It’s taken me a little bit longer than I’d
hoped to find an internet connection that was good enough to post an entry. But
the wait has been worth it. In the last four days that I’ve been here, Tanzania
has already given me more memories than a lifetime.
Two days ago I started my volunteering
placement at a small and passionate nursery school in the Sakina district of
Arusha. The Hill Crest orphanage is like nothing I’ve ever experienced.
The story of Hill Crest is so humbling.
Elizabeth is a Masai woman who wasn’t married and became an outcast of her
community. She was told that no man would ever marry her and that she’d be childless,
so when she met Isaac, a man about 5 years her junior, the community was
shocked. Since Elizabeth thought she would never have kids of her own, she took
it upon herself to provide education, shelter and food for the most needy kids
in her neighborhood.
She set up a makeshift school on top of a
quarry on the church lands. It was dangerous and there was no room for play, but
at least it was a space where the hungry kids would have some shelter and food.
Soon, the number of kids grew from 4 or 5, to the 60+ kids that are there
today. Oh, and Isaac and Elizabeth got a
baby daughter of their own, proving the community wrong!
Elizabeth, Isaac and the teachers at Hill
Crest provide lunch and free schooling to these kids five days a week. Thanks
to a volunteer which I’m working with, they are now also providing breakfast.
These are the only meals most of these kids get. Which means on weekends and
weeknights they go without.
Isaac and Elizabeth are the most humble and
impressive people you’ll ever meet. I feel really priviledged to be able to
work alongside them and their staff. Their impact is so huge, their effort so
large and what they get in return is so little.
Yes. It’s unlike me to do a preachy post.
This is the last one for a while, I promise. But the story is so incredible
that I had to at least try and give you a sense of what is going on here! If you want to help, you can donate to account I'm creating to purchase supplies for the school by visiting my fundraising page.
Next
time there’ll be more pictures and less talking. Trust me, I’ve got enough to
fill a year’s worth of blog posts... But in the meantime, here's some beautiful shots of some of the kids that have made themselves a permanent home in my heart.
