Today we received a new baby - a 3 month old baby girl named Evie.



Evie was a twin and was born in Kahana on August 18th 2008. She weighed only 900 grams! After 10 days of being at home (weighing only 900g!) her mother brought her back to hospital saying that she was unable to suck and wasn't drinking properly. Sadly her twin died soon after birth.
Evie was transfered to Mwanza and has spent the last 3 months in Bugando Intensive Care Unit.

Her Mum stayed with her for one night and then left saying that she has other babies at home to care for. She never returned and attempts by the Police to trace her have failed.

Her name is Dotto Kayunga but I, Amy, have named her Evie. She is a beautiful little thing - but very demanding and always wants to be carried! I think the nurses have been spoiling her!!



She is living with us, Amy and Ben, just for 5 or 6 days and then the Baby Home should be free of chicken pox and she will go there!!....so we have a pretty busy household right now with 6 children - 4 of them under 2!!

Evie now weighs 2.7kg and is very alert and happy. She seems to be a very 'sickly' baby and vomits after most feeds but I will monitor this.

I have been visiting Evie in Bugando for 3 months now so have already fallen in love with this little girl - so I am hoping an adoptive family comes to find her really soon so I don't have to keep her as well!



This is Margaret as she looks now. It has been so lovely having tiny babies in our house again and they make Leila look HUGE! Margaret and Evie will stay with us until next week when we go to England and then they will go to join the 'Organised Chaos' at the Baby Home!



Tumaini is back in hospital with pneumonia and a couple of others seem to be coming down with it too. I will be really glad when all the children are healthy again! Alfie seems a little better but he has lost all the weight he had put on, poor thing.

My Mum wants to remind everyone about our 60's Night on Saturday 13th December in Sandbach, Cheshire.....tickets are selling well and we wouldn't want you to miss out. PLEASE come - it will be a great evening.....and me and my children will be there! Please call Val on 01606 554271 to order your tickets.

Well - the children are all generally recovered from the Chicken Pox now - but they have all scarred so badly. Black skin scars very easily anyhow - but these chicken pox scars seem really bad! Hopefully they will fade with time.

Alfie has been sick for a couple of days with severe vomiting and diaoreah. He is so tiny and weak after being so malnourished that any illness like this really sets him back. He is such an adorable little boy and he has the biggest eyes!

Margaret is doing really now and is almost 2.5kg. I fly to England in a weeks time so she will move to the Baby Home just before I go. I hope we have protected her from chicken pox by keeping her at my house - but you just never know! She is such an adorable little thing....tiny but so cuddly! I will miss her when she goes!

Meghan, our Pre School teacher is asking that people (volunteers / friends of Forever Angels / anyone reading this) send a postcard to the Baby Home children. They are learning about the World and she thought it would be nice to make a display of postcards from around the world....please send them one if you get a chance to:

Pre School Children
Forever Angels Baby Home
PO Box 2631
Pasiansi
Mwanza
Tanzania

Today was a sad day for Forever Angels....as Minza, one of our Teenage Orphan Leavers left us to return to the Bethany Orphanage. There were tears all round as she said her 'Goodbyes'.

Minza has been an AMAZING addition to Forever Angels. She came as a quiet, timid young girl and she has left as a confident, outgoing, friendly and hardworking young lady.

The reason for Minza's departure is not sad at all however.....in fact it is wonderful and I am SO proud of her.

Minza is going to go to England to study at College for a course in Child Development! It is so wonderful that she has come so far. I am also thrilled to say that Sophia (the young Aunt of our first child - Yunisi) has also been chosen to go to England to study! It doesn't seem that long ago that I found her alone in her house after her Mother had died and I begged Bethany to take her in!

We will all miss Minza and her beautiful smile and caring nature so much - but we are thrilled that she, and Sophia, have got this chance and we know that they will work hard and be sucessful.

Welcome back any time Minza.....

In her place I am pleased to welcome a new Teenage Leaver from Bethany - Pendo. The remaining Bethany girls are helping to make her feel welcome and to find her feet.

When Bethany came to collect Minza today - they brought us a very special visitor....Yunisi! Yunisi was our first ever child at Forever Angels and she was such a little character and loved by all. It was wonderful to see her today looking so healthy and happy....and still remembering everyone's names at the Baby Home!

Tumaini is now out of hospital and doing so much better. Almost every single child has now had chicken pox so we are hoping for a nicer week next week!

I would like to say a HUGE 'Thank You' to Hebdon Green school and all the teachers, children and parents who have donated toys for Christmas for our Forever Angels children. They will be so thrilled to receive these wonderful gifts on Christmas day and we are truly greatful to you all for your kindness.



The AMAZING collection of toys from Hebdon Green School


I would also like to thank Josie Foster. She is a wonderful supported of Forever Angels and sends donations weekly of nappy liners, cotton wool, DVD's for the children and staff, and even jelly and instant whip! Josie has also done an amazing job of collecting Christmas gifts for the children at Forever Angels. Thank you SO much Josie!

Tumaini has been in hospital for quite a few days now with severe pneumonia and he didn't seem like he was getting any better. Chloe spent the morning with him today and reported that he is now thankfully almost back to his normal self - sitting up and smiling and hopefully now on the road to recovery.

It seems that chicken pox is now starting on our small babies. Almost every toddler has now had it and now it has started on the tiny babies. I am still hoping my own children catch it quickly before we go to the UK - but no sign of spots yet!

This is a message to all future Volunteers and those who may be interested in coming to volunteer at Forever Angels Baby Home. Please read all the Volunteer Guidelines information on our website. If you have already read it - please read it again as we have just updated it.

One of the main changes is that volunteers now live off site - in a large rented property about 5 monutes walk away from the Baby Home. Due to the cost of renting this, the cost of Volunteering has now increased.
We now charge £250 a month for all volunteers for the first 3 months of their stay (irrespective of whether they are sharing a room or not - most volunteers will be), and £50 a month thereafter to cover bills / lunch at the Baby Home.

If you have a volunteering place confirmed with us, but have not already paid your deposit - these new charges will apply to you.

If you are interested in volunteering with us - we are quite full for the forseeable future - but we do have some space during the following times:

January 10th to February 29th
March 1st to April 1st
April 17th to July 1st
...and from September 2009 onwards we have lots of space.

Please contact me on amy@foreverangels.org if you are interested in volunteering with us.

Today was a very sad day for me and my family.

A very close family friend died this afternoon after a very sudden and quick battle with cancer.

Marg Clarke was my Mum's best friend since they were tiny children and our families have been friends for so many years. Marg was a wonderful Wife, Mum, Grandma and Friend and she will be missed so much by everyone who knew her.

To Andy, Rachel, Katie and Emma - we are truly, truly sorry and are thinking of you all so much.

I know that my Mum is absolutely devestated by the death of Marg and I wish I was in the UK with her to give her a hug. Mum - I love you and you are in my thoughts right now more than usual.


It seems that in every loss, there is a small gain and ours came today in the arrival of a new baby girl. We have named her Margaret after our dear friend.

Margaret Rhobi is 6 weeks old and was abandoned at the hospital by her 19 year old mother. We will try to search for her Mum and hope that one day she can be returned home to her family....but for now she will join our Forever Angels Family.

We had some great news today - Amos has gone home to his Mum!

We have been waiting for this to happen for so long....and finally the day arrived.

Amos came to Forever Angels as he had been abused by his Father and the Police thought that his Mother was also somehow involved in the case. His mother is totally innocent - but a series of adjourned court hearings, lost files and absent judges has meant that she has been denied visitation to Amos for the last 5 months.

Finally, today, Chloe took Amos to court where his Mum was cleared of all involvment of his abuse and abandonment and was given custody of her adorable son again.

Sadly - Amos has not been allowed to see his Mum for 5 months - so she is now a stranger to him. He was crying a lot when he was with her but we know that in a couple of days they will both be happy and secure once more.

Goodbye Amos - we will miss you but your Mum loves you dearly and we know you will have a loved and happy life.

On a sad note - Tumaini and Ella are both sick with measles and pneumonia. I am starting to think that it was a bad batch of Measles vaccine which was given to our children as it is very strange for so many of the children to react so badly to it.

Everyone is starting to get a little tired of constantly sick children and we hope it will all be over soon.

Tomorrow we are getting one of the babies from hospital - 4 week old Rhobi. Her Mum left her at the hospital and no family have returned for her.
I think initially she will come to my house as the Baby Home is still full of sick children!....but I really wont fall in love and adopt this one!

Now most of the Baby Home have got Chicken pox!



This is Jack. He has had a mild case of chicken pox and is now almost spot free again!



This is Tumaini - he had LOADS of spots - but it didn't seem to bother him too much and they are clearning up nicely.


This is Mariam. She had spots EVERYWHERE! In her mouth, in her eyes...everywhere!
Poor little thing has not been happy at all and her spots started to look infected so she is now on antibiotics.

It is really strange how the same virus effects children so differently!

Our new little girl Neema is doing ok. She is eating and drinking so well so we hope she will soon be gaining weight and recovering from her malnutrition.
She has a rectal prolapse which was bleeding quite a lot today but once she is a little stronger, we will take her for treatment of this.

Lauren is still in hospital but doing SO much better so I hope she will come home tomorrow.

My Dad arrives tomorrow so my kids are VERY excited.....

Well - the chicken pox all seem to be scabbing over and the children, in general, seem to be getting better.

Except for Lauren - Lauren had a bad case of measles and also contracted pneumonia so she is currently in hospital. She was very sick yesterday but today she seems to have perked up a bit.

Rosie came to visit with her new adoptive family yesterday. She looked amazingly happy and healthy and it was wonderful to see a family so well bonded.

Today we received a new child. Neema is apparently 19 months old and her Mum is mentally ill. She was taken from her Mum because she tried to kill her. Neema is very malnourished - weighing just 6.7kg! She is also suffering from severe worms, malaria, anemia, a severe urine infection and a rectal prolapse.

I think Neema has been badly abused as she is extremely timid, has a lot of scars, and she just sat through having blood taken and injections without even a flinch? It is not normal for a one year old to sit through such pain.

Well - chicken pox certainly gets round quickly....now all but 4 of the toddlers have got chicken pox - making about 22 spotty kids!
Most of them seem fine with it - but poor Mariam has it the worst....with chicken pox in her eyes, mouth and just SO many spots on her body and face. She is not a happy little girl right now at all.

So far - only Sophia, Charlie, Issa and Zawadi have been spared out of our big kids! The babies are yet to catch it but I am sure it will come very soon.

This evening I took my 4 children to the Baby Home in the hope that they will catch it too! We are due to fly to the UK in 4 weeks and I do not want them to have chicken pox for that or we wont be allowed to fly....plus I'd rather they catch it now when they are young as it is much milder in children! My eldest son Barnabas is not at all amused by me 'trying' to make him catch it and is very worried about his 'cool' image if he gets spots! He told me he would report me to the Judge who agreed to his adoption and tell him that I am not a good Mum afterall as I am making him sick on purpose!!

The volunteers have now moved into their new house and seem very happy. It looks really nice now that there is furniture in it and is being 'lived in'. I will post some photos soon when my computer is fixed (this is Ben's and none of my files or photos are on this machine!)

We had theives on Saturday night. They cut the fence and stole our gas bottles. The Askari's and dogs were at the other end of the property dealing with a commotion (obviusly a distraction by the theives) and my night carers at the Baby Home saw them and alerted everyone with the walkie talkies we all have.
We are lucky again that they didn't steal much and no one was hurt. It has made me, again, rethink our security here but I just do not know the answer. We could spend millions of shillings on security - but if theives want to get into a property - they will! All the bars and lights and walls in the world will not stop them so sometimes it seems pointless spending money on them?

We are still waiting for some of our children to go to their Forever Families - Sophia, Tumaini and Jessica are all just waiting for a letter from Social Welfare to say they can go to their new home and I hope and pray each day that it happens. I just hope they get to go home to their new Mummies and Daddies in time for Christmas.

Our new volunteer, Sam, arrived today meaning we currently have 8 volunteers. It is great to have such a lively and enthusiastic bunch - thanks guys!

Liwida took her first steps today....our tiny babies are not so tiny anymore!

One of the babies in hospital who are due to come to us have gone home with their family - so that is good news. Leah's Mum was in psychiatric Ward and no family had been found - but thankfully they seem to have been fund now and will take Leah home. The other two will come to us as soon as our chicken pox has gone!!