The Baobab Home

Juma Dynamite

August 14, 2009

We took the photo for the shirt, but Juma is a terrific kid and deserves his props. He’s been neighbor to the Baobab Home for 5 years. He’s incredibly creative, building his own toys out of garbage. He builds miniature houses out of mud. He’s a lefty, and he thinks outside of the box, which you don’t see a lot of here. He’s got a great sense of humor, loves to dress in costume, and he can bend his body like a piece of rubber. I think he could give Napolean Dynamite a run for his money on that dance solo. Juma lives with his grandmother and cousins, but his mother is alive and well. It is the culture of the Zaramo tribe for grandparents to do the child rearing. We have helped the family from time to time with food and medicine. We have given Juma’s grandmother work as a weaving instructor to our volunteers. Juma is one of the Bong’wa kids who is very much a part of the Baobab family.

Not sure how he got such a cool shirt, but my vote is for Juma!

Visiting Mohammed’s Family and Wamang’ati Friends

A few weeks ago when all of our summer volunteers were still here Laura, Laura, Ali, Rachel, Skye, Helen, Terri, Vivian, George and Mohammed all crammed in the car for a road trip. Eight Wazungu Women, a Man and a Baby- a new Feature Film. Our poor truck has never been the same since after the terrain we crossed, but a good time was had by all! First we stopped off to see our friends Mwajuma and Mussa and their family. They belong to a semi- nomadic pastoralist tribe called the Wamang’ati. Cattle and livestock are their pride, joy, lifestyle, and chief (usually only) source of wealth. They live very simply, usually in grass huts, but do not perceive themselves as poor if they have cattle. Mussa, the husband, was travelling, but his wife Mwajuma was happy to receive us. They are incredibly gracious people and love our visits. They like to have photos taken, especially ones showing their cows. We try to always make prints for them.

Before anyone had to have any warm, raw milk, we headed down the (dirt, gravelly, dusty, potholed) road to visit Mohammed’s family. Just when we thought we were close we had to go pretty far off the main road. Mohammed’s mother died shortly after he was born and his grandmother could not properly feed or care for him. Now that Mohammed is a little older, strong, walking and healthy, he is ready to go home soon. His house is remote, but he will be well loved by his family.

Babies on the Bed!

Here are our Wee Ones!
Laura Baraka is standing with confidence and just about to walk. She does the (seated)happy eating dance before every meal and likes to crawl without benefit of her knees. She is a little peach. Mohammed seems to have a blossoming comedic personality. His first words are all the names of his siblings and he chants them all day long. Certainly a ‘people person’. We hope to reunify Mohammed before the end of the year. Hadija is still our resident princess, but sweet Faidha had made a good impression and her and has softened the edges of Hadija’s ‘terrible twos’. Our hopes of reunifying Hadija with her father go up and down. He recently suffered kidney failure so it looks like she will unable to return home for quite awhile. Faidha, who is 5, but looks two, loves her Baobab life. She’s gained 4 or 5 kilos since arriving and has started to talk. She just got corrective inserts for her flat feet. We will soon get her to the dentist for some much needed work. When Faidha is happy, it looks like she holds within her all the happiness of the world. And when she’s sad, it is just heartbreaking.

Thanks to volunteer Ali for getting all the kids on track with potty training!

Muba, healed and home in Bagamoyo

August 13, 2009

Welcome Home Muba!! Muba and his mother (now ‘Mum’) are back from England and we are so happy to have them. Muba has grown up so much in the many months he spent in London. He made a lot of friends at the school he attended at the hospital and he likes to speak English now. His face looks terrific. The tumor is absolutely gone. Many thanks to their host Alice in London! She is a Tanzanian grandmother, and nurse who lives near and works at the hospital where Muba was treated. What luck!! Thanks also to Maria and Sarah for being the Baobab Reps on the ground and helping Muba adjust. And of course, Facing the World organization is amazing. They make huge improvements in the lives of children with facial disfigurements. Welcome home Muba and Mum!

Debora and Baby Ester Go Home

August 3, 2009

We left facing what, in hindsight, seems like very low odds. We were pretty sure we knew the village where her family was from, but according to what little Debora remembered and had been told, just about everybody was dead. But it had become clear that Debora and her daughther needed to go. Their three months with us enabled Debora to plump Ester up a whole lot and bond well with her. She is a loving mother. But the fact remains that we are an orphanage and not a home for unwed teen moms. Debora and all agreed that she needed to reconcile her past with her future.

Wednesday morning Debora, George, baby Ester and I left at dawn. I white- knuckled my way through my first major bus trip since our accident in 2007. Watching elephants, giraffes, zebra and baboons on the way was a nice consolation. Twelve hours later, by great luck, we were greeted by Isaak, the second best taxi driver in all of Tanzania (next to William of course). His rate to the village was fair, but high ($60). The alternative however, was hours crammed in a van driving through clouds of very fine, lung crushing orange dust. The next morning we were on the road again. We stopped and asked questions at a beautiful tea plantation on the way. Already the names Debora remembered were familiar to people. The trail was hot. We arrived and had to wait for the village elders to finish their meeting under the tree. That was about 3 hours. This village was so small and I couldn’t help but wonder what the pressing issues were. Finally, we were graciously received. Someone knew the brother- in- law of Debora’s grandmother. He was called in. He was quite a character, and assured us that Debora’s grandmother was very much alive. We were introduced to siblings of Debora’s grandmother, all of whom where so happy to see her and thanked us profusely for returning one of their own.

The next day Debora’s grandmother arrived from a bigger town several hours south. She hugged us and sang and we all sat and had a big family meeting about Debora’s past and future. When Debora was small the family was extremely poor. When Debora’s father died, her grandmother had a very hard time caring for her and other grandchildren. Nobody remembers exactly, but Debora was about 10 when she ran away. She was told years later in Dar that her grandmother had died. For years, Deb’s grandmother was known for making local liquor out of grain. Now she seems to be doing well and is a member of local government. We were given gifts by the family for bringing Debora and Ester home- a beautiful handwoven mat and basket and some food, and a live chicken. They wanted to give us guinea pigs, but I had to draw the line. Sadly, the camera ran out of battery so there are no photos of Debora’s grandmother. Grandmother, Debora and baby Ester left for town, but Debora knows that she and Ester are welcome with her village family as well.