New Volunteers & the Beginning of "Winter"
14.05.2013
In the usually beautiful Tanzania, we have had our fair share of rain this past month. Luckily the last week has been looking up and the new set of volunteers and all of the kids at our projects have appreciated the chance to get out and play a bit! It has been a busy month with incoming volunteers from across Europe. We are excited to see how our new group is taking initiative and diving into their projects, helping in any way and making connections with the children.
Our kids at the Children’s Home have been getting along well also. There was a small period of time where we had a lull of volunteers, so they are very happy to have volunteers again to tutor, help with homework, and just have fun. During one of our rainy days, we had the opportunity to have an art day. It’s fun to see what the kids come up with when doing watercolors—zebras, flowers, and “tichas” (teachers!). Of course the face painting was a hit!
We were also able to take the children to the beach for the first time in a while. It has been raining, but Sunday was the perfect beach day. All sunshine, breeze, waves, and lots of laughter. The beach days are certainly a highlight. The kids absolutely love going and it is a lot of fun for the volunteers, also. It’s a way to get out and have fun with the children outside of the orphanage setting. Let’s hope we continue to have this good “winter” weather!
We are so glad that we have a few more sponsors for three of our kids going to the Mbezi Beach Primary School to now attend private school for next school year. This is such a great opportunity for them to get a foundation of academic excellence. Donaldi and Dorie who transferred to J.K. Nyere School just three months ago are doing visibly better with English. It’s exciting to see their progression in such a short amount of time and we are so thankful to our sponsors, past and present, who continue to enrich their lives in this way.
The wall our previous volunteers painted
Our Kunduchi project is also doing well—we have four volunteers going to help at the nursery school by teaching basic English and Math. The children’s continued enthusiasm there is inspiring. They are always so excited to be in school and have teachers come for them. We even have a volunteer who is staying each day to establish our English Corner concept. This is for the adult fisherman in the community to come learn English. She enjoys seeing their child-like curiosity and eagerness to learn. We are excited to see where that goes and am hopeful that it will continue.
So thank you for everyone’s continued support and volunteer participation! We remain impressed with the level of commitment our volunteers give our projects and are constantly grateful for our generous sponsors and donors. help2kids Tanzania is happy to see our journey carry on in a positive direction.
Until next time, stay in the sunshine and enjoy the breeze!
Jessica Isham
help2kids Volunteer Coordinator