Update on Baby Franki

I got some amazing news yesterday from Claire, director at Neema House. She called to let me know that she had contacted the hospital to ask about the cost for the surgery that Franki will need and was told that there was a grant that covers all the medical costs!! Claire has made an appointment for him to see the doctor in late May. Franki will will most likely recover at the Neema House with a guardian.

Masaai Triplets + 1 project

Walk in Love

I went with Claire and Micheal, directors for Neema House, to visit Masaai triplets. Claire's daughter, Nancy, is from a Masaai village about 20 km away from the triplets. When Claire was visiting Nancy's family about 2 months ago she heard about the triplets and was taken to them. When she arrived they were very tiny and the mother was not producing enough milk. Claire decided that she had to do something and with this the triplets became the first outreach family. Since I will be doing outreach for Neema I was invited to come along and meet the Masaai family and deliver the much needed formula and some clothe diapers.

On our way, about 2.5 hours, we came across a huge herd of giraffe. About 30 total. It was so exciting to see them roam freely outside of a national park.

This is the Masaai village the triplets live in. The houses are made of sticks and dung with thatched roofs. The homes are surrounded by a gate made of thorn bushes to keep any predators, like lions, out.

This is the house that the triplets live in with their mom, and 3 sisters. I believe I was told the men live in a separate hut. The triplets father had 2 wives but one recently passed away during childbirth. He has 10 children including the triplets.

This is inside the boma, house. It was so dark that when I took this picture I could not even see the people. I was just told the mama was sitting in that direction and asked if I could take a picture. It was small and hot. There is a constant fire going int he middle of the home. They also had a baby calf gated it he corner.

The "dada" (sister) dressing one of the triplets

The siblings were very affectionate and caring with the triplets. They were a very loving and lovely family.

Micheal holding 2 of the triplets and mama holding the other. Micheal has the two boys and the other is a girl.

The difference between the smallest triplet, Frankie, and the biggest is 2.1 kilos. Frankie only weighs 2.6 kilos and he is 3 months old. We are trying to get him to the hospital because he is also hydrocephalic. Claire is taking some pictures of his head that we took to a well known American pediatrician to get some medical advice and an estimate on surgical costs.

Lucia was only happy with her Mama!

As I mentioned early, the father had another wife that died during childbirth. This is the 4th child. He is about a month old and is also in need of formula. He is living with his loving grandmother on the boma next to the triplets.

Me and the family. I can not say enough good things about the Masaai family that I met today. They were all so friendly and kind to us and one another. If the man had never taken Claire to the triplets I very much doubt that they would all be alive today. The only option they would have had would have been to take the long journey to town and drop them off at an orphanage and once a Masaai child is at an orphanage for too long they can not go back to the village. Masaai life is very hard and a child that has been raised by western standards would never make it in the villages. Most Masaai families chose to leave their children in the orphanages because they know they can not return. It is simply to dangerous for them. This is why outreach is so important.

Mama Musa showing off the new diapers.

What I do/What you can do

Walk In Love - What I do/What you can Do

by Aubree McClelland Packard on Friday, April 6, 2012 at 12:14pm ·

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"I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again"

- Mahatma Gandhi

Some awesome news, almost. I met with Micheal and Claire yesterday. They are the people affiliated with the NGO that might umbrella WIL. They both agreed that WIL would be a great fit but I have to get the OK from one other man. Once we get the OK then I can start fundraising with the Neema House 501©3 tax number. While running the outreach program under Neema House I will also be working towards registering WIL as a separate charity.  Micheal and Claire are building a baby orphanage named Neema House in Arusha. They are currently looking for rental property so they can start taking in babies immediately while waiting for the permanent orphanage to be built. I will be serving at an outreach program to Neema House. If it were for for Neema House, Micheal and Claire I would had a long road and expensive road before I could actually start assisting and supporting the people. I will forever be grateful to them! A brief description of what I will be doing is below.

Walk In Love Outreach

All programs are set to help families stay in a home together and eventually support themselves.

Family outreach: Assess the families current needs and offer one, some or all of the following:

• formula
• clothe diapers
• food
• basic hygiene products
• pay for trade school
• provide nice clothing for job interviews 
• small business loans
• housing
• school sponsorship for children at home
• daycare
• support groups
• support and assistance in getting a child home from orphanage or other

            In order for families to receive any assistance above they must participate in one support group meeting per week unless other arrangements have been made. Families will pick up supplies for the week at the meetings.

Support groups: Support groups will be added as demand increases. My original plan was to have women empowerment groups but because of the high mortality rate during birth we expect to have many men in the program. After researching other outreach programs we have found that men and women also work well in a group together. If in the future we feel the need to have separate women empowerment groups then they will too be as well.

Every support group will include English lessons. 

• Widow/widower support group

        A local Tanzania women will lead up this group.

• General support group: Poll members to see what they think would be beneficial for them. Most groups will be lead by a guest speaker. These groups will be held in a rented office space. When the groups get big enough we will separate into villages for easier access. The groups will then be held in members homes or one of the programs family homes.

     Examples:

•     Healthcare (first aid, CPR)
•     Small business
•     Current events
•     Job skill
•     English
•     Reading and writing

These topic can go on for one or more meetings depending on the interest and need. 

          Once a month support groups will join for a community service day at the orphanage/ or where needed. After they are finished with the community service we will follow up with a family day with food, games and fun for the whole family.

Laundry business

• Provides employment to women in the program
• opportunities to move up in the business. Interviews will be held for a manager, assistant manager and accountant.
• Small business lessons will be given throughout the week.
• A piki piki driver (one of the men in the program) will be employed to pick up and drop off laundry.
• Primary business with be the volunteer community.
• In order to start this business up as soon as possible we will be sending all cleaning supplies home with the women and they will take the clothing home to clean it and bring it back once it is finished.

Childcare professionals

   This will be a 6 month program where women learn everything about childcare. Once they graduate they will be eligible to work at the baby orphanage or daycare. They will also get references if there are no jobs available. This will be taught by an Intern or other childcare professional (Aubree).

Family homes:

  Families that meet certain criteria will have a home provided for them or be given rent money to stay in there current home while they go to a trade school or start a small business to support there family. Families can live in the house for a year max.

Community Garden:

Families can receive fruits and vegetables from the community garden as long as they are working in it. The food will be distributed after the work is done. If the family would prefer to get seeds instead of food then that is also an option.

Drop center for street children: (if one does not already exist, will have to do some research on this one)

   Once a week staff will go into Arusha and interview children that are ready to get off the streets. If it is decided that reunification is possible then we work toward getting the child back in the home. If not, then we will work with other organization that have facilities for them to live.

Intern/Volunteer program

   I will bring in interns and volunteers with backgrounds in social work, childcare, healthcare and business.

Where you can help!

As you all know none of this would be possible without support and funding. I will not be back in the USA until September so fundraising is something that will be a bit tricky. I can organize some fundraising from here but what I really need are people on the ground to oversee the fundraisers and organize where I cannot. Please look over the list of ideas and if you see one that appeals to you or if you have a fundraising idea, let me know! We will also have an intern/volunteer program up and running very soon. If want to help on the ground then we would be happy to have you!

• Walk In Love 5K
• Concerts/shows
• design something that the women can make out of the beautiful and colorful fabrics to sell at places like World Market, Anthropology, Urban Outfitters, Etc.
• Help to get children and families sponsored
• Organize a speaking event for me when I am back in the states.
• Put out baby bottles at local stores to collect money for formula
• Design Walk In Love T-shirts for events (5K, concerts, speaking engagement, etc) 
• Sell WIL calendars (not yet designed but I should have them by September)
• Design a website
• Anything else you can think of!

Please keep in mind that every dollar matters here. There is no such thing as a small donation. For example to send a women to school to learn how to do hair is $15 per month. After 6 months of school ( $100) that women can get a good job and support her family.

Walk In Love teams up with Neema House Baby Orphanage, Arusha, Tanzania

*Update* 

As of August 2012 all outreach affiliated with Neema House Arusha was suspended. Neema house expressed interest in running there own outreach programs. We hope Neema House the very best in there outreach programs!

Walk In Love is the official outreach program for Neema House Baby Orphanage located in Arusha, Tanzania. I will be fundraising under and working under the name Walk In Love, but WIL is not currently a registered charity. I am doing outreach for Neema House which is a registered charity with a 501(c)3 tax number.

Neema House is a new baby orphanage to the Arusha area. Claire is the onsite director, she is also a friend of mine. Claire and her three children will live onsite and run the baby orphanage. Micheal and his wife, Dorris, will be working from Texas to support the orphanage.

Neema House will run from rented accommodations until land is purchased and a permanent home is built. They hope to start taking in babies June 1.

Walk In Love: Finding inspiration

Walk In Love: Finding Inspiration

Ibraheim

Ibraheim

I mentioned Ibraheim in my first blog about Cradle of Love. He is a beautiful little baby with the face of a beautiful old man. He has dark skin, dark eyes and barely any hair. When he laughs the world is a better place. Ibra came to Cradle when he was one month old. His mother died shortly after his birth and his father is unknown. His family did not want to give him up but they knew that they could not support him. They had to make a decision: keep Ibra and he would more than likely die or give him up and he would live. The staff told me that when Ibra was dropped off there was not a dry eye in the place. His family was holding him so tightly that everyone could feel how much this baby was truly loved.

Patricia

This is Patricia a month after coming to the orphanage.

On Monday morning I arrived at Cradle and met our newest addition, Patricia. She is three months old but looks like a tiny new born. She has mocha skin,big light brown eyes and lots of curly hair. Her mother had dropped her off over the weekend because she was no longer producing milk. She didn't want to leave her but she knew that Patricia was already too small and malnourished. There was nothing the mother could do to help her only child anymore. The mother herself was starving and could not feed her daughter.

"Isaac"

I do not know this boys name but I will call him Isaac. This is a story that I cannot tell without getting choked up. I have told many people and every time I want to burst into tears. I met Isaac at the SOS Childrens Home. We were taking our older children to live there until they are 18. We can only keep children until 2 or 3 then they go to bigger homes. SOS is a beautiful place and I am happy that our children were able to get in. While we were settling our children in there was another boy there with is mother. I would guess he was around 10 years old. He never spoke and neither did his mother. They just sat with the saddest expressions on their faces. After about 30 minutes Isaac and his mother were in one of the back rooms. All of a sudden I heard a blood curdling scream and the mother went running out the front door. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I can right now. This experience will forever be with me and haunt me.

These three children and the circumstances that they and there families are in have moved me. I now know what direction to take Walk In Love. I want to help keep families together. Mothers and fathers love their children the same in the USA as they do in Tanzania as they do all over the world. The difference is that I/we, in the USA, would never have to give our children up that we love and want because if they stayed with us or our families they would die. I cannot imagine having to make that decision but I know which one I would choose and I know you do to. I know that if I could not take care of my children then my parents would and if they could not then my aunts/uncles would and if they could not then my cousins would. These are not options here. I would like to give parents and families the option to keep their children and loved ones. 

Many of the children at Cradle have fathers but no mothers because they died during child birth. Many times family members will take in children but too often this is also not a possibility.

I want to help the fathers/families to keep there children by providing formula, diapers, daycare and eventually school sponsorship. I want to also have a program that sends the parents to a trade school so they can provide for their children with eventually no help. I want to have women empowerment groups to help women take control of their lives and the lives of their children. I will eventually have a home/s for women to stay at to keep the families together until they can stand on their own two feet.This is just a brief description of what I want Walk In Love to be and will continue adding programs and details. There will be more information on my upcoming blog.

Everyone can make a difference and there is no such thing as a small difference.