“Jambo” from Africa

 

Here’s a brief update from Projectliner, Jessie Morris, who is volunteering in Tanzania.

Jambo! from a small Internet café in Usa River, Tanzania in Africa. The trip here was a long one, stopping—count it—FIVE TIMES, and taking about 40 hours from door to door. Considering the hassle at the airport to get our tickets (much longer story than I have time for here!) and to check our bags for so many stops, I was not one bit surprised when our bags weren’t sitting in the luggage pile upon arrival at the Mt. Kilimanjaro Airport at 3:10am. At least Crispin, the CEO of the Tamiha Foundation, was there to pick us up. We did fortunately receive our bags three days later, smelling quite lovely….

We are staying at the Tamiha Orphanage Home with the 30 orphans currently living there, ranging in ages 3 to 9. Nine were dropped off from the government the night we arrived. Some are sponsored to attend private school during the day and some remain at Tamiha to receive some instruction from a local teacher, Lillian.

The children are so sweet and their stories so touching. We’ve spent most of our time at the Orphanage with the children teaching them colors, numbers, and English. We’ve also had a chance to visit St.Vivian’s Private School where the sponsored children attend school. And we’ve visited Arusha Town which is the larger city in Northern Tanzania—quite an experience! Up next are Home Visits to support HIV infected women and families in the local community.

African life is definietly a world away from life in the United States. No running water for toilets, a shower consists of a bucket of water from the small river, the electricity only sometimes works, and I’ve had both young and old shout Mzungu (Swahili for “white person”) at me in the streets. But it’s all so worth it to know that we can help, even just a little, leave an impact on these children’s lives.

And to know that they’re making an even bigger impact on mine.