Thursday, September 5, 2013

August 2013 Newsletter





Welcome Friends and Family to August's WIL newsletter!
 We had another great month here in Tanzania. We hope to see you all out supporting WIL at our upcoming fundraisers this September in Kanas City! These fundraising events really determine how many women and children we can accept into our programs and it is very important that we do raise enough money to continue our work.


Update: Believe in Me: A Life off the streets

We are very happy to let everyone know that Robinson, Collins and Nikas are all off the streets and attending a great boarding school right outside of Arusha. Nikas had a small set back when we found out that he was HIV positive the day we were supposed to drop him off. My husband, Jason, and I made the decision that he should stay with us for a few weeks before going to school just to make sure he was at his healthiest when he started school. School officially started on September 2nd and they are all doing wonderfully! Unfortunately, the uniforms were not ready the day we took them so we will have to wait for pictures in school uniforms until another day. To learn more about our program working with street children, click here.


If you would like to see pictures of the boys the day we took them off the streets and to the market to buy all the essential for school please click here.
Thank you to our amazing sponsors who are changing these boys lives! 

Welcome Emmanuel, Bravon and Theresa to the WIL Center!

Julianna gave birth on September 6th to a healthy little boy, Emmanuel. Julianna and Ima (short for Emmanuel) are doing great! Julianna wants to thank everyone for there donations that provided her with healthy food and prenatal vitamins. She said that Ima is so big and healthy because she was able to eat well and take her vitamins. Julianna will start our Childhood Development Course on September 9th and after two weeks of training she will become a nanny and Ima will come to our center. Unfortunately, Baba (father) Ima has still been unable to leave the village he is working in to meet his son.



Welcome Bravon!

This is Bravon Alfred, he is Jackline's nephew. A few months back Jackline's sister passed away and left this sweet little guy an orphan. Jackline took him into her home without any hesitation. He started coming to the center on Monday but he is almost 6 years old and has never been to school. Can you sponsor Bravon? For $40 per month or $480 per year you can sponsor Bravon to go to an excellent school in Arusha. Please let me know if you would like to give this precious little guy a better chance. Thank you.


 





Welcome Theresea (Mama Adrianna)!

A few weeks ago we had a terrible scare at the center. Mama Adrianna came to the center crying and had clearly been injured. She said that her husband had decided to take another wife, number 3, and her and Adrianna had to go to Dar because he was taking there house for his new wife. During this argument he also badly beat Mama Adrianna. Mama Adrianna came and took Adrianna and they went to Dar to be with her parents. We were in contact with Mama Adrianna during her stay in Dar and let her know that if she wanted to return to Arusha we would help her get back on her feet. She was running small shop that was doing quite well before her husband forced her to leave. When she returned we offered her a position helping the tailors at our center and we have offered to pay for a few months rent and help her to buy basic supplies for a new home. She has not taken us up on our offer because she said she could stay with a friend and work until she earned enough money to take care of herself and her daughter. A very strong women and mother at the age of 24.

Mama Adrianna assiting the tailors

Adrianna being silly, like usual:)




Preschool is in Session!







Thanks to some help from amazing volunteers our preschool is up and running! Charlie and I painted the room, Josalyn volunteered for 3 weeks and taught the children and now we have Nikki organizing our preschool room and teaching two classes per day! We also have Derek and Reuben making tables, chairs and shelves! The library side is ready to be filled with text books for our after school tutoring program.Volunteers are such an important part of WIL and we have opportunities for everyone! Please email me at walkinlovetanzania@gmail.com if you are interested in coming to Tanzania and working with our beautiful women and children!





















Update: Outdoor play equipment and cots!

A huge thank you to Karalin McKain for holding a fundraiser to raise $500 for outdoor play equipment. We have just received word that she reached her goal and the new equipment will be going up in September!! Nicola and Derek Fortune have also been working on getting tires for our play ground and building a teeter toter! We are so exceed to have a playground for all our kids and the kids in the community! Thank you Karalin, Nicola and Derek!

We did not reach our goal to have cots/beds made for all the children at the center. We were able to raise enough for 3 bunk beds and one cot. We placed that order well over a month ago and now we are just waiting for the carpenter to be finished! I have been told that they will arrive before the end of this week and I will be sure to get pictures up. Thank you to everyone who participated in our Quilt drive and donated towards the cots! If you would like to help us purchase more cots please make a donation though paypal at the end of the newsletter or come to one of our upcoming fundraisers!


September Goals

 Monthly Sponsorship and Fundraisers!
September is going to be the month of Monthly Sponsorship and Fundraisers! You all know how important monthly sponsorship is for WIL and we are very excited that another person has decided to make that commitment. We cannot operate the daycare center or our women's programs without donors like you! Please take a minute and learn how you can become a Monthly Sponsor .


Nasra, Princess and Pricket enjoying milk provided by monthly sponsorship donations.

Fundraisers in Kanas City!

Please join us for one of all of the following fundraisers this September:
We will have items for sale made by our women at every event!

 September 26th -Bingo at Hamburger Mary's!
September 28th - WIL 5K Day!
October 4-5th - Out in the Crossroads Festival
(we will have a booth set up in front of Hamburger Marys on Baltimore Ave. We will be selling items our women are making and handing to information on volunteering in Tanzania.)






Our women have been hard at work making items for us to sell at our fundraisers!

Everything that we sell is handmade in Tanzania by a woman that is involved in our women empowerment program. We raise money by selling these items and 100% goes back to the women and WIL community center. WIL has no administrative costs and everyone working with WIL that is not a part of our programs is a volunteer, including Aubree Packard, the director and founder.



Rehema making beautiful paper beads to be used for necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

WIL Jackets!
These handmade, totally awesome jackets will be for sale at all our September fundraisers. It is first come first serve so get there early to pick out the one that best fits your personality!








Introducing out official sponsorship program
Believe in Me: A Better Chance

Please take a minute to check out our new Sponsorship program that will be run by Lucy Cottee and Cassie March. Lucy and Cassie will both be volunteering with Walk In Love in January! We can't wait to have them!

Childhood Development Program

For the first two weeks in September our wonderful volunteer, Nikki Fortune, will be teaching a childhood development program complete with first aid, CPR and practical teaching. We have 25 women enrolled in this course including all the nannies at our daycare center. Once the women have completed the course they will get a certificate that they can show potential employers. We will also serve as a reference to all the women who participate in the course and we will actively help them find jobs working with children in Arusha. While Nikki is teaching her husband Derek will be making furniture for our preschool and community center. Welcome Nikki and Derek!





 How can you help?

*Ask about volunteer and intern opportunities in the US and Tanzania
*Help us to write grants
*Purchase a one of a kind handmade quilt or duvet from our Etsy Shop
*Share our fundraisers with friends and family
*If you are in the KC area swing by our booth at A Fabulous Find (5330 Martway, Mission, Ks)
*Hold a fundraiser (please contact me at walkinlovetanzania@gmail.com for more info)
*Make a donation, we are a registered 501 c (3) organization,  using paypal or by mailing a check payable to:
Walk In Love International
12802 S Arapaho Dr
Olathe, KS 66062
Contact me at walkinlovetanzania@gmail.com or check out our website, www.walkinlovetanzania.com


Enjoy pictures taken at the center in August!






































Thank you to our amazing monthly sponsors all our kids get 2 healthy meals a day plus milk! Mohammad is loving healthier than ever!