Mwanza Orphanage

Wow. I am sitting here making plans to meet up with Denise and Martin again (a week on my own by the pool.. a complete self indulgance but I loved the R&R, zoned out and had a mini escape from India). Anyway, I realize I have less than two weeks here before we fly to Africa and we are almost at the half way point for our trip! Time flies when you are having fun and I'm going to be home soon before I know it.

When I left a lot of you mentioned that you would be interested in donating to the orphange in Mwanza in one way or another! Please email me personally if you want to donate cash (we can figure out something) or if you want to put together a package the address for postage is Hands of Mercy Outreach International, PO Box 10024, Mwanza, Tanzania. If you need ideas let me know, I can certainly ask our contact if there is anything they need.

My personal opinion is that a cash donation is more effective (and you don't waste money that could have gone to the kids on postage!). Cash is a double hit.. on the local economy and then I can go shopping and buy them what they need when I get there and we can fully assess the situation. The money will not be given to the orphanage but Denise and I will choose to spend it as necessary! We will of course give full information on what the money was used for and I have a few ideas for some other things we will do.. but enough about that ;)

Importantly, here is some information pieced together from a newletter that our contact sent out. I do realize that being my friends / family doesn't mean you will automatically want to hand out money or 'stuff' so maybe this will help. Last time I checked I was not able to get tax receipts because the orphanage is not an internationally registered charity. With that said, they are working on it. Remember, even $5 will go a long way..

AND one more thing ... a friend of Denise's family - I should mention he is five years old - took the initiative to raise money for the kids at the orphanage and instead of asking for birthday presents from his friends he asked for money. He donated his birthday to these kids.. and he is five and it was entirely his idea. That is amazing and inspiring :)

Hands of Mercy Outreach International, Tanzania

Hands of Mercy begun the new year with a new start by moving into a new home. The old home was very cramped and unsuitable for the number of people living in it. Thanks to a donation from Unatrac (UK), we have been able to rent a bigger compound for the children. The new house has plenty of room inside for all the children to sleep, eat and play. In addition, we also have a section for classrooms where we run extra classes for our own children and a nursery school for local community kids. The compound also has a huge area outside where the children can play, and where we have planted crops.

At present we have four volunteers at Hands of Mercy, who are officially our first volunteers at this project. We have a couple from New Zealand with us now who have decided to uproot lives back home, and move here to help the children. They intend to be with us for quite some time, and are like a grandmother and grandfather to the children.

Recent volunteers from Watoto wa Africa also used some of their fundraising to help at Hands of Mercy. Volunteers over the last few months have provided Hands of Mercy with bed sheets, mosquito nets, ground sheets for the children to sit on, seeds for vegetables and fruits to plant at our farm, shoes for each child, and special food for Christmas and New Years days. Hands of Mercy also organized a special Christmas concert and church service for four of the local orphanages, which our volunteers also contributed towards for the food and hiring of equipment.
Recently, Bridge to Aid, a local Tanzanian charity, came to visit Hands of Mercy. They sent us a dentist and nurse who gave the children some education about dental care and brushing their teeth. They checked all the children’s teeth for any problems and wrote reports on all the children. I’ve never seen children so excited at the thought of having their teeth checked by a dentist. But all things that are new are exciting to these kids. Each child received a sticker afterwards for their bravery, and a brand new toothbrush to practice their newly learnt brushing techniques.

The orphanage has recently been donated a generator, water pump, and two large water tanks thanks to Stanley Mining Tanzania. The boys from Stanley have been out at the orphanage in the scorching sun for the past two weekends bringing out all the equipment for us, and setting it up. Now the children can see at night, and we have running water inside the house. People from Stanley Mining also make up part of a group of people who are undertaking the challenging Kilimanjaro Marathon with the intention of raising money for Hands of Mercy. The money raised by our marathon runners will go toward some new beds and mattresses for the children, as currently the children are sleeping 4 to a bed.

Any questions, let me know. I gots to go back and swim.