A Twinkle in Her Eyes


There's a little girl named Lilian in Tanzania
who has strabismus -crossed eyes.
In the US her treatment would be simple, easy
and not very expensive.
In Tanzania it is another thing entirely. 

-The pediatric eye specialist is at a hospital 70 km from her home.

-The eye patches she needs to wear are financially impossible for her family, living on the wages of a part-time butcher and his illiterate wife, who sells socks in the market to feed their 3 children.

-A child who is untreated for this condition becomes the object
of bullying in her village, and may never learn to read.

Pamoja Project has set up a crowdfunding site for Lilian's care
on gofundme.com. We need to raise $500- and I think it is going to be easy with a community that includes you. This small sum will cover quarterly visits to the specialist and the eye patches for 1 year.

Please click on this link: gofundme.com/2kkh2drw
       and put A Twinkle in Lilian's Eyes.
 
P.S. Please post on your Facebook page and forward to friends!
    
 
          Carol

They Created the Rice and Beans Fund

I've already told you a bit about our wonderful volunteer group, right?

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Well, as soon as Santa Feans Lance and Teresa witnessed the effects of unresolved food insecurity on one of our Pamoja families, they immediately came up with an idea.
 
Lance christened it The Rice and Beans Fund.

The idea was to maintain sacks of  rice and beans in the WAMATA office for those families who truly have nothing to eat, and no way to deal with emergency food shortages.
 
Our group contributed more than $300 on the spot, which Pamoja Project has matched. The sacks of food are already in the office, and Mary is in charge of distributing it, monitoring the progress of our most needy families, and letting me know who might be in need of more assistance.

If you are interested in contributing to the Rice and Beans Fund, just click on the link below and choose the box on our donation page.   https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/pamojaproject?code=PamojaRocks2015%21
Thanks for all you do!

Carol

An Amazing Week in Tanzania

An amazing week has just ended.
 
Our group of 16 Americans painted a new classroom inside and out, cleaned and reorganized the "school library" that had textbooks from the 80's and report cards as old as 1996, provided a rendering of the solar system on the exterior wall of the school for general reference, and hosted an amazing party with food, balloons, music, dancing and fellowship for 100 Pamoja Project children and family members. Today I will just share a few of my favorite photos of the week.

Roy teaches Victa, Jehovah, and cousins how to draw a bird.

Painters work with William to paint the exterior of the classroom.

Norm completes the solar system he and Catherine designed.
How do you say Saturn in Swahili? (they did it in both languages)

   Peeling garlic for the feast. 

Judy dancing with a buddy.
 
We've had an incredible time together, and I think both Tanzanians and Americans have learned a lot. I will share more photos and notes from the trip in the days to come.

Carol