The Baobab Home » 2010 » October

Martin Goes Home

October 26, 2010

On December 9, 2009 a baby boy was brought to the Baobab Home by the local government hospital. His mother had died during childbirth, could we take him until relatives were found? He was a little scrawny and quickly developed a terrible looking heat rash, but of course we took him in and smothered him with our special brand of Tanzanian/Mzungu baby love.  What to call him? We have always wanted to honor the Martin family for their generosity, but their names Myles, Brad, Brian, all sound a little strange when pronounced by a Tanzanian (Myows, Blad, Blian) and then, a Eureka moment-the baby boy would be called Martin, after all of them!  I had hoped that giving him the name of such a strong family would bring us luck in finding his father, but in truth, it wasn’t just the name that enabled our success in locating Martin’s Dad.  The Martins and all of our donors provide Baobab with the funds not just to give food and shelter to orphaned babies, but to go where Tanzanian social services does not have the money to go-to address the challenging cases-orphaned babies with complicated, but surmountable family problems. That means high phone bills, and multiple bus fares to check leads on the whereabouts of a missing father, or helping to equip a grandmother to take in a grandson whom she loves, or make sure that an abandoned baby really is abandoned by following every last lead.  At Baobab we understand crisis, and helping families recover. Our capacity is low (8-10 little ones) and we are driven by the fact that we do not want a house full of babies who have somewhere else to go.

We found Martin’s Dad and the baby is now called Martin Joseph. He is thriving and happy and walking like a champ. His father likes his son’s name and loves his son. He’s done his best to visit and get to know Martin in the months since we introduced them. On October 28 we will pay bus fare for Martin and his father to travel back to their tribal home of Kigoma where Martin will be raised by his father and his father’s Aunt, a woman who lost her only son several years ago to a tragic accident.  Soon everyone will be where they are supposed to be and a new baby will join the Baobab family-maybe for awhile, maybe forever.  Good luck Martin and Baba Martin!! Thank you to the Martin family and all of our donors who enable us to really love and tend to each child in our care.

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Send in the Cows….There Ought to Be Cows

October 21, 2010

(70s song reference, anyone?)

At long last here are the photos of our little herd. Thanks to Randy Michaelis for inspiring the purchase and to Marilyn Weiland and George and Susan Edmonds for contributing generously. We are the proud owners of 13 cows.  These cows are very eager (we asked them) to do what they do best (digest and produce waste) for a purpose and one day they will. Baobab will eventually cook all food for kids and staff using biogas and not waste even one more Tanzanian tree. We are slowly moving toward our vision to build a locally constructed biogas digester. If anyone would like to help our cows reach their full potential, you are welcome to donate or come visit and help us to build. It will cost about $4000cows8cows6cows5cows4cows1

Kids Born with HIV

October 7, 2010

Mariamu’s parents both died of AIDS when she was very young.  She walks about 2 miles to school each day and after school she goes into the fields to collect reeds and palm fronds which her grandmother weaves into mat and basket material to make money. Her grandmother can’t walk anymore so once a month, Mariamu boards a small bus by herself and rides for about an hour through villages and town, then walks to the hospital where she attends one of the HIV clinic’s “kid days” and picks up her free ART medicine.  For 4 years she has understood that she contracted HIV from her parents and that in order to stay alive, she has to take her medicine twice a day. What sets Mariamu apart from many is that she is incredibly self possessed, and happy.  She understands what her illness is and she copes, and smiles a lot. She’s actually not one of the ones who we’re really worried about. Mariamu is one of hundreds of children in Bagamoyo growing up with HIV. Many of them don’t understand anything about the virus they carry or the precautions that they will have to take when they reach puberty. Some parents are too ashamed to tell them, or don’t want to bring up the taboo subjects of sex or death. Some of the children understand their status all too well and are depressed, withdrawn and suffer from abuse from their peers.

Thanks to volunteers Liana Woskie and Katie Balk though, The Baobab Home is now conducting research on the psychosocial needs of children living with HIV. We have finished the preliminary interview stage and this Saturday we will lead discussion groups with dozens of parents and caregivers about how best to expand our breakfast program to meet the growing psychosocial needs of positive kids. The good news is that fewer and fewer children are born positive each year, yet it happens. But for Mariamu and her many peers, born before drugs were available here, something must be done to help them to live the healthiest and happiest life possible.

mariamu