This picture is of Mary & Brian Clark who are such wonderful supporters of Light in Africa. Each year Mary swims in the cold cold waters of Lake Windermere in the UK to raise funds for our children.This year Mary was joined by her husband Brian, who last year was too sick to compete. It is a joy to see you both looking stunning in your wet suits! Mary & Brian raised 500 pounds from there swim.
Bless You Both For Your Exhausting Endeavours.
Mama Lynn
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Today exactly 10 years ago mama Lynn got on a plane to see if God really wanted her to go to Tanzania.
And we all know the story: many lives, those of beneficiaries as well as volunteers and sponsors, changed thanks to her conviction and energy.
Please join me in congratulation mama Lynn with all achievements and remember her in your thoughts.
My thoughts are with those in need and I am grateful to be part of the wonderful LiA world to continue to make a difference.
Paul
LiA webmaster
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Mama Lynn asked me to inform you that with immediate effect her only email account in use is: africa@lightinafrica.org
Her other email accounts on Hotmail and Yahoo have been closed.
Have a great day!
Paul, LIA webmaster
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Hi everyone,
Granny Annie came to volunteer with us a couple of years ago. A lady of mature years, she had pink hair, wore odd shoes, was a total extrovert and the children loved her outlandish ways. She broke the mold as how a bibi (grandmother) should look or behave. Today she posted me a bouquet with some pearls of wisdom that I would like to share with you all. Thanks Annie.
Happiness keeps you sweet,
Trials keep you strong,
Sorrows keep you human,
Failures keep you humble
Success keeps you glowing,
But ..... Only .... Friends
Keep you going.
Sometimes I am motivated to make changes which, I have to admit, leave Light in Africa staff, the present volunteers or dare I say even our webmaster, somewhat bewildered, and at a loss as to why I have done something.
A recent case in question was when we were told to expect El Nino to severly hit the Kilimanjaro and Manyara region with strong winds and heavy rain.. Having previously experienced the floods in Mirerani, where miners lost there lives, and there was much distruction, and with the Tanzanian Government issueing directives for all people living in the lowlands to move out of the area, and having so many babies and toddlers at Fleeze House, I made the decision to evacuate the little tots and move them to the empty Mailisita House as in the event of a disaster, we could not handle so many small children.
Two weeks after the move, we were contacted and asked to rescue 21 children from a home near Arusha where the landlord had arrived and locked up the three rooms where the 21 children (3 children being disabled) were staying and they had been forced to sleep outside on the balcony. A very dangerous situation as elephants often moved around the area, and of course there is always the hyenas. This was due to the Pastor being unable to pay the rent for the last 5 months.
Our social worker Grace, and Pastor Frank, hired a dala dala and brought all the children to the empty Fleeze House, where they were all examined and very very happy to come into light in africa's care.
A suitable home is now being looked for to enable the children to return to the Arusha area and attend school.
God works in mysterious ways, sometimes we just have to have the faith to 'just do it'.
The last time we were asked to take in 24 children in one go, God provided in an amazing way. Likewise, he has done the same this time by a ladies German group donating some funds for the first time. It was gratefully appreciated, it answered our need to help these children.
Now some updates on the projects that our volunteers were working on.
Lighthouse Children's Home & Primary School.
From the photographs (below), you will be able to see that everything has gone ahead as planned. The facility has been secured with a high wall and a new metal gate. The toilet block and shower room is all plumbed in, the bedrooms which were all painted and tiled look great, the double decker beds we did have a little problem with in getting them through the door, but eventually, mission accomplished. The kitchen has only to be painted inside, the lounge and classroom looks great, the desks and chairs are all in and we are now employing two teachers, the school will soon be registered, and this will be the start of next years building program, where Yazmeen Ali and her team in Aberdeenshire are committing to fundraise to build a new purpose
built school.
Amani Farm.
All is well on the farm, and the water has been connected - the pregnant pigs are getting fatter, and Marcus is hopeful for litters of 8 - 10 which will increase the number to about 50 pigs. Great job everyone, thank you all so much for the teamwork, and the contribution you have all made to Light in Africa this year.
Babus
As written in a previous post, the babus (grandfathers) who stayed with us in Mailisita, found a new home in Lerai, a maasai village supported by Light in Africa. The promised pictures are now included.
Last Item.
Sophie, my granddaughter, (whom I believe every volunteer knows from Facebook) was tested as having a very high white blood count whilst
with me in Tanzania. I accompanied her back to the UK for further tests, and after a course of treatment she is now fine.
I was supposed to arrive in the UK around 24th November with our chairman and Pastor Frank, having first visited our Light in Africa volunteers in Germany and Holland.
With the change of plans, if anyone would like me to support any of there fundraising events I would be happy to visit with them,and explain to there supporters the work we are involved in.
Please contact Laura on Nations Together who is administering the
itinerary for further information.
Area's I will be visiting are: Germany (Cologne), Netherlands (Amsterdam), UK: Aberdeen, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Dorset area.
Abundant blessings,
mama Lynn
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THE GLOW THAT ILLUMINATES, AND THE GLARE THAT OBSCURES.
Dear Family and Friends,
I start this blogg with an apology for my absence in responding to emails, but at present due to the drought, we are having major power cuts daily. At present I am writing this blogg in the early hours of the morning as it is the only time for the network to post the mail..... I have a lot to tell you this week.
******
We are so thrilled with our new addition to Tudor Children's Village, which is a wonderful - state of the art playground for our children -
We have seen immeasurable dedication to complete this project by a team of young volunteers from the Bristol area of the UK.
Last December, whilst on tour in the UK, I met up with a young man named Ollie with two of his friends who travelled to meet up with me for discussion about a possibility of building a new playground at Tudor when they arrived in Africa around June to September. I gave my suggestions that I really would like swing boats for our disabled children so they good watch the movement of the sky.
The team arrived - male and female - and started work on the site which was all rock! After braking many tools, and working all hours with night lights there dedication and commitment to complete on time resulted with an opening ceremony to shouts of joy and delight from our many children, followed by two days later, two coaches arriving from a school in Moshi with 130 students, who also enjoyed the many 'fun' things to do..... A wonderful accomplishment, well done.
Volunteers who come to Light in Africa, make such a positive difference to the lives of our children and the community. Words fail me to express our appreciation to them all.
******
This week we have broken new records!!! with the most amount of patients being treated in just three outreach dispensaries.
Lee Harding from the USA, who adopted one of LIA children, his mum Debbie and friend Lisa purchased a large amount of drugs from their project money to help the poor in some of the remotest area's imaginable. Deep trenches of choking dust, not one blade of grass, skeletal cows, greeted them as they trundled along in a landrover to reach these villages. With our trusted local doctor and nurse, they have treated over 600 patients - 310 in one day! plus a seminar for the local maasai on HIV/AIDS. This resulted in them receiving lovely beeded work crosses as a gift of appreciation.
What a wonderful expression of love to the poor and needy.
Mama Lynn
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This week we have broken new records!!! with the most amount of patients being treated in just three outreach dispensaries.
Lee Harding from the USA, who adopted one of LIA children, his mum Debbie and friend Lisa purchased a large amount of drugs from their project money to help the poor in some of the remotest area's imaginable. Deep trenches of choking dust, not one blade of grass, skeletal cows, greeted them as they trundled along in a landrover to reach these villages. With our trusted local doctor and nurse, they have treated over 600 patients - 310 in one day! plus a seminar for the local maasai on HIV/AIDS. This resulted in them receiving lovely beeded work crosses as a gift of appreciation.
What a wonderful expression of love to the poor and needy.
Mama Lynn
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You are all such wonderful people wishing the very best for our children. And already we get regular questions about the option to send gifts for the holiday season. Only when this remains limited to
a good size envelop and clearly marked gift, it should pass through customs without any serious issues..
However, anything bigger gets held up and we will be asked to pay for customs duies and taxes. Nothing unusual, but we cannot afford to spend out donor money on such charges. Such packages are to be avoided.
We count on your understanding and like to thank you for your continued fine support.
Asante sana!
Paul
webmaster
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This time we like to refer you to a good overview story of the Light in Africa Medical Outreach program in the Kilimanjaro region.
Jake Lyell, photographer, has written a well illustrated story on his blog.
Click here and scroll down to the article titled Limited Access: healh care in rural Tanzania
While most of our readers prepare for autumn & winter, Tanzania is embracing for the potential effects of El Niño which is said to be potentially hazardous for the East African communities th2 next few months. As we prepare for it, we'll keep you informed through this weblog.
Asante Sana
Paul
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Dearest Friends of LIA
For the last three weeks I have been incommunicado with the website being totaly blocked by all the wonderful pictures that our returning volunteers had taken of there stay in Tanzania. And all there photo memories of our children and the places they had visited when on the out-reach dispensaries, and of the people they had met, and the pictures of beautiful Mount Kilimanjaro, and the wonderful pictures of the elephants, the zebra's and the giraffes, they were all great to see and to know they had enjoyed such a positive time with us, but it caused us a little problem. It was fine my end but as our webmaster and his wife had taken a much deserved three week holiday, it was only when he returned that he found that the whole site was also blocked his end too..... so sincere aqpologies for all the peole who tried to send me emails and all that was revealed was 'email blocked'.
(before sharing any pictures, pls email the webmaster first)
I sometimes just stand and look in amazement at the work that is being achieved, through God's provision, and I have so much to tell you what has happened since my three weeks absence.First and formost, more children have come into the care of LIA. We are now recognised that in a large area from Moshi to Arusha that Light in Africa appears to be the only childrens' home who willingly are accepting chilren with the HIV/AIDS virus. They are coming into care via hospitals, social workers in other districts and through our own network. We look to God, not to the cost of how much it is all costing, to keep all these children healthy. We only have to look at our young adults who came to live with me 9 years ago and just seeing them so healthy - tall, enjoying education, and making plans for their futures, and the boys now able to 'pat me on the head' as I shrink and they grow to 6' tall, but most of all - laughing and being happy. They are not the orphans who were stigmatised because their parents had already died of Aids, they are not the street children who were living under the coffee trees because their fathers had beaten them and thrown them out, they are not the children who were sleeping in doorways and being abused by the drunks passing by at night - they are not the children who could not read or write at 10 years of age. They are NOW the future of Tanzania....
TUDOR VILLAGE
It is a very exciting time for us this week, as we are on the move again.
Two moves are anticipated. The first being the disabled children are moving into house no 3 with mama Queenie in charge of their care. And the many babu's (grandfathers) that we care for are all going to move to our maasai facility in Lerai, where this year our volunteers have enjoyed the unique experience of living in a maasai encampment and walking with maasai elders on the 'tree walk' to see the trees that these nomadic tribe use as traditional medicine.
The volunteers this year have worked just so hard to 'kick start' the bungalows into being available for the children to move into. From making cement bricks to planting trees: they have all committed to our vision of making Tudor Village a very special place for the children. The management and staff of LIA honour you for the work of your hands and hearts. Thank you and bless you.
LIGHTHOUSE CHILDREN'S HOME - THE OPENING OF A NEW HOME IN MIRERANI.
In April of this year, we felt the need to rent another property in the Manyara Region to enable LIA to be in a position of accepting more vulnerable children into care. The property had stood empty for 3 years and had been vandalised.This year's army of volunteers has transformed this derelect property into something really special. They have built high walls, knocked down toilet blocks, painted and tiled poky little bedrooms and made them look fantastic, built a new kitchen area and left their murals on the lounge walls.
One comment that was said this year which made me chuckle; was "mama Lynn, you're very brave." "Why is that?" I responded. "Because my parents would never ever allow me to have a paint brush in my hand, and you're allowing me to paint a wall" - The anticipated opening date for this new facility is the 25th September. It would not be happening if it wasn't for our volunteers! Great Job done.
(picture shows the new toilet blocks being built for Lighthouse)
MAASAI SCHOOL FOOD KITCHEN.
This is a drought year in Tanzania. The rains which started after a long delay, failed to be sufficient to grow the maize. Consequently, people are suffering with hunger as well as the livestock that people depend on to sustain them. The maasai have been particularly hit and as they are nomadic, have taken their wifes and cattle and travelled 250 kilometers to the grasslands.
Unfortunately, many of the small children, which could not walk the distance have been left behind with either neighbours or relatives.
Light in Africa had been asked to help a private school which has over 100 kindergarten children attending it and it has only one teacher. The building they are using isn't finished. It has walls and a roof and that is it. Some children sit 5 or 6 to a desk, other younger children at the front of the class sit on a piece of wood supported by
two bricks at each end.
For five days per week, we have been taking our food into the school to help these little ones, who some have been only receiving a cup of flour and water each day. We will continue to help these vulnerable children until the rains come and there parents return.
I think I had better stop now or else it will be me blocking the site with too much information, and I will write a further update later with more pictures of the village and Lighthouse......
Thank you for your patience, be blessed - mama Lynn
Light in Africa also cares for several unsupported babu's. They will all move from Mailisita to Leray and will be joined by this recently found babu who was without any decent home or care.
It looks an idylic picture, but this cart served as ambulance to transport a patient to the nearest dispensary[ add comment ] | related link
Let common sense prevail.
Tanzania earlier this month (June 9th) reported its first case of swine flu. A British student traveling in a group with teachers and fellow students did not feel well upon arrival in the capital Dar-es-Salaam. He was hopitalized for isolation and treatment and meanwhile has recovered and has been discharged.
For those who plan to leave for travel to Tanzania in the (near) future: exercise the same care as you in your home country regarding flu symptoms. Oviously, those with symptoms and due to travel, should, unfortunately, cancel/delay their trip until better again.
And we expect everyone to appreciate that those with symptoms already in Tanzania will have to be separated from the group, but will be cared for, of-course.
Thank you for your understanding
Paul
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