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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My dear friends and supporters of Light in Africa.
From my previous blogg you will know that I am now based permanantly in the mining town of Mirerani, in the Manyara Region. This is not my personal choice of where I would like to live, but that I believe of God's.
In this desperately poor place, we have opened a children's home and also have a Food Kitchen, which is daily feeding many vulnerable children. Due to the many abandoned children and those being badly abused, Fleeze House is now full to capacity and we are now in the process of renovating another home to accomodate our older children.
This week whilst there I have temporarily accomodated a further nine more children. Their mothers' earn a living from sexual favours to the miners, leaving the children to fend for themselves. We know them from their attendance at the Food Kitchen, where this is where they obtained there only meal of the day, but this week it was all too much for them when they came to see me, crying and hungry. One eight year old child had the full responsibily of a little Down Syndrome baby and another sibling, the other 9 year old had the sole responsibility of a 9 month old child who couldn't even sit up by herself and was severly underweight. The third girl had another child to care for. Whilst I sent staff off to make an assesment from the local 10 cell leader, we fed them and had the regulatory medical check-up. The report came back that these two girls were living in one room with there siblings, and one night they screamed out as three men came in to there room. They were saved from abuse by the local leader, who requested that we help these vulnerable children. They are now safely in our care, as they try to relinquish the responsibily of there siblings and are now starting to integrate and play with our other older children. These young girls have not known what it is to have a childhood, as it has been their responsibilty to tie the babies on their backs with a piece of material and care for them as best they could.
A week last Friday, I rang Mama Coupa our Treasurer to ask how many boxes of food where left in the store. She replied. 'The last box has gone today' Are you going to stop the daily food kitchen now?'. 'I will wait until Monday and if the container has not arrived by then, we will have to close it down' I replied. I returned to Mailisita the following day, and at 1pm I took a photograph of the empty store room, at 3pm Mama Coupa rang me from her home to say she had had a telephone call from Dr. Mike, the container co-ordinator to say the food had been released from the docks and the lorry was on it's way, please have volunteers ready to unload the 1,300 boxes.
At 7pm, 40 volunteers were engaged in transferring the boxes in a chain from out of the lorry into our store house. Just unbelievable, that God waited until my store was empty, and then He filled it to feed the children.We send our sincere appreciation to our friends in America who
provided the food and our friends and supporters in Iowa and Malibu
who provided the funds to send the container overseas, and to Dr.
Mike who must have an abundance of patience as he negotiates through
all the paperwork that is required for the release of the food. It
is our priveledge to work alongside of you in helping to feed these
precious children.
And finally, yesterday, whilst involved in an outreach seminar to the
maasai, Moses who most of our past volunteers know as my very first
abandoned baby and who has hands like meat plates as he enjoys his food so much, started to cry in pain, I decided to take him to see Dr. Minja with a little maasai baby who was sick. As soon as he was examined, Dr, Minja observed that it could be an obstuction in his intestine as his tummy was as hard as a drum..... this was another emergency. I quickly arranged for a landrover to collect our outreach volunteers and I sped down the bumpy road, with head lights on taking him the 2 hour drive to the nearest hospital. He was vomiting all the way, as we rushed into casualty.. praying that an operation would not be required.
Thankfully, no obstruction was found, and he was released home.
I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES - DO YOU?
Warmest wishes, mama lynn
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HELP US TO MAINTAIN CONSTRUCTIVE RELATIONS WITH TANZANIA IMMIGRATION
If you are leaving for Tanzania to volunteer with Light in Africa, this message is for you. If you know someone who will travel soon, please direct them to this page.
To engage in volunteer work in Tanzania you require a class C-volunteering permit that can only be obtained in the country (Tanzania).
When flying to Tanzania you need to complete a so-called entry/arrival declaration form that will be handed to you during your flight. A sample is shown below. It is important that you declare “volunteer” as the purpose of travel on this form and further complete all boxes as indicated.
Immigration at the Kilimanjaro (or Dar-es-Salaam) airport will issue an entry visa (pay US$ 50, only in US$ and only cash; US passport holders pay US$ 100).
In the days following your arrival at Light in Africa the application for your class C-permit will be completed (bring all documents and pass photos as indicated in the information pack). A fee of US$ 120 (again to be paid in cash in US$) is levied by immigration in Moshi.
Those who declare another purpose of visit than the one indicated (volunteer) will be denied the class C-permit unless they pay fine of US$ 400 for wrong declaration.
Those who obtained for a tourist visa in their home country will be denied the class C-permit and will be unable to perform any services and duties during their stay.
If you have any questions or doubts, please contact/email us prior to your departure.
;)
(cick picture for a larger version)
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Hello dear friends,
What a wonderful day we had celebrating Pastor Frank's marriage to Salome, She looked beautiful in her wedding gown, and I'm sure God will bless this very happy union.
And yes, it has now been 9 years since I arrived in Tanzania. When I look at the children who were the first children to come into Light in Africa's care, and now the boys are 6' tall and doing well in school, and our girls are beautiful young ladies it makes one's heart melt and fill with joy how they have developed into such caring Tanzanian citizens. All wanting careers which will help there communities, which I think is a very special thing for them to do. The boarders have broken up from school, and for the first time, they are going to be working alongside our many volunteers as interpretors.
I am now solely based in Mirerani and only come back to headquarters at the week-end to relief Mama Coupa (Treasurer) and Gudilla (Secretary). As there is no internet over there, I have a large backlog of emails to answer once again, and it doesn't help with so many of my sent emails being returned to me. I am really having to close my hotmail account down as nothing is being sent, so please can you just use this site to correspond with me. Many thanks.
Dear Friends: love abundantly, Tomorrow's Blessings are patiently waiting for you all....... mama Lynn
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Did you read about the celebrations of this month on our weblog? Wouldn't you think that a cup of coffee would go well with some of that mouth-watering cake? Well, then how about this very special offer from Tom Thorogood and the Blanchard's Coffee Company who sells some of the finest Tanzanian coffee grown on the slopes of mount Kilimanjaro, under the shade of banana trees. And every bag sold benefits Light in Africa's work with this special promotion .
Thank you Tom and all at Blanchard's!
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Nine years and counting .....
This month we celebrated the ninth anniversary of Light in Africa. Mama Lynn has come a long way in nine years. From founding a children's home with just two girls high up on the mountain, to now providing love and care to 160 children in three towns in the Kilimanjaro area. In addition to the children's homes, ministries have expanded to elder care, medical dispensaries and a food kitchen in Mirerani. The possibilities for expansion are seemingly endless, or, otherwise said, needs continue to be identified. But we are blessed having been able to provide already for so many.
But there was more cake-cutting: a Wedding !!!!!!!!
Salome and "our" pastor Frank made it official on this special day.
Join us in sending them our blessing to say: May Your Wedding Bring You Endless Joy And Everlasting Happiness!
Congratulations on behalf of all of LíA's friends.
(more pictures on the celebrations page)
webmaster
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I highly recommend all have a look at the "Our Actions" page (click and select 'Our Actions' from the lefthand menu, then scroll down) with a short video impression featuring our baby unit: Tumaini House. Thanks to Gertjan for his video and editing efforts.
Enjoy and thank you all for your continued support allowing us to care for so many !
Paul
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From a Western perspective it's business as usual here in Tanzania this week. The events that are occurring here wouldn't shock the world or make headlines. At Light in Africa, we're accustomed to operating in a world that seems turned upside down, where values are switched around and strange paradoxes exist. At Light in Africa, we often live alongside those who are among the very last in line to have access to the building blocks of a healthy life. Here the stark reality of injustice and need is not a broadcast from a distant continent that can be tuned out. At Light in Africa people are names and faces, fellow humans that we interact with. They are not statistics.
Despite his being in ill health, we were all taken by surprise when Praise (shown above) died on Monday at the age of 10. HIV positive since birth, he was living with an aunt since his parents passed away. Before coming to Light in Africa, Praise had been starved (apparently intentionally) and beaten by his aunt. Such an incident taking place in the UK would almost certainly be followed by a week of media attention. Here, it is sadly commonplace. Mama Lynn now plans to move forward with prosecuting the aunt for child abuse and neglect. Below, I ride with Praise to KCMC hospital in Moshi.
Praise was brought to Light in Africa by the Tanzanian Social Welfare Department two weeks ago. Just barely skin and bones, he was so weak that he couldn't walk. Children have been brought to LIA in such a state before. However, they have experienced complete recovery. I was sure that with steady meals, care from the staff, and a strict anti-retroviral regimen, he could be healthy and walking within 6 months. Praise was too weak to recover from the abuse and neglect, however. After just over a week at Light in Africa, he was unable to hold down food and went into hospital, where he spoke on his deathbed of the abuse inflicted by his aunt. Praise passed away after four days.
There's a brighter future for Rebecca Makombe. She waited in line like the other 174 people that attended one of Light in Africa's monthly medical outreach dispensaries on Thursday. This one took place in the village of Kilombero, in Simanjiro District. At 15 years of age, she's walked with crooked legs the majority of her life because of the poor water quality in her village. She and her mother came to the dispensary that day to see if LIA could be of any help to her.
Indeed, there is something in the water in Simanjiro District, where Rebecca (shown above) and many others who walk with crooked legs come from. It is an overabundance of fluoride. Light in Africa currently houses four children from this district, all siblings, who have recently undergone operations to correct bone deformities. Two LIA volunteers working at the Kilombero medical dispensary (shown below) readily stepped forward, offering to pay the costs of Rebecca's treatment. She is now staying at LIA's guesthouse awaiting her operation.
The travel and tourism industry is in a slump. People aren't going on safari or climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in the numbers they normally do at this time of year. The global economic crisis seems to have left no one untouched. However, Light in Africa is currently experiencing record numbers of volunteers and helping more people in the region than ever before. Ten volunteers are now living at LIA, working on various projects throughout Kilimanjaro Region. With more than 120 more scheduled to arrive between now and mid-September, big plans are in the works ranging from health and nutritional seminars and ESL classes in remote villages, to the completion of three more children's houses at Tudor Village. No doubt many unexpected needs will arise. Volunteers who have raised funds for LIA's mission will again be able to step in and help individuals and communities alike by funding medical treatments and procedures or school tuitions. Below, a woman waits to see a doctor at LIA’s medical dispensary at Kilombero.
The ministries of Light in Africa are being blessed while the storm surges outside. We are but mere vessels who have acted on our desire to help those in need. It is the hand of God that sustains and empowers. Much of the world may not see the human face of the suffering and need that exists all over this continent. We're not surprised. For us that's just business as usual.
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Cashing travellers checks in Tanzania is 1) costly (up to 18% fees) and 2) difficult (one bank in Moshi only).
Cash machines (ATM) are available (Cirrus, Plus & Visa) in Moshi, Boma N'gombe and Arusha and much more costeffective.
You are advised to carefully read all the practical advice in the LiA Volunteer Information Pack before your departure. It will help make your volunteering experience more enjoyable.
Wishing a safe trip and a rewarding stay with LiA
Paul
LiA webmaster
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Hello dear friends,
We are just so grateful to our dear friends in America, who have
rallied around once again, and found sufficient funds for the shipment
of a container of food to enable LIA to feed the hungry children, and
the victims of the HIV/AIDS Virus and unsupported elderly in the
villages, through our Food Kitchens and out-reach programes. Words
fail to express our gratitude. Our prayers have been answered. Mungu
Akurbiriki.
It has up to now been somewhat of a difficult week.... On Sunday
morning, one of my grandfathers that we are caring for died of throat
cancer, and we conducted a lovely simple service for him on Tuesday.
On Wednesday we were out in the Manyara Region providing an out-reach
dispensary where our doctor was able to treat 165 patients. Our
wonderful volunteers were able to purchase all the drugs that wre
needed and provide the drugs to treat worms and head fungus to over
two hundred children. A very busy day, but very rewarding, we returned
exhausted.
At Fleeze House, the police brought us a child who had been very badly
beaten by his father. This child will require extensive amounts of
tender loving care for him to place his trust in an adult ever again.
On Thursday, an ambulance arrived with a very sick - very malnourished child.
He had been delibratly starved by his extended family as his parents
had already died of the HIV/AIDS virus, and they stigmatized this poor
little one to near death. We pray that this child will recover and
will be able to play and enjoy a good life in the future. I feel sure
Jake Lyell will write about this case when he provides a further link
to this site. It is extremely harrowing to witness what a mother can
do to her nephew and feel no remorse by her actions. Education is the
most important issue that needs addressing in this country, in my
opinion, if ever stigmatization is to cease.
On Saturday, I have been invited to a birthday party of one of our
little girls, who is being adopted. I have a really wonderful
photograph of Gloria and her mum which I will try to place on the blog
for all to admire.
Bless you all for your prayer support, and your love gifts to our children.
Mungu Akurberiki. mama lynn
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