LOHADA sponsorship drive; new stoves and bathroom sinks!

Sponsoring a child is a gift, to yourself and others

LOHADA's Sponsorship Drive is underway, and we are so grateful that already three new children have been sponsored. One sponsor said, "It is a drop in the bucket . . . I wish we could sponsor more." It is true that Tanzania has an estimated 437,500 street children and 1.5 million orphans. But just look at our kids' smiling faces: Your sponsorship alleviates suffering, feeds and educates children and rekindles hope. You make the difference. Go to lohada.org to learn how. Tell your friends and family!

Help from our friends

Our good friends at It Starts With Soccer consistently have been a help to the children of LOHADA. This year, they made a deposit of $500 at an Arusha pharmacy to cover future medicinal expenses for the kids. Volunteers Adrienne Herring (pictured here with director Happiness Wambura) and Oscar Almeida also brought $500 to buy story books for Camp Joshua's new library. The books will encourage more students to read in their free time and during school.

As if that were not enough, the organization also purchased new stoves for the Camp Joshua kitchen. The industrial-sized stoves, which cost $2,000, will be a tremendous help to the mamas responsible for cooking beans, rice, ugali and other staples vital to the health of nearly 150 children each day. Thank you to director Doug Brown and It Starts With Soccer!

Weren't they just babies?

Longtime LOHADA volunteers, prepare to feel nostalgic.

Four students who've been with LOHADA since they were toddlers or infants have departed for college. At top left, twins Joyce and Junista Masawe (second from left and far right) and Tatu Elias (left) stood outside the first LOHADA center in the 1990s. Joyce (bottom left photo) and Junista (bottom right) left for Arusha Teachers College in early October. Joseph Bahati (top right) joined them. Tatu has departed for high school (considered the next level of secondary school in Tanzania).

"Remember, Bibi (Swahili for grandma), when we were little and you were washing us?" they said to director Happiness Wambura. "Remember when you potty trained us?"

Sending them was an act of faith for Mama Wambura, because funds have not yet been secured (US1,000 per year per student). "If you don't believe, you are just wasting time and they are already grown. I have to believe God. He started this work and He will finish it."

Want to make a difference for these young college students? Help with their tuition.

Sponsoring a child is a gift, to yourself and others

Help from our friends

Weren't they just babies?

Bathroom sinks, the first ever