Check it, Share it! Asante Sana!

1. Hello loved ones! I think a few of you may have viewed a
slideshow I shared on facebook about this time two years ago,
sharing the stories of three friends I made whilst backpacking
through Tanzania - Nicholaus, Marco and Mapamba.
Please excuse any long windedness, spelling or grammar errors I’ve whipped this up in a bit of a hurry!

2. For anyone reading this that didn’t see that slide show, I shared the story of
Nicholaus an inspiring young man I met who is Maasai. His community at the
time I met them in 2010 were facing serious food shortage and poverty due to
draught, reduction of their grazing lands and loss of livestock.

3. Nicholaus’ community had been totally
neglected by the government and not
received aid from other organisations as
many other suffering communities had. But
they stood strong and worked together
planning for a better future as best they
could. They began fundraising to build a
pre-school in the community -
unfortunately a bad person from the
community ran off with half the money. It
was not long after this that I met Nicholaus
and helped his community buy the
materials they needed to construct a class
room in the village. However they were hit
with another streak of bad luck – the truck
transporting the materials was in an
accident, and we needed to come up with
the money for transport and replacement of
some of the materials. – Which is when I
You’ve prob already seen these pics they are from last
time I was there, I haven’t re-visited the community
called upon friends and family via that
yet, going out bush tomorrow! Exciting – I will be out slideshow to see if anyone could help out.
of contact mumma, take note back to Moshi next
Thursday.

4. Thank you so very much to those that were able to make a contribution.
(Especially the anonymous donation of $500 whoever you are!)
Great success! We finished the pre-school and with further fundraising both
with in their community and back in Tassie we have gone on to construct a
second class room.

5. Nicholaus asked me if I would help him co-found a NGO to help his people and other
indigenous pastoralist communities and as we grow. We became registered as a legal NGO this
year  Dedicated to improving pastoralist communities livelihood and conserving and
regenerating Africa’s precious ecosystems. Have a look at our website later ! www.paledo.org
(Kindly made completely free of charge by Nathanael Jeanneret at One Tonne Graphic
Designs.)
I presented Paledo to the Sandy Bay Rotary club and by chance the international program
director for Tasmania was there visiting, he got our contact details expressing that Rotary may be
able to offer on-going support! YAY and HOORAY! I am back in Tanzania right now to get more
photo documentation and to meet with the committee to discuss our vision and projects and to
develop proposals for grant money from other organisations. So things are really starting to kick
off for Paledo :D – Through this organisation we will now also be able to help Marco (the other
Maasai friend I made) build a pre-school in his community. THANK YOU to everyone that made
a donation to help make this happen!

6. The other very exciting and wonderful reason I have returned is to help my dear
friend Mapamba (or Rasta as the locals call him) establish an orphanage! Two
years ago Mapamba (who grew up as an orphan on the streets) shared with me his
dream to start an orphanage, “Even as a young boy I one day hoped that when I
was big I would be able to help children.”
Shadrack, Mapamba, Exaud

7. Someone advised Mapamba a few years ago that if he wanted to start an
orphanage the best thing for him to do was to talk to wazungu (plural for
white people). Mapamba has never been educated but managed to teach
himself English on the street.
Mapamba – Followed by a crew of local kiddies. (Everyone in the area adores this man!)
Although he has talked about his ideas to many wazungu so far only one
muzungu (singular white person) has been able to offer to try and help him get
the ball rolling. – Unfortunately for him I’m not really the best muzungu that
could have offered assistance, I’m not rich and didn’t have the first clue about
how to start an orphanage (though it’s turning out to be pretty simple)

8. With the excess money the slideshow raised Mapamba was able to rent a small and
humble mudbrick single room house in the slums of Arusha, in which he took in 6
children, the money also went towards school fees and uniforms for the kids.
Benjamin Moses
For 2 years we have continued supporting these children. Becoming registered as a
legal orphanage proved to be quite difficult from the other side of the world with,
Mapamba’s limited English and the difficulty we faced in trying to communicate.
I’ve returned to finish writing a constitution with his input and the members he
has recruited that share the same vision. We have met with a lawyer to undertake
the necessary processes to become registered as a Non-Government-Organisation.
Things are progressing well!

9. Perhaps the other wazungu Mapamba has talked to didn’t get the chance to spend
enough time with him to really get to know him and the kids he is trying to help.
Mapamba has an enormous heart and amazing drive and passion to help children.
Mapamba Esther
He is very smart, motivated and has great ideas and goals to make his vision
reality – he just needs a little help getting things off the ground. We’re fortunate
to have been born into a society where the resources to help projects such as this
are at our finger tips – literally in the way of computers and networking so I’m
sharing his story again!

10. It has been very wonderful to come back and visit with Mapamba and the
youngsters. He has created a beautiful home for them filled with love and
happiness. Seeing this has assured me that this man will indeed run a
beautiful orphanage, creating a home and family for disadvantaged
children and youth.

11. Mapmba has moved from Arusha to Moshi because the authorities were
disapproving of him housing 6 children in one room that was only about
4m by 4m – They have upgraded to a better room in Moshi with a floor!
However it is still about the same size .
Benjamin, Gloria, Frankie, Shadrack

12. We have just looked at a
wonderfully, amazing, massive
, magnificent house to rent
and expand the orphanage!
For just $50 per week we can
start setting up a beautiful
home that could eventually
house 20-30 children. Though
there is a slight set back -
before coming back here I was
not aware that rent in
Tanzania needs to be paid up
front for either 6 or 12 months.
ANNOYING. I hoped I would
be able to cover the rent for a
place myself until we became
registered after which we will
apply for funding and
assistance from larger
organisations. But I don’t have
the money we require for 12
month payment....

13. So here I am doing another shout out to
see if anyone might possibly like to
chuck in? The slide show I shared two
years ago raised an amazing $3000,
which without having any overhead
costs made a huge difference to the lives
of many children. Some people also
expressed interest in providing on-
going support, so I thought it might be
worth trying our luck again! Having an
established residence will also make
things a lot easier when I return home
and apply for funding from other
organisations.
Shadrack

14. To begin with the orphanage will depend on individual donations ,however our
plan is to create a self sustaining home and family network for displaced persons.
The property has enough land to grow veges, and host a cow for milking.
Mapamba works a lot with ‘street’ orphans – typically boys aged 6-18 who have
turned to the streets because the orphanages they were in were unpleasant or
their families did not have the income to support them. For the older boys we are
going to build a work shop on site and provide training in wood work and metal
work. The boys will work together building furniture to be sold to support the
upkeep of the orphanage and attain a skill they can take away with them when
they wish to start their own family. We’ll also provide equipment for art, craft and
music.
Dogo – perhaps we’ll buy them some
better shoes than flip flops to work in! Exoud

15. This is Gift the oldest boy Mapamba has taken in. He lived on the streets for 2 years
before living with Mapamba. He describes the orphanage he was in as being like
prison. Some mornings they were only given a cup of tea for breakfast and children
were regularly beaten as punishment.
Gift describes an incident when a lock from one of the doors was stolen, Gift
though innocent was blamed for the theft and beaten black and blue. The teacher
yelled at him saying he would not stop beating him until he admitted the theft, Gift
didn’t take the lock so never admitted it and copped a hiding. He left the orphanage
after this incident and slept in gutters for the next 2 years.

16. Gift is Mapamba’s right hand man in providing care for the other children. He cooks
for everyone, making sure lunch is ready on time for the children when they come
back from school on their lunch break. He washes the clothes, keeps the room clean
and shows such kind love and nurture to the little ones. He is beautiful young man
wise beyond his years and wants to help Mapamba run the orphanage and create a
home to raise children in a better environment than the one he grew up in.

17. With the kind help and IT skills of
a work colleague Adrian, I have
brought 5 donated laptops (thank
you donators!) back for Mapamba
to open a little internet cafe in
Moshi, from which he will
advertise the orphanage to tourists.
We’re going to have a campground
on site to make some extra cash.
Mapamba does day tours for
tourists passing through Moshi
and Arusha - walks to waterfalls
etc, so the internet cafe will also
provide a good way for him to
market his business, the profits of
which he uses to help the kids.

18. For children
– is our name, unless anyone can suggest another? Quick before we register.
Our vision: To see needy children nurtured, nourished, educated, and most
importantly happy and loved.
Our mission: To establish a self sustaining home and family.
If you’d like to be a part of the network and give a donation (even just
$5 -$10 would really help us!) my bank details are:
Annabelle Watson ~ BSB: 067000 ~ Acc: 10552578
If you are interested in providing continued support please do send me an email!
ellebanna_11@hotmail.com or fbook message - I will keep you posted on our progress
and send you a link to the website when its up and running.
Cheers All thanks for reading!  Big love. See when I’m back!
p.s maybe you might like spread the word and share this on your walls !? Any extra money raised after the rent is covered will go
towards setting up and supporting the orphanage through the early and most difficult stages. And if there is a generous millionaire
that happens to read this contact me for the long list of wonderful things I could put your spare money towards! ;)