Life, Death, and Development

Isaya Mwila (front right) Longi (left) and Yusto (background) helped explain the projects in Mufindi to the big crowd at the goat races charity event on June 1st, 2013.

This was certainly one of the more memorable beginnings to any month we've had in a long time. June 1st marked a charity event where 4 members of the NGO came to Dar es Salaam to celebrate the developments of our income generating projects that have helped members of our community stand on their own, and lift themselves out of poverty. 

Isaya Mwila from the Children's Village; Yusto Chumi from Igoda Primary School library; and Longi and Maria from the sewing school named 'Threads of Hope'; all came to talk about the projects in Mufindi. The event was a smash hit as there were many sales, and the word was spread about the NGO!

Sunday, everyone was happy to be back in Mufindi after a long day of travel, and ready for work again the following day. The 3rd started with a round-up of all projects, with a progress report of every building project. At the Children's Village, a small clinic is being built, along with a house for Dr. Leena Pasanen who is moving here full-time, a nursery school is being built to open next year, and an administrative office is under construction. In the afternoon, the guardians all met for their weekly guardians meeting, to discuss issues and make announcements. That night, a baby boy was born at Mdabulo. His Father is a former child from the Children's Village who has started an independent life for himself in the village. He has entered Fatherhood perhaps earlier than we would have liked (20 years old) but is ready to accept the responsibility as an adult.

Tuesday was CTC day (Care and Treatment) at Mdabulo and so, returned volunteers Dr. Will Metcalfe and Dr. Vikki Milne with Jenny Peck visited, and also said hello to the new arrival. Just as they all arrived, another Mother had gone into labour, and the Doctors and Jenny gave a helping hand in that delivery! There was a lot of new life happening in Mufindi!

Doctors Metcalfe and Milne took a tour of the Children's Village on Wednesday the 5th, and paid special attention to two children Nache and Meshack who need to be started on line 2 medication of Anti-Retroviral Treatment, as they have grown immune to the first line. Stacey Droll was supposed to have returned with Zainabu and care-giver Sijali this day, but news from Dar came that Zainabu had contracted Malaria. Zainabu has been at the children's Village for about 18 months. she is 17 years old, is blind, and suffers from epilepsy. The following day brought the news that would shape the rest of the week.

At around 10am Thursday the 6th, Zainabu passed away. She had gone to Dar seeking treatment for her broken leg brought on by Osteoporosis, and had received very poor treatment from various health centers.

The body came back to Mufindi on Friday, and the funeral was set for Saturday. All of us had been less than a week removed from the joy and fun of the developments from the charity event, and the new life in the form of the newborns, and now we had to work through the passing of a child.

The funeral actually had a beautiful service, as led by a Catholic priest with time given to Isaya, Charles, Rehema, and others from the Children's Village to say a few words. Everything said by members of the Children's Village was well received by everyone in attendance. It was great to see the service led with such poise and grace, as delicate issues were directly addressed such as the improvement of treatment of people with disabilities in this rural community. Equally as important as the good work from the speeches of the members of the Children's Village, perhaps was the manner in which the ideas were received by the community. Everyone is invested in the betterment of their own community, and all ideas are welcomed. Zainabu was remembered respectfully. Her service also featured sentiments from the community itself, as several people suggested we try harder to contribute as a community to someone's health while they are still alive rather than just contributing to funeral costs. It was nice to hear this coming from the community. It seems the community is trying to lead itself into more positive development.

Indeed there are some great developments on the horizon here in Mufindi, with some work left to be done for sure. Now is the time however, that it's own people need to stand and affect change for themselves. It is great to see that local leadership is stepping into the fore.

In 30 Seconds

Pictured: Jenny Peck has helped the evolution of the Organization's Community Outreach Program from the ground up

It was a quick exchange, and I have to admit, it didn’t stand out as anything out of the ordinary in a day full of meetings packed in the middle of a week full of meetings as the New Year arrived. We were all so busy with end of the year things, as well as two new kids being entered into the Igoda Children's Village, half a dozen building projects underway, a tutoring program involving all of the students at the Children’s Village, and meeting after meeting taking place as we initiated the new program of departments for better operational efficiency. Stacey Droll, our Peace Corps extender volunteer came into the office, and apologized for interrupting the meeting, and told Jenny that she was about to leave to Mlevelwa village to talk to a family about possibly entering their child into the Children’s Village. The government had asked us to take in the child, who was suffering from neglect and malnutrition, but the family was from an area of that village that was not very educated, and they had a history of reluctance towards following conventional wisdom. After Stacey explained what she was about to do, Jenny began giving instructions.

JENNY: Make sure you meet Kibuga Fute and take him with you to the family, and take Maria as well if you can, they’re both Home Based Care Volunteers and will be able to help explain the situation.

STACEY: I can’t get a hold of Maria; she’s been hapatikana (unreachable) all day.

JENNY: Ok, well you can take Kibuga by himself, and that will work well, as he’s with Tunajali.

Thinking back on it, I think this was the point where my brain told me to pay attention. The simple fact that we have people to connect with in each of the surrounding villages- people who have been trained either by us, or by others (Tunajali) - who now are trained in the work of Orphan Care is an invaluable resource that saves lives everyday in this rural area. This has been a development at least four years in the making.

When Jenny joined the NGO after completing 2 years of Peace Corps Service in a neighboring village, she was given a position with the laborious-sounding job title of Orphanage Manager, and Community Outreach Coordinator. Essentially she would be the face of the NGO, explaining what we are here for, and she would be working with local leadership to decide which families were most in need, and which children would be coming to the children’s village. She began in 2008 by visiting families in the village house-by-house and listening to their stories. She would meet with village leaders- either the local government executive, a pastor at a church, a teacher at the school, or just a concerned neighbor, and they would lead her to the families most in need. Back in 2008 there was very little formalized care of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, or OVCs as they are oft labeled. In just four years the difference is striking. Each village now has a committee for Most Vulnerable Children, a committee for People Living with HIV/AIDS, and thanks to training seminars funded by donors to our NGO, there are now multiple Home Based Care Volunteers in each village that are streamlining the work done by the NGO and the committees. An overall sense of community has come to this area; one that had been devastated by HIV. This community had become overwhelmed by the enormity of this pandemic and was unable to care for their neighbor as before. In fact taking care of one’s self had become a daily struggle, as treatment was unavailable in a community that essentially had an HIV positive person living in each of its households. Now things are different, and the battle against the disease is turning.

Jenny continued with instructions, this time regarding what to do upon meeting with the families’ inevitable reluctance to adhere to the local government’s advice. The one and a half year old baby was suffering from a form of malnutrition called Kwashiorkor that stems from a lack of protein, and Jenny wanted the health risks parlayed.

JENNY: When you get to their house, you have to explain to the Mother how serious it is that her child has Kwashiorkor, and in the Hospital in this area 33% of all cases that arrive there end in death.

If they agree to have the child come here (to Igoda Children’s Village) then you will have to pass the government office to get a letter of approval or agreement saying the child has permission to stay here. If the family refuses, you have to then report that to the Para-social worker. His name is Stefano. Kibuga knows who he is and how to get in touch with him.

STACEY: OK

JENNY: Alright, you can call us if there’re any issues.

After hearing these last instructions, I couldn’t help but think about all the progress the NGO has made in the past four years. I thought about our first visit from Dr. Leena Pasanen almost exactly four years ago in January 2009, and all that she has brought to this community. With her 30+ years of experience working in rural Tanzania, she has brought a calming professional health service to the community that has already saved countless lives through her diagnostics and treatment over the years at clinics and home visits. Dr. Leena told us about the 33% factor at her Hospital in Illembula village, and she has given countless people advice and guidance on better health practices that has improved the health education of the area enabling the community to make strides towards better development.

I thought about the progress we’ve made, that could not have happened without the help and cooperation of local government. I remembered a meeting in that same village of Mlevelwa where the leaders of the village met with several families when we arrived one day to talk about what was best for their children. Each village leader was visibly concerned primarily and compassionately with the children. I remembered one day in another very remote village named Isipii when the chairman of the village and the head teacher of the school were so excited to hear we were coming to survey the Orphaned and Vulnerable Children of their village that they called all of the most needy cases to come to the school to wait for us there so we wouldn’t have to visit each home. We had never seen such concern for children in a village before. We still visited the homes of the children most in need from that group, and after the proper processes two girls from that group we saw that day came to stay at Igoda Children’s Village. Three and half years later, both girls from Isipii are thriving at Igoda Children’s Village. Datrai spent her last two years of primary school as head prefect, and this year enters Form two (her second year of Secondary School). The second girl, Kandida, finished with the best grades in her class last year in Standard 5.

As Jenny mentioned the para-social worker who reports to the district, I also thought about the help from the district government that has helped us, and this community, develop so quickly in such a short time. The district social welfare officer has become a good friend of ours, and the regional officer has visited us as well. With their help, and their backing, we have been able to do right by these children. The District Commissioner as well for Mufindi District this year helped us by allowing us to open a kindergarten at the Children’s Village this year, and helping us jump through the necessary bureaucratic hoops to get the service to the community.

In just a thirty second exchange Jenny had brought to mind the amazing progress the NGO has made in just a few short years. Things will only move faster over the next three to five years. Strategies are in place, as well as local leadership, and as the children from the Children’s Village grow older, they will be the leaders of their own community. It is exciting to think about the real tangible change that can be made in this community through the partnerships and cooperation with everyone involved. It such an honour to be working in this community, and witnessing this change first-hand.

December 2012

Home Based Care Training

CHILDREN'S VILLAGE

On December 20^th, 2012, Shukuru, a 9 year old HIV positive boy, passed away from complications stemming from Tuberculosis. He didn’t have to. His Mother had stopped taking HIV medication, and had stopped her son from taking medication as well. Shukuru’s Mother passed away almost exactly one month before Shukuru on November 22^nd, and Shukuru joined the family at Igoda Children’s Village. Though he started on medication immediately after arriving here- treatment was too late.

Shukuru’s death touched the family here at the Children’s Village deeply. Although he was only with us a short time, it brings back memories of other children who’ve passed. Shukuru’s death also showed us all that there is still a ways to go with HIV education in this area- that even after the incredible strides that have been made towards access to treatment, and education about the disease, there are still hurdles to clear.

Shukuru’s funeral was a stirring scene. The entire Children’s Village, including all of the guardians, and those working on contracts in the garden and otherwise, with over 70 children all walked to the burial site which was just in Igoda village. It was a powerful image of unity as everyone was singing funeral songs, and the message to the community was clear that we are all here for the children. At the funeral Jenny Peck was asked to speak on behalf of everyone at the Children’s Village. She gave an emotional speech about how this community no longer suffers from AIDS, but suffers from silence. She asked the community to forbid this behaviour in the future. She asked how many knew that Shukuru’s medication had been stopped, and how many could have said something either to the family or village leadership. She said that all of us share the responsibility of this child’s death, and in order for us to build our community we must not be afraid of this disease. She asked why it was that everyone contributed to funerals, and not as much for the treatment of sick relatives and neighbors. Finally she pleaded with everyone to build this community together, and stop these needless deaths.

It was an emotionally draining day, and many in the community have been talking over the Children’s Village’s presence at the funeral, and in particular, Jenny’s moving speech. A few days after the funeral, members of the Seventh Day Adventist church, many of whom were present for Jenny’s speech, donated 50,000/= for the treatment of a woman with cerebral palsy who’s been staying at the Children’s Village. We are excited to see more community-based contributions like these in the New Year. As HIV treatment is now widely available, focus can be placed on prevention now, and we can now dream of stopping this disease once and for all.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Home Based Care

This month we completed the second Home Based Care training, and added 12 new volunteers from 6 new villages! Home Based Care Volunteers are trained to give basic first aid, health education, and HIV counseling and advice. The volunteers directly help give the community a much-needed boost in better quality of health services. Health facilities are few and far between in our area, and so these volunteers bridge this resource gap by visiting people in their homes. Too many patients can often crowd health facilities with very simple problems such as headaches, or joint pain. At the same time, many patients wait too long to seek treatment often waiting until it is too late for health professionals to care for them. The volunteers in this program are trained to help the community use the existing health resources to their fullest potential, so the Home Based Care Program helps improve services at Mdabulo Hospital for example. The Mdabulo CTC is also helped as the volunteers follow up on every patient enrolled to make sure treatment continues. Home Based Care volunteers also follow up with the Mothers in the Milk Powder Program to ensure Mothers and families are helping to prevent the transmission of HIV. By expanding to the Ihanu ward, the home based care program will help prepare whole new communities for the health challenges of future generations.

EDUCATION

Igoda Primary School Results

For the duration of 2012 Secondary School graduates who come from difficult backgrounds themselves, many of whom are orphans themselves, have been helping in the evenings to teach the children at the Igoda Children’s Village extra lessons. We were hoping this would be a win-win scenario as the extra income for the tutors would help them start their adult lives, and the extra tutoring would help the children from the Children’s Village advance in school, as many of them were starting school at a very late age. The results could hardly have been better! Igoda Primary School results came out this year, and nearly every top spot in each grade is taken up by a child from the Children’s Village. We are excited that this one project is making a difference in so many children’s lives.

November 2012

Pictured: Jenny Peck and Yusto Chumi 'embarass' Remijio (front row green sweater) by cheering emphatically over his school results!



CHILDREN’S VILLAGE

With the news of Dr. Leena Pasanen moving to Mufindi to ‘retire’ in the new year, the NGO has set out to build a clinic for the Children’s Village with funds from this years Dar es Salaam charity Goat Races event, and a fundraiser held earlier this year by friend Gord Breedyk, and Evelyn Voigt. The clinic will be a place for Dr. Leena, and other volunteer Doctors to see patients, and will give the village of Igoda a health clinic, which will be the first health facility the village has ever had. The clinic will be modest in size, but will be very important as the first line of health service for many in Igoda village were referrals to Mdabulo and other health facilities will be made from this clinic. The ground was cleared this month, and next month we will have building materials delivered so that mason workers will be ready to start foundations in the New Year.

This month saw two more children from the Children’s Village finish their primary schooling successfully. Ken Ngigwa, and Boniface Kalinga graduated this year from Igoda Primary School, and both are excited to start Secondary School next year, a privilege not every child gets to enjoy. Boniface in particular was awarded the top graduate honors this year! We are very proud of him, and we look forward to receiving the results from other students next month, as all have been studying hard this year with extra lessons every evening.

November is an important farming month in Mufindi, and the same is true for the Children’s Village. Our children learned a lot from first-hand experience this month as we prepared fields for fruit tree planting, maize, and beans. The children also helped in the gardens on weekends by helping to farm the land, and even planting seeds as well. We hope the experience the children get through farming at the Children’s Village will help them later in their lives as they learn to live on their own in the village.

 COMMUNITY OUTREACH

 Bibi’s House (Care Homes) Complex

 The Care Homes Complex is a set of three houses that has been built in the village of Igoda to be used by the village for temporary housing of disadvantaged members of their community. Originally designed for Grandmothers whose homes have fallen into ill-repair, the community has decided so far to use this complex to house single-mothers who are having difficulty getting their lives back after some difficult circumstances. Here is the story of the women in the care home complex today:

Atu Myundunga, 29, from Ludilo village has 3 children. Her husband is sick and her house is in terrible shape. Her grass roof is falling apart with gaping holes, and the walls are beginning to cave in where the rains this year (next month) will certainly knock it down. A plan has been put in place for her to have some work at Igoda Children's Village, while her children stay temporarily at the center. During these rainy months Nov-May 2013, she'll save money for window and door-frames, corrugated iron roofing, and a bit of cement so she may build her own home. Her husband can help with building of the house if he gets well, and they will both make the bricks starting in June '13. When the rains come next year, Atu will be able to move in to her new house with her family, and we will hopefully have another success story similar to the Mwagala family from Mwefu, whose children stayed at the Children’s Village for a short time until their house was re-built, and are now living happily back in their home. 

Anna Mhapa, 25, from Ilasa village has one 2-year-old boy named Koli. Anna was introduced to the NGO through the milk powder program. She was not getting HIV treatment, and the Home Based Care program educated her about the importance of getting treatment each month. Anna's child was not doing well, and was treated in Mafinga for kwashiorkor in September. The child is also HIV positive. Anna also suffers from epilepsy, but has only received medication from local healers. She had refused to take medication through the local health facilities, or through Dr. Leena. The committee is concerned about her health and how this could affect her child, or how the child will be cared for if she passes away, or cannot care for herself. She continues to have difficult falls after passing out, and has finally started two days ago on medication for epilepsy. The committee had hoped she would agree to have her child stay at the Igoda Children's Village. She has agreed, and has had a very successful stay at the Children’s Village. Anna plans to move to the Care Homes Complex next month, as she is ready to start her life on her own armed with better knowledge on how to care for her child. We're happy that there seems to be more and more local leadership, and that solutions are coming from the community for the community.

EDUCATION

African Children’s Book Boxes (AfricanBookBox.org)

Anne Pearson and Ruth James made a huge impact during their stay this year, and perhaps the most touching moment was during their one-day tour of the 6 primary schools of Mdabulo ward. With African Book Box donations, the two were able to purchase over $14,000 worth of books, and on this day a good amount of them were handed over officially to these primary schools. It was an exciting and moving day, as each school head teacher gave us a tour of the village school, and we saw first hand the struggles these teachers and students go through in the name of education. In one classroom in Ilasa village, over 170 students had one teacher for standard one. In Kidete, the entire school was run through two classrooms. Other schools were in better shape comparatively, but the teacher to student ratio was nearly always frighteningly unbalanced. We were happy to give a good picture of local schools in the area, and even more pleased to give Anne and Ruth the chance to see these books go to good people. Each set of teachers at each school immediately dived into the box of books, and examined them, and started reading. We are overjoyed to know that each school in Mdabulo now has a set of resources that will improve the quality of education from its most basic level.

October 2012

Pictured: The Stage is Set! Mwefu Primary put on a play about the story of Mwefu. We hope the play will be an annual show performed by Mwefu students, for the Mwefu community. This month really highlighted the importance of volunteers. We wanted to explain how each of our projects have benefited from the presence of volunteers. The following is a description of what has been accomplished by the NGO during the month of October 2012. CHILDREN’S VILLAGE The Felista Mpangile Playground at the Igoda Children’s Village will be a playground built in the memory of the little girl who passed away in 2010 from HIV who was from Ibwanzi village. Felista’s memory will be carried on through a playground that will be designed to give a place for children to play in a stigma free area. Felista herself was the victim of stigmatization, and a playground in a safe environment allows kids to have fun without the anxiety of being teased or bullied. This month the fence around the playground was constructed as we welcomed the third incarnation of a group of volunteers from the volunteer group Carpe Diem. The organization brings a group of volunteers to do service learning, and they helped us for just over a week with a group of projects. This trip, they helped with the playground, and other projects, and although their time is short with us, Mufindi makes a lasting impression on anyone who visits, and their time with the people of Mufindi helps, as the cultural exchange is an education in and of itself. COMMUNITY OUTREACH Home Based Care Carpe Diem also visited some homes that are enrolled in our Home Based Care program. Stacey Droll, the Peace Corps Volunteer who is extending for a third year, but with our NGO, took the volunteers on a tour of Mlevelwa village, where the Home Based Care team there took them to see many patients, and everyone shared their lives from their very different backgrounds. It was good for the people of Mlevelwa to see visitors, and also good for the Carpe Diem volunteers to see village life in a very personal way. The Home Based Care program continues to service those most in need and it has sparked an interest in community service throughout the project area. As the community fights back against this pandemic of HIV, the sense of community has returned even more, as people are more able to help their neighbor now that more are healthy. The improvement of the overall health in the area has precipitated a great deal of community development, as it appears as though great change is being affected. The Home based Care team welcomed volunteer Sigrid Shrinner as well this month, as she helped the volunteers train families with children with physical disabilities. Sigi has visited several times before, and is really making an impact not only in the villages but as well with the physically disabled at the Igoda Children’s Village. HEALTH CARE Mdabulo Care and Treatment Clinic The Care and Treatment Clinic at Mdabulo had several guests this month as Minna, Anna, and Emma, all volunteered their services at the facility. The help from doctors on the ‘CTC’ days is especially important as the extremely understaffed facility takes in well over 100 patients on the single day. Medical volunteers help lessen the burden on the staff of only one clinical officer, a nurse-midwife, lab attendant, and a few nurses. Eventually the NGO’s longer-term goal is to have a steady stream of medical volunteers to help bolster the overall health of the community by getting more health care service to the community. EDUCATION African Book Box Anne Pearson and Ruth James are here again from African Book Box for a six-week visit. Each will be completing a project at Mwefu Primary School, and Luhunga Secondary School respectively. Anne will be preparing the students of Mwefu Primary for a presentation of play next month. This year she will bringing to life the story of Mwefu Primary, and the courageous work of the community to put the school together again after a horrendous storm knocked the school down in December last year. Ruth will be working with the secondary students on their group reading of a book called ‘The Heaven Shop,’ about a Malawian family affected by HIV/AIDS. Mufindi is blessed to have these two visit each year, not only for the resources they have contributed, but also the passion, dedication, and commitment they have shown for the people of Mufindi. They both give such tremendous support to the community and the NGO, and each visit they bring such life to each of the projects.

September 2012

Pictured: Progress of the Mdabulo Hospital Project! CHILDREN’S VILLAGE An exciting achievement developed this month as we officially opened up the final Orphans’ house! The most important housing component of the Children’s Village is now complete, and we can now address the various needs from the community in creative ways as we have 6 completed houses. The final house gives us options to take-in children if need be, or else maybe use the extra rooms as guest accommodation for visiting relatives, or guest speakers at either the children’s village, or community hall in Igoda. The rooms may also be used for Mothers or parents who are staying with their children at the Children’s Village for a short time, while the child regains his or her health, and the guardian learns about proper child-care for the child. The Children’s Village is evolving rapidly as the need from the community is changing. More people are getting back on their feet and being able to care for their own children in the community. The Children’s Village is slowly becoming more of child wellness center, or a general community resource center, while still housing and caring for over 65 children of its own. It is still being used predominantly for its original purpose of sheltering those children with no where else to go, but as the tide changes for the better in the surrounding area with the fight against HIV, the Children’s Village is beginning to change along with it. COMMUNITY OUTREACH Home Based Care The NGO fully welcomed its second long-term Peace Corps Volunteer this month as Stacey Droll began her work as a third-year extended Peace Corps Health Volunteer under Foxes’ NGO. Stacey will be working with Dr. Leena, and other health volunteers, showing them patients to visit in the community, and coordinating the health branch of the NGO. She will do so while also coordinating the entire Home Based Care program. This year’s goal is to start a second Home Based Care team for the ward of Ihanu that surrounds the Ibwanzi Health facility that Foxes’ NGO has constructed in the past. Stacey has been busy partnering with the District AIDS Cooridinator, and HBC Coordinator, Dr. Mpiluka, and has been interviewing potential volunteers from Ihanu ward. Training of these volunteers will start on December 3rd. HEALTH CARE Mdabulo Hospital Lots of developments at Mdabulo Hospital this month, as we get closer and closer to the opening of this ‘functioning-wing’ of the facility. The rooms of the constructed area of the Hospital were painted this month, and a ceiling was installed. The facility is also now wired for electricity throughout. We were excited to have special guests Marion and Rod Gough with us from the UK sister charity Orphans in the Wild this month. It was fantastic to be able to show the Goughs the progress at Mdabulo, as all of their hard work packing and sending containers from the UK will come to fruition here as the area gets its first Hospital. Marion spent quite some time organizing bandages, medical supplies, and other resources brought over from the NGO storage to Mdabulo, and her work has added to the efficiency of the facility. EDUCATION Adult English The Adult English program is back in action this month. Classes have begun again at the Igoda Children’s Village, and an added breath of enthusiasm came into the program this month as Yusto Chumi has started to teach English at the Igoda Community Hall. This means the Hall is being used daily, and the community is becoming more and more comfortable with using the Hall on a regular basis. Igoda Community Hall This month’s Bibi and Babu chai were a great success yet again, and an added event this month included the 2nd annual career fair for students in Standard 7. The students came to the Community Hall and learned first hand about the opportunities that were in their community as they plan their lives going through school. Two guardians from the Children’s Village were present, and there were stations for farmers, shop owners, workers from tea companies, and elsewhere. It was an exciting day, even if it had a late start, and it further pushed the reputation of the Igoda Community Hall for being a great educational resource for the community.

July and August 2012

Pictured: Jenny Peck has spent the past 6 years in the project area, working with the community towards better health, education and child care. July 4th was one of those days where it seemed as though everything was happening all at once! The progress in July and August can be exemplified for the most part, by the activities that were packed in to this one day. CHILDREN’S VILLAGE Because Igoda Primary School had been closed ahead of Sabasaba preparations Cornelia Raymond was teaching at Igoda Children’s Village on July 4th instead of at her normal post as kindergarten teacher at the primary school. Cornelia has been working for the NGO since 2007, and her teaching has improved each year, and her passion for the children has yet to wane even in the slightest. She is a great role model for the students at the school, as well as the children at the Children’s Village. Orphans’ House number one (the sixth and final house at the Children’s Village) continued progress on this day, as mason workers laid down the cement floor. The house will bring the Children’s Village to its planned full-capacity, and we are envisioning many purposes for this house as well, as the community has begun to use the Children’s Village as a resource with a variety of purposes. The final house may be used as a version of a guesthouse for Mothers with children who’ve fallen ill who need time to learn how to support their children with proper nutrition. It may also be used for visitors of the children here whose relatives may be close to bringing the child back into the village and would like to stay for a few days to see how life has gone on for their children while they’ve lived at the Children’s Village. The Social Center/Kindergarten got a new fence on July 4th. Our carpenter finished the fence with local materials, and it has helped to further divide up the Social Center area of the Children’s Village. The Social Center has the potential to really expand the services of the Children’s Village to the community. Eventually the Center will include an administrative office, a health clinic, a kindergarten, a day care, a playground, a small social hall, and a center for the Children’s Village that encompasses all of the facets of the project in Mufindi. COMMUNITY OUTREACH Milk Formula Program Also on July 4th, 60 HIV+ Mothers arrived to receive their monthly stipend of milk formula. This program continues to thrive and educate Mothers about proper nutrition for their children. Another service was provided this month as a seminar was held by Dr. Onyango from the Mkonge Village health dispensary. He talked to all of the women about family planning, and infant and maternal health. The added education for the women in this program is intended to enhance the results of the program, and enable the families to make their own life decisions armed with all of the resources they need. We are excited to see the area become more informed about the decisions they make, and the difference this will make for the future of this community. HEALTH CARE Mdabulo Hospital Doors were installed today at the Mdabulo Hospital, and more supplies were delivered to keep the progress moving at the Hospital. Plumbing and electricity are next, and then the ceiling can be installed. The Hospital can’t be completed soon enough, as we seem to see on a daily basis that the resources in this rural area are direly lacking. Dr. Leena has to make referrals for patients to go as far away as Iringa or Dar es Salaam for treatment for example, and these places can be over a day’s worth of travel. Once the Hospital is complete, and the partnership between the government, mission, and our NGO is in place the area will have a health system that can properly serve its community. Administrative Manager Geoff Knight met with Padre Baptista Duma about forming a formal committee that will solidify the Public Private Partnership between the mission, the government of Tanzania, and the NGO. The committee will help make group decisions on the operations of the Hospital, and the overall quality of health service will no doubt improve through this partnership. Mdabulo CTC July 4th was also Children’s Care and Treatment Day, and so the 9 children with HIV at the Igoda Children’s Village joined the 100+ children in the area who are treated at Mdabulo. The Mdabulo Care and Treatment Clinic continues to test more and more people for HIV, and is also part of the prevention program in the area giving seminars to people about contracting HIV. The facility remains as the only treatment facility where CD4 can be tested, and the steady supply of reagents may soon make it a more reliable treatment center than the CTC in the district capital. EDUCATION Mwefu Primary School Building supplies were delivered to Mwefu Primary School on July 4th and progress on this project is being made each day. The devastation that this school experienced last December when a storm knocked down more than half the school is quickly becoming a distant memory. Soon the students will return to the school- they had been attending another primary school over ten kilometers away – and the community continues to contribute to ensure that this school gets re-built better than ever. Public Health Community Outreach Coordinator Jenny Peck gave an afternoon talk at the Seventh Day Adventist church today on the topic of maternal and infant health. She gave a long presentation that included a power point full of educational photos showing the development of a fetus through pregnancy and birth. The presentation was attended by several hundred women and men, and was a great success. Many requests for another presentation were made, and the NGO’s goal of spreading education for the long-term benefit of the Mufindi community will continue to be met through events such as these. Igoda Community Hall Another successful Babu Chai day took place on July 4th at the Igoda Community Hall. Over 100 grandfathers came together at the Community Hall to have tea and share in a social event to discuss the issues of the community. The grandfathers come together, as do the grandmothers on the last Wednesday of each month, and many discussions are had in a group setting that give the elderly a social outlet for their ideas and thoughts for a better tomorrow. The attendees share a cup of tea, but also get to share their burdens of raising grandchildren whose parents may have passed, and they are appreciated for their contributions to society. Luhunga Library Volunteer Sasha Bill has been with us for a few months and has shown the go-getter attitude that is greatly appreciated out of our volunteers. On July 4th he was busy teaching Leudi Mtende the basics of computers in hopes to have our Computer Lab at Luhunga Secondary School up and running. The goal is to have this lab completely functioning sometime after the August break that Tanzania takes this year for the National Census. We hope that bringing computers to this school will be another added resource that will help make this school an educational facility that the community can be proud of, and one that will help mold a brighter future for Mufindi!