We are looking for help. As of the middle of March, these lovely ladies will be leaving us and we have a gap where we have no volunteers. Please contact me at
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When our family visited Karibu Nyumbani in July 2022, it was the last week of the school term and we offered to organise games for the top two classes at the Welcome Home School (I think the teachers saw an opportunity of some unexpected time to write pupils' reports!). So our children and grandchildren put their heads together and came up with a plan! We would split each class into three groups (about 10 in a group) and run three types of games – sporty games, party games and board games! The sporty games consisted of running and jumping activities;
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The party games were old favourites like 'grandmother's footsteps' and 'musical bumps'; the board game was 'Pictureka', a favourite with our grandchildren. (In our rush to order the game before we left, by mistake we ordered the Portuguese version!! Luckily, Hannah was able to find a translation App and rewrote all the words on the cards into English!) As the game involves matching pictures, the children - most of whom don't speak very good English! - quickly picked it up.
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Immediately after arriving at Karibu Nyumbani, the children showered us with their love, which remained with us until the last days. When we arrived at Karibu Nyumbani, we didn't think about how hard it would be to leave. Children have become dear to my heart. Within a few days, they invite us into their lives. They were so open, direct, joyful, wild, and simply great. The closeness we have built up in that moment can hardly be described in words. Lots of hugs, laughter, joy, prayers, dinners together, falling asleep in arms, hair braiding, babies carrying and nice words. We experienced all this at Karibu Nyumbani with the children.
I will not exaggerate when I say that the less than two months spent at Karibu Nyumbani are one of the most beautiful moments of my life. And not only through children. The Mamas and all the other people involved in running Karibu Nyumbani have provided us with incredible support. A community where we, like all children, were loved and accepted. Mamas have gifted us far more than they can imagine. Lots of wonderful stories, small but also big deeds, their enormous love, patience, hope and faith inspired us in many ways.
I would say that Karibu Nyumbani is a very addictive place, filled with love, willingness to help, truth and peace. After a while, I too perceived Karibu Nyumbani as a "second home". This home had everything – God, family, friendship. I felt happy and safe here. I will always have beautiful memories of the time I spent at Karibu Nyumbani. I will follow the stories of these unique and wonderful children as they grow. I look forward to meeting you again at Karibu Nyumbani.
Let's not underestimate children, because children can be the best teachers and the most honest advisers. And they can give us far more than we think.
With love,
Kateřina.
Forgive us, please, if we are too poetic about our two months stay at Karibu Nyumbani. I am actually quite pragmatic individual myself, but even objective facts about this place may sound a bit surreal to someone, so why not write it nicely. You can choose to believe our words or even better do not and go see yourself.
Just plan your stay with mamas, get your vaccines and come. If you want to prepare yourself in some ways, be prepared to feel loved, healed and accepted. Be sure to leave all your fears and prejudice in front of the gate of this little wonderland before you enter and you will be surprised how much you will see, feel and learn. You will be hugged, impressed and sometimes maybe a little bit tired, but very often happy and grateful. We saw children looking after each other, sharing cookies, laughters, stories, secrets and dreams. Children brave enough to fight side by side against anything poisonous.
We met strong women who raised our standards of what we can expect from people. They showed us how to give a lot from almost nothing and how to love unconditionally without being exhausted or disappointed. We were able to see how wonderful things can happed when you let God act through you. And we will never forget it.
Karibu Nyumbani is a place, where you can not feel lonely or empty and if you do for a moment one of the precious little ones will squeeze it out of you with a warm hug in a second. I really felt like putting all those philosophical books on the shelf, because at Karibu Nyumbani you simply feel the meaning of life deep inside of you. It is a family we miss already and we hope to come back to.
Klára
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JANUARY 2022- the School opened with another 40 students and an additional 2 nursery teachers. To date, we have a total of 110 children in our school and 16 teachers -workers.
Our Pre-unit Class graduated in December, performing beautifully in front of their parents and guests of honour from Mount Moriah -School.
Now they are settled in their new classroom with the new children in Primary One with their Class Teacher Sir Asa.
Primary 2 are a full class of 40 students and their Class Teacher Helen.
During the Christmas break we were able to plant trees to give more shade in the playground and thanks to some friends we also bought some swings and other apparatus for the school.
As well as the children from the village we are using 2 school buses to bring children from the surrounding villages.
We want to thank our friends from the Czech Republic who helped us to buy the new school bus for this year.
We are using one of the Nursery classes as our dining still, as we plan later to build a purpose built hall to include a new kitchen and dining/ meeting hall for the whole school.
A WORD FROM THE MANAGEMENT.
As Director of the school, together with the Manager and Head teacher, we thank God for all that has been achieved in the last year.
We thank all staff, parents, donors and friends for all your support over the last year.
We ask you to continue to pray for:-
- Our school children.
- Our teachers and staff.
- Our children's parents.
And also,
- For finances for the continued building of the school.
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March to
May in
England
2022
It was nearly 3 years since my last trip to England, due to Covid. I came into 2022 committing the year to the Lord and asked Him to make it clear when I should or could travel.
I thought that mid April would be a perfect time and I would be able to stay until mid June.
The last 3 years had, for all of us Mamas, been quite a stretching time in a number of ways. With Children growing up around us, half building, registering and running a school, sewing uniforms for 100 children, it kept us on our toes. I was ready for a break.
Life takes us by surprise, and I had very difficult news from my family that my younger brother died suddenly in France. I had a week to make arrangements to go to England. After my brother's funeral in France I had a month in Cornwall, Falmouth with my father. It was a blessed time.
My main hosts when I am in England are the Stribbling family. Anita and Chris are both Trustees of the WHTT Charity in England that supports Karibu Nyumbani. I have known them since I was 15 years old. Abi, far left was our first volunteer to come out to us in 2015.
I stayed for nearly a week with friends from Taunton, Patrick and Jan who open their garden most years to fundraise for KN. Sarah their daughter was over too, from New Zealand, which made my stay even more precious- I love the way the Lord arranges things so wonderfully. As well as good times with my family, and friends, I travelled to new places meeting new people who hope one day to come and see us here in Tanzania.
It was at Burgess Hill after a Trustees meeting, that I met up with our children's Mamas Hilary , Gloria and Clare who love our children so much. They have been out to see us many times and we have missed them over the last 3 years. We are expecting them in November (hurray!)
LET GO AND LET GOD
Along with every big responsibility, comes a great need to "let go and let God." This has been my biggest lesson over the last 3 months; - to keep the main focus of my heart worshiping and loving the Lord, trusting all my needs to Him. Most of the time I was away I felt like a child learning to "trust" and be "care free". In the resting, I met with God's great care and love being shown through everyone I met. God bless you all.
Back at home at the end of May
The biggest wonder of all was meeting Nance who had arrived in April.
Ludmila will be able to take a break in a few weeks to go to the Czech Republic !! Pray for her please that she can have a good rest.
Approaching the end of May I became more and more excited to get back home. I had been able to see the children on what's App but there is nothing like being at home with the little ones you love and miss.
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Another beautiful Easter came and went at Karibu Nyumbani. This therefore seems like an appropriate time to let all our friends know what we have been up to.
Our children had a couple days off school over Easter, from Thursday until Monday, which was very exciting for them. No school, no homework and no tuition - isn't that every child's dream? They got some well deserved rest over the holidays, slept in a little in the mornings and spent the days playing. Each day of course included a visit to church planned by Mama Mia.
Easter brought some variety into the regular Sunday visits to the small but lovely church in Boko Temboni. On both Thursday and Friday, we went to the huge St. John Bosco church in nearby Tumbi. Thursday included also confession with Father Cosmas. On Saturday, the children went to evening mass at eight o'clock in the evening and came back shortly before midnight. After return they were rewarded by cookies which they had baked all day before. They were splendid. The evening peace was only briefly disturbed by Florian's painful shout as he got a finger slammed in a door. The children also sported the beautiful new outfits custom made for each one by Mama Mia.
An enjoyable part about Karibu Nyumbani is the frequency at which children get their hair cut. Not a week passes by without another kid showing up with its hair neatly trimmed and the head all shiny, begging to run over it with your hand! Before Easter Monday almost all the children went to get a hair cut! Words cannot describe how great they looked.
One slightly less enjoyable aspect has been impacting our life in the last week or two - we don't have running water. A bit ironic given that it rained quite heavily during Easter. Apparently a pipe was busted and we now have to carry water in buckets to most buildings at the compound.
However, that is still not the most exciting news! The Karibu Nyumbani family increased to 23 children. Last week, a baby girl of mere 16 days and two kilograms arrived at the orphanage. She was named Nancy and is being looked after lovingly by Mama Esther. From our meticulous observations we can attest that she is a very sweet and happy girl and spends most of her time sleeping or eating. Kobelo seems to respond to her quite well and so far is not jealous of losing the position of the youngest kid at the orphanage.
In their free time, the children love to ride their bikes or play football. We also brought some games with us and must say that the children picked them up very quickly and on occasions are besting us! Their favourite two are Jungle Speed and Dobble.
The children also enjoy the occasional movie night. Needless to say it is difficult to find one film suitable and entertaining for a one year old as well as a 14-year old. However, recently a mix of cartoons such as Tangled, Jungle Book and Zootopia and superhero movies such Iron-Man, Thor and Avenger seems to do the trick.
And two kids also celebrated birthdays recently - Gertrude turned 12 and Emi turned 9. Everybody enjoyed a piece of cake baked by Mama Mia and we sang 'Happy Birthday' until our voices were hoarse.
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Some time has passed since the last update to all friends and supporters on the life at Karibu Nyumbani. And because there is no time like the present, we would like to take this chance to remedy that. We are two volunteers from the Czech Republic, Sabi a Erik. We arrived in Tanzania at the beginning of February and will be part of the Karibu Nyumbani community until the beginning of May
There are still 22 children at the orphanage, the youngest one being little Onesmo Kobelo, currently a year and a half old. A happy baby, he is looked after by the aunties and ourselves during the day and by his many siblings in the afternoon. Already equipped with some basic swahili words and several names, he likes to use these very much, irrespective of the situation. Other than Onesmo Kobelo, all the kids go to primary school or nursery. They visit Karibu Nyumbany's Welcome Home School and Nursery, Tumbi Primary School or St John Bosco Primary School near Tumbi. The oldest kids are in their final year of primary school and also in the middle of puberty and show their own individualities which is interesting to observe and sometimes tricky to deal with.
During the week, the children immerse themselves in their studies, busy as bees. After they finish classes at school in the afternoon, they continue their education at Karibu Nyumbani with the help of tutors, mamas and ourselves. On Friday evenings and sometimes Saturday afternoons, they are rewarded by a movie. The biggest success so far was Disney's Lion King remake, which they have been asking to watch again ever since. Even though some continue to think the movie is called Lion God.
In February, the children took a Saturday trip to the Roliondo market in the nearby town of Maili Moja. When they returned, their eyes were widened with excitement and new possessions pressed tightly in their little hands. There were colourful water bottles, flashlights, watches which also serve as calculators, glittery belts and beautiful earrings for the girls. They bought these items from saved up pocket money which they regularly receive and which teaches them the basics of home economy. For myself, the market was an overwhelming experience, with so many shops, noises, people and colours that I was barely following the children, let alone buying something I needed. However, the children of course offered a lot of advice as to which shoes or clothes I should purchase.
We also celebrated several birthdays recently. A memorable one was David's third birthday, mainly because he got a firetruck as a present. Needless to say that the firetruck made all kind of noises and for several days nothing else could be heard throughout the orphanage. In addition, Samuel celebrated his tenth birthday and Neema celebrated her ninth birthday. Each received a cake and presents from the entire family and everyone was singing 'Happy Birthday' countless times.
About once a week, we try to take a walk with the children and discover Karibu Nyumbani's beautiful surroundings. This sometimes results in heated, but funny discussion because walking just for pleasure makes little sense to some of the children and suggestions why we don't take a bus come up. But in the end the children enjoy being outside just as much as we do.
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On the 16th of February, whilst all Jane Rose's family were gathered in Devon, her Tanzanian family here at Karibu Nyumbani , had a very special service. Our Parish Priest Fr. Benno Kikudo concelebrated Mass in our Chapel, he had met Jane many times during her visits with us, and spoke beautifully during the Mass. The Choir from the sub-Parish, in the small village of Boko Temboni were present, bringing the atmosphere of heaven to all. We give thanks to God for the life of Jane Rose and know that she wears us as a crown in Heaven.
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We want to wish you all a very happy and blessed Easter as you remember the biggest gift that has ever been given to us.
"God sent His Son into the world that whoever believed in him would have life everlasting."
The wonderful life we have here is only a shadow of the eternal joy we will have with our Heavenly Father.
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On Saturday 12/12/2020, the 25 children in our Pre-unit class at Welcome Home School celebrated their graduation day. The day was full of joy and delight.
The build up to this day started at the beginning of September when the children started to learn words for what day would say and sing. They practised standing in front of their classmates and making sure they spoke with clear and loud voices. The day before the graduation the microphones arrived, and the children were happy to use these. All the children enjoyed dancing to the music blaring through the speakers and the day was full of excitement and anticipation as decorations and tents were put up. The day had finally arrived. Saturday was a big day in the lives of our children and for our school It was a special day, a special day. I as a teacher was so proud of my children, to see them so happy and what they achieved and how well they spoke and sang. They knew how proud we all were of them all and how fantastic they looked. It was a day I will remember forever.
Madam Kat.
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January 2020
What a wonderful way to kick off a new year and especially the year of 2020. Amazingly special to be greeted once again by the Mamas and children as Clare and I arrived from the airport to Karibu Nyumbani orphanage. I had quite forgotten what a very special loving place it is. My 3 week stay was spent plugging into the daily routine with lots of family time but also visiting the new school. Not to mention the most enjoyable worship time with the children, aunties and uncles. I returned to the UK full of blessings received from my KN family and look forward to being with them again in the summer of 2020. My Swaheli is not great yet but it was strange being back in my home parish and hearing the Mass in English so my ear is definitely getting used to the language.
What a sad world bearing the Covid 19 virus – KN and the world are in my prayers with utter trust in the Lord.
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We're delighted to be ready with this New Year News about Welcome Home School 2020
As some of you will remember we started January 2019 with our first Nursery Class of 20 children.
The year went well and finished in the first week of December with a Parents meeting where we were so happy to have nearly all the parents, with the new head Teacher Evans chairing. The parents blessed the teachers with a small gift each and all the children were taken by their parents' home with their reports.
It was a very busy December for our builders finishing their work, for the teachers preparing lessons, and on the day before we started it was all hands-on deck.
We thank our Donors who provided for this year's building project Missio in Germany and Jane Rose our Patron of Karibu Nyumbani. The project included 3 New Classes and Toilet Block one for girls and one for boys. Also new furniture- desks for teachers, and tables and chairs for the children.
All was ready just in time!
First day jan 2020…
Kat our English Teacher flew in from England ready to teach after a few days' rest. She hit the ground running - not having a word of Swahili- she has been amazing.
The 46 children attending the school are coming from our village and nearest town. The small school fee is almost impossible for some of the families and some have arranged to bring small amounts each week, so they can pay.
THE NEXT PROJECT
We already have our Primary One class, so we can take in our next class in 2021. We would like to start to build the 7 other classes, the dining room and hall.
We ask for your continued prayers that this Project will continue to bless our neighbours' children and bring Glory to God.
Glory to God
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On the 25th of February we had a joy and privilege to welcome 10 days old David who had been found in a ditch close to a bus stop in Maili Moja and had been taken to the hospital by a man on a motor bike. After Social Services had contacted us, we praised the Lord for saving his life and for entrusting him to us as a precious gift. He is a healthy calm baby and has a good appetite. We are praying that our new February children, David and Isaya, may experience with us the Love that our heavenly Father has for each and every one of His children.
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In the first week of January we had a privilege to welcome 2 years old Isaya into our home. This lovely boy was left in a hospital after his mother died giving birth to triplets. We are very happy to have him as a part of our growing family.
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We are blessed with a new volunteer from the Czech Republic! Katerina arrived on the 18th February and is staying with us for 3 months.
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The children were excited to read the beautiful Christmas Cards from Roger and Liney that we got with a tiny delay of 2 months. They made us very happy though! Thank you and God bless you.
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On the 6th of February we welcomed Fr Etienne From Agape Community to bless our school land and our school building.
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Our Parish which is consecrated to St John Bosco celebrated it's feast day at the beginning of February. Mass was followed by a competition between all the parish choirs, games and a festive meal. We are so blessed to be part of this beautiful parish.
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WHMT (Welcome Home Ministries Tanzania)Charity, in May last year, whilst praying for their way forward, felt that it was time for them to hand over their work. I love the fact that when change is in God's timing, even though it may not be what you expected, He always has plans that can surprise you. Without realizing it a new group of Trustees was already being raised up. I am so thankful that my dear friends in the WHMT Trust were sensitive to God's voice and knew when to let go.
I am also grateful that the two teams have been working well together over these last months to make the change-over as smooth as possible. Some of you may already have been in touch with the New Trust WHTT. (Welcome Home Trust Tanzania) The link to WHTT is https://whtt.org.uk
Please visit their site.
Today I would especially like to thank WHMT for all their hard work in running the Charity for the past 5 years. To thank them for their hearts for KN, for taking time to come out to visit us, and for their promise to continue to be close, without the hard work of running the Charity!!
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