Advertisement
Published: December 20th 2009
Safari njema!
A thoughtful side art project from one of the fourth graders.Hello everyone! This is the first update for our volunteer trip to Tanzania. We fly out of Minneapolis in just two days--Monday the 21st!
First of all, we wanted to thank all of you so very much for your generous contributions! We raised $1,495.49!!! That is $95.49 over our goal (the extra money will go to the organization and buy fruit for the children).
Thank you all for your generosity! We also wanted to extend a special thanks to the Tillotson family, Ms. Haslund and her fourth grade class, and Phil Johnson and the Stillwater Soccer Ponies Assist. The Tillotsons were incredibly helpful with many things, including donating many art supplies. Ms. Haslund's fourth grade class (of which Grace Tillotson, the flower girl at our wedding, is a member) made fantastically creative and fun cards to deliver to the children at LOHADA. Phil Johnson, on behalf of the Ponies Assist, provided jerseys for two full youth soccer teams, a batch of child's soccer t-shirts, and a set of soccer shorts for a whole team.
Many of you have been interested in learning a little more about what we will actually be doing. We will be able to explain
Kids' Cards
Just a small sampling of the wonderful cards, which were winter themed... much better once we are actually there, but here are a few pieces of information in advance. We will be volunteering for a small, grassroots NGO, called Loving Hand for the Disadvantaged and Aged (LOHADA) (the website is www.lohada.org). It was started by a Tanzanian woman, Mama Wamburi, who wanted to do something for street children. She has since established three "camps," one for young children (ages 5 and below), one for children (ages 5-13), and one for elderly. We will be volunteering at the camps for children, which offer both schooling and housing. Some of the children come only to attend school while others live there. The camps are for children who would otherwise be living on the street or in disadvantaged families without access to education. We will be living with a host family. As to our daily volunteer activities, stay tuned for future updates...!
We hope to provide updates and pictures during our trip. If we are unable to, we will provide stories and updates as soon as we get back (January 16th).
Thank you all again for your contributions and well-wishes! We wish you happy holidays and a wonderful new year!
Joe and
Art supplies
Thank you Amy!!! Paola
Advertisement
Tot: 0.11s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0498s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Nia
non-member comment
:)
You guys are an awesome couple! Muchas bediciones y suerte! Love u!