What We Do
We serve the Geita region primarily through residential care of abandoned, orphaned, or vulnerable children and through our community outreach projects: Maisha Matters and Cleft Lip Repair. We work in connection with the local hospitals, clinics, and government social welfare offices to identify children in need and ensure their care and safety.
Residential Care
Neema House was opened in Geita Town in June 2013 and was initially set up to serve up to 20 children at a time. Since then, Neema House has expanded its facilities to include separate baby and toddler homes, thus increasing capacity and improving quality of care. On average we have around 26 children in the home. We work hard to find permanent homes for all children in our home and since 2015 over 97 children have returned home or been adopted locally.
Maisha Matters
Maisha Matters addresses the problem of infant mortality and malnutrition following the death of the mother (often in childbirth), when a mother is unable to breastfeed (often as a result of HIV or other illness), or in other cases of severe malnutrition due to lack of appropriate food or nutrition. In 2017 this program was expanded to support all children under age 5 who have been diagnosed with severe malnutrition.
Cleft Lip Repair
In 2020, Neema House began offering support to children with cleft lips and cleft palates in order to assist them to get life altering surgery. Children with cleft lips often suffer from malnutrition because of difficulty feeding. Additionally, due to the large stigma associated with it, many of these children are hidden away in shame.