Dentisti a Baraa

The children visited a Dentist recently! The dentists were all volunteers from the United States working on teeth for orphanages and schools at the Baraa Dispensary in Moshono. There were a lot of big smiles on little faces after their cleanings! The picture above is of our own Helen getting worked on while the other children look on. The picture below is of Regina all smiles after her cleaning.

Malaika Welcomes Tina (the calf)

On Sunday morning our lovely cow, Carolina, gave birth to a new calf named Tina. Congratulations Carolina! Welcome to Malaika, Tina!

SOLAR PANELS!!

After two years without; we finally have two solar panels installed at Malaika! This is such a huge accomplishment; and we are so very proud and happy. Especially the children! They have been staying up late just to read a book, or spend more time cuddling little Sara. Thank you Francesca, Matteo and Assim Family from Italy.

Marie & Henrik

Two young volunteers from Hamburg, Germany gave their knowledge, love and lots of laughter to our children.
Thank you so much for your ideas and support. We wish you luck in your studies and we hope you come back one day.

Federica and Azmina

Federica has been with us for 1 year (!) at Malaika and is leaving us to go back to her home in Italy. We cannot thank you enough for your contribution, Federica. What a gift it has been to have you with us.

With Federica's departure, we also have to say goodbye to Azmina; Azmina has started working and we thank her for her constant support at Malaika. We hope to see you soon at Malaika.

Back to School!

After a long break, the children are back to school! They are very happy to be back in their classes and under the guidance of the sisters at Saint Monica's School at Moshono.

So Much Activity this Winter!!

Dear readers!
It has been a long and busy winter (Summer, for you) for us at Malaika Children's Home. We have had so many new additions and changes, and here are just a few of the big ones:

Our glorious and beloved Mama Sue has been with us again; her THIRD visit and we will have her back again next May for a fourth time. On top of her devotion to the children, we are also so grateful for her generous gift of a beautiful cow to Malaika. On top of this, our lovely new cow gave birth to a calf just a few weeks ago. The children now have the milk that they need. Thank you so much Mama Sue!

And speaking of milk! Our little Sara is now 7 months old and holding her milk bottle by herself. Her favorite thing is her milk and she prefers it over any other food. What an amazing gift Sue has given us!

Gabriela and Marie from Spain!

We have had two lovely girls with us; Gabriela and Marie who came together from Spain to help us with the children.

Sonja

Sonja is a volunteer from Germany who stayed with us for one month and got very
attached to our little mtoto Sarah who came to our center during last month.
Sarah is only 3 months old and has a very young mother who is only 17 years
old and is an orphan herself. The mother of Sarah found some people in the
community who have paid for her education and she will take her little angel
back as soon as she is finished with her studies. We are very grateful to Sonja for showing Sarah such love and care while she has stayed with us.

Federica

Federica is with us at Malaika until the end of 2009! Wow!! She is involved with office work as well as working directly in care of the children. She is a very dedicated volunteer; spending all of her time at Malaika. Thank you Federica!

Naomi

Naomi has been with us since mid February. She is very dedicated to our kids; always spending her time with them and teaching them different skills like painting and singing. She especially enjoys playing games with the kids! We are very lucky to have her. Thank you Naomi!

Founder's Portrait

We can never honour our founders enough, so here is the most recent picture of Jutta, Francesca and the watoto. We love you Jutta and Francesca; thank you so much for everything you do for us!

Spring Updates

Just as April showers bring May flowers, so is your patience rewarded at long last with an update on all our goings on here at Malaika Children's Home. We have had a great many new additions to our growing farm as well as new volunteers to help things run smoothly in our home. Christina, a Volunteer from Sweden who came over with Babu John is about to finish her sojourn here and we are so sad to see her leave us. We have greatly enjoyed her company and we are all very proud of the work she has accomplished during her stay. Thank you Christina!

Our garden has also had some new additions. In the picture you can see the changes as well as the cow and chicken huts in the background. If you look carefully, you can also see the beautiful bench that was made by Babu John in memory of our dearest Matteo, the founder of the Malaika Farm Project. How very proud he would be...
And of course, with all this mention of our angel, Babu John; we would be loathe not to introduce him! Babu John has been working very hard for us here at Malaika. In the photo, you can see him proudly pushing his cart that he has made himself and donated to Malaika Children's Home. The cart is designed with the purpose in mind of transporting some small foodstuffs such as veggies, eggs and soon milk(!) from the garden to the house itself. We are so very grateful to our friend, Babu John and thank him again and again for his hard work and generosity.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to one and all from the Children of Malaika!

Minibus!!!

Maisha, Italy has gifted us with a new Minibus! As you can see from the photo, the kids are extremely excited about their new ride. Can we ever thank you enough, Maisha? Don't know, but we sure will try... Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!

KID NEWS: Our little Samuel is now going to school and looks like such a little gentleman in his uniform! Helen and Regina are getting so big and are learning how to give back to Malaika by helping out with little chores around the house... more news to come!

Willeke, ndizi and our dearly missed Matteo

Malaika is pleased and proud to have the skills and help of our newest volunteer, Willeke. Willeke comes to us from the Netherlands and is staying with us for 4 months! We are so grateful that she has chosen to come to Malaika...

Also! The plantings that Mama Anna and Baba Martin have been so vigorously caretaking are beginning to bear fruit. Literally! Here is a picture of our banana tree that the watoto cannot wait to sample.

Of course we are ever reminded by every beautiful growing thing on our grounds, that none of it would have been possible without our dearly missed friend and angel, Matteo. Matteo passed away last summer and we miss him very much. Godspeed, Matteo. And thank you for your many gifts.