One More Orphanage Visit and Our Business Seminar

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A couple of our volunteers left a day early so I replaced them at the orphanage so I could see the kids again. My last visit was later in the day so this was a totally different experience to come in the morning before they all wake up. I’m so impressed with the volunteers who were on this project each day. To wash and cloth that many children in such disarray is a feat. There are clothes everywhere in no particular order, half are not even dry, and you almost have to try to catch a kid to get them dressed and bathed.

I was trying to help a little guy put shoes on and he kept trying to put the wrong shoe on the wrong foot. I continued to try to show him that he needed the other shoe but he’d have nothing to do with it or any of the other shoes. He started crying. I felt so helpless not being able to speak to him in his language. One of the mamas came over and we finally figured out he was upset because one of the shoes had no shoelaces so he didn’t want to wear it. It took a while to find a pair that fit him with shoelaces and then he was happier. It’s such a sad feeling to see these children not even have the basics. It’s so not fair.

I was happy to see the children one last time and I also got to take a look at the hospital adjacent to the orphanage. This was Michelle’s placement so she showed me around a little bit.

Back at Upendo Foundation, Karolyn (the other volunteer) and I created a seminar on how to develop a business plan to educate some of the local woman (and one man showed up too!) on all the things they need to consider before starting their business and taking a loan. As part of this seminar, we visited with some of the women in the village who are currently running businesses and asked them to participate in a panel discussion at the seminar. There were three women in all: Zenta, who makes money selling milk from her cow and recently artificially inseminated her cow to produce a calf, Teddy, who cooks food and sells it on the corner to people who pass by, and Njikania a tailor.

This was quite a different setting from other panels I've organized in the states, but we figured why not take the same concept and bring it to a different venue (little tiny church in Tanzania decorated with beach balls). The other difference was the start time. Whenever a time is scheduled here the first clarifying question is “TFT or Mzungu Time”, which translates to “Tanzania Flex Time or White People Time”. Let’s just say time is not of the essence for Tanzanians. Things usually start 45 min - 1 hour after the listed time.

Preparing and actually delivering the seminar really highlighted the need for education here. People want to be successful and want to do the work, but they need the knowledge and advice on how to get started, sustain and grow their business.

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Photos

Calm Before The Storm
Walking into the Orphanage before the children wake up.

Pretend
This made me so sad. She didn't have a baby bottle and doll to play with so she's pretending to feed her stuffed rabbit with a train car.

Baby Lineup
One person washes, the other diapers and I was trying to find clothes for each of them. Try using cloth diapers with NO pins, only using knots to keep them on!

Craziness
These two did not want to go down for their nap.

Emanuel
This poor little one was burning a hole in my neck he was so hot. Another volunteer said he most likely had malaria.

Nap Time
If you don't have a teddy bear to sleep with, I guess a shoe is the next best thing

Follow up
I found out the little boy I met the first week is named Heaven Light. How cute is that! (on the left)

The Hospital
Inside the Pharmacy with Michelle and Carla. This was their volunteer placement.

Zenta's House
Karolyn and I with Zenta.

Zenta and her Test Tube Cow
She paid 5,000 Shillings to have her cow artificially inseminated. Here's the result.

Fake Food
She give the cow bark from the banana trees when she can't afford proper food for the cow.

The Tailor's Shop
Njikania, the tailor, rents this area outside for her business.

Hanging with Mom at Work
Njikania's son.

Shija in the Field
Talking with villagers about the seminar.

Seminar in Action
A lively group.

Church Decor
Hung on the ceiling of the church where we held the seminar.

Shija's Other Job
He also builds homes in his spare time.