It's Christmas time!

My three Wish's are 

that there be Peace on Earth this Christmas Season,

that everyone has a Very Merry Christmas with their loved ones,  and that there will be Christmas in Africa!

Wishing you all a very 

Merry Christmas  

and much Happiness and Health in the New Year!

from all the Children at Karim Children Care Centre 

and Mama Linda

Volunteer of the Year Finalist

More Great News!! So I got an awesome email the other day from IVHQ. They are the Volunteer Organization that my daughter, Lisa, and I went with 4 1/2 years ago on our very first adventure to Africa. Over the past 5 years, since they started, they have sent over 20,000 volunteers across the world. This year they are giving away $5000.00 US to a worthy Volunteer that has made a difference over the past 5 years. Over 300 volunteers out of the thousands, were nominated for this award. I just found out that I have been selected as one of the TOP 10 finalists!!  Whooohooo!!!  The top vote getter will receive the $5000 US to go towards their project!  So, I will need all of your help to PEASE vote for me!! I will post the link in January, where you can vote!  Thanks everyone for all your support. Another Great Christmas Present!

Mama Linda

Christmas Day at Kibo Palace

www.kibopalacehotel.com

This is Kibo Palace! It truly is a 'Palace' as they treat you like a King or Queen when you stay! For the past 4 years I have been staying here, my last few days of my visit to Arusha, after my long stay at Karim. It gives me a chance to relax, have a hot shower, get organized, pack and get ready for the long journey home. I have also booked many family and friends here, that have come to visit Karim, for their last day as well. So, the director, Salahuddin, the business Manager, Charity, as well as ALL the staff have become very good friends, you might even say they are family! Sometimes, Rehema and the children don't understand why Mama leaves and goes to stay at Kibo for 1 or 2 nights, but now I think they will. I am a small business person and I believe you should always support the people who support you. Well, staying at Kibo has paid off and I got the BEST Christmas Present ever while here. Kibo Palace has invited Rehema and all the children, including my friends John and Heather Roest who will visiting at that time, to come to Kibo for Christmas Day!  There will be a swimming party, Christmas lunch by the pool, music and gifts for Karim to take home like nice white linens~ sheets, pillow cases, towels; food ~ rice, beans, flour, oil etc. So excited for them!  The children were pretty excited too when we tolld them! So after the Christmas stockings and all the presents are opened, the children will put on their finest's clothes and spend Christmas Day at Kibo Palace! 

Thank you Salahuddin and Charity from everyone at Karim and Mama Linda.

The Rafiki House

The Rotary 'Rafiki House' is looking pretty awesome, these days! For those of you who don't know 'Rafiki' means 'friend' in Swahili. While I was there this time, I did a little more landscaping ~ more gravel,  a planter of concrete blocks put in along the side of the house, some plants and flowers and laundry line hung in the backyard. A little bit more yard work in the back and it will be done! Inside the house, I did some painting and some more decorating ~ hung a few pictures in the dining area and bedrooms, hung a beautiful wood carved mirror in the bathroom and made some curtains and hung them. This is where you will stay when you all come to visit Karim one day!  It is booked up now until March 10th, 2013; open from March 10th to end of June; then booked again July and August. The 'Rafiki House' is booking fast, so Please, let me know if you are thinking of coming. It is booked on a first come, first serve basis. Hope to see you all soon!

 

front entrance of the Rotary Rafiki House

kitchen and dining room

dining room and sitting room

1st bedroom ~ Masai room

2nd bedroom ~ zebra room

bathroom

 

Saumu's 13th Birthday Celebration



So, Karim now has four teenage girls! Salma is 17; Neema is 15; Lucy is 13 and now Saumu is 13!  Yikes! They are all so beautiful and so smart!  Rehema will have her hands full with these girls!  Anyway, I decided to treat the four teenage girls to night out at Kibo Palace, a beautiful hotel where I stay, my last 2 nights. We had a suite with a king bed for the girls and a single bed for Mama! The girls were in awe, of the big room, a hot shower, a bath tub, a big screen TV, a fridge and a couch! When we arrived, we checked in, checked out the room, had a hot shower and then the swimsuites were put on and it was a race to the pool. We swam for hours and had lunch and danced by the pool with the ipad blarring to 'Dancing Queen' and 'Mama Mia' and now the new favorite 'Gangnam Style'!! Then back to the room for the second hot shower! Laid on the king size bed in our new pj's and watched a movie with soda pop and chips! After the movie, we got dressed for dinner. Off to dinner we went! We had a great dinner, lots of stories and giggles complete with music and dancing! Then the kitchen staff turned out all the lights, the girls got scared, and they all come out, banging on pots and pans, singing Happy Birthday to Saumu! She looked at me and got tears in her eyes! I cried, of course! Back to the room for a pajama party! We watched X Factor, Wipe Out ~ the girls killed themselves laughing at this, and anothe movie, the Three Muskateers! Finally, we fell asleep at almost midnight! This is extremely late, as the girls are usually in bed by 8:30 each night. Morning came fast, they did not sleep in! And they had their 3rd hot shower! They do not have hot showers at the Orphanage, they dont even have cold showers! They bucket bath! So, they were going to make sure they got good use out of the shower and the free shampoo! Then off to the buffet breakfast! "WHAT? We can take whatever we want, as much as we want AND go back for more?" Their eyes and mouths wide open! So they all had there very first omelette! Along with potatoes, sausage, beans, pancakes, waffles, fruit, cornflakes, toast, croissant, muffins, juice, hot chocolate!! Seriously, they tried everything! I've never seen girls eat so much! I thought they would be sick. Back to the room to put the swim suites back on and get one last swim! More swimming, more dancing, more smiles! At noon, back to the room for one last shower! The 4th hot shower!! They packed up their stuff their things, along with a few souveniers like shampoo, conditioner, lotion, shoe shine, mouth wash etc! Then the director/manager of the hotel, Salahuddin, drove us home to Karim. The girls gave me a big hug and a 'Thank you, Mama Linda'. It was one of my best Birthday Celebrations, ever!

 



the girls and I at dinner!

 



a very happy Birthday Girl!

 



Lucy


 

Saumu ~ the Birthday Girl!

 

Neema

 



Salma

 

Happy Birthday Megan

 

Happy Birthday, Megan, from Africa!  My girls at Karim Orphanage and myself wish you,  a Very Special day!

                                     from the 'Karim Children Care Centre, Arusha, Tanzania.

Christmas Kindness!

As I was preparing for my 'Christmas in Africa', I started to think about the children in this world that will not have Christmas or may not even know it is Christmas time at all! My eyes started to tear as I realized how blessed and truly grateful I really am, to be here in Tanzania, helping to better the lives of 18 beautiful children at this special time of the year ~ Christmas Time!  Christmas is about 'Giving' more than receiving.  And not just 'giving' but giving yourself! It's about paying it forward and putting a smile on someone's face. It's about children's laughter and giggles and not about what's under the tree, but who's around the tree. You all know by now, I have always been inspired and continue to be inspired by Oprah. Ten years ago, in December 2002, I was inspired by Oprah's 'ChristmasKindness'  journey to South Africa, where she brought Christmas joy to 50,000 school children and orphans. I knew one day I wanted to do that. This will be my ChristmasKindness, on a smaller version of course, but there will be Christmas this year at Karim Orphanage! I have stufffed 25 Christmas stockings~ each with a name on it! I even wrapped each of the 8 gifts in each of the 25 stockings, which makes for about 200 gifts I wrapped! Alot of presents to wrap but it will all be SO worth it, come Christmas morning at Karim Orphanage. I have invited the neighbors, Ernest and Mama Ellie and their 2 children, as they are apart of this Karim family and my very good friends. I have also made up Christmas cards for 10 families, with a little bit of money, so there will be food on their table for Christmas. I put up a small Christmas tree and decorated it with the decorations the children made. The children are in awe of the beautiful little tree! They all had a peek at all the 'full' Christmas stockings under the tree, each one desparetly looked for one with their name on it and when it was spotted there was a smile from ear to ear along with a little squeal! Everyday, I am asked by some of the little ones "Mama Linda, is it Christmas yet?" It really is hard to hold back the tears sometimes! "Soon, very soon"!!  I hope, I have inspired some of you, like I have been inspired, to show some kind of 'ChristmasKindness' this year! Like Mother Teresa said "We can't all do Great things but we can do small things with Great Love!

 

 

 

 

 decorating the tree!

 

a little 2 year old Alex, putting a decoration on the tree!

 

Ibra carefully hanging his first Christmas decoration!
 




a whole lot of excited children to have a Chritmas tree and Christmas stockings !
 



a silly Sabrina!

 



the children making Christmas cards!



 

A Very Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us at Karim!

  









Alex

How can you not give this little guy absolutely everything he wants, when he looks at you like this with his big brown eyes and his big smile!  Maybe I'll sneak him in my suitcase and bring him home for Christmas!

Just a whole lot of Pictures

my turn for a ride!

Hawa and Mwana enjoying a little bit of 'Oprah' time with Mama!

a pyramid of kids ~  helped them all get on top of each other but the top one fell off before I could take the picture!



Alex trying to 'plank' on Sabrina's head!
 

Ibra & Alex giving me a hair do!

mmmmm ~ this pot of chicken feet, gizards and hearts turned into a delicious pot of stewed chicken and dumplings ~ just like home!


 

Saumu learning 'Gangnam Style'


 

another rain storm brewing!

 

an early xmas present from Mama ~ all the kids got a painted tire with their name painted on it! Who would of thought a used, painted tire would put a smile like this on a childs face!

 

a new swing set for Karim ~ the girls having a swing at 6am, while waiting for the school bus!

Ernest's New Home




from a cow dung hut & sheets of metal....
 

So, for those of you who are new, we have a neighbor, named Ernest. He has a wife and a son, Ellie and a new baby girl named Upendo. Ernest has helped me and Karim since day one. He does everything and anything and is one of the hardest workers ever! He is the first one to ask if I need help and never asks for a dime, or should I say shiling. But i do pay him and sometimes he has even tried to give some back and said 'No Mama, that is too much". Ernest lived in a cow dung hut with his family until just recently it was removed and a new brick home was put up! He was saving all his money and slowly buying bricks to build this. I saw the bricks & few bags of cement on one of my last visits and asked what they were for. When he told me, I cried! It made me happy and sad at the same time knowing he was saving his money for a home for his family but at the same time he could not feed them. This got me thinking and started fundraising for Ernest. One brick cost $1.00...."how many bricks can you buy for Ernest, so he can build a home?" Lots of friends and family started buying bricks and bags of cement. Then my husband and I had a pair of tickets to Elton John! They were sold to the highes bidder of $1800.00 to my good friend, Cindy Swarthout! That was the 'icing on the cake' or you might say 'the roof on his house'!! A  everyone, who was a part of giving this awesome young hard working neighbor and friend, a new home for him and his family. He is truly grateful and grins from ear to ear!

to a brick home with a metal roof!



A little bit of fun with the little bitty guys!




Well, today I got to babysit these two, cute, adorable little guys!   Dada, the lady who helps Rehema take care of the children, cook & clean is away for  3 weeks. Her sister is sick in the hospital. Rehema had to go to town and get a few things done,  Juma had school and all the other children had gone to school, too.  So,  Mama, had to care for the two little ones. A little bit of this  and a little bit of that,  mixed in with a little bit of treats,  made for a great day with my little bitty guys!!!

 

 

a little bit of fun...


 

a little bit of silly...


 

a little bit of play...


 

a little bit of lunch....


 

a little bit of work....



 

When I Grow up......

I have been asking the children what they are going to be when they grow up and some would answer  "If I grow up,  I want to be...". I was telling them the 'positive' way to say it is "WHEN I grow up, I WILL be...." When you say it, and will it, then it will happen!

 

Here are a few of the children telling us what they will be:

 

 

                                 Sabrina will be a 'Doctor'

                               Samwel will be a 'Farmer'

Let's learn to 'Plank'

Andi planking at the Vatican!

A few years back, the thing to do was jump when you had your picture taken. Now, I guess the thing to do is 'plank'! This is where you lay as flat & straight as you can, across something, thus looking like a plank! I learned about planking from my daughter, Andi, when we went to visit her in Italy. She actually planked in Rome, at the Vatican, and was very good at it, too, I must say! Anyway, the children are always asking "What's new Mama? Do you have a new dance, new song, new game?" On the weekend, while outside playing with the children, they wanted to do jumping pictures. I had an 'AHA' moment! "Let's learn to plank" They all had this strange look on their face and said "We don't know plank, Mama."  So, I showed them a picture of Andi planking.... well, the race was on to find anything and everything to plank on! The kids were everywhere, high and low, yelling, "take my picture, Mama!" 

 

 

 

A great afternoon of planking was had by all!  What will we learn next weekend?  Maybe..................  'Gangnam Style' !!!!