Build a future for children in a conflict zone

Dear Donors,

For more than a year now, Mah Diana, founder of Mah Di’s orphanage has been in charge of reporting. This is an extraordinary report to inform you of a strategic change.

We are going to update this project to cover not only Mah Di’s orphanage but other orphanages in similar situations. 

Before we dive into the why, we have to clarify something:

1) Every donation made so far will go only to Mah Di’s orphanage, that’s what you donated for.  The 3 recurring donations we have (donors who give every month) will only serve Mah Di’s. Unless donors write to us saying they are OK with us using the funds in other houses.

Now, why this change?

First, Mah Di’s is improving. Thanks to you, thanks to them, they are much much better off than when we started.

They have a school that is doing great and growing (check out expansion project). They self-generate about 20% of their income, as opposed to 4% in 2016, and have their medical, hygienic and feeding needs well covered. They pay all their school fees (for those who don’t go to the house's school) on time. They follow-up with authorities to get fees exemptions and other social benefits when possible. They still have needs, but we are beginning to see a possibility of phasing out in the coming years. This is exactly what you donated for, for them to be able to grow by themselves, and they are achieving it. Congratulations.

Second, there are other orphanages that are also in need of help. Father’s house, the second orphanage we want to introduce, is worse-off in many aspects. The house has not managed to pay school fees for many of the children, and they are at risk of being expelled. They have very limited self-generated funds. They don't have access to clean water in the house (we are trying to address right now). They have less of a standing in the community (local donations are a huge part of Mah Di’s success) since they just relocated.

Our strategy so far has been to create a separate project for each orphanage, but this has not been very effective. (This project has 175$ after a long while). We also think that having too many projects on GlobalGiving with similar thematic might confuse donors or play against our image. It is also easier to manage just one project and have the freedom to assign funds where they are most needed.

Most important, we know if we merge these projects and focus our efforts we can raise more funds. Not only for Father’s House but also for Mah Di’s. Everybody will win.

So what is going to happen now?

• Before 1 week we will edit this project to be representative of both orphanages.
• We will continue sharing with you Mah Di's reports every 3 months. But you will also receive reports from the other orphanage (Father’s House) after we help them. 
• This is going to be a very gradual process. This year you will only see these two orphanages. But we are on the look for outstanding houses with outstanding needs, and we might introduce you to new families that you can help.
• We will continue project-specific-fundraising through small microprojects, we just launched one to expand Mah Di’s school. (Here) and will be doing another one to provide a water tank to Father’s house in the coming weeks.

Our focus remains the same. 1) Provide basic support only when the need is critical. 2) Focus on big investments that the orphanages can’t do by themselves. 3) Income-generating-activities so they are less dependent on external funding in the future.

If you have any inquiry or you want to share your opinion about this move, feel free to write to me at marc@reachoutcameroon.org

So that’s it, your family just got bigger! 40 + 28!

Have a great day and thanks for everything you have done for the children

P.D: Until the 13^th of May, if you sign up for a recurring donation GlobalGiving gives us a one-time 100% bonus on it! (If you sign up to give 25 dollars every month, they will add another 25 dollars for the first donation, after you have been giving for 4 months).

Links:

• Our newsletter!
• Our facebook Page
• Mah Di's facebook page

MAH DI’S ORPHANAGE - KUMBA

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE ORPHANAGE FROM  DECEMBER 2017 TO MARCH 2018

Dear Donors,

We want to thank you so very much because during this period you made our environment different by creating joy and peace in the hearts of the children. The activities that took place are:

WORKSHOPS

The senior children, who are attending the Technical College, did a workshop training on building and construction for the little boys and girls in our primary school. They taught them how to use cement for plastering on construction brick walls. It was so interesting to see how the children demonstrated on an uncompleted building at the Centre. (Photo attached)

We also did workshop training on the preparation of yogurt using powder milk. They did it and shared among themselves. They were very happy and loved preparing it all the time. My intention is that they can do in the future to earn income for themselves.

After the workshop they have been doing their own yogurt in the house, one day I sold it and bought some children's sandals with the profits, other times the children eat it as a snack.

CHRISTMAS PARTY/NEW YEAR

The children a day before the party assigned themselves to tasks like cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. they did the shopping and preparation themselves.

On the day of Christmas, they served their visitors with chin-chin [local pastry], popcorn, drinks, and amongst their songs was the Christmas carol. (Photo attached)

VISIT

During this period they were also allowed to visit the Kumba City Council Amusement Park and Azi Children Foundation in our community. (Photo attached)

WORK SCHEDULE

The children are allowed to draw up the activity rosters themselves. They do this in a meeting organized by the senior children. The roster is done in rotating manner. (Photo of the meeting attached)

Amongst the children, Bridget loves babies. I asked her to be with our new baby all the time. She is very neat, loving and caring, she has a passion for babies, she likes to bath and feeds them. She loves children in general, she likes also cooking and teaching the little children and helps out in the nursery school.

FARMING

We do the following sustainable activities with your support;

Piggery, Poultry, Fishery and Tomato cultivation,

To realize the above project the management and children join hands manually to do the cultivation. (Photo of Charles in the farm attached)

SERVICES RENDERED TO THE COMMUNITY

The children are very helpful to this community in the following ways:

-During the dry season, there is a water crisis so some of the people in the community fetch water from the center’s borehole.

-Some children in the community are coming to the school in the orphanage nursery and primary schools. (1st Photo attached)

-We give helping hands to some underprivileged people in the community by providing them with some foodstuffs and clothes. (Photo attached)

-The center sometimes assists the community in clean up campaigns.

SERVICES RENDERED BY THE COMMUNITY

They are:

-Cleaning of the premises

-Laundry

-Fetching of firewood

HEALTH

The Preventive Health District Unit did a lot concerning the children health. Consultation with the children is free and some prescribed drugs are provided by these mobile-health services.

 WHERE DO THESE CHILDREN COME FROM?

The children come within and out of the community.  They are placed in the center by the Social Center of the Ministry of Social Affairs after carrying out social inquiries about them.

WHERE DO THEY GO TO

-Some of these children are relocated to their family

-Some of them after graduation from school pick up jobs in and out of the community

-Some do vocational training and after the training become self-employed

-Some have furthered their studies and even gone abroad

VISION FOR THE FUTURE

To see these children be hardworking, responsible and productive. For this reason, the center thinks of coming up with a vocational training institute in future.

DONATIONS

Donors, we are very grateful for your donations.  The center is able to go an extra mile in the various areas mentioned below because you donated.

-School Fees for the children in Secondary School

-Payment of some teachers/workers

-Bills

-Drugs

-Construction (buildings)

-Feeding

-Projects

FACEBOOK PAGE

There is an existing Facebook page for the center.  You are free to get in touch with us to know more about us.

IMPROVEMENT

The center has a story building with four classes for the nursery and primary school.

The children have projects that they carry out

CHALLENGES

-More classes are needed for next academic year

-Dormitory and baby unit needed to create enough space for the children’s convenience

-Sewing machine to training the children on sewing

-Full-time social worker and classroom teachers to attend to the children’s problems

-Existing building needs renovation

-More sleeping material like bunk beds, bed sheets, mattresses, and tents

-New Pit toilet

-Playground to be equipped with the following:

-Swing, slide, see-saw etc

CONCLUSION

Donors, thank you so very much for accepting to work with us in this service of taking care of the underprivileged.  God bless you all more abundantly.