Rolling up our sleeves

In June 2015, Steve and I travelled once again to Arusha Tanzania in order to do more work at New Paradiso. It was wonderful to see the children again and to see how much they had grown.

Coordinating International Donors
There are three (3) main donors that keep New Paradiso open, paying for all living expense, medicines, staff salaries, school fees and clothing - Charlene Westover (www.moww.cc) from Canada, Ruth Sisk from Ireland and Majestic Kilimanjaro Treks & Safaris.

While we each knew the other donor existed, we had not yet been able to make proper contact with each other and form a coordinated effort. ​Being as I was in Arusha, I was able to spend time with Babu (Grandfather of the Orphanage) to get very clear on their annual budget for living expenses and schooling. Through the magic of Viber, I was then able to make contact with Charlene and Ruth and after many hours of texting and Viber calls (at all hours of the night around the world) we were able to come up with a very clear picture of what the home's exact needs are and who was sending what.

I know we each felt a huge sense of relief that we are now working together, had a better control of finances and that New Paradiso has three very committed donors sharing the work of supporting these 24 children. 

​Staying in Arusha for one month allowed us to really see what was now needed at the home. We rolled up our sleeves and took care of the following:

Installed Showers and running water in bathrooms
While the house had been originally built with bathrooms and squat toilets in 2012, there were no running taps or showers. The children from (5 to16 years old) had to bring in buckets of water to splash in the toilet and they mostly bathed outside with buckets of cold water. It gets cold in Arusha. 

So we decided to install running water taps to the toilets with the biggest excitement of all being to have not only indoors showers but hot indoor showers! Some of these children had never experienced a shower let alone a hot shower!

New water tank for showers and toilets

Hot water shower head - provides instantaneous hot water

Naomi testing the shower - couldn't wait for it to be finished

Conversion of wood stove to gas cooking

Bibi spends many hours cooking in the kitchen which is a separate small building with very bad ventilation. The years of inhaling smoke like this has left it's mark on Bibi's lungs and last year she was hospitalised for a time. So we asked Bibi if she would like a gas cooker and she was thrilled at the idea. 

Steve, Tumaini and Bibi worked with the local metal worker to ensure the new stove would meet the demands of cooking for 24 children! 

We also purchased the gas cylinder which arrived on the back of a motorbike - now that was a sight to see!! Converting to gas means cleaner cooking, money saving every year due to high cost of wood and less trees felled which is better for everyone's environment!

Faulty electrical wiring replaced
Some of the original electrical workmanship was very poor and so when Babu discovered that the lights in the bathrooms were potentially dangerous, he permanently switched them off which meant there was no lighting at night. We paid to have new wiring installed in all the bathrooms so now when the children go to the bathroom at night they can see. Yes it's the little things that count!  

New Mattresses and clothes storage 
It was definitely time for new mattresses so with help from Liana's family, overnight we raised enough money to buy each child a new mattress, covered in vinyl for easy cleaning (especially for those children who occasionally bed wet). We had enough funds to also buy each child a colourful laundry basket.

Out with the old mattresses!

In with the new mattresses

Loving the bright colours & own basket.

A client donation bought new school uniforms
While we were there, our client Rosa sent a donation so we used the money to buy each child one new item of school uniform. Wow the excitement they felt on receiving a new sweater, skirt or pants was infectious! Thanks again Rosa!!

Shopping with Babu and Naomi.

This is our pile

Showing off their new school clothes!

Some of the other things we did were:

• Erect bunk beds they already owned but had not yet been assembled. This meant every child could have their own bed.
• Cleaned out the courtyard off the girls bedroom of all rubbish and installed pot plants so they would have a quiet cool place to sit and read.
• Installed toothbrush holders in all boys and girls bathrooms - yep more little things!
• Gave them a cash donation to pay for all living expenses for the month.

​All in all we had a great trip!

Saying Goodbye