The Story of Neema Orphanage

The orphanage is relatively new. It was started 7 years ago in August of 2006. It was started with only two children: one boy and one girl. The boy’s mom had some sort of mental illness and could not care for him. The girl’s mother died at birth. Since then the orphanage has cared for 110 children in total. Children come to the orphanage through the Tanzanian social welfare system. They usually stay from birth to age 3 and then they are reunited with members of their families. The orphanage's mission is to eventually reunite kids with their families and thus most of the children have families. However, they would never refuse a child or turn them away if they have nowhere to go afterwards. 

There are five common ways that children come to the orphanage. First, if the mother has passed away during birth and the child cannot stay with his father. It’s usually because the father has to work and cannot care for an infant, but that is not always the case. Secondly, if the mother is mentally sick (as a result of birth, apparently this is really common) then the relatives with send them here through the social welfare system. They are delivered back to their relatives at age 3 (or before if the family so chooses). Third is children who were abandoned by their parents at the hospital. Fourth is children who are found in the trash or on the side of the street, etc. Finally, there are children who were born into a “hard environment.” There are a lot of incidences of rape in which the mother is too young to care for the child at that time so the children come to the orphanage so the mother can finish school or find work.

 

Children who were abandoned or do not have family can be adopted through the social welfare system. The people at social welfare make sure that the families that are trying to adopt have enough money and resources to properly care for the child. If children are not adopted they can be transferred to a different orphanage that is more suited for older children. Since the beginning of the orphanage, 5 kids have been sent to the Rafiki Foundation (which is a boarding school down the street) and 7 kids have gone to the Kili Kids Community Assistance.  

 

The orphanage gets lots of support from different places. There are some sources outside of the country (a lot in Europe, a few American churches, etc.) and some in country sources. When the orphanage was just starting out, people in the local town (the rotary club) provided clothing and furniture. People give support by providing money for building projects or paying for treatment for kids that need it. Ushirika wa Neema (the Lutheran convent in town) pays for food for the children. The orphanage cannot depend solely on support in case it goes away in the future. Because of this unreliability, they also have some self-sustaining practices. They have their own cows, chicken, and a pig. They use all of their own milk (pasteurized at a local dairy cooperative, it’s maybe a 5 minute walk away) and eggs. They also have a big garden where they grow their own bananas and vegetables. They plan on expanding the garden soon so that they can grow more food.

 

This is a truly amazing place.