Want to make a difference in Tanzania? Sponsor this kid!

Last week a young man named Chesco Chaula came to Sunrise Children’s Home to ask for financial assistance in paying for school.

Chesco was raised in a nearby village, and completed Form 4 (equivalent to grade 11) last year. He showed me his final exam results and he did very well overall, especially in Biology and Chemistry. During our conversation he explained to me that he would like to continue on to High School, which is Form 5 and 6, focusing on science subjects. Then after high school he plans on attending University to be a doctor, specifically a cardiologist. While he has the grades and the resolve to go to high school, he can’t afford it. Here in Tanzania only grades 1-7 are offered for free, any additional education at either government or private schools students and their families must pay out of pocket. Chesco’s parents helped him to pay for Form 1-4 (grades 8-11), but do not have any more funds for him to attend high school. He has been working to save money to pay the school fees and so far has saved 200,000 schillings (about $130). That is quite a significant amount of money here in Tanzania, but only about a quarter of the total cost for Form 5 & 6. Below is an estimate of the costs for his two years at school. Chesco is waiting to see which high school the government will place him in (he selects 5 schools, then he is placed in one of them), so the numbers below are an estimate and may vary depending on which school he will attend.

Form 5 (Year 1):

-          Tuition                  200,000 tsh

-          Supplies               66,000 tsh

-          Textbooks           380,000 tsh

-          Uniform               49,000 tsh

Subtotal               695,000 tsh = $450 USD

Form 6 (Year 2):

-          Tuition                  200,000 tsh

-          Supplies               66,000 tsh

-          Textbooks           90,000 tsh

Subtotal               356,000 tsh = $230 USD

Total Expenses                  1,051,000 tsh = $680 USD

(Student contribution)  (200,000) tsh = $130 USD

Total Needed                    851,000 tsh = $550 USD approx.

I told Chesco that I am a volunteer here in Tanzania and do not have any money, but that I would ask some of my friends in America to see if anyone might be able to help. I told him that I wasn’t promising anything, but that I would simply ask.

Currently, about 30 students are being sponsored by individuals through Sunrise Children’s Home. Chesco is another person who’s chance to reach his potential and break the cycle of poverty is being hindered by lack of funds. So if anyone is interested in sponsoring Chesco, or wants more information please let me know.

Bumps, Blood, and Boogers

Many of my friends will attest to the fact that I had often stated that I would like to be a mother one day, but definitely not any time soon. I have always had these grand ideas of being a big career woman, and so motherhood would have to wait. Well I suppose that changed a little sooner than I had anticipated, as I now find myself with 12 beautiful, sweet and rambunctious children. Of course I am merely a substitute mom in this case, and much more of a caretaker as well as a maid, cook, and nurse.

I never wanted to go into the medical field. I can barely stand needles, and most certainly and not a fan of blood. I remember in college while one of my best friends Kendra would tell me stories of her nursing classes and the cadavers that they would slice apart and investigate. Just the mere thought of seeing the internal organs and bloody masses was enough to turn my stomach. So I’m not sure how I got assigned to site nurse, but that has become one of my various duties here at the orphanage. 

I have mentioned before that we have had an outbreak of fungus, and thanks to many suggestions from back home, the fungus that is no longer as rampant, however is quickly being replaced by yet another source of little itchy bumps. At least this time there are no sores, although one girl in particular has it all over her body and is constantly scratching. We have a few other ideas that we are going to try and hopefully we can get somewhere, because the village medical officer has been transferred so we have no one here to go to anymore. Not that “Dr. Richard” was much help, in fact whenever he came over to take a look at the kids with the fungus or someone with a tummy-ache, he would ask what we’re using already, and once we showed him the cream or pill, he would immediately prescribe that particular medication. He never even took a temperature or did any of the other basic check-up procedures.

So as medical care here is obviously lacking, I have had to step up and now spend every evening slathering on ointments and medicated powder to various ailments before tucking the kids into bed. At first, the oozing wounds and weeping scabs grossed me out, and a few times made me a little queasy. The other day after playing with the kids I looked down and saw a long line of bloody snot on the sleeve of my sweater. Instantly I froze with disgust, but after a second I just sighed, wiped it off and washed my hands. After the initial repulsive reaction, it just came to me; I’m going to always be surrounded and mostly likely covered in a various levels of nastiness, so I might as well get over it now. So that was it. No more revulsion to bumps, blood and boogers, but I’ve accepted that right now it’s my fate and my duty to take care of these issues as well as I can. Well at least until someone with real medical experience comes along…. Let me know if there are any takers : )

Everything I Once Held Dear, I Count It All As Loss

Of course any time that it seems like everything is going perfectly, something has to happen that brings you back to reality. Well when I was in Zanzibar, I had the unfortunate experience of my purse being stolen.  I am typically very careful with my belongings, and never carry more than what is absolute necessary, but because of a specific series of events throughout the day the evening that my purse was stolen it contained every single valuable item that I had brought with me: money, passport, debit card, digital camera, cell phone, watch, diamond ring, 2 silver rings, sunglasses, but a few other little things. It happened while I was talking with a friend during a music performance at Sauti za Busara, my purse was right next me one moment and then it was just gone. My heart dropped, and I was frantically looking all around, checking with the security guards, but of course it was to no avail. I waited by the exit, hoping and praying that I might happened to see the thief carrying my bag, but there were so many people and everyone had big bags and backpacks, so it was no use.

All of my friends tried to console me, but they knew just as well as I did that my purse was gone, and there was really nothing anyone could do.  For about an hour while I was sitting by the exit my mind racing with thoughts of how I should have left my passport at the guest house (even though the door did not lock), how I should have carried my purse the whole time even though it was heavy and hurt my shoulder, how I should have brought only my camera and a little bit of cash instead of my whole purse, how I should have put my extra memory cards for my camera in a different bag so I didn’t lose all of my photos, how I should have put my rings back on after swimming instead of leaving them in my wallet, etcetera, etcetera. I was stuck in an endless cycle of analyzing every move that I had made the whole day, and how I should have done this and could have done that to prevent the situation or at least lessened the losses. After that hour, I realized that I could sit there and sulk in my misfortune, or I could get up and get over it. The things that were stolen were very valuable, both monetarily and sentimentally, but they were just material possessions. Items like the diamond ring from my mom and the brand new camera with hundreds of pictures, held significant personal importance, but there was nothing that I absolutely needed except for my passport, and that could be replaced. So I decided to give the situation up to God, prayed for patience and peace over the ordeal, and then joined my group with a renewed attitude.

Over the new few days, my traveling companions were quite astounded at how well I was taking the whole theft issue. One girl told me specifically that she was impressed at how positive I was about my purse being stolen. I told her exactly what I told myself, that they were just things and although some items were irreplaceable and I didn’t have the finance to replace the things that could be, I didn’t actually need them, I just wanted them. So I was just happy to be in a beautiful place, and I wasn’t going to let something like that ruin the rest of my trip. Then something amazing happened. The day before we were scheduled to head back to Dar es Salaam and then back to the village, my friend got a text from Bibi Kay that the USA Embassy in Dar had my passport! It was a miracle, I couldn’t believe it. The next day we went back to Dar, caught a taxi to the embassy and they had not only my passport, but also my debit card and other miscellaneous papers and receipts that had all been in the same wallet. Apparently, my passport, debit card and papers had been found at the post office in Zanzibar, then sent over to the embassy. When the embassy received my passport they found a business card for Sunrise Children’s Home with Bibi Kay’s phone number in it, they called her and then she was able to get a hold of me in time so that I could stop by and pick up my things before the long bus ride back to the village. I was so excited and relieved! Of course, part of me wished that they had recovered more of my stolen items, but my passport and debit card were the only things that I was going to have to replace right away. Isn’t it so incredible how God can answer prayers like that? He might not always give us the things we want, but He will always provide us with the things that we need. All we have to do is put our faith in Him, and not in other things like people or worldly possessions. Philippians 3:7