All of us at Malayaka House are grateful for the love and kindness shown to us by our volunteers, every single day. We are so fortunate to have the support of individuals and organizations around the world who provide us with everything from books to dental care to tech equipment. The month of August was filled with visits from particularly-skilled volunteers, and the services they provided will have a long-lasting impact, not only at Malayaka House but within our community as a whole.
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Thank you to Jamf and Matter
When we talk about the importance of our long-standing relationships with friends and supporters around the world, we aren't exaggerating. Case in point: Robert Fleming met Patrick Asaba nearly two decades ago at St. Mike's college in Burlington, Vermont. Years later, Patrick's wife Jeni reached out to Malayaka House with an idea. She wondered if her employer, Jamf (a leader in Apple management), might be interested in extending its nonprofit work to include Malayaka House.
Jamf, in partnership with MATTER, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to health around the world, has developed an innovation hub with digital curriculum for students in impoverished areas.
Last year, Amy Carst (MH Communications Director) and Dave Myers (MH board member and co-founder of EduLink, an educational software company that provides tech equipment, funding, and other resources to Malayaka House's existing technology education efforts) traveled to Minneapolis to meet Jamf's "tech evangelist", Dave Saltmarsh.
The group agreed that Malayaka House could benefit immensely from Jamf and MATTER's tech collaboration, and Jamf immediately donated $5,000 to be used for the purchase of technology materials for the innovation hub.
Earlier this month, Dave Saltmarsh and Jeremy Newhouse visited Malayaka House to meet our team and all the kids, and train them on the use of these state-of-the-art educational tools to advance their tech skills and love of learning, simultaneously. It was a huge success, and our kids immediately fell in love with this high-tech, exciting, and easy-to-grasp learning process.
Growing up in a country with 80% unemployment, it is essential that our children have more than just the basics. To break the cycle of poverty they were born into, they have to be given the tools to succeed, and this means standing apart from the rest. Innovation and technological advances are just as important and just as sought after in Uganda as anywhere in the world. Ugandans with these skills can find higher-paying jobs in Uganda, but tech knowledge opens them up to virtual positions around the world as well.
Thank you to Jamf and MATTER from the bottom of our hearts. Thank you also to Jeni Asaba and her husband Patrick for introducing Malayaka House to these generous companies, and for reminding us of the power of human connection. Long lost friends and connections often surface in the most interesting ways and at the most urgent of times. Be kind to everyone you encounter, and know that the kindness will be returned to you, ten-fold. It may be today, it may be in 20 years. But kindness and love always return more than they take.
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In February of 2009, a three-month-old baby was found abandoned on the roadside. Robert was called to the Kawempe Police station and asked if Malayaka House could look after the child. The boy was weak and malnourished, but otherwise in good health. Not a trace of information was known about the baby boy, so starting with a visit to the doctor and trip for immunizations, we began building a history.
The Aunties named him Elijah and welcomed him with all the love and excitement that they had so readily done with the 19 children before him. How the Aunties can respond with such deep and sincere joy for yet another child to clean and look after is something both profound and beautiful. But this is how they are. They scooped this lucky young fellow from Robert’s truck and have been raising him like their own ever since.
Elijah is now a healthy, active, and vibrant young man. He talks a mile a minute and seems to be best friends with everyone. The older kids, even the slightly older kids, know the importance of sharing and including their younger brothers and sisters in their endless games. So although Elijah is on the younger side of the older boys (and a bit small for his age), he is still treated with respect and equality. He is particularly good friends with Salih, who acts like an older brother to him. They are very close and Elijah follows him everywhere.
Elijah attends the Pearl of Africa School. He is a brilliant student and loves school.
We love you, Elijah!!
Learn more about Elijah and the
other children
who call Malayaka House home by visiting our website today.
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Meet Our Amazing Dentists!
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As they have done every August for the last five years, a group of Spanish dentists came to Malayaka House this month, serving more than 250 children in our local community. They performed dental checkups for children at Malayaka House, Embracekulture, the Early Learning school, and a dental camp in our neighborhood organized as a collaboration between Malayaka House and community leaders.
They performed additional services for those in need, brining mobile equipment to fill cavities and address other dental problems.
Our dentists extraordinaire included Auntie Marta, Auntie Laura and Auntie Prado, Spanish dentists who lead the annual project. And this year they brought along two other dentists, Cristina and Alicia, and a dental hygienist named Beatriz.
As always, it was great to have them here. The work they do isn't important solely for taking care of existing dental problems, but also to teach the kids the importance of taking care of teeth. Each child was given his or her own toothbrush and toothpaste and shown proper brushing techniques.
Even more exciting, some of our older girls and boys helped us with the organization of the dental camp in our neighborhood and even assisted with some of the services. Who knows, maybe we'll have some future dentists on our hands here at Malayaka House!
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August Birthday Celebrations!!
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August was a big month for birthdays! We know the real birth days of a few of our children. However, for most of them, the actual date is a mystery. As a result, we have usually celebrated all the birthdays once a year. But individualized attention is always at a premium when you have 40+ brothers and sisters, so we have decided to designate each month as the "birthday month" for a few of our kids, in an effort to make them feel extra special at this time each year.
In August, we celebrated the birthdays of Sam and Patricia (two of our youngest children), as well as Achin, William, Isabella, and Ishmat. It was great fun. The kids helped in baking their cakes and we had a wonderful birthday celebration. Although birthdays are always intended to be a celebration of life, that concept seems to have been lost in a swirl of confetti and presents and party hats. But nowhere is the real meaning and purpose of a birthday celebration more apparent than at Malayaka House. For each of our children, their birthday truly is a celebration of life. And one that is made possible through the love and support of friends like you. Thank you!!
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We couldn't do any of this without the love and support of friends and family around the world. Thank you!
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