Goodbye Johnny, Hello Richard

23.07.2012

Last week we said goodbye to our beloved Johnny, who was with us since just after we opened our doors in 2011. At help2kids we believe that the best place for a child to grow up is with his or her family, if at all possible.

When Johnny’s mother contacted us this spring to say that she wanted to bring Johnny home we were a bit skeptical. However, based on a huge change in family dynamics (Johnny’s father who had originally brought him to a different children’s home has since passed away) and his mother’s love, her long-term planning, and her desire to be reunited with Johnny, we believe that Johnny will grow up in very good hands and has a bright future ahead of him. Of course we miss him very much and shed many tears when he left, but we are happy that he gets to be with his family.  We will remain in regular contact with his mother to make sure he is doing well.

With Johnny’s departure, we had space for one more child at our children’s home, and knew immediately that we should take in Richard. Richard is a child from our neighborhood who always used to come over to play. His relatives had begged us on numerous occasions to take him in because they could not provide for him and he was living in unsafe and abuse conditions. Richard is nine years old and in Standard 3 at Mbezi Beach School. He has been quite quiet since his arrival but is getting a little bit happier and more outgoing with each passing day. We are so glad to have him here!
In other news we had a visitor last week named Roland who is a professional musician and a photographer. He sang a number of songs with the children and took some great photographs. Thank you Roland for your hard work!

Wishing you a wonderful week from sunny Tanzania. 

Best regards,
Karina Catlin – Field Manager