Jamila's Standing Tall
Jamila is a hilarious little girl (which you can tell from the videos) who loves to tell jokes and hang out with her family and she has a big family with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. She dreams of going to school, playing outside, and doing normal kid things. All those things, that are not possible right now because of her back.
Jamila took the next step in her journey on August 13, 2018. She arrived at the Dar es Salaam airport with 35 different friends and family members, who all came to wish her good luck on her trip. This was Jamila's first time ever on a plane. She was unbelievably excited and greeted every flight attendant, pilot, and helper with a huge, "Hello!" During the long 41 hour plane trip, she got to meet the pilots and explore the cockpit. She was accompanied by our wonderful caregiver, Agness Athumani, and co-founder Masha Balovlenkov.
When Jamila landed in Plano, Texas, she and Agness lived with a wonderful and generous host family who showed the girls all the different things America has to offer; Kentucky Fried Chicken, soft serve ice cream, the Texas State Fair and trick-or-treating. For Halloween she dressed up as a princess.
Her surgery was performed in September at the Texas Back Institute by Dr. Isador Lieberman and his team. The surgery was a huge success. Jamila came out of surgery 5 inches taller and went back to Tanzania 15 lbs heavier.
Although surgery went well Jamila's work was far from over. Recovery was difficult, but she worked at it everyday. She spent 7 days in the hospital relearning how to take each step. She started with just a few steps, but eventually was seen with her walker moving up and down the hallways of the hospital. After leaving the hospital, she spent the next two months in the care of Agness and her host family where she improved more and more each day until November when she finally got to go home and see her family for the first time in 3 months.
Since heading home, Jamila loves to boast that she is finally taller than her little sister. She spends a lot of time playing and practicing her new English language skills. She just recently started at school for the first time in six years! She's attending Good Samaritan, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her favorite part is being able to leave the house and make friends again. We are so excited for Jamila and can't wait to see what she can achieve with her new healthy spine.
$10,000 Save-A-Life Pyramid
It’s a pretty simple, really. Below you will see a graphic with 150 envelopes. Each envelope has a number. That number represents a dollar amount. Once the dollar value has been donated, the envelope gets crossed out. The fundraiser continues until all envelopes are crossed out.
Sounds simple right?
It’s a pretty simple, really. Below you will see a graphic with 150 envelopes. Each envelope has a number. That number represents a dollar amount. Once the dollar value has been donated, the envelope gets crossed out. The fundraiser continues until all envelopes are crossed out.
Sounds simple right?
As you can see, we also have a physical wall of envelopes in our office as well. But since we interact with the majority of you online, we needed to come up with a digital solution.
So here’s how it’ll work:
Step 1: Join our Facebook Page, here.
This way, you can follow the progress and see which envelopes are available!
Step 2: Choose an envelope that has the cash value you want to give or raise.
– Make sure the envelope you want is not crossed out.
– If the envelope is crossed out, chose multiple envelopes that equal the amount you feel led to give or raise. Example: If you know you want to give or raise $100, you could choose many different envelope combinations to equal the sum of 100.
*Note: Your envelope will not be held or “claimed” while you are raising the money for your envelope. Our aim is to raise money fast, so the faster you raise your donation, better are the chances that you will meet your donation goal. Your money will not be counted until it has been received, posted, processed, paid, etc…
Step 3: Give or raise cash fast.
– Start your fundraising! We are excited to have you involved in this journey with us. By extending this fundraiser to your co-workers, extended family, roommates, hall-mates, school friends, Sunday school class, Mops group, and everyone you know, you give them the opportunity to participate in this beautiful journey of hope for a child living in Tanzania. So, get creative. Host a bake sale. Skip on eating out for two weeks. Get all your co-workers to give you $10. There are lots of ways to raise these amounts of money fast!
– Donate the cash value of your envelope by:
- using the DONATE button below
- using the “send money” feature on PayPal (use email masha@standtallinternational.org)
- sending a CHECK to Stand Tall International, 1733 S Mansfield Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019
Step 4: Give yourself a high five and dance around the room because YOU ARE AWESOME!!
Right now, we have 4 children that have all been on the waiting list for one year. If we fill all the envelopes, one of the them will be able to receive surgery in early 2018.