Hope Restored

March 8, 2024

(Hang with me, its going to have a happy ending!)

Her name was Mary, she was a widow, 28 years old, with a baby she could no longer nurse, her breasts had gone dry and obviously she was starving.

This was her home or what was left of it, chunks of the mud caulking had fallen out between the sticks and the dust and wind blew continuously through the house.

She lay on the ground covered by a thin cloth, not wanting to see or be seen by a world too harsh to stay in.

Ester made her look up. Can you see it? It is the face of complete despair, all hope exhausted; youth, dreams, joy, plans, pleasures vanished like the smoke of her cooking fire, now empty ashes.

Too much? Sorry.

It’s not something we want to see or hear, it’s not one of our happy stories. But we hear it quite often now. The men leave the village looking for work in the towns and they never return and the women and children starve.

Ester our “Save The Mothers” director brought me pictures of Mary and asked if we could help.

She had left at 6am with some of our volunteers for a long, dusty trip out to a Maasai Village to check on the Bibis (Grandmothers) from one of our previous Save The Mothers classes.

It’s important to follow up after a few months to check how the Bibis are doing, how many babies has each one delivered, how many moms or babies did they lose, what were their ages and what were the complications, were they able to use the simple skills they had learned in our classes, etc…

And we had sent gifts and supplies to help them in their work. The Bibis were excited, each one wanting to tell their successes and some their losses.

Each month twelve Maasai traditional birthers come to Neema Village in Arusha for Save The Mothers.  It is our attempt to stop the high numbers of moms dying in childbirth and I think it is working. We have now had over 384 women come in for training.

Our first lesson for them is bring the moms in to the hospital! But they want to birth at home, women die in the hospitals, they say.

With little or no medical care during pregnancy, girls as young as 12 marry and get pregnant. They eat grass to make themselves vomit during the last three months so they will have small babies. Maasai women are tall and thin, narrow hipped and they’ve learned big babies kill.

And complicated by the Maasai practice of FGM, female circumcision, the chances of not making it through childbirth are high. Scar tissue does not stretch like normal skin so they rip and tear and bleed to death having a baby.

Too much again? Sorry, someone needs to know, someone needs to care.

And Ester cares, a Maasai herself whose been through all of it, early arranged marriage to an abusive old man, running away, scared, alone, trying to get free. We helped and she made it, now she tries to help her people. She cries as she tries to teach these grandmothers.

But today after this session out in the village they asked Ester to go to a hut with them to see a widow named Mary.

Can we help her, she asked me? How could we not, I asked.

More and more as we live our lives in this beautiful, blighted land of Africa we ask ourselves how did Jesus do this every day, hear these stories, continue to care, not throw up his hands and say it’s just too much?

What would He do? We know. He would help.

So, we sent Ester back out the next day to bring Mary in to Neema. Another long exhausting day for her and Kilele the driver. Later sitting on the couch in the baby home at Neema Village Mary was so weak she couldn’t stand by herself. We took her to the hospital and in a few hours, she had medicine and a drip in her arm.  Thank God, Another life saved.

We had sent Ester back out to pick up one woman but she brought in two. A pregnant woman in the village was so big she could barely walk and, on the way home they dropped her off at Maternity Africa.  But Maternity Africa wanted to trade her for another mom who had delivered twins in their hospital earlier and had no home to return to. So we have a new mom in our MAP program with little twins. I went to visit and mom wanted me to name her babies.

Babies Madeline and Michael Bloom, above, like little buds waiting to open, are named for Madeline Bloom who lost her husband, Michael, last year.

Madeline is on the right with her sister Molly with two Neema babies. The Michael Bloom Foundation in collaboration with “True North” is building a soccer field on Neema property to help young boys and girls and women have a place to play off the streets.

If you’ve been to Neema, the “Furaha Soccer Field” is right below the cow shed. We will paint soccer balls all over that wall. And we will have a women’s team with lots of Neema Nannies to work off their frustrations after a hard day playing with our babies!

It’s not all sad and depressing, our granddaughter, Maria, is Maasai, the last child of an eighth wife who died in childbirth. She is proud of her culture and loves to visit the simple life of her family out in the village. Like Maria and Ester, Maasai are beautiful. God made each culture in His image.

What’s Mary’s future, now that she has one, you ask?

We brought her back to Neema Village after a few days in the hospital to the MAP houses where she is being fed nutritious meals and where she has other women with similar stories to lean on. She is still skinny but she will attend classes where she will learn that God never lost sight of her. His love heals and one day we will set her up in a corn or rice business and she will return to her village. Hope restored.

Why do we do this you ask? Because Jesus would. He loves these beautiful Maasai women more than we do. Did you know that His longest discussion with a single person recorded for us was with a woman?

I wonder if her name was Mary.

Juliana’s Story of Hope

February 14, 2024

Sweet little baby number five so far this year came to Neema just in time for Valentine day. His mom has severe mental issues and did not care to name him. Kiersten from Illinois was here and since the baby was born on her birthday she got to name him. She named him Christian. We love it.

Don’t worry sweet boy you are going to be so loved here and after a few months a new mommy and daddy will be found for you. Once again what evil meant for death, God meant for Life!

Summertime on the front porch at Neema. Somedays it is just too hot to be inside for a nap. It’s a full house with fifty-eight babies at Neema Village today.

Ester, the one in the green shuka, is the director/teacher of the Save The Mothers program. She is loved and respected by these Maasai women who come in for training. Esther is Maasai and has suffered through much of what she is now teaching these traditional birthers to avoid. I wish you could feel the excitement of these women as they go through their graduation ceremony.

It is loud and fun and wonderful!

When the twelve Bibis (grandmothers) spend a week at Neema they learn so much that will help their moms in their villages; from healthy eating so the moms can have healthy babies to how to extract a retained placenta. The Bibis say they go home with their heads too full. They are very proud of their certificates. Our latest Graduation was the 9th of February, 2024.

At the daycare for special needs babies, this is one happy little boy who got his very own wheelchair this month. The surgeon now says that it will not help Bryson to do surgery on his legs to make his feet go down and could make it worse. So Bryson is going to be the champion wheelchair driver of Arusha! Bryson’s dad has now finished his welding apprenticeship and is ready to start a business.

Juliana has been sad for a long time. She says alcohol has ruined her life and it is too late for her to have a good life now. She does not yet know the power of our God to repair broken lives!

Juliana is only 36 years old. She is our newest MAP mom and has just spent a year in an alcohol rehab center. She was HIV positive when her family abandoned her. She met a man at the meds clinic who was also positive and they bonded, fell in love and married. She tried to take her meds faithfully but their first baby died at birth and then a few weeks after having her second baby her husband died. She began drinking heavily, moved to the streets, lost everything including her son and finally some neighbors dragged her to Sober House where she has been in treatment for the last year. She has worked hard but was worried about where she could go when she was released.

Our Map Director Anna was at Sober house checking in another mom when she met Juliana and told her to call when she was released. Thank God she called. Juliana is learning to pray and learning that there is a God who has never forgotten her. She has never owned a bible but is now attending nightly bible classes in our MAP apartments and attends Christian based group therapy twice a week. Hope has come alive!

Now Juliana can’t stop smiling and saying, “Asante Sana,” Thank You!

For now she is staying busy helping at Neema with the day care babies. Hopefully in the near future she will begin business training and be able to start a business that will support her and her cutie pie little boy.

The Power of Hope is amazing isn’t it. “Without Hope life is a broken winged bird.”

We hope your day is filled with the great Giver of Hope, Jesus the Christ.

dorris and michael

www.neemavillage.org

The End of the Story

January 16, 2024

I have been waiting on the end of this story and today I can tell you there is a happy ending. A few weeks ago Kim had gone out to check on five little kids who were living in a house by themselves with no adults. Iaisha, the biggest at ten, was taking care of her four siblings in a shack with no water, bathroom, kitchen or electricity.

“I’m not leaving here without them, Kim said. I don’t care if the police arrest me for kidnapping. These kids are coming with me. That is what I said and I meant it.

When I looked in those five little faces, I could see the loss, the abandonment. The oldest, Iaisha stares at the floor and mumbles “Mama comes every few days, mostly at night, with some shillings for us.” I can see it is just enough for a small bit of corn flour but surely not enough for all five of them.

Since Iaisha is the oldest at 10, she has been taking care of her brothers and sister. Her eyes are dark circles, weary as if she has lived too much life for her young years. She is made to clean the landlord’s house to pay the rent for their own tiny square of concrete floor. Then Iiasha goes in search of food for her little family. No point in looking for Mom to help, she has long since learned Mom doesn’t care.

The normal laughter of little children is eerily silent in this dirty hollow place. There is no light to show the sunken cheeks of hungry children. All thought of play is consumed by need, need for food, need for water, need for shelter. When they were given some bread and peanut butter, it was stolen by the landlord. So they sat, huddled together this little band of five waiting for nothing as they had come to expect.

There are no tears as we load them in the car. No one in the alleyway to say bye or have a good life, just nothing. Anywhere is better than here. They take nothing with them. There is nothing to take. I cried, all the adults cried, even the seasoned social worker cried.

Today I sit listening to giggles and squeals of these five children playing on the swings. The little band of five are all washed and fed and most of all safe and loved here at Neema Village. But what to do with them now, I wonder, we are a baby home and only take babies two and under? But for Iaisha, the little momma, I know we must keep her little family together.

Above at Neema, probably their first meal where “more” was an option.

Kim continues, “I could see each child was beginning to hope again. There is light in their eyes. It’s easier for the little ones. One year old Mo reaches for a hug. Four year old Amina gives a sweet smile and six year old Godbless is quick to laugh. It’s the two older ones, eight year old Shariff and our little mama Iaisha, who are more reserved. It’s hard to trust when you’ve never had someone to trust. But the light of hope is lit. I see a corner of a smile as I push her on the swing. Oh, what a sweet sight. I begin to cry again.”

Today they have a new mom, a new home a new school and three new brothers.

Mama Aneth, on the left, is one of our MAP moms. She was abandoned after her husband wanted to bring a second wife into the home. She said no, so he kicked her and her son out. Last week we found a nice big home to rent for her, her son and the five kids along with Meshack and Ema. We have also hired an Auntie to help her.

Thanks Cliff for putting their new beds together. The children have had no schooling to speak of but they are now in one of the better English schools in the Arusha district. Ashley brought some school supplies. They don’t have toys, books or enough furniture in the house but we bought a regular gas stove with four burners to help with the cooking.

For now it is enough to see the smiles and hear the laughter of happy children.

It is the Moment of Lift for these five. They have a chance now, education, food and God will make all the difference for them. This is your money at work in Africa. I wish we could give this moment to every child living without parents, under bridges, or on the streets but for now it is enough. We helped five today. Bless you for standing in the gap with us for them.

Michael and Dorris Fortson

Neema Village.

The Year that Was 2023

The Year that Was 2023

In 2023, thirty new babies came to Neema Village. Twenty eight babies went home with a family member or a Foster Care mom and eleven babies were adopted this year. Currently there are 59 babies living at Neema Village with 93 full time Tanzanian employees and on the campus of Neema they are still the only people paid. Numbers do not tell the story but maybe they will help as you read how God is working daily in Arusha, Tanzania, East Africa.

Like these precious water babies above each baby has a tragic story or we would not have them. As a registered and certified children’s home in Arusha, the babies are all assigned to Neema through the Arusha Social Welfare department. If you follow Neema Village on Facebook you have read the babies’ stories and been able to keep up with their progress on Ashley’s updates. Their intake stories are all on our website under see Neema Babies at www.neemavillage.org

Neema’s MAP (Mothers Against Poverty) program has grown to over 135 women who have gone through the MAP program. Like Linet who tells her story of being abandoned, pregnant and on the street at 18 but now has a thriving used clothing business, she encourages the other women to be strong and courageous.

Twenty three new moms joined the program and sixteen new businesses were born in 2023. Twelve Women’s Rights seminars were taught teaching African women that they have the right to inherit their corn, their cows, their land and they have the right not to be beaten. Ninety seven English classes and 105 Literacy classes were taught in the Preslar Mothering Center at Neema.

Business sessions to help women know how to do a business and keep records, and seminars like earring making and other business ideas were taught this year. Daily bible classes, sewing classes, and two weekly Bible Based Group Therapy sessions were added this year to help these women recover from the trauma they faced as they endured abuse and abandonment by the men and families who should have cared for them. Many of these women continue to struggle with problems but like Fetty, pictured above with her small shop, are working hard to overcome the addictions in their lives.

Twenty sewing machines were given out to women who finished the sewing classes at Neema this year.

The ten MAP apartments for women brought in off the streets remained full all year with women going through counseling, bible classes and business training. Women usually stay about 6 months in the MAP housing before they are ready to start a business. Like Florah who was pregnant at fifteen with her second baby and homeless, sleeping on a church bench when a friend brought her to Neema Village. Florah has now graduated from beauty school and is ready to start her hair styling business and will be checking out of the MAP housing soon.

Many of these women are giving their lives to Jesus as they learn about the powerful gifts He offers for forgiveness and hope through a life in Christ.

The Save The Mothers program teaching traditional birthers better how to save the lives of women out in Maasai villages held monthly sessions in the new conference center at Neema Village. One hundred and forty four grandmothers who help young women birth babies were added to the growing list of Neema’s trained traditional midwives this year. From how to deal with HIV patients, to the problems FGM presents to birthing mothers these grandmothers returned to their villages better able to save the lives of their women.

Four truck loads of food were delivered from Neema out to starving people in remote villages this year. Our first big medical mission was held out in Simanjiro with 4 to 500 people attending. Three doctors, Drs Pam Green, Steve Ruiz and David Dawson from the big Scott and White Hospital in Temple, Texas facilitated that work. A VBS for children was also held at that time.

It was probably the hardest, dirtiest yet most incredible single work we have done out in the remote villages of Tanzania.

Three GIFT programs were held this past year with three hundred plus young girls between 12 and 18 attending each session. Gift (Girls Informed For Tomorrow) modeled after “Days For Girls” is training young women to wait until older on marriage and having babies. Some of the babies living at Neema today lost their moms because the moms were thirteen to fifteen years old.

We all know that education is the single biggest indicator of children being able to lift from lives of poverty. Neema’s school program is becoming one of our bigger budget items. With 44 Neema children, like Meshack, Julius, Maria, Ema and Elesha in school this year, over $25,000 USD was sent to English schools around Arusha for our Neema children’s educations.

One of Neema’s sweetest programs is the free Rehabilitation Daycare for special needs babies. It is a bright and cheery place where the babies learn to walk and how to hold a toy and how to sit up by themselves and how to talk and then graduate out of the program. With a sensory room of bright colors and music, a therapy room, a room for naps, and an exercise room, we believe there is nothing else like it in all of Tanzania.

During 2023 the Day Care center graduated 12 children, like Editha above, who had learned to walk or aged out of the program. Twelve children are being supported in their homes with monthly food allowance and home visits. There are currently eleven babies enrolled in the program attending Monday through Friday. When babies like Lightness or Editha or PJ who seemed to have had no hope begin walking, running and talking we know God is still in the miracle business!!

After rebuilding the water drilling rig donated by friends from Nacogdoches, Texas, we are finally having success in drilling for water for thirsty people. We drilled seven wells this past year, 4 have been successful and three not yet. A member of parliament asked that we drill a water well for a school of 1,100 students which does not have water. They truck in water daily, can you imagine. This well is coming in today and it looks like it will have lots of beautiful, clear water for these school children. Praise God!

Volunteering has become an exciting and integral part of Neema’s program. A total of 247 volunteers came to hold the babies, share their faith, love the moms, see Africa’s beautiful game parks, and learn about other world cultures this past year. Two hundred and eleven volunteers were from the USA, four were from the UK, eight were from Canada, eight were from Australia, two were from Germany, one was from the Netherlands, three were from Sweden, six were from Italy and two were from Dar es Salaam. Short term missions change lives, it did ours.

Two new buildings were finished this past year on the Neema campus with the big Preslar Mothering center grand opening and the Hallelujah house, pictured above. The Hallelujah House was designed for special needs babies who have outgrown the baby home but have no other home. It also has room for our big school girls who come in from boarding school for school breaks.

God is busy in His world and there are many good projects going on around the globe. We hope you are involved somewhere. If not join us as we try to show God’s mercy and grace to the moms and babies of Tanzania.

As two retired 80 year olds, we cannot say thank you enough to those of you who love and support this work.

Michael and Dorris Fortson

www.neemavillage.org

I’ll Be Home for Christmas

December 15th, 2023

Sing along with me… “I’ll be home for Christmas, You can count on me…”

Our Christmas Photo of the year! Wishing you a Merry Christmas.

Eleven babies went home while we were in the States for a couple of months. Four of them were adoptions of abandoned babies. Just in time for Christmas I would think! It’s what we do best at Neema Village, putting families back together.

Quite a moving story, Kim writes: “About a year ago I began purposely praying for a family for our sweet, quite shy Anna. At 4 years old she is our oldest girl at Neema Village. We try our best to get the babies adopted by age two. For some reason Anna was just not being chosen, maybe because she was shy. Wednesday my prayers were answered.

Anna’s new mother told me an interesting story. She has two sons and wanted to adopt a daughter. She tried to adopt at several centers in southern Tanzania but they were poorly managed, paperwork was lost and the adoptions failed. She became discouraged that she would ever be able to find her daughter. Until she came to Neema Village! She had always said she would name her daughter Anna after her late mother. Then in walked our Anna girl and she knew why all the other adoptions had failed, there was her daughter. As I held Anna in my arms I told her, through my happy tears, that I loved her and I wanted her to keep Jesus in her heart always. Her new mother heard me and said her new brothers will sing songs about Jesus to her everyday. God’s timing is always perfect.” And a perfect ending too, Kim.

Naleku was one of a set of triplets born out in a Maasai village on Nov 20, 2022. We have lost count of how many triplets we have cared for, over twenty sets I’m sure. It’s the sweet potatoes! The Maasai triplet girls were very tiny and a friend brought the mom with the three little ones to Neema Village. We agreed to keep the two smallest for a few months and mom took the biggest triplet home. Mom came every month to check on the two little girls she had left with us. Nembris went home first but Naleku needed a few more months of Neema care. Finally she was strong enough to go home. Now together again!!

Jolly little Nickolaus was last year’s Christmas baby. In December 2022 his mom just walked out of the hospital and left him. This year for Christmas he has a new family. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Nicky was another one of our Kangaroo babies, he weighed 1.7kg and had to live under the nannies t-shirts for about a month to keep him warm. Adoptions are always warm and cosy at Neema Village.

With her little rosebud mouth Afsa was such a pretty baby. Her mother had some major health issues when the baby was born and could not care for the baby so social welfare brought her to Neema Village. Mom was faithful to visit Afsa and after the mother ‘s health improved Angel decided it was time for Afsa to return home. Happy baby, Happy momma.

Neema’s babies who cannot return home for one reason or another and are not adoptable are enrolled in our Neema Village Foster Care program. Most of them are placed with our nannies in their own homes who cared for these babies when they first came to Neema and know and love them. We have 19 babies living in our Foster care program with Neema nannies. Priscilla, our Office Manager, fell in love with these little twin girls, Naleku and Nosiligi as newborns. They were Emily Broadbent’s special babies, too. The girls would toddle into Priscilla’s office almost every morning to help her do some paper work, mostly wadding and tearing it up. When it came time for the girls to go into the Foster care program Priscilla stepped up. Quite a job for her but Priscilla is always up to the task.

 

Nosiligi and Naleku growing big and strong with lots of love from Priscilla who is teaching them all about the Wonderful Love of Jesus.

Abandoned baby Godlove, brought to Neema by the Police, was able to return to his mother after a few months at Neema. It appears the father had done the abandoning and mother had not know where her baby was. Social Welfare is always good at getting to the bottom of the story for these little ones.

Big girl Maria loving our little Bush Baby Bruce who was abandoned as a newborn in the bushes near a local village. The nannies named him Bruce after Bruce White, Kim’s husband. He was adopted while we were in the States and Praise God he will never be a Bush Baby again!!

Delvis was abandoned on the streets with a wrenched shoulder. He was in a lot of pain when he first came in and did not respond to his name until Ali Maddox called him Clarence so he became Clarence Delvis and we all fell in love with this little guy.


This little sweetheart, Lisa was able to return home to her grandmother. Thank God for Grandmothers in this country!

Cutie Pie Nelson’s mother died at his birth but his father and an Auntie decided they could keep him.

Let’s make 2024 your year to enter these gates in Tanzania, East AFrica!

Come for two weeks and see if you don’t fall in love with a different kind of mission work while you show the love of Jesus to the 63 babies still living at Neema Village today.

Come on, We’ll leave the light on!

Michael and Dorris

www.neemavillage.org

Leaving a Legacy

December 6, 2023

Almost twelve years ago Michael went out to a Maasai village to pick up our first baby.

Four hundred and fifty babies later, we can look back and remember the babies, the moms and the hundreds of volunteers who have come and gone, each one touched by the love and joy of Jesus through this precious ministry called Neema Village in Tanzania, East Africa.

From that first trip and all the ones since that have taken us back and forth around the world so many times we have lost count, one thing we have learned. God is so Faithful! Neema Village through God’s faithfulness is changing East Africa one baby at a time. But as I look at these younger photos of us I realize our time is short. If we want to make a lasting difference we have to do it now.

Below is a photo of Neema land before we began to build.

While looking back we are also thinking of the future and what God has planned for this ministry. We know that abandoned babies are not the problem and women who have been abused and abandoned by their husbands are not the problem. The men of Africa need so much help here. Is God calling us to build a trade school for men teaching them small engine repair or how to weld, or…? We know one thing, we cannot out dream God!

Below Neema today, isn’t it amazing what God has done!

“A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.”

As part of the vision for the future of Neema Village our Board of Directors is establishing a “Leave a Legacy” perpetual fund to support the ongoing needs of this ministry into the future. This separate fund will allow donors the option to choose whether each gift will be devoted to the long term vision of the ministry or like all gifts up to this point, dedicated to specific immediate projects and needs. If you would like to know more about how to “Leave a Legacy” give us a quick email michael@neemavillage.org and we can talk.

Our ninety three Tanzanian staff love to sing about God’s Love. Each baby that leaves Neema Village goes knowing there is a man out there named Jesus and He loves me.

He loves you too.

Dorris and Michael

Thinking Christmas

November 8th, 2023

I know we haven’t passed Thanksgiving yet, but I’m thinking Christmas! We are looking at hundreds of photos for the Christmas 2024 calendar and I thought you might like to see some of the photos that did not make the cut. It was tough cutting out all these little sweethearts!

We are wanting to buy our eleven big school boys, like Meshack below, a watch for Christmas. I have found some cute smart watches for about $30. If you want to help with that, click on the donate button on the website www.neemavillage.org and put Outreach on the fund. Let me know by email dorris@neemavillage.org if you are buying a watch for Christmas.

   

Above Meshack with his Grandmother almost 12 years ago. His mom had died during his birth out in the Maasai village and they were feeding the baby raw cow’s milk. He was not surviving, Michael brought him in to the hospital. After a few weeks he came to Neema Village. Meshack speaks Maasai, Swahili and English. He wants a watch for Christmas.

Meshack is making straight A’s in school. He loves church and goes with his Foster mom, Aneth, who is one of our MAP moms. Neema supports this family through our Foster care program.

When we first looked at the ten acres that later became Neema Village there was a dirt field with some young boys laughing and playing soccer with a rolled ball of string and plastic bags. It actually bounced. That field today is paved but the boys still come every Saturday morning to play soccer. We buy them shoes every year and this year bought uniforms for them. They have become a force to be reckoned with! This photo did not make the cute!

Look how big our babies have gotten! We have chosen fanny packs for Christmas for our big school girls like Malikia on the left. There are seventeen big girls in our foster care/school program and the fanny packs are $18.99 each.

Below, I really wanted to put the swimming babies in the calendar But Michael said no. Not sure why But maybe you can see why?

If you are over 70 it is also time to think about that RMD which the government makes you take every year from your IRA. Instead of paying taxes on that you can transfer that directly to Neema Village tax free! Neema Village is a registered 501c3 and can accept your QCD qualified charitable distribution of stock or cash. It is a great way to help the babies and moms at Neema Village. Please email us for instructions. michael@neemavillage.org

Tiny little Daniel came to Neema a few days ago with his 13 year old mother. He weighs 3.3 lbs and makes 67 babies currently living at Neema Village.

As you make that Christmas list please remember these little guys halfway around the world who have no one to make Christmas happen for them except you and I.

May your holiday season be filled with Love, Grace and Peace,

Michael and Dorris Fortson

www.neemavillage.org

Helping Orphans and Widows

October 18th, 2023

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27 (NIV)

Neema Village is always a busy place. Today with 65 babies on campus, and the MAP program helping moms and widows, the free day care for special needs babies, training for traditional birthers, digging water wells, volunteers coming and going, five new babies have arrived since we left Africa one month ago. God is surely busy helping widows and orphans in Tanzania!

Angel writes, “All the Neema babies have a tragic story but some of the babies stories are just the worst. Baby Graceson came to Neema a few days ago, we think he is around a week old. He was abandoned at night, under a car. Someone saw movement and thought it was a snake. People went to get flashlights so they could see to kill the snake, but someone said, “Wait that is an arm.”

They took the baby to the police station and later to the hospital. Neema’s social worker, Angel, was called the next day to come pick up the baby. We named him Graceson because it is only by the grace of God that this little one is okay. We will love and care for him until his forever family comes for him.

Above Neema Director Kim White with baby Calissa.

Ashley writes: “A new baby came to Neema Village today. She was born Oct 9, 2023 and her mom died having a c-section. Mom was 19 years old and it was her first baby.” Since the baby is an orphan with no family we got to name her and we chose the name Calissa (spelled Kalissa in Africa).

Forgive me for a few moments while I cry for this little one. I grew up without a mom, it always touches me.

Hopefully we can find a family member or baby Kalissa will get a new family. Neema Village only takes babies under the age of two and we try to get them into a family home by age two or three.

We named the baby Calissa after a sweet friend and full sponsor of a baby since the beginning of Neema Village. I hope Calissa Kneipp does not mind our telling you how God worked in her life on this special morning when she heard the news about the baby.

Calissa writes: “Neema Village in Arusha, Tanzania has named a baby after me and I’m so humbled. The weirdest part is that around 2 am this morning I was thinking of my legacy and “wishes” …one of those wishes that went through my head was that a baby at Neema Village would be named Calissa. I’ve had the joy of sponsoring a baby through this orphanage since it began. The fact that I awoke this morning to this post is astounding… but I guess nothing is weird with God. Look at her!!! Neema Village and Dorris Fortson you will never know how much this means to me!!!!!”

Calissa is a mighty warrior and in a horrific battle with ophthalmic cancer, please say a prayer of healing for her.

Baby Ethan was born October 3, he came to Neema Village weighing 2.5kg (5.5 lbs). His mother abandoned him at the hospital. The mother is known. She had told everyone she had a tumor. So when it came time to have the baby she delivered and then left him at the hospital. She came home telling everyone she had surgery to remove the tumor. The neighbors knew this was not true and were worried about what happened to the baby.

Ethan’s mom was identified by the kanga she had wrapped him in before she left. A village leader notified social welfare and Neema’s social worker, Angel, went to pick up the baby at the hospital. Social welfare is looking into the story. We will keep Ethan safe until everything gets sorted out and his mama gets the help she needs.

Anna, our director of MAP writes today;

“We have a new MAP mom, her name is Amani, which means Peace. She has two children. Her little son was born handcapped, due to this, her husband abandoned them. Amani came to my office looking for support, she had so much worry on her face, no hope and crying because her landlord wants to kick her out since she owes back rent. I visited her place, they had nothing to cook on that day. I gave her money to get meals and we decided to put her in a MAP program. She is willing to do a vegetable and fruit business.”

Another MAP (Mothers Against Poverty) business is born! God is busy in Tanzania, if you want to work where God is working join us in supporting the MAP program through Neema Village Outreach.

Antonio is a widow, 61 years old. After the death of both parents she is raising her six grandchildren and one great grandchild. They are all living in one small room in bad conditions. During the rainy season the rain comes into the house. They can’t all sleep on the one bed so some of the children put their clothes on the floor to sleep. After hearing about this widow, Anna visited the family to see how Neema could help.

First, we will move the family to a larger home. They will need another bed, sheets and blankets. Then we will see how we can help her business. The grandmother is frying and selling small fish in the street so that she can provide for the family. Neema will see how we can enlarge her business.

Two other new babies, came to Neema this month. You can see all the babies and read their stories on the Neema Village website. www.neemavillage.org

Katarina came to Neema September 21, 2023. She is Maasai and came with her father, grandmother and a couple of uncles. She is clearly loved and they saw her settled in at Neema. Sadly, her mother passed away due to retained placenta. Katarina was born September 18, 2023. She is very beautiful and healthy. She has lots of black curly hair and big chubby cheeks. She is doing well and her family can visit anytime.

Rahel came to Neema with her grandmother. She was born August 22, 2023. Her mother, around thirty years old, was not feeling well before Rahel was born or after. The family took the mother to a remote Maasai clinic (out near Frankie’s village). Rahel’s mother had a fever and a cough and sadly she passed away. Rahel has three other siblings and her father is not around. They think maybe he is working in Kenya. We will gladly love and care for beautiful Rahel till future plans are made for her.

Much like Maria and Kelle swinging together, we often tell people we are all in this grand mission called Neema Village together. With our 14 member Board we try to be God-led and God-inspired. The “footprint” of Neema Village is huge in Tanzania but in order for it to continue long past when we are gone we will need some generous folks to put Neema Village in their wills. I hope you have thought of this. After you take care of your family, please remember the less fortunate in the world and Leave a Legacy, one that by putting Jesus in the hearts of over 450 babies, might really one day change the world!

Please be praying for all missionaries around the world who are in harms way today.

Love and Blessings,

Michael and dorris

www.neemavillage.org

I AM NOT A ROBOT…

October 7th, 2023

We are back up for donations!

Have you ever wondered why some websites or donate pages have an “I am not a Robot” message? It is a double protection against those evil computers who sit day and night running numbers. Computers don’t like to have to stop and answer questions. Neema’s donate page now has the “I am not a robot” page! We are excited about this but unhappy that we had to be down for a few days while CSG/Forte installed that on our page. It just means your information is doubly safe with Neema Village.

When you hit the give button on the Neema Village website you will receive the following message from CSG/Forte:

“The website you are visiting is protected and accelerated by Incapsula. Computers can be infected by malware and therefore flagged by the Incapsula network. Incapsula displays this page for you to verify that an actual human is the source of the traffic to this site, and not malicious software.

What should I do? Just click the I’m not a robot checkbox to pass the security check. Incapsula will remember you and will not show this page again. We always recommend you run a virus and malware scan on your computer to remove any infection.”

Michael says some of the donate buttons on the website are not live yet so if you click one that has not yet been activated just go on down to the next one. There are donate buttons on all the pages. We will eventually activate then all.

Like the Big Elephant it’s Neema Village stamping out Evil!

Thank you for supporting www.neemavillage.org

Trying to Get Them Home

September 27th, 2023

“No baby belongs in an orphanage” has been our belief since day one of Neema Village. We have our own Neema Social Worker, Angel Macha, who works as soon as we get a baby in to begin a plan to get them back into a family. We only take babies under two and we can usually get them back home by age three. In the last eleven years we have helped over 450 babies. Currently there are 63 babies at Neema Village and we are trying to get them home!

You may not realize but Neema Village now has 95 full time employees to take care of these babies. With nannies, cooks, guards, drivers, a nurse, cleaners, farm workers, maintenance men, cow men, etc., it is a big job! Remember no one is paid at Neema Village except Tanzanians. We like that.

This sweet baby boy lost his mom in childbirth. He was so tiny the father did not think he could keep him. It is not easy for families to keep a preemie baby like this but he will be able to go back home to his dad when he is bigger.

He weighed only 1.4 kg when his dad brought him in. Now he is getting big and has little round chubby cheeks. Neema has had many preemie babies, our smallest weighed only 800 grams!

Elesha is about 6 weeks old now and doing well. This is the baby that we witnessed his mother throw him across the room. Thankfully he was not hurt and does not seem to have any lasting trauma from that horrendous event. Kelle and I on the other hand might have!

   

ADOPTED! Nashooki and Esuvati were starving with big heads and tummies and skinny little arms and legs when they were brought to Neema by a neighbor. Their mother has the sickness and does not want to live so the babies were being neglected. The neighbor who came often to visit the babies has gotten permission to adopt the girls and they were able to go home to their forever family. We are so happy for them.

 

The little fluffy hair twins, Nyesu and Furaha were newborns when they were brought to Neema. Their Maasai mom had died out in the village. Through Social Welfare from their district they were able to go to their new home this month. They are Big girls now.

 

RETURNED HOME! Gian and Giana were born March 12, 2022. They came to Neema at twenty-one days old. Gian was a big baby weighing 4.2kg (9.25lbs). His little sister Giana weighed 3kg (6.6lbs). Their mother had sadly passed away due to blood loss after the birth. She tried going into the hospital a couple of times but they could not get the bleeding to stop.

The hospital was ready to give a blood transfusion but it was too late.

This is a heartbreaking story. Her first baby had died and then she had twins and they also died. She then had Gian and Giana and she passed away after only three weeks with them.

The twins were big and healthy and loved bible class. We will miss them, Gian was just learning to talk and with his gruffy little man voice would greet me every morning with “Hiiiiiii.” They returned home to their father and an auntie who has agreed to keep them.

   

Newborn Ruth came to Neema with her 18 year old mother. The mother is an orphan and is now being looked after by her late mother’s friend. Ruth’s young mother had some very horrible things done to her and as a result became pregnant and also contracted the sickness.

Ruthie was able to return to the family this week. This spunky little girl went home knowing there is a man named Jesus and He loves me! Ruthie loved to sing and clap to the songs at church. Go with God sweet girl!

   

This little sweetheart, Camilla, was abandoned at the hospital. Her mother just walked out of the hospital and never came back. The nurses soon realized no one was coming to nurse this baby.

Baby Camilla was adopted! Her new mom and dad are from Dares Salam and are already in love with this happy little girl. Praise God. She will never be left behind again.

   

Last year a tiny baby 1.7kg was abandoned at the hospital in Arusha and brought to Neema Village. The Nannies voted to name her Lottie after my sister Lottie McCormack who was so tiny when she was born she was put in a shoe box on top of a pot belly stove. Today this little sweetheart has a new mom and she will never be abandoned again!!

New Mom was so excited she was Praising God! Her son is 24 years old and grown and mom always wanted a daughter. When asked if she would keep the name Lottie she said no, her new name is Winner because she is a Winner. I think she is right, baby Lottie won the lottie-ery with this new mom! Go with God Winner!

 

We kept sweet baby Glory while her mom was recuperating in the hospital. She had had a c-section that got infected and had been in the hospital for a couple of months. We are so happy that she was well enough to take this precious baby girl home.

We will leave you with the happy, smily face of little Michael. Please be praying for all our babies and just remember that half way around the world there is a place called Neema Village trying to put families back together. I think God likes that, don’t you. Help when you can.

Love you guys,

Dorris

www.neemavillage.org

Neema Village vs. Neema House

September 25th, 2023

We never get tired of looking at the mountain that stands watch over Neema Village. At almost 15,000 feet, Mt. Meru is the fifth tallest mountain in all of Africa. She is a volcano so we hope she is puffing out fluffy clouds and not smoke! In the garden surrounding the grass roofed gazebo we are growing our own oranges, bananas, coffee, guava, mangoes and avocados. The scripture benches placed around the garden make it a place of peace and rest for those who come to serve and love the babies and moms of Neema Village.

In America Sarah Lockett stands watch over the finances that keep Neema Village going. Sarah is a nurse and for many years has overseen Mission Waco’s program to the homeless of Waco. A true servant, Sarah has never charged Neema Village for her work keeping our finances straight and making sure we are in compliance with the US government and the IRS. That is Sarah and her cute hubby Scott pictured below drinking coffee on the porch at Neema Village.

Sarah tells us we continue to get information that donations are going to Neema House Geita that were meant for Neema Village in Arusha. We exist solely on individual donations, and always need your donations! We began as Neema House Arusha twelve years ago but quickly realized there were problems with lots of other Neema Houses; one in Geita, Tanzania and one in Eldoret, Kenya, plus others. If you are just doing a google search for us and type in Neema House you will get the wrong one. Because of this donation problem, a few years ago we changed to Neema Village, located in Arusha, Tanzania. But we continue to hear that people have set donations to the wrong Neema. If you believe you set up a monthly donation to the wrong place that can easily be fixed by contacting those organizations. They are nice people and will send the money on to us! To set up a new donation we are www.neemavillage.org.

With two new babies this month we are back up to 63 babies in house. That is a lot of formula and diapers!!

Above, new Baby Katarina’s mom bled to death from retained placenta. This is just so sad. We are working as hard as we can with our Save the Mothers program each month bringing in traditional birthers to encourage them to get these moms to the hospital and if not possible how to correct a retained placenta. Please Pray for this program!

Baby Rachel came to Neema today, September 25, 2023 with her grandmother. Rachel was born August 22, 2023. Her Maasai mother was not feeling well before the baby was born or after. A few days ago, the family took the mother to a Maasai clinic (near our first baby Frankie’s village). The mother had a fever and a cough and sadly passed away. Baby Rachel has three other siblings, the father is not around and the Maasai grandmother could not care for the newborn. They think maybe the father is working in Kenya and only comes home occasionally. We will gladly love and care for beautiful Rachel until future plans are made for her to be back into a family.

Pictured below Michael and I in outfits made by one of our young MAP moms. She was burned as a child and lost some fingers. The outfits are not our color or style but we are wearing them because she made them with her little burned hands on a treadle sewing machine!

Michael will be receiving a Distinguish Alumni Citation from Abilene Christian University at the Crestview church of Christ in Waco, Texas, 9am on Oct 29th. If you know him, you will know he is totally embarrassed about this!! He will also be sharing the latest Neema news at the 10am church service. We would love to see you there!

Remember we are Neema Village, look us up.

Dorris and Michael Fortson

www.neemavillage.org

God Was All Over This Day

August 23rd, 2023

Kelle tells about a hard day at Neema Village.

This past month at Neema Village has been a blessing. I am in awe every day to see first-hand God at work here in Africa. So much joy, precious relationships forming, moms learning how much God loves them, futures and hope blossoming, babies being fed and cuddled and lots of love happening everywhere you look at Neema Village.

That is what I expected when I woke up but I will never forget what actually happened. Social Welfare had asked us to just supply formula to a mother with a new baby but Dorris had known this mother before with her last baby, Ebenezer, and knew this new baby was most likely in danger.  We knew we had to go now to check it out.

We asked Baraka to go with us and he drove us to the house where we were all sitting inside quietly talking. I was sitting in the chair holding the baby and Dorris and the mother were on the couch.

With no warning suddenly the mother charged over Dorris and lunged at me and began to strangle her baby in my arms. I kicked her as hard as I could. She was strong and with her hands around his throat she ripped the baby out of my arms, lifted him over her head and threw him across the room. The sight of that little body as she swung him over her head and threw him at the wall will forever be imprinted on my mind.

By the grace of God, Mama Musa was in the right place at the right time to catch the baby. We were all screaming and Mama Musa quickly turned and ran out with the baby while Baraka wrestled the mom out the door to keep her from hurting anyone else. It was a chaotic scene and one none of us will soon forget.

We drove to the police station and talked with four different police to get them to pick this dangerous woman up but they said since she was mentally ill there was nothing they could do. It was a bit frustrating.

We learned she had had a birth control device put in her arm but she had bitten that out herself. There is no mental institution here so we are not sure what this poor grandmother, who says the girl has been biting her too, is going to do.

The baby is ok and is now safe at Neema Village. We are praying that he never has to go back to that house and that the mama gets the help she needs.

Later we learned that Bryson, one of our day care babies had been placed in ICU in the hospital because of a seizure I had witnessed with him that morning. That was hard to see for this normally happy little guy.

Yes, it was a hard day for everyone at Neema Village but God doesn’t promise all easy days for us. He does promise that He will always be with us.

God was all over this day!

It was a miracle that we decided to go check on this baby today; it was a miracle that we were there at the right time to see what the mother was capable of; it was a miracle that Mama Musa was in the direct line of fire and her hands were free to reach up and catch the baby; it was a miracle that Baraka had gone with us.  It was a miracle that God had gone with us!

It’s on the hard days like this that I am reminded of how God is continually working in our lives when we are listening. He is with us on the sweet easy days but it’s on the hard days like this that I really see how He goes before us in every situation. Thank God He is with us even on the hard days.

May God go with each of you and keep you safe.

Love,

Dorris