About this year's organization: The Small Things

This year the London School of Economics' MPA (Masters of Public Administration) community has spoken, and we have chosen to raise money for The Small Things, a nonprofit run by our very own first year, Bekka Ross Russell, which works with an orphanage in Tanzania. The Small Things is named after a quote from Mother Theresa that, in some ways, captures the feeling many of those in the program have about their work.

"We ourselves know that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. We can do no great things, only small things with great love." -Mother Theresa

(Of course, that quote might not be as reflective of those of us who actually are planning on world domination!)

 Above from left: Baracka (2), Simoni (3), Dainess (5)

The Small Things works with Nkoaranga orphanage in Tanzania, a facility that cares for around thirty children from birth to five years. They have several types of initiatives, supporting nutritional and sanitation programs, coordinating the children's education, and building infrastructure and staffing levels. There are more details on various programs available here.  Some of the biggest current projects include getting this year's kids into school and hiring additional staff to care for the children.

The Small Things is a small organization, but their projects have a big impact on the kids and the orphanage's parent hospital. For instance, through installing a well, they have been able to provide water that was missing up to 30% of the time to the 30 orphanage children as well as the 150 bed hospital, which serves a catchment area of over 50,000 individuals. They've had huge reductions in illness since introducing vitamins and formula supplementation, and malaria has decreased significantly with the replacement of all the old nets. Working with such a small organization will allow the MPA to make a really comprehensive, focused impact, in a way that contributing funds to an already large organization would not.

  Above from left: Loveness (3), Maureen (6 months), Pray (3)

Here are some examples to give a sense of what we can do...

For £30, we can buy seeds and plant next year's garden, providing healthy produce for the children year round. 

For £40, we can buy ten new washable nappy covers for the babies, or new socks and underwear for all of the older kids. 

For £50, we can pay for 6 months worth of vitamins for the kids, helping to combat rickets and other nutritional deficiencies that are all too frequent!

For £100, we can replace all of the mosquito nets in the orphanage - the toddlers especially tend to rip them when they get bored in bed, so new ones will be a huge help!

For £300, we will be able to pay for ALL of one child's expenses in the orphanage for a year - including food, medicine, and care. 

For £700, we will be able to hire a new staff person for a full year - which has the double benefit of providing desperately needed employment in the local community, as well as making a big dent in the number of developmental problems the young children develop when there are insufficient numbers of carers. 

For £1500, we can pay for two year's of room, board, tuition, and extracurricular oversight for one of the older kids starting boarding school. See here for more details. 

All of these projects help give these amazing kids the future they deserve, the future their mothers would have wanted for them.