescue dogs are the best!

Here are more pictures of us playing with the kids. Many African kids make extra money by doing acrobatic performances at dinners or events for tourists-- Tuleeni has their own little acrobatic group, and Tina and I thought it would be great if we taught them how to stunt so they could do it in their little shows!!! Tina single based Tumaini and then Tumaini and Godi held Awazi up in a prep. Tina and I also tried to do a liberty with Tumaini but he couldn't exactly figure out how to keep his leg bent up by his knee. The other kids were coloring and making friendship bracelets, while we stunted. Above the stunting pictures, Lucky and I are riding a bike through the bumpy streets of Rau-- I was peddling and Lucky was sitting on the actually bike in front of me, screaming every time we hit a little bump or swerved even the tiniest bit! He hopped off the bike as we approached the orphanage and looked at me and said "Thank you Madam, I will take it from here." Tina and I laugh at eveyrthing that this kid says... his vocabulary is rather extensive for a 12 year old and his witty comments are hilarious. On Saturday, Yusta and Mariam went back to school-- they go to an incredible Secondary boarding school called Kiraeni in Rombo, about an hour or so way from the orphanage. Tina has become a partial sponsor for Mariam, which is so exciting!! The four of us got to take a nice picture before they left! We will miss you girls so much!

On Saturday night, Edward and Adam took Tina and I to this BEAUTIFUL bed and breakfast/hotel resort about 30 minutes outside of Moshi called TPC. There is a nice bar and restaurant right next to a golf course, and on a clear day, you can see Kilimanjaro perfectly. The sunset that night was gorgeous, and the pink clouds reflected a light color of pink on the snow on the mountain, which was so pretty, but you cannot see it in the picture! We had drinks and appetizers at TPC and then headed back into town to have dinner. The four of us have had so much fun hanging out over the past month while Tina has been in town. 

Here are pictures from Tina's last few days with us in Tanzania. The kids already miss her like crazy.. and so do I. Having her here was a dream come true, and I am so glad that I was able to share my world here with her. I think she really enjoyed her time here and was able to get a pretty good idea of why I love this place so much. We hope to have her back as soon as possible but are wishing her the best of luck with grad school! We are missing you always dada Tina!

NOW FOR THE BEST PICTURE YET!! MY AMAZING CHILDREN BLEED ORANGE LIKE TINA AND ME!!!

HOOKEM BABY!!!

XOXOX LOVE ALWAYS, 

NEEMA

Kids like us should wear a warning!

This week has been incredible. Tina and I went on so many little adventures and excursions and had the best time.

On Monday the 24th, we celebrated my 22nd birthday/two year anniversary with the orphans!

The middle picture of Tina and me holding the two boys is one of my favorite pictures ever. Tina is holding Mwita and I am holding Samsoni. They had terribly rough lives prior to coming to Tuleeni with their little brother and their mother, but not that they are with us, they have been growing up beautifully and have such bright futures ahead of them. I have always had a special bond with these two little rugrats, but they clicked just as well with Tina, and the four of us have really had a ball together over the past few weeks. 

The top left picture is of Tina and I teaching about 40 children how to do the Gangnam Style dance. The birthday party was amazing-- all of our children and dozens of other children from the village came to celebrate with us. We made Pilau for dinner which is a Tanzanian dish, very similar to chicken fried rice/stir fry. My other best friend Erin sent me to Africa with tons of birthday decorations and supplies to use with the kids on my birthday. Tina brought balloons and decorations for us to use as well--- we filled a room with everything they gave me and the kids were stunned by the mass of color and decorations. After my party, Edward took Tina and me out to dinner for my birthday at a delicious restaurant called Ten2Ten. It was an incredible birthday!!!

Tina, Pendo and I went on a day trip to the Hot Springs this week! It is about an hour drive down the bumpiest road in the world.... and then in the middle of a desert, there are a handful of trees, and enclosed in the trees is this stunning spring with the clearest most beautiful water. There were tons of local children who were playing in the shallowest part of the water, for none of them knew how to swim, but their smiles were darling and their laughter filled the air. They were on a field trip with the Sisters from their church. I loved knowing that their church was able to supply them with an awesome opportunity like this. While Tina and I were thrilled to see them, it was a little awkward having these children around as well as the sisters there--- some of you may not know this, but in many parts of Africa, women and girls do not show their knees--- we wear long dresses, skirts and sometimes pants-- but not for swimming... they say it is okay to wear a bathing suit when you swim, which makes sense, but in the past when I have gone swimming in Tanzania, there are usually just tourists around... having the place filled with locals as Tina and I stripped down to our bikinis was BEYOND awkward, so we decided to at least keep our shirts on while swimming. At the hot springs, there is a giant rope swing attached to an extremely high tree. Tina and I decided to be adventurous and climb up to the top of the tree to jump into the water! The pictures above show us falling from a very very high tree, as well as the pictures of us with the local children! Pendo sat around and barked every time we jumped in the water, as if we were drowning.. however, she did not get in the water. There were too many people around and she was very overwhelmed. I am glad she came with us though!

On Wednesday afternoon, Tina and I took a long walk through Rau with Pendo and her dog Bella. After the walk, Edward picked me up at the orphanage and took me to go and meet the landlord of the house that I have been thinking about renting for the time I am here. I love living at the orphanage, but Pendo, Tina and I are all in a small room, and I was having a lot of trouble getting my work done with the children running around and Pendo barking all the time-- so Edward suggested that I look into moving into his old house which is literally a 4 minute walk from the orphanage. He took me to go see it and I fell in love with it. It is stunning-- 3 bed rooms, a living room, a study, a kitchen and dining room, 2 bathrooms, 2 showers, etc. They said I could move in on Sunday the 30th! So exciting. 

On Wednesday night, Adam and Edward told Tina and me that they were taking us out of town for the night to a near by little place called Lake Chala. It was a 45 minute drive to the campsite that was filled with tents and beautiful straw huts-- it looked like a beach resort mixed with a campsite. The four of us had dinner by the lake next to a bonfire that they had made for us. We stayed up for hours looking at the stars, listening to music, chatting, and enjoying the cool breeze from the lake. When we woke up the next morning, we were greeted with a lovely breakfast next to the lake where we could watch the sunrise. When we first arrived there, it was dark, so we couldn't see all the scenery. We were amazed at the beauty of the area, and the clarity of the sky allowed us to see the small mountains/hills in the distance that Edward informed us was actually the border of Kenya. We had a wonderful time. 

Edward and Adam went away on a Safari this weekend with a huge group of kids from CCS (Cross Cultural Solutions) and so Tina and I stayed home at the orphanage with the kids. We had a great time hanging around on Thursday and Friday, but then I got some very sad news on Saturday morning... When I was here two years ago with CCS, we had the most amazing staff-- not only at the base house, but our drivers, who would drive us to our volunteer placements everyday were these young guys who EVERYONE loved spending time with. My driver that summer was a man named Richard. Richard was the one who brought me to Tuleeni on my 20th birthday and introduced me to the children. On friday night, he was out in Moshi with some friends and was not feeling great. He told his friends he was going to go home and sleep and that hopefully he would feel better the next day. The next morning, Richard did not wake up, and had passed away in his sleep. They are running tests to find out the cause of death, but it seems to look like a natural yet tragic health complication that occurred while he was asleep. I was heartbroken when I heard the news, as was everyone who knew him. He was in his late 20's or very early 30's and had such a zest for life. He will always have a special place in my heart for he was one of the people who helped me to fall in love with Tanzania. 

Miss you already Richard. Rest In Peace.

On Sunday afternoon after church, 20 of our children, Tina, and myself got dressed and headed to Zumba Land. 

In the middle of the pictures below, there is another beautiful picture of Mwita, Samsoni, Tina and Me. I want to print this one out and put it in a frame next to the one of the four of us from my birthday!

When I took the kids there last year, the complex had not been completely finished, and the pool was not open yet. Last year, I put all the kids in cabs to get there, which was outrageous, espceically considering how close the park is to the orphanage. So this year, we decided to take our kids who are about 9 years old - 17 years old, and we walked there! It is a very scenic walk through the dirt back roads and trees. Mwita (7) and Samsoni (5) were the two youngest ones we brought with us that day. We wound up carrying them on our backs half the way because their legs were too short to walk fast and keep up with the rest of us. All the children decided that they wanted to swim at Zumba land instead of spending time on all the inflatable slides and bounce houses. Tina and I told them their wish was our command, and we proceeded to jump into the FREEZING cold swimming pool in our clothes that we would be walking home from the park in later that evening. There was a shallow end at the pool and the kids splashed around for about 2 hours. I have successfully taught little Hellen how to swim, and I am so proud of her. The rest of them are still learning. We had a wonderful time at the park, and left around 6pm to start walking home before it got too dark. Tina and I dropped our kids off at home, and then proceeded to our new house!!! I had dropped all our bags off at the new house earlier that morning while Tina was at church with the kids. We are all settled in already and having a great time here. Adam and Edward came over for dinner and a movie late on Sunday night to celebrate my new house--- even though they had been here millions of times together in the past, considering the house used to belong to Edward!

Here are just a few pictures of Tina and me with the kids from the week-- I love the picture in the top row, second from the left, of my sweet Lillian wearing an Alpha Phi shirt that I gave her. 

On Monday, I took Tina on a coffee tour-- coffee is Tanzania's cash crop and one of their biggest exports, if not the biggest. We went out to my friend Oscar's house, where he and his family have one of the most beautiful all natural coffee plantations in the area. Many parts of Tanzania have started using pesticides and other chemicals to help speed up the coffee bean maturation process. Many farmers have also started using chemically engineered hybrid coffee plants that are not pure organic coffee like that of the farmers whose plantations have been around for decades. Oscar's plantation has been growing for 65 years and was started by his great grandfather. He walked Tina through the entire coffee making process, and showed her how he and his family make a living. 

It has been an absolutely amazing week here in Tanzania and we are having the best time! I wish that Tina could stay here with me all year. I will miss her so much when she leaves. To all of you wonderful people who have donated to the "22 in 22" campaign, THANK YOU! We have raised a nice amount of money and still have 15 more days on the event ahead of us! Please share the event with your friends and encourage them to donate to help us build a beautiful new home for the Tuleeni Orphans. 

xoxoxo 

Love always,

Neema 

"22 in 22"

So today is June 24th, which is a very special day. Not only is today my 22nd birthday, but it is also my 2 year anniversary with the Tuleeni Orphans. Two years ago today on my 20th birthday I stumbled onto the tuleeni orphanage road and met these amazing children and my life hasnt been the same since then. So for my birthday this year, instead of birthday wishes or gifts or anything like that, Neema International is putting on a 22 day long event/fundraiser called "22 in 22". we are trying to raise $22,000 in 22 days so taht we can continue with the building of the new Tuleeni Orphanage! The next stage of the building includes the stairs, the second floor slab, and the second floor walls! We are very excited to get started on all of this but cannot do so without your help!!! We are asking everyone to donate $22 to contribute to "22 in 22" to help me celebrate my 22nd birthday and anniversary with these wonderful children. Donations can be made at www.neemainternational.org !! please share this blog post with your friends and family and help us reach our goal! 

 




Love always,

Neema

Sarafi Time!

Tina and I just got back from a great safari to the Serengeti, Ngorngoro Crater and Tarangerie. We went with my friend Edward who owns a safari company here called Pristine Trails. We were on Safari for 4 days and 3 nights and camped in the bush in tents every night :) Enjoy the pictures below!

On the way to the crater, we stopped in a Maasai Village in the bush-- this is one of the most well known tribes in Tanzania and Kenya. These individuals dress in colored robes and live off the land completely. I had done a tour through a Maasai Village in Kenya with my family about 5 years ago, and have learned a lot about them from being in Tanzania so much, but it was still really fun to get to spend time with them again. It is incredible to see how they live their lives-- no electricity, houses made of dung and mud, beds made from animal hyde, and wealth based on cattle. really beautiful to see it all. 

When we were in the crater, which was BEYOND freezing due to the high altitude, we woke up at 5:30am in order to see the best animals, and then we drove to this beautiful lake in the crater where our chef Seve had prepared an early morning picnic for us. Me, Tina and Edward had a wonderful breakfast by the lake while watching the Zebra and Wildebeest roam around the pastures

Tina, Edward and I CLEARLY hard at work pitching our tent in the Serengeti

Some AMAZING photos of the three of us with the elephants, zebras and buffalo

While on safari, we saw TONS of lions. In the Serengeti alone, there is a pride of 50 lions. For those who do not know, the movie the Lion King is based off the Serengeti, and lion in swahili is Simba.

Here are some more gorgeous pictures of all our furry little friends from the safari! 

Above: Elephants, Zebra, Wildebeest, Hyena, Warthog, and a baby baboon! 

Below: our friends the Buffalo, the giraffe, and more zebras!

we also saw gazelles, a rhino, a leopard, two other types of cats, tons of beautiful birds, baby hyenas, mongooses, and more-- I just didnt want to clog the blog with more pictures than I already have!!

after being in the car for 5 hours on the way home from safari, we finally approach Arsuha, which is about an hour and a half from the orphanage. Edward looks at Tina and I and says, "have you guys ever ridden a camel" I told him that I had, but tina hadn't. He looked at us and said "have to fear, edward is here, and within two minutes, he pulled the car into a camel park and told us to get out of the car... there sitting on the floor was a camel with a saddle... he looked at us and said "climb on" absolutely hilarious end to a wonderful few days on safari.

Here are a few more stunning pictures of the Crater and the Serengeti

 

xoxoxo love always,

Neema

A Whole New World...

 Hello everybody! So sorry that I have not blogged until now. Things have been beyond crazy since I arrived in Tanzania on Monday night. But I guess it is better late than never! Everything here as truly been incredible and having Tina and Pendo here with me has been a dream come true. I have never felt more at home!

So where to start... Tina, Pendo and I arrived on Monday night at the Kilimanjaro International Airport at around 7:30pm. Within no time, we got all of our bags and Pendo and went outside to wait for paul to come pick us up. We loaded our 6 suitcases, 4 carry on bags, Pendo's crate and Pendo into the van and then we were on our way. Tina and I were starving because we both slept through dinner on the airplane, so we stopped in Moshi at Pub Alberto to get some Samosas before we went to the orphanage. As we starting driving down the road that leads to Rau, my heart was racing and I couldn't contain my excitement. We turned off the asphalt road onto the long bumpy dirt road which led to the orphanage passing the M'samaria Center for Street Children and the Pamoja Tunaweza Center for Women… we were getting so close. We stopped to say hello to Mama Freddy--- she was cleaning up her little restaurant in the street right outside her home-- i jumped out of the car and screamed "Mama Freddy!" she could hear my american accent, and she knew it was me-- she screamed back at me, "Neema! Umerudi!" which means, "you have returned!" i gave her a hug and told her that I would come back the next day and chat.  When we were about to pull up to the orphanage, i started honking the horn and flashing the lights on paul's car. within seconds, the children and mama and the neighbors came running out of the house to greet us. they were all so excited to see TIna, Pendo and me. They helped us move our many many bags into the room we were going to be staying in, and then they gave us all kisses and hugs and went off to sleep. Tina and I tried to unpack a little but decided to just go to bed. We were so tired from the long day and a half of traveling, we passed out rather quickly. We woke up tuesday morning at the crack of dawn to the rooster's cock-a-doole-doo-ing. It was a little dark outside still, but we knew the sun would be up shortly, so we got dressed and took Pendo on a walk through the village. While we were walking, I was able to introduce Tina to all the members of our little village-- everyone was so shocked to see that Pendo had come back to tanzania and that she was all grown up. After our walk, we went home and showered and got ready for the day. We then went into town to run some errands--got some groceries for our room, bought tina a cell phone, put money on my internet stick, etc. That night, we went to bed super early! Pendo has been doing really well. she was a little quiet at first, but she is adjusting rather nicely now and either sleeps in her crate or in bed with me or tina. tina and i wake up at 530 or 6am every morning to go for a walk with Pendo-- its been easy to wake up so early because we go to bed sooo early every night because running around all day with children and doing chores around the orphanage is exhausting. Anyways, walking Pendo at the crack of dawn has been great because it is the only time I can really let her off her leash and let her run around like crazy because the village isn't really awake yet, and therefore, people won't be around for her to bother-- all the people here, while they may love Pendo, are either really scared of dogs or do not like to be around them... and Pendo is so darn friendly she wants to go and greet every person she sees, not understanding that they don't really wanna greet her back. So she has instead found new companions.. the chickens. While I have to be careful when allowing her to run around this way, watching her chase the chickens through the dirt roads of Rau is truly hilarious and always puts me in a good mood. Many of the children are adjusting to Pendo being around and they are quickly learning to love her like I do. She has gone to play with us at the local field twice this week--- we broke up into two teams to play soccer and Pendo ran up and down the field for at least an hour chasing the soccer ball and contributing to the game! The kids were AMAZED to see her play soccer-- this was the kind of life I envisioned for her once we returned to Africa-- her being alive and healthy, first of all, and second, getting to see her enjoying life, the way that she did in America. One thing that has been hard for Pendo is there aren't many dogs around here for her to play with... last summer there were plenty of them, but not any more :( upon arriving in tanzania on monday night, I got some very sad news.... two of the Tuleeni dogs, Chapati and Mandazi, who I have mentioned in many of my blogs and who have been around since forever and who played with me and the kids over the past two years and played with Pendo last summer, were killed about 2 months ago. which was beyond devastating for the children. Hearing this news broke my heart. Apparently, the police came through our village here and literally shot all the street dogs that didn't have collars on... the children buried Mandazi and Chapati in our backyard next to another grave or two...

                                                                          Mandazi 

Chapati 

Truly incredible dogs.. so loyal and sooo sweet. and never did anything wrong. may they rest in peace. 

Now for the next subject: "things that have been keeping me annoyed and busy this week...." the phone and my residency permit... so not fun. Unfortunately, Vodacom has a new policy that when you buy a new SIM card, you have to wait for 72 hours for it to be activated... such a pain! So tina and I have been some what MIA for the week. Our phones finally started working yesterday.. thank goodness. As for the residency permit.. we have been to the immigration office THREE times this week... drove all the way to Arusha on Wednesday and had to pay my friend a ton just to drive us there to find out that we didn't have to even drive to the office in Arusha and could have taken care of it all in Moshi.. but I now have everything I need to get my residency permit, so I will be able to get that all taken care of when the office opens on monday. two days ago we went to the field and played soccer-- boys vs girls... we tied 3 to 3. there were only like 12 of us playing that day so we decided to have a rematch.. Yesterday, we all went down to the field together to have a huge soccer game. Pendo came with us and of course was running back and forth and back and forth up and down the sidelines chasing the soccer ball as it was dribbled across the field. Tina and I prepared guacamole for the kids and ate dinner all together. Then we watched a movie in the house and all cuddled up together before falling asleep. Mwita and Samson were half asleep in my arms.. it was so perfect. I swear I could hold those two for hours. After the children went off to sleep, Tina and Pendo and I crawled into bed and turned offf the lights. this morning Tina and I woke up and went on a walk with pendo. we made chapati wiht mama jacobo and then I taught tina how to do laundry with her hands-- she is a very quick learning and is adjusting very quickly to life here. Then pendo played with the two dogs that ARE left here--- these dogs are extremely skinny and look very sick, so tina and I are trying to nurse them back to life so that the kids can have new dogs to keep them company. I put collars on the dogs and Tina bought them a big bag of pedigree dog food from the mzungu grocery store. these two dogs have two puppies with them as well, so tina bought baby formula and is some what bottle feeding the little ones until they are strong enough to take care of themselves. 

Tina, Jonas, Lucky, and Me at the local soccer field

Tina and Me

Tina and Me at Mama Jacobo's house making chapati!

Mwita and Samsoni playing with Pendo!

Now for the news that you are all waiting for... THE BUILDING OF THE NEW ORPHANAGE!!!! Tina, Pendo and I all went out to Uru to the new orphanage site on Thursday. Mama arranged for the contractors, the consultants, the engineer, the construction workers, and the Tuleeni Orphanage board members to meet me there so that we could all sit down together and have a meeting. The orphanage construction is coming along incredibly. Everything really looks amazing and I am still in shock that all of this is ACTUALLY happening... Thank you to all of you who have donated thus far and have supported myself and my friend Jackie Weiss, who started the Faraji Foundation, in helping us to make this dream a reality. As much as I would love to say all is good and well and that we have nothing to worry about, that is not the case. As great as the orphanage looks now, we are in DIRE need of funds to continue building. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me spread the word about Neema International and about the Tuleeni Orphanage. Each bag of cement to build the remainder of the walls and the second floor of the new orphanage costs $10-- please consider buying a bag of cement and contributing to our efforts! Donations can be made at www.Neemainternational.org ---if you have already donated but still want to help, PLEASE send this information out to a handful of people in an email or post it on Facebook or on twitter or whatever social media site you use. We are working so hard out here, but cannot move forward without your help! 

       

Mama Faraji and Me standing in front of the newly constructed orphanage walls!

Pendo and Me at the new orphanage site

Unfortunately, I have no more time to write about this week, but keep checking the website for stories and updates! 

Love always, 
Neema