Please Help Ayubu

***JUST HAD A LARGE DONATION IN WHICH WILL COVER THE COST, THANK-YOU, THANK-YOU***

Ayubu came to our attention around July 2012, he was born in February and it was very obvious there was something wrong with him, he struggled to breath and his finger and toe tips where blue indicating a lack of oxygen flowing around his body.

We first sent him to the private hospital in town to be assessed in August at which point he was referred to a heart specialist in Dar Es Salaam, Ayubu's Mother and our manager took him to the hospital where he stayed for several weeks, he was discharged with medication and was put on the waiting list for a government scheme which would see him transferred to India for surgery. At the point of his referral Ayubu's condition was not considered serious so he was put to the bottom of the list.

Two weeks ago today Ayubu's Mother brought him to us in a panic, he was in a very bad state, we rushed him straight to the hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and bronchilitis. Although now he is over that his condition is not improving and the Drs believe his heart is deteriorating, he is stable on oxygen but when that is removed his levels drop down to the 30s, dangerously low.

So now the Dr needs him to get back to Dar to see the specialist in the hope of bumping him up the India list, we have to drive him to Dar with a Dr and oxygen.

The bill for the hospital he is in now will be roughly £250
The fuel to Dar and back (at least a nine hour drive) £320
Hiring oxygen £100
The Doctor £60
Accomodation for one night for our driver £12
Food for the Mother whilst in Dar will be an unknown extra cost since we do not know how long she will be there.

The above figures are estimates but the total will be in excess of £700.

So far we have raised about one third of this, we are so thank ful for all those who have donated so far but if everyone reading this could give just £1 we can reach our target and get this very sick boy to Dar Es Saalam.

You can donate via this page, to the right 'Donate' or e-mail me at claire_upshall@hotmail.com for a direct bank transfer.

We thank you in advance for your kindness

Gloria

With Grandma

Gloria came to us on April 26^th 2013, she was born on March 16^th 2012. Gloria was left with a sick and very poor Grandma after her Mother ran away and no body knows where she is. Gloria’s Grandmother does not have a permanent job, every morning she would leave Gloria with a neighbour and go out to try to find work, usually being away for the whole day, upon returning the majority of the time Gloria wouldn’t have even had anything to eat so the Grandmother would spend the little money she had earned for the day on a simple meal usually Ugali, a local staple food which has no nutritional value, and vegetables. As a result of this life Gloria is very underweight, weighing just 7kilos, 9 would be about average for her age. She also has a very large terrible rash across her body which we are treating with cream.

Gloria is settling in to Neema House well, unlike other toddlers who have come through our door she doesn’t spend her days crying, she looks some what bemused but is content, this goes to show that she has had a very unsettled life and was not really very attached to her Grandmother. She is unable to walk and is weak even to sit, the other day she was quite upset so I took her out with me while I went to meet a friend for coffee, we were out for five hours and she slept the entire time, she is just exhausted from all the new surroundings, there is so much going on in her little life right now, she appears to be adapting very well though.

Beautiful Gloria

Helena & Gloria getting to know one another!

Meet Esther

Esther has been with us since the beginning of Neema House and has proved herself to be such a great member of the team, she is only 20 years old but is so good at what she does that we recently promoted her to supervisor for her job. She has so much energy and so much love to give to the babies, it is so easy to see that she loves her job, she is honest, reliable and always has a smile on her face. Esther lives with her parents and is not yet married or with children.

She primarily works with the toddlers, her favourites being Joel, Helena and Silvamus.

Meet Rehema

Rehema came to work with us at the beginning of December, she is 28 and is married with two children. Rehema is such a happy person, always laughing and smiling, she is great to be around and you can see the love she has for the babies.

Rehema works between the toddlers and tiny babies, her favourite being sweet little Riziki!

Meet Juliette

 Juliette was the very first nanny that we employed, back in May before we were even officially open we employed her to help Meshack & Franki's Bibi to care for them. Now Juliette is primarily with our big babies and is so great in her job, you can often hear her singing with the babies.

Juliette is 35 and lives locally with her family of five children. She loves working at Neema House because she adores the babies, her favourite being sweet little Bahati.

Meet Jackline

 Jackline is 26 years old and lives locally with her husband and 3 year old son. Jackline works with our toddlers and the love for them just shines from her, she is great. She has worked with us since the beginning and has proven herself to be great for the team.

Again choosing a 'favourite' baby was difficult for Jackline, she particularly loves Silvamus, Davis and Franki

Joyce, Peter & Gilbert

Within 9 days we have had three new babies join us here at Neema House making our total now to be 25 resident babies. Sometimes you go a few months with no new babies and sometimes you get three within less than two weeks!!

Joyce came to us on March 15th, she was born January 25th to a Mother who had previously been very sick with TB, soon after her birth Joyce's Mother deteriorated very quickly and sadly passed away the day before Joyce came to us. Although at only 2.4kg Joyce is very small she appears to be very healthy, since her arrival she has gained weight very well and has been settling in nicely. In the future her Father intends to take her back and care for her, she has 5 siblings who the Father and extended family will continue to provide for.

On March 22nd we had a call from the local hospital to collect a little boy who had been abandoned. Every time we have been called to this hospital we have always collected a very small baby so I was surprised on arrival when we were handed a 'big' boy and were told he was nine months old. The nurses named him Peter and once we got him home I assessed him by looking at his teeth and his development and he seems to be more like 12 months old. We were told that this beautiful little boy was found on the street in town, he was taken to the police station who then took him to the hospital where we collected him from. When older babies arrive they always break my heart because they really feel the loss, their heart is literally breaking, however, it never usually takes long for them to settle and start smiling. Peter spent the first couple of days crying a lot and didn't sleep much for the first two nights, however, he has now settled in very well and we often see him smiling. He is so almost walking and seems to be a very clever little boy who really loves his food. The following day the police told us that they had found his Mother, the story they have is that the Mother gave him to his Father who took him to the police station. I am not sure what the future will be for little Peter, here in Tanzania it is a criminal offence to abandon your child so whether or not the father/ Mother will be jailed is yet to be determined and if they are or not we do not know yet what will happen to little Peter but for now Peter will remain in our loving hands. I am hoping soon to be able to get his real name and DOB from the police.

On March 23rd we had a call from the police station, they had a little boy of 13 months whose Mother was mentally unstable so he needed a place to stay, we agreed to take him in. Like Peter Gilbert is having a hard time settling, the poor little lad misses his Mother, we are doing the best we can to help him settle though. Gilbert will hopefully only be with us temporarily though as his Father, who lives quite far, is planning to come and take him when he is able to make the journey. I am hopeful he will come sooner rather than later as it would be tough on Gilbert to have to move again after settling in to Neema House.

Meet Rukia

Rukia started at Neema House in July when the triplets came to us, initially we employed her as a part time help just with the triplets, however, she proved to be such a great asset to the team that when the triplets moved out of isolation we asked Rukia to stay as a permanent nanny.

Rukia is 50 and lives within walking distance with her family, she has four children but sadly very recently her first born, a son, passed away. She also has three grandchildren.

Rukia is a wonderful person who is always smiling, even through recent hard times, she is so kind and caring. She loves working with us because she just adores infants, her favourites being Elliott and Angelous.

Meet Violeth

Violeth is Godlove's sister and came to work with us around October time, she is a nanny primarily working with the big babies. Violeth is 24 years old and lives with her parents, she has a toddler daughter.

Her favourite babies here at Neema House are Joel and Angel.

Meet Efrasia

Efrasia is 33 years old and lives locally with her husband and two children. Efrasia has been with us since the beginning and is a great asset to the team, she is the supervisor for her group and works between the toddlers and the tiny babies.

Efrasia says she loves working here at Neema House because she adores babies, when asked to choose a favourite she was unable to pick one and said she particularly loves Michael, Praygod and Elliott!!