Leaving mwanza :(

II hadn't actually planned in another blog post before I left mwanza as I didn't think I would have time...however my flight from here to dar es salaam has been delayed by 4 and a half hours so I have found myself with lots of time to spare! So here's a quick update about my last couple of weeks here...

As I mentioned in my last post there is a new little girl at the baby home who has cerebral palsy who I wanted to make splints for...they are finished!!

This is how they started when we cut the Tupperware box up....

And these are the finished product!! We used some padding, some kanga material and then Velcro straps!!

I had loads of help from one of the other volunteers out here called Kat (definitely would have chopped of a finger or something without her!) 

They are not 100% ideal but I have to admit I think we did pretty well considering the limited resources we have! And most importantly....

They fit and they do the job!!

And the little girl doesn't seem bothered by them at all, she is more than happy to wear them! 

These will keep her feet in a good position until the is strong enough to stand and hopefully one day walk and when that happens her feet will be kept in a flat position anyway so she won't need them as much! I am really looking forward to keeping up to date with how this little girl gets on and develops.

Apart from that the last couple of weeks have mostly been spent as usual at the baby home having loads of fun and cuddles with the children and making the most of my time left here! We took some children on another swimming out and I took a little boy who I have completely totally fallen in love with....he clearly does not share my love of swimming as he HATED it and screamed everytime we even put his toes in the water! But it was still nice for him to get out for a while and he enjoyed sitting by and walking around the pool! 

A while ago some local children in the village asked me to take their photo so I got it printed hoping I would see them again...the other day I saw them so I went down to give them the photo. 

They were SO happy and all their siblings came to hug me and see! They then took me to their house and I asked if they would like me to take more photos so I went to get my camera and took about 20 photos of their family and one full family photo which I told them I would print and give to them. They were so grateful and excited and it was so lovely. The mum was trying to speak to me but didn't speak much English so one of the older children translated and explained that the father had passed away and there was 9 children (aged about 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16 and 2 20 year olds!) the mum was saying that they needed new clothes as most of them were old and ripped..and of course the children asked for pipi (sweets!) So the next day when myself, Hannah and Rachel were in town we went to the market and picked a selection of clothes to buy and take to them. I also bought some bracelets for the girls, lots of pipi and got the family photos printed! Me and Hannah took then down that night and they were very happy and grateful and loved it all. The next day I saw the children all dressed in their new clothes and they came to show me which was so sweet! I did get lots of photos but can't post them till I get on my computer at home so will put them up then! It was so lovely though and it made me so happy to see how pleased they were, definitely made me see how much we take for granted!

Last night I said goodbye to the children at the baby home....I can safely say it was the most emotional I have been for a  LONG time! (Not helped by the fact that I smacked my head on the TV cabinet which started the tears and then there was no stopping!) saying goodnight for the last time was so so sad. But hopefully I can come back soonish and see all the children who are still here and all the new ones!

These are the twins who arrived not long after I got here weighing about 1kg each and have grown so much into gorgeous babies! 

I have had 2 of the most amazing months of my life out here and it is difficult to find words to describe how wonderful a place Forever Angels Baby Home is. I have been amazed by how many people they have helped and continue to help. I have experienced so many things while I have been out here and it has been such and eye opening, humbling and incredibl

e experience. I will never forget my time here and the wonderful children and people I have met.

When I get home I will be setting up a monthly sponsorship and I just want to take a few minutes to ask you to please consider doing this too. As I said this is really one of the best places I have ever been to and I promise you your money will be going to SUCH a worthwhile cause. Obviously financially times are hard for everyone at the moment but any amount you can contribute will help. You can either sponsor a specific child or just generally the baby home but either way you will get updates 4 times a year (guaranteed to be full of cute photos!!) The baby home has done such an amazing job for 7 years and at the moment they really need sponsors and help to continue this. Your money would be allowing Forever Angels to continuer helping not only the children in their care, but the outreach families they support, the teenagers they support in education and work and the young mothers they help through their streetborn project. If you would like anymore information about how to go about this or what it involves either visit their website www.foreverangels.org and see how you can help (it is worth looking at the website just to read Amy's diary and see photos of the kids...if you look at any pages that need a password it is Tanzania.) Or you can contact me and I can point you in the right direction. But please do consider it, what will only be the cost of 1 coffee a week or a soft drink each day for you could do so much good out here.

So if my flight ever leaves this evening I will be meeting my friend Lois in Dar Es Salaam tonight and bright and early tomorrow we are headed to Zanzibar! When I get home and can get on a computer I will have lots of photos from my last few weeks at the baby home and also from Zanzibar and Dubai! 

Safari, physio and children leaving and arriving!

Last week I did a safari for 4 days and 3 nights...it was absolutely incredible! I went with 3 other girls who are volunteering here - Rachel, Hannah and Emma. I was so excited but also slightly nervous at the though of camping in the middle of the Serengeti! We left at 9am last Wednesday morning and arrived in the Serengeti about 3 hours later. We quickly began to see animals - loads f impala and wildebeest! And it was it too long before Emma spotted a family of giraffes in the trees! That afternoon we were also lucky enough to see a male lion and then 4 more lions one of which was eating a zebra! 

We also saw a cheetah kill an impala for its dinner! 

We then arrived at our camp and had a lovely dinner before making one last trip to the toilet before bed...we saw a huge spider there and had to check our tents for creepy crawlies before bed! It was pretty nerve wracking sleeping in a tent in the middle of the Serengeti knowing we had seen lions earlier that day but I slept surprisingly well! The next day we were lucky enough to see a herd of about 20 elephants who came so close that we could have touched some of them if we had leaned out of our van!! 

The 3rd day we went to the ngorogoro crater and stopped at a Masai village on the way. It was interesting but also a bit money maker from tourists and bit of a rip off! It was very interesting, they did some dances and showed us their houses and school! We paid £8 to get in and then looked around their market which was very expensive but it was clear we wouldn't get away without buying something! I bought a bracelet which they wanted £10 for but I got it for £4 in the end which was still more than it should have been! It was an interesting experience but not one I would do again I don't think!!

We eventually arrived at the crater and it's probably the most amazing beautiful place I've ever seen! Most of it was desert but then one area was all green and almost like a jungle! We were hoping to see some rhinos as they are sometimes seen there but it's very rare and we didn't manage too! However we saw elephants, baboons, zebras, hippos and much more!! Hannah and Rachel decided to stay in a lodge that night as they weren't enjoying camping. We dropped them to their lodge on the way to our campsite and it was amazing! Me and Emma stayed for one drink to pretend we were staying there and then headed to our campsite! 

We'd been promised hot showers and it was very disappointing when they were freezing!  It was freezing in the crater at night (I slept in leggings and 2 pairs of trousers and a vest top, long sleeved top and 2 hoodies and 2 sleeping bags!!) As I was getting ready for bed and putting my 3 pairs of socks on I was slightly jealous we weren't in a lodge but then our cool came to get us to tell us there was an elephant drinking from the water tank in camp! We went out to see it, it was huge and we were about 5 metres away which was so amazing! There was also zebras in camp too! I actually was pretty a warm and slept well...I did have to get up to go to the toilet in the night which is slightly scary! We'd been told if you have to go in the night just go outside your tent don't walk to the toilet..I was slightly scared I might get eaten by a lion but made it back into my tent in one piece!!

Overall it was amazing and one of the bet things I've ever done!! Here are some photos! 

While I was away one of the little girls from forever angels went home. I had completely fallen in love with her so I was so upset she went when I didn't get to say bye. All the children here have life books which the volunteers make and put photos and messages in so I was sad I couldn't put things in hers! However it's great she's gone home to family and I'm sure she'll grow up to be very happy! 

Also while I was away this gorgeous girl arrived! 

She's 19 months old and had cerebral palsy. She's severely malnourished and only weighs 11 pounds at the moment. I've spent a lot of time with her and she is so happy and lovely! Her cerebral palsy doesn't seem to severe so I have a lot of hope that one day she will hopefully walk. She has very good movement and none of limbs have gone stiff yet but her feet are starting to turn in so I'm going to try and make some splints for her. There are obviously limited resources here so I'm planning on trying to use some Tupperware containers cut up with padding and Velcro! Will have to see how it goes and rethink if doesn't work! 

I've done a lot of work with the special needs work lately as me and some of the other volunteers have been trying to update their folders with all their physio plans and goals.

This little girl has hydrocephalus as lives and spends most of her time in the tiny baby house as she would get hurt with the other children running around! We took her into one of the tv rooms one day and she had her face painted and loved it! 

We took the special needs children swimming which was nice as they dont often go out. I took this 3 year old girl who is blind. She's lovely but either loves or hates something so I wasn't sure how she'd react! She enjoyed it but wasn't too sure about the cold! All the children had a great time though.

We also took some children to the beach which was nice! 

We took some of the older children out for pizza in town yesterday which was really nice and they all ate loads!! I took this little boy :)

I have less than 2 weeks here which is really sad but I have had the most amazing time! I'm then heading to Zanzibar and Dubai so that should be really good!! 

Over halfway!!

Since I've last written we've  done quite a few things - I've been to a local church, been to a local project for young people with disabilities, had a horrible stomach bug (now back to normal thank goodness!) and taken the children on quite a few days out, which is always fun! It's amazing to see how they transform into different children when they leave the baby home complex. A lot of the children have been there since they are very young and don't have much experience of outside life - they only really go out when they're taken on trips which is a couple of times a month at most. Most of the children go from being loud, confident and full of energy to timid and scared of lots of fairly normal things! For example, the other day we walked down to the lake for a pre school trip with some of the big toddlers. Just as we were leaving a big lorry arrived which was pumping water out of the lake. It was quite loud and the children were terrified. One ran crying in the other direction and the one I was with pretty much jumped on me to be carried and cried her eyes out scratching me and kicking because she didn't want me to go near it!! It's so different to the local children in our village who spend the day wandering around on their own from a very young age! It's completely understandable though as the children at the baby home grow up in a completely different environment so hardly ever see things like this. Despite all this they LOVE going out on trips and always enjoy themselves!

Here in Tanzania women carry babies on their backs in pieces of cloth called kangas which are fashioned into slings. We've been wanting to go for a walk ad do this since we got here, so last weekend all the volunteers took the big babies on a walk down to the lake. We soon learnt that it is much more difficult than it looks and actually quite painful! I had the smallest baby of them all and still struggled! The Tanzanian ladies make it look so easy - it's not uncommon to see a woman with a baby on her back and another on her front, or working with a baby in a kanga! We even often see young children carrying their siblings in kangas! 

Yesterday we took some of the little toddlers to Tunza Lodge which is a beach by the lake. We bought them some chips and they played on the sand and had a great time! I took a little boy who is about 22 months old. He only arrived at Forever Angels a couple of weeks before I did. When he arrived he was very malnourished and couldn't stand or walk and didn't really smile. Since I have arrived he has gone from not  really walking at all, to walking with help and finally walking on his own! He has the biggest smile on his face when he is walking and is clearly so pleased with himself! If I am sat with him in the tv room in the mornings or evenings he will spend ages standing up walking away from me and then turning around and coming back with his arms outstretched and a huge smile on his face and give me a big hug when he gets back!  He is incredible cute and gorgeous and I am falling completely in love with him!

 I think yesterday was probably his first time out since he arrived at forever angels and when we were in the car going he was pretty scared! He had the widest eyes and I don't think he blinked once the whole way, he was just taking everything in! When we got there he clung to me and wouldn't let me put him down, but he was soon playing with all the other children in the sand and by the end he was running off and didn't want to go! I think he enjoyed his chips, although he seemed more interested in sucking on one for a while and holding it in his hand for ages before dropping it on the floor! So we gave most of his portion to some of the other children who ate theirs extremely fast and clearly enjoyed them! And all the kids loved the trip and playing in the sand! 

Every couple of months forever angels does a birthday party for the children who have had birthdays in recent months or will have in upcoming months. Last Sunday we did a party for all the children who had birthdays in July and August. 

We volunteers ran some activity stations and the kids spent the afternoon going around these, which they loved! Myself and another volunteer Diane did face painting which I think I am becoming fairly good at! 

Last week myself and some other volunteers here went to visit a place called Tuneweza. This is an amazing project - it is for young people with disabilities from the age of 14. The teach these young people to do all sorts of crafts - card making, sewing, making jewellery, making bags/aprons, making key rings - and they also teach them life skills such as cooking. They then sell the things they've made and the money all goes back to the young people and the project. It was such a lovey place and it is so good that there is something like that here for young people with disabilities. They were all so hardworking and really friendly. The products were all beautiful and I bought quite a few things and will definitely be going back another day to get some more things! On the way to Tuneweza we tried to take a 'shortcut' and ended up halfway up the mountain behind our village...and then came to a point where there was a fence and we couldn't go any further! The locals thought it was absolutely hysterical and one kind woman took us all the way back down and got us back on the right path! The locals walk up and down there everyday- sometimes carrying water on their heads or babies on their backs - but we were scrambling up and sliding down or our bums! We definitely gave them some amusement! 

The whole time I've been here I've been constantly aware of how different Tanzania is to home, but the other day something happened which really reinforced this. In Tanzania if somebody steals something and people around them find out, the person who has stolen will get beaten to death. The other day we arrived home from a trip out with the children to find that a man had broken into a house just behind the baby home. He had locked himself in there, with the woman who lived there inside. By the time we got back there were about 100 people outside the house waiting for this man to come out so they could beat him to death. There were 5 year olds with stones and a man carrying a large crowbar. It was absolutely crazy. Amy called the police and they eventually came and took the man away safely. However, if they hadn't the likelihood is that when he came out he would have been beaten to death and then his body paraded around or left on the street. It made me realise that people here must be so desperate if they have to steal knowing that that is the likely consequence, which is really sad. 

A couple of weeks ago I went to a local church service with 2 other volunteers. I am not even slightly religious at home but I thought I would go along as it would be an interesting experience. The church was a large building made of concrete and filled with plastic chairs. The people at the church were so welcoming and showed us in. We arrived a bit early so until the service started there was a man singing in Swahili and a band playing along with him which was really good! 

It was an international chapel so the whole service was in Swahili and English, which was good as we could understand it! There was lots of singing and dancing which was lovely and I really enjoyed! The man who was leading the service kept getting us to repeat things like 'you are in the presence of the lord' and making us turn to our neighbours as shake their hand and congratulate them on being in the presence of The Lord! So that was slightly interesting! At one point we also had to take our shoes off so that the anointment from the floor could go into us! The sermon then began and we thought it would maybe be 3 parts...2 hours into the service we were at part 8 and we had decided to get up and leave as we were working that afternoon! We got up when everyone else stood up at the start of what we thought would be a song, but it actually turned out to be a prayer so squeezing out of our row past the people praying was slightly awkward! It was definitely an interesting experience and I am glad I went. 

I'm now over halfway through my time at Forever Angels! I have been here 5 weeks and have 4 weeks to go! Time is going so fast and I am already preparing myself for the emotional wreck I am going to be when I have to say goodbye to all the beautiful children and everyone here! We have booked a 4 day, 3 night safari and we go on that on August 14th so I am SO excited for that! I am like a child just going to the zoo so I'm thinking I will probably reach a new level of excitement!! Slightly nervous about sleeping in a tent in the middle of the Serengeti among the lions though!! 

Here are a few more photos :)

Just learned to walk on his own!! 

At her 1st birthday party! 

2 of the local children who on my walk to work shouted 'mzungu, mzungu take a picture!'

One of the volunteers tie dyed loads of baby gros!

A huge thank you to everyone who donated following my Facebook post about ChaCha and her daughter Mwajuma! Enough has been raised to cover Mwajuma's treatment and also buy her anti-sickness drugs she wouldn't otherwise have! Hopefully the treatment will work and this young girl will go on to live a long, healthy life.