Happy Valentines Day

It has been a busy few days.  We have two new babies at the Baby Home - Happy is 2 months old and Emmanuel is 9 months old - they were both abandoned and Amy chose names and birthdates for them.  They are beautiful and seem very healthy.  There is no information about their history. Babies are abandoned here all the time as people are very poor and can't feed them - or parents are very sick.  There are many reasons.  I spent time with Mama Anna who spends afternoons with the children with special needs.  We took Elizabeth for a walk in the stroller in the garden as she rarely gets out.  She saw the kids through the garden fence and they sang to her.  We spent time with the other kids in the Sensory Room doing stretches and massage.  It is sad here for kids with special needs, there is no physio, or OT, or speech therapy - no funding for equipment- no accessibility in Tanzania.  The future looks bleak for them.  They can stay here until age 5 and then need to go another orphanage - none are as good as here apparently so it is very sad.

My new roomate Catherine arrived from the UK - she is lovely and down to earth.  We hit it off right away.

I took her into town by myself on the Dala Dala to show her the post office, the bank, to get her phone organized and to buy some food.  Hard to believe that I now am showing people around a town in Africa.  A few of us went to dinner last night to celebrate her arrival.  She is staying for 3 months.

There is a birthday party at the Baby House for all the kids who celebrate birthdays in Jan. and Feb.  It's fun - we have balloons and cake.  The kids have so much fun.

Today - Sunday - we took some toddlers for a walk to the market and then I went to the Sava Sava market with Jade who is a long term volunteer.  A good few days.  Looking forward to the safari this Friday - we get picked up early in the morning and are gone until Sunday night.  Hope everyone is well.

Thanks for reading...........