Tanzania (Part Two) — The Children

Just like their parents, the children in Tanzania exude happiness in everything that they do.

Because only a few of them have the opportunity go to college and gain more education, a major part of our trip was to visit different schools and orphanages, teach about the importance of education, and deliver school supplies for each child.*

^{*A giant thank you to all those who donated school supplies and materials—hopefully the faces of the children who received them will be rich payment for you.}

My friend Mitch Stevens donated a couple copies of the children’s book that he wrote and published called, Hey! Follow Your Dreams. The kids loved seeing the pictures and the message seemed to fit in perfectly.

On our flights over, all of us (42 bodies) took 100lbs of donated school supplies such as notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, and reading books. Because of the late rainy season, the road that would have taken us to the neighboring villages was too muddy to drive on. So, in an effort to make good on our promise to bring supplies to the children, everyone grabbed a bundle of notebooks and pencils and we made the muddy journey on foot.

And the supplies arrived safe and sound!

Some of the school bags the children were using were so well-loved that they were tattered and falling apart—so we were really glad that we had brought some replacements to hand out.

The schoolmaster in the nearest village expressed her gratitude for the donations, sharing how much it would mean to each child to have their own notebook and pencils.

About 200-300 children from the surrounding villages all gathered to hear us sing and talk about education. Some of them had even walked 10km to get there. So well behaved! Each of them, including the younger ones stood politely in their respective lines throughout the whole presentation. And we got to hear them sing for us as well!

While it was raining we walked around to each classroom and taught them a rousing rendition of head, shoulders, knees, and toes. We tried to hack it in Swahili but it didn’t go so well…but we all had fun anyway.

#selfie

#selfieagain

This boy almost beat us back to first village but we were happy to see that he had his shiny new notebook with him.

↓ Pic of the Post: 1/500, f/3.5, ISO 250, 50mm (50mm f/1.8) — That smile tho!

Alice, the schoolmaster of this small school in Arusha recently sent this message:
“I would like to thank you and all BYU students for the school materials you provided to Glorious School. Children are now developing interest in reading books and they are enjoying so much. They are also learning new words as I read with them the books. Coloring has become everyday activities as we have enough crayons. Thank you so much and my you please pass our appreciation to all the students who visited us. May God bless you and give you long life as you continue offering help.”

Even though we had the opportunity to bring at least some materials to the children, the lessons that we learned far outweigh any good that we tried to do while we were there. This well-written article, You Need Africa More Than Africa Needs You outlines of a few of the most important things that we can hope to remember from our experience there.

Go back to Part One — The People.

/// FOLLOW ALONG WITH MY OTHER INTERESTS

Firewire Publishing — Book layout design and self-publishing