Welcome to our new home!
On Friday February 28th we moved. What a great feeling that gives, we were able to build the house in only 6 months..! Despite all the setbacks, the hard work and the efforts, we can now enjoy it and make it our own. The children are also very enthusiastic and happy with their new room. The house has ultimately become much bigger than we expected, but luckily there is still enough space for a beautiful garden where the children and the dogs can play freely. The kids can also go mountain biking in the area, because we are much further away from the city. Grandpa and grandma are coming next week and we can't wait to show them! Grandpa must be very proud, because the house was his design. This week we are putting the finishing touches to the guesthouse that we built for them (and other guests). If you are curious about more photos, please app me.
All in all it was worth all the fuss and Lau and I gained a lot of experience and connections in the construction world, which is why we immediately started building the Work&Shop..! I had not yet shared this with you via my website (although via social media), but the collaboration with Stichting Wilde Ganzen has been completed and thanks to donations from many (including you, my loyal readers) the community center is becoming a reality! If you would like to stay informed about the construction activities, please visit our website where we share news www.work@shop.co.tz or follow our social media channels (Instagram workandshop_mwanza and Facebook Work&Shop Creative Center ).
"No act of kindness, however small, is never wasted..."
Every month we are at the local community market with the Work&Shop where we organize a creative activity for children, such as decorating wooden birds or making your own name tag for your school bag. The total proceeds go to the Work&Shop. The same goes for the yoga lessons that I provide, 50% goes to the Work&Shop. The yoga lessons are going well! I now teach 4 times a week and learn a lot. What gives me the most satisfaction is when someone comes in with a frown and leaves with a smile :) Or says 'I really needed this..' Below are a few pictures. The money we raise is later spent on furniture (workbenches, lockers, cabinets), large processing machines, and fencing the yard (for safety). If you would like to contribute to this, donations are very welcome (see this page , via the GoFundMe page or the account of the Bresillac). We are very grateful!
"US Aid cuts have tremendous consequences."
Our partnership with the Mommaluv foundation is still active and in the last few months I have been able to delight many beautiful mothers with a maternity package and hold their sweet babies. But in this beauty there is also a bitter pill... for the mothers who are HIV positive and have little to no access to ARV medication since the cutdown of USAID aid. These cuts have led to the closure of vital health organizations and disrupted the ARV distribution system, putting millions of lives at risk. When it comes to prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), babies are at high risk of being born with HIV. While when mothers have access to treatment, their risk of transmitting HIV to their babies is less than 1%.
That's how I met Miriam. A young girl of 20 years old who has run away from home since she was 16 and is trying to survive in the city. Eight months pregnant and robbed by her boyfriend , she is looking for help. She does not dare to involve her family out of shame and she is afraid of physical violence from her father. I speak to her together with sister Rose, a dear friend who has a lot of experience with young girls. Miriam does not talk much and somewhere we have a gut feeling that she is not being completely honest with us. Which I do not blame her for, because there are practices where young girls are recruited for prostitution or their babies are taken away for sale. First of all, we arrange a place for her to sleep and that she has clothes and food. She has not been to a clinic in all those eight months of her pregnancy, so we also help her with that. She turns out to be HIV positive, but unfortunately the clinic has no more medication. Through connections we still managed to get something, enough for the end of her pregnancy. Miraculously she gave birth to an HIV free son (second test will follow in a few weeks) and his name is Jayden. We will continue to support her, because mentally she is also having a hard time so it is good to keep in touch and offer help where needed. If you want to support mothers like Miriam personally, app me at +255747996751. [Baby photo below is from Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundations.]
"little things... mean a lot"
In this last part of my blog I would like to share some pictures with you. A look into our daily life, in which we learn to appreciate the little things. That's why there is not much text, because the pictures say enough ;)
We often buy our vegetables and fruit at this stall. What would you buy?
These are delicious 'vitumbua', made of rice flour, water and a little sugar, which we sometimes eat with tea. Often sold in the mornings and towards the evening along the road, like this mama here in the picture.
Nelson buys local fish called 'dagaa' which is a daily food with 'ugali' (a kind of polenta made from corn flour).
At the bike shop! Willy's bike needed a makeover.
So also the car to the garage! Those guys work all day in the full sun...
Looking for some extra stock containers. Enough choice I would say!
The heat is enormous! Often on Sundays we seek cooling at the pool.
Thanks for reading and kind regards from Mwanza,
Susanne
Bình luận