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I am raising money for Forever Angels Baby Home, a care home and orphanage in Mwanza, Tanzania.

 

Mwanza is Tanzania’s second biggest city. I lived there for 4 years and saw how disease, accident and poverty mean that hundreds of babies and young children were orphaned or unable to stay with their families. The HIV epidemic means that the numbers of these children is increasing every year.

 

The outcome for these children can be catastrophic. Adoption is often the only way for them to have a chance at a healthy and fulfilling life. But sometimes all that is needed is some respite care while parents or grandparents get treatment or other financial help. For these children, returning to their birth family is the fairy tale ending.

 

Forever Angels Baby Home does both of these things: (i) it provides vital help to parents or carers at breaking point, so that babies who would otherwise have been lost or even died can return to a family that loves them; (ii) it finds adoptive families for babies and children who have no family to care for them.

 

They have around 50 children with them at any one time and provide all the care necessary for those children. This goes beyond basic food and clothing to include both life saving but expensive health care for some, and a programme stimulating nursery education for all.

 

When I visited them, I was most impressed by their commitment to two things: (i) high standards of both physical and emotional care for the children; (ii) giving the children the best possible chance to get back to their birth families. Only when this is absolutely no longer possible do the children go for adoption.

 

And their record of successful adoptions is really impressive. The Baby Home did not open until after I left Mwanza.  Had they had been open in my time, I would definitely have applied to adopt from there; secure in the knowledge that  the baby had been given the best developmental care possible, including as healthy a separation from their birth parents as was possible.

 

They do truly amazing work.

 

Please help.

 

It costs £200 to look after one child for one month.

 

My goal is to raise £1000 by

 

1. - Losing 10 kilograms in weight.

 

2.-  Improving my fitness from "Very Low"- VO2 max of 21.5  to  "Good"

 

I have given myself 3 months.

 

The babies that come to Forever Angels  are often extremely small -2 kg or less. That is just 4 IIbs!!!

 

If I lose the equivalent of the weight of 5 babies, could you help me raise the money needed to care for them for just one month?

 

The need is so great, it would be wonderful to be able to do more. 

 

Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe and they  promise never to sell them or send unwanted e-mails.

 

I have spoken to Forever Angels and they said that Just Giving was the best online donation forum for them.

 

Finally, as an extra incentive, the person who makes biggest total donation gets to hear my starting weight- this is currently in a sealed envelope under LOCK AND KEY!

 

This is a GREAT cause.

 

So, please dig deep and donate now.