Ground Breaking at Neema!

After almost twenty one hours in the air we are home once again at Neema House Arusha in Tanzania. For those of you just joining our travel log, Neema is our home for abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies in Africa. Neema means Grace for this is surely all by the Grace of God!  Welcome aboard.

This beautiful sight was the Swiss Alps outside the window of our big 747 winging its way to Africa and our home in Arusha. My first thought was “I thought the Alps were bigger!” I guess it all depends on your view point doesn’t it? Surely what must seem so huge and insurmountable to us from our view below must seem like mere sand piles to the Most High God above.  I must remember that as we go into the next phase of building at Neema.  There are no mountains too big for God.

No matter what time we arrive, the night shift nannies are always up, holding a crying baby, fixing bottles, washing diapers or cooking their own dinner after the babies are in bed.  We have 32 full time, 24 hour a day, 7 days a week, Tanzanian employees. Actually Tanzanians are the only ones paid at Neema.  The nannies work in three shifts. They work three day shifts then three night shifts and then are off for three days. We also feed about thirty adults every day at Neema so it is a busy place all the time.  I love to tell folks it is loud, messy and wonderful  at Neema – most of the time!

Here is our famous cook, Safina, feeding abandoned baby Phillip Wood.  Phillip weighed just a few pounds when he was left at the hospital.  He then spent two months getting big enough to come home to Neema.  He is a smiley little boy who is learning to give kisses.

There are 34 babies currently in our care at Neema and we love each one of them. They have grabbed our hearts with their stories and we cry each time a new one comes to us.  Some of them were abandoned on roadsides, some on porches, in latrines, the bus station, in a front yard and at the hospital.  As a registered NGO, the police or hospitals call us when an abandoned baby has been found.  One little baby was left in a house by himself long enough that his diaper was stuck to his bottom and had to be cut off.  One little newborn we named Dorothy was left in a gravel pit.  The worst was a newborn found in an open pit latrine who had to have maggots removed from his ear. All our babies have a tragic story or we would not have them.  They have all lost the most important thing to a baby, their mother.  You can read their stories on our website. www.neemahousearusha.org.

NOTE: If you just type in Neema House in your search engine you will see there are lots of churches, orphanages, schools, hospitals and even people named Neema.  If you are looking for us make sure you type Neema House Arusha.  We have even had some people donate on the wrong web site!  Poli Sana if you didn’t get your tax deduction from us!

We left Neema in September last year and couldn’t wait to return and meet the  five new babies who have arrived since we left.  In all there have been 64 babies come through Neema House, some have been adopted and some have been able to return home to a family member. There are also twelve babies we provide for out in the villages around Arusha as well.  Africa is the 16th poorest country in the world and there is lots of work to be done here.

Meet our new babies:

Newborn abandoned baby Neema Joy, below with Betsy Ezell a volunteer from Harding Univ.

Beautiful Carolyn Sue, abandoned at a hotel.

Amiri, below, was found on the street. His family has been located and he may be able to return home to a grandmother or other family member.

Careen, below, was abandoned, had been abused and had a broken arm and leg when she came to Neema.

Newborn Christopher Justice, below, was abandoned on the road and covered with black dirt.

It is not our place to judge these mothers. Neema House Arusha is a place of Forgiveness and Hope, forgiveness for the moms and hope for the babies.

Yesterday was an exciting day for us at Neema House Arusha.  It was “Ground Breaking Day” on the new land.

We took three of our bigger babies, Michael, Baraka and Gloria and they got to help dig the first hole.

For almost three years now we have cared for these babies in a large rented house in Arusha. Now we are praying by the end of August to be in our very own baby home on this beautiful land.  If you can build, come on!

The children, along with Camille and Tabiltha Erdman, piled up twelve memory stones on the land yesterday just like Jacob did in Genesis and Joshua did at the crossing of the Jordan and we dedicated this new land to God. The stones are to help us remember that it was not us but God who made this happen.

As we step out into this new chapter in the life of Neema, it is a bit scary. I can only imagine how Joshua’s men felt as they stepped out into the flood waters of the Jordan praying the miracle would happen. We are stepping out before the miracle too, praying the rest of the money will come in as we begin in faith to build a new home to care for these incredibly precious and beautiful little “thrown away” babies at Neema House Arusha.

 One last picture just to make your day.  Below is Gloria all dressed up with her baby on her back and in a new dress made by Doris Rechinthin, a 101 year old supporter of Neema House from Temple, Texas.

Nineteen New Babies in 2014

In 2014 we had 19 new babies come to Neema House Arusha!

Additionally 7 babies were adopted into new homes and 5 were able to return home! You can read the stories of these abandoned, orphaned and at risk babies on the website www.neemahousearusha.com or www.tanzaniaorphanhelp.com, just click on “See Neema Babies.” We thank God every day that we get to be a part of this incredible work!

Neema House Arusha, a 501c3 registered nonprofit in the U.S. and Tanzania.

Last year a tiny 2.2  pound baby came to live at Neema.  She had been abandoned at the hospital and Grandpa Jack said she was not much to look at then.

Maxine in the hospital

A few days later we realized this baby we had named Maxine was in serious trouble.  So we made an emergency trip back to the  hospital  where she stayed in the NICU unit for more than two weeks being fed through a tube in her tummy.   Our daughter Bekah, an EMT directing Neema for a few months until Matt and Kelly could arrive,  said this baby was strong willed as an elephant!  That, and the incredible Grace of God, saw her through some tough days.

Rebekah feeding Maxine with a dropper

Now as precocious, cute and funny as they come, Maxine survived and found her way into the hearts of everyone at Neema House.

Maxine making a funny face

Instead of crying she made a funny  Who –WAhh’ sound when she wanted your attention and had the cutest laugh I have ever heard a baby make.  And she grew and became beautiful and chubby and funny and worked her way into the hearts of Ron and Stella, an Arusha couple looking for a baby to adopt decided she was the baby for them

Maxine and new mon, Stella

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So last Saturday Maxine got to go home!  We had a huge party for her and all the nannies came in even those off duty.  We fried 15 chickens, made a huge fruit salad and baked a cake to celebrate this incredibly happy, sad day.  Stella and Ron gave each of the staff a gift and Stella read a thank you note to each one that began with  Who – Wah.’   Ron had us all in tears as he said, “You have all done a good job saving this baby and we’ll take over from here.”

Maxine and her new dad. Notice the same facial expressions!

Stella, a Tanzanian, and Ron from Scotland both work for the UN.  Ron had worked in the past tracking down warlords from the Rwandan massacres.  I told him Maxine will be the only baby in Arusha speaking Swahili in a Scottish brogue.

Maxine with her cake

While the Music Man played, Ron waltzed Maxine around the room and through tears of joy my heart knew that Maxine had found her permanent  home.

Dorris loving Maxine

Once again what the evil one meant for death, God meant for life!  Praise His Name!

Michael and Dorris Fortson

If you want to read the story of Maxine published last year in our blog we hope to republish it later for your enjoyment!

We have had some great videos of life around Neema made this summer by volunteers.
Astrid and Edward from Belgium made a beautiful video and you can view it here.  Having reviewed the published blog, I am now putting this disclaimer.  The end of Edward and Astrid’s video contains material neither we nor they intended, and we can not find a way to delete it.  Sorry  The video they published is great.

Barry and Rebecca from Australia made a video that will touch your heart as you see this sweet couple loving the Neema babies.  You can view it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuPsQwrgvHo

You’re never too old to learn something new; at 70 years old I’ve learned that a Kiwi is not just a fruit it’s also a person from New Zealand.  So, a Kiwi, Megan Delaney, and an Aussie, Ann Beach, made it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro last week and are now at Neema Baby Home in Arusha feeding, bathing, holding and loving the beautiful babies of Neema House.

Meg and Anne’s group getting embarking on the climb.

Climbing Kili is a mountain climber’s once in a life time dream.   It is actually on Michael’s bucket list but I’ve told him that bucket better have a hole in the bottom!  Africa’s tallest mountain at just under 20,000 feet, attracts people from 80 years old to 8 who make it to the top.  If you don’t take it slow though, the altitude sickness will get you, and you will be one of the many who don’t make it to the top.  

Meg (left) at the top. Anne was taking the photo.

It took Megan and Ann eight days for their trip.  They said it was a great challenge but not one they would want to repeat.  Back home they are both pediatric nurses and decided that after they did the climb they would give a month to help at an orphanage in Africa.  With twenty-nine beautiful but loud and messy babies living at Neema, we can use all the help we can get.  They have already been to the hospital to check on our two newest babies, twins from the Masai village, who both have some birth defects and will need to see a surgeon.

Meg and Anne at Mt. Meru Hospital with the Masai babies

The babies and mother were all in extreme distress, the mother was completely dry and the babies would not have lasted much longer, when Kelly and Matt found them and brought them into town to the big Mt. Meru hospital.  They may need to stay at Neema for six months to get the mother healthy enough to feed the babies.  We are not exactly sure where we will put them.  We need our planned  mothering center!

Anne singing to Neema Babies

I tell our visitors quite often that all our babies have a tragic story or we would not have them.  From those who lost their mothers during childbirth like precious Doris, to those thrown away on trash heaps, gravel pits, roadsides or latrines, they need all the love we can give them.  We can’t say thank you enough to volunteers like Meg and Anne, who share their time and love with our babies. 

Anne and Meg brought gifts from Australia. Thank You!

Megan and Ann also did an incredible fund raiser back in Australia.  They raised $20,000, which will allow us to begin building Neema Village!!  

Meg and Anne ready for walk with babies

Meg gone native!

With the African braided hair, carrying babies on their backs, and wearing African Kitanges, we think we think these two have fit quite well into Tanzanian culture.

Much Love,

dorris 

Dr. Terry Rascoe, Temple, TX, examining Neema Babies

Look who visited Neema Baby Home this month:  Dr. Terry and Zoe Rascoe.  Terry examined all our babies and pronounced them healthy.  Some of them a little too healthy like Chubby Daniel, who along with Angel will have adenoid surgery this month.  They have both had too many ear infections and so must have their adenoids scraped.  Sounds pretty yucky; please say a prayer for these two.

Angel and Daniel scheduled to have adenoid surgery

Smiley seven month old Shabani came to live at Neema this month.  The Police had called Michael to come pick up an abandoned baby that was left on the street, and by the time he got there, they had located the mother.  She was there crying and upset while the police and a whole group of on-lookers were standing around.   Michael felt very uncomfortable as he (an mzungu) walked off with the lady’s baby.

Shabani at Neema House. Abandoned by his mother!

The police took this very young mother, who had been living on the street, off crying to jail.  Such a sad situation; she probably doesn’t belong in jail, especially not an African jail.  We are hoping to be able to check on her.  Kelly is beginning to feel strongly that we must build the mothering center soon to be able to help these mothers.  Lord God help us do this, pray the land purchase goes through quickly.

Our smallest baby right now, Rose June, is about four and a half pounds. She was also abandoned on the street and was taken to the hospital by the people who found her.  The hospital then called Neema to come pick her up.  Early one morning Jenny, the head nanny for the night shift, knocked on our door upstairs saying we needed to go to the hospital.  Baby Rose had been vomiting, had diarrhea and a fever during the night.  She was ashen, her cheeks and fontanel were sunken and her mouth was open but no sound coming out and her eyes were open but unfocused.  It was quite scary as we rushed her to the hospital through the busy eight a.m. Arusha traffic. 

Rose June, home from hospital and doing good!

I wanted to open the window and scream for people to “get out of my way, we have a sick baby on board!”  After putting an IV in baby Rose’s tiny hand she was admitted into the NICU ward at the Arusha Lutheran Hospital.  She stayed a couple of days and was released, but by the time we got her home we could tell that she was still in distress.  We took her to the big Mt. Meru hospital the next day and they were able to keep her for almost a week and get her stable.  She is now back home at Neema in isolation with volunteers and nannies on 24/7, feeding her every one or two hours.  She has cute little chubby cheeks and is doing well now.  Thank God.

Friday, Matt drove out to a Masai village to pick up twins that Kelly had seen on a trip out to the village.  She had taken Bahati out to see his family in the village when she saw a new mother and her twin babies.  The mother was very weak and the babies were not doing well.  Matt said he will also try to bring the mother in to town.  Helping these mothers and babies is what Neema is all about.  If we can care for her and get her healthy, then she can feed the twins herself.  

Masai Twins in Hospital

We have been discussing how to ask the mother, when she first arrives at Neema. to take a bath and use lye soap, since most Masai have never been in a tub or shower in their life.  They haul water on their heads, sometimes from long distances, and that is probably the most water they ever see.  We will just have to ask, since lice is not something we would want to have in our beds at Neema!

Sunrise on the Indian Ocean

Michael and I have been on the coast for a little R&R for a few days and I was out early this morning to catch the sunrise over the water.  I have been having some worries over the future of one of the babies and needed some quiet time to seek some guidance from the one who best knows our futures.  It was a dark morning with scattered clouds and I finally realized I would not get to see the sun slip over the horizon, when suddenly I began to see bright spots shining like flashlights down onto the water from the broken places in the clouds.  The round lights scattered across the dark morning water in the cove looked like polished silver dollars dancing on the water.  Even though it was not the beautiful sunrise I wanted to see it was quite lovely and reminded me of some conversations I had with Glenda White from Nacogdoches.  Glenda was in the middle of a hard battle with cancer which she finally won by going home with Jesus, and she loved to talk about finding God in the Thin Places in our lives.  Much like the broken clouds above me, God’s light shines brightest through the broken and thin places in our lives.   So I settled down to enjoy the clouds when suddenly, the red streaked horizon spoke the truth that God is still there, even on cloudy days when we are not seeing what we want to see.  

I hope your day is clear and you see the Son but if not enjoy the broken places and be sure that God is still there just beyond the darkness.

Much Love and Grace to you,
Dorris
    
 

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