Newsletter June 2024

Dear Friends,

We are drowning in rain. Since the short rainy season in November, there has barely been a week without precipitation, even though this is unusual for the months of December to March. Since April, unusually heavy continuous rain has set in, such as we have never experienced in Tanzania. Dry hollows turned into raging torrents, fields were submerged, foundations undermined, and many of our villagers' huts stood ankle- or knee-deep in water. Thankfully, the damage to our property was limited.

But first things first – our children:

Our Children

We now care for 37 children. In our last circular, there were 31. One boy was adopted by a loving Tanzanian family, and then seven orphans joined us - including a newborn who was just three days old. We have become one of the preferred homes for orphans for the youth welfare office.

Our primary school has 96 students across four grades this year. 15 of the schoolchildren come from the orphanage. At the start of the school year in January, four of our children were enrolled in the first grade.

Due to the newly added children, we also needed more staff. At the beginning of the year, additional caretakers for the home and teachers for the primary and pre-school were hired. It’s not easy to find good, qualified employees, as we have also significantly raised the requirements for each position.

You will agree with me that many mistakes can be made in raising children. That's why the balance of a loving but consistent approach is very important to us. Our older children, especially, quickly notice if a caregiver is unable to assert herself. The consequences are fatal. We therefore carefully check whether our employees are suitable for the responsible task of raising children.

As soon as they start school, from the age of 6 or 7, our boys and girls live in separate buildings. We have found it important for our boys to also have male caregivers as points of contact. That's why the first home manager was recently hired.

Gardening

Although one should actually be happy about the rain (currently, some African countries are suffering from severe drought), the rainy season poses a great challenge for the farm and garden. It is almost impossible to sow seeds – they are simply washed away or rot due to the moisture. Important minerals and nutrients are also leached from the already barren soil. Sometimes trees simply fall over because the soil is so waterlogged that the roots can no longer hold them. Fields are flooded and plants are washed away.

Only at the end of the rainy season, from mid-May, can sowing begin, although even then there is still the risk of a heavy downpour. Agriculture in tropical Africa cannot be compared with our European habits. Africa suffers not only from extremely long periods of drought, but also from too much rain during the rainy season.

Social Aid and Home Visits

In recent months, we have been made aware of further misfortunes in the village. One sad piece of news particularly shocked us. Two children from a neighboring village were attacked by crocodiles, which were near the villages due to the floods. Unfortunately, they did not survive the attack.

We try our best to help the sick through regular treatments. Sometimes, however, it's just a warm meal, a mattress to sleep on, shoes, or clothes that are missing. We also distribute rice with beans, oil, sugar, soap, and toothpaste.

Construction Measures

We are fully occupied with construction work. Unfortunately, we found that our earth cellar, despite insulation and drainage, is not watertight. We will therefore renew the exterior plaster, then apply a two-component sealant, bitumen, styrofoam, and dimpled sheeting. This should finally solve the problem.

The reconstruction of the burnt-down school building is in full swing. At the turn of the year, the architecture students who had built the building six years ago came to help us again with the construction of the timber frame roof. The construction requires detailed knowledge that we would not have had without our former students.

Since they are no longer students and are fully employed, they had to take time off from work. We are all the more grateful for their support. A true friendship has developed. The roof is now completed – this time, for safety reasons, covered with steel sheeting and not again with the easily flammable palm leaves. It is a bit flatter and the appearance is almost the same, although admittedly the charm of the typical palm roof is missing. The electrical work is finished. Next, the floor screed needs to be renewed, and the interior finishing and woodworking are also not yet completed. In addition, plumbing installations and tiling need to be done. We estimate that we can put the building back into operation in the summer.

The construction of the canteen is making good progress. Due to the risk of fire, we decided on the same roof construction for the canteen as for the school building mentioned above. The dimensions of the building are also similar. This saves us extensive planning work. After the roof, we can soon begin with the interior work. Many kitchen appliances will be imported from Germany by container. The quality is significantly better and the costs, if not cheaper, are at least the same. We hope to be able to inaugurate the building in December.

Unfortunately, the fire pond, which was already completed at the end of 2023, was flooded by the masses of water. We additionally had to build a side drainage channel so that the water masses could not damage the pond.

For 2025, we plan to build the last two classrooms, as well as accommodation for guests or volunteers. As our children will soon reach an age where they need more privacy, we will need to build two additional homes - separated for boys and girls - from 2026. This will increase our capacity to a maximum of 50 to 60 children.

Miscellaneous

Jacky, our housemother, is overjoyed because she received a new leg prosthesis at the end of 2023. We already reported on this in the last circular. The prosthesis and travel costs (to Germany) were a gift from friends and a company from Austria.

We would like to sincerely thank you for your continued help. It is not a given that we can provide for our children month after month with everything they need, that we have the financial means for monthly salaries, and that we can also finance the further expansion of the home and school.

We thank all of you - for it is through you that we daily recognize the blessing of our God.

Many thanks!

With kind regards and blessings

Yours

Thomas Küsel

Vice Chair
Dunia ya Heri

Yours

Judith Klier

Chair
Dunia ya Heri

Donations

To help as many children as possible, we rely on donations. Thank you for your help.