A home for special needs children.

Hi everyone, thank you for taking the time to read this... I have created this GoFundme in order to help build a home for special needs children, to support and also protect children living with disabilities in rural Kilimanjaro...

Who am I?

My names John and I'm from the UK, but now live as a volunteer aid worker supporting children in Tanzania....

In brief, after following a spiritual calling and giving up my life in the UK to move to a village in Tanzania called Uchira, I am now the full time guardian of over 30 children, and provide support out in the community for many more...

I began my journey here supporting children out in the community with education, but as time progressed, using that which people shared with the children and I on social media, I began to care for and protect a great many children with special needs in the area.

 Eco-Friendly, Child care?

We have built a small off the grid community we call Feathers Tale, where children with disabilities without guardians are cared for by our staff, who are mainly single parents of children with disabilities. Who is better qualified for the job after all!

Why full time care?

Sadly the reality of life here for disabled children is often more than difficult . All of our children were severely neglected, and malnourished when they came to live with us, one boy was even found tied up in a shed with the goats... In a country with little to no support for families with special needs children, many suffer terribly. How can a single parent care for a disabled child and work to earn money... quite simply many cant, and this is why children suffer, and are often abandoned as some of our own were..

 The first child to move in was in fact homeless with her mother... Her mum now works here caring for the children who were not lucky enough to have such a loving mother.

3 of our children with Cerebral palsy have learned to walk this year too... so even giving the chance of a normal life of mobility is part of our Caring for our Feathers Tale family...

Why Protect?? You might ask why protect, well the short answer is Witch Doctors...

It s a long story and not one I want to get into, but special needs children are targeted by these people just as Albino children are here.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-31849531

Where we live?

We live on a 1 acre plot of land, owned by the NGO that is registered here, and I am the volunteer Director of. On that land we have larger house with a toilet, and several smaller houses that share a communal outdoor toilet. In the smaller houses we have mainly single parents with special needs children, but some able bodied boys with HIV also live in them. We also have a lady in pallative care too sadly. We call our little community Feathers Tale Childrens Village.

Who are our children?

We have 12 children with disabilities ranging from cerabral palsy with to blindness and aspergers. This does not include our able bodied children or HIV children.

What we need?

We need to build a new house, large enough to house more special needs children. We are full to capacity now, and for all we have a little money ready to build the new home, we don't have the full amount needed.

Why?

Our current house is very full! But there are more children coming to us every month... The children we take in are in desperate need of care, parents just can not cope with working full time to eat, and also to care for their child, so the children suffer greatly.

 Other children are abandoned like our latest resident  Noel who is only 3... In short, we have too many children coming, and not enough space for them to sleep!

The house?

The house will have 3 large bed/living rooms, a wash area and toilet, a corridor and and out door shaded area for exercising the children.  It will house up to 20 children...

 The cost for the house, with plumbing, Solar power, Labor and materials is £20,000

 We already have £5000 of that thanks to a pledge from a private donor, so our goal is now £15,000 to get the new house built, and as many children moved in as possible :)

 Thank you for taking the time to read about our children, and what we need to provide a loving and safe home for 20 more... :)

You can check on the work we do here www.facebook.com/sharetanzania

Yours in love and gratitude

John and the Children who are here, and yet to come to Feathers Tale Childrens Village. x

PAYPAL donations are accepted offline also via https://uchirachildrensfund.org/make-a-donation/ but please leave a  note to say it is for the new house :) thank you x