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