Finally Making a Difference!

Alright! It's time to talk about my projects here! Finally! haha we've had the privilege of meeting and working with some incredible people here so far. All of which I will tell you about, starting with Michael Medoth. Michael owns an orphanage called Osiligi Orphanage. "Osiligi" in Swahili means hope, which is exactly what he gives the kids! He has such a big heart, and a real desire to help kids in need. He is an amazing Christian man and believes that his children at the orphanage should believe in God as well, because God is the reason they all came together. You can tell the kids love each other and they are their own cute little family.

Hearing the backgrounds of these 11 kids really touched my heart. Some were abandoned, some lived with relatives because their parents either didn't want them, couldn't afford them, or didn't have time for them, some had parents who died from HIV/AIDS. We went to two different villages and saw three of the families that Michael got some of his kids at the orphanage from and learn their stories. It was really humbling even being in the areas because of the types of houses that they live in. Dirt floors, mud walls covered until magazines, no glass for their windows, a curtain for the door..It just makes me so grateful to have a good house and a good, whole family.

We're working on building him a new, bigger orphanage so he can take in more kids. We've been digging trenches for the foundation for it and boy, is it a LOT of work! We are so blessed in America to have machines that do everything for us. Really, digging trenches would have taken a few hours or so in America, but here..It's like three full days of making the dirt not so compact and shoveling it all out of the trenches. But we had quite a few locals helping, and they are really efficient and get things done fast. So they were a lot of help. We've also helped Michael plant a vegetable garden to help feed the kids. Again, a lot of work. But it definitely was worth it. :)

Another partner we've been working with is Goodluck William. He started a school for children called Utukufu Nursery School. "Utukufu" in Swahili means glory. They are really eager to learn and love singing songs. They know their ABCs, some of their numbers, shapes, and colors but that's pretty much it for English. So me, Alysha, and Bailey are teaching some English there for an hour and a half on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

When we first visited the school, only one out of the four rooms were being used to teach in. The others were being used for storage. So we took all of the storage and put it all in one room, and swept/cleaned out the other rooms so the rooms could be taught in. It was a really good idea because the students there were all being taught together, when they are really at different education levels. So since we've been teaching, we've been splitting them into different age groups and teaching them according to what that age group already knows.

Goodluck also has an HIV/AIDS group of Maasai women called the Utukufu Nursery School Support Group. They make beaded jewelry, coasters, cups, jewelry boxes, bags/purses, cool little trees made out of banana tree leaves..Pretty much everything! And they sell what they make to earn money for them. We're working on building them a chicken coop so they can sell the eggs for money for when they get sick and need medicine or to go to the hospital.

I've been working mainly with health problems here. Me and two other volunteers taught about hand washing and teeth brushing at Goodluck's school, Michael's orphanage, and another school in a Maasai village about an hour or so away called Nmanga, to adults and children. I also taught a class on water safety to the adults. The tap water here isn't completely filtered so it's not safe to drink, even though they drink it all the time. so I just talked about why the water wasn't safe to drink, how to filter the water, and boil it so all the bacteria is killed so it's safe to drink. The class went really well because we had a translator that told the students what we were saying. And I asked them a lot of questions so they would be really involved as well. We're also thinking about doing a project with water filtering.

Right now I'm working with an organization called Your Sisters. Your Sisters is a non-profit organization that empowers women of all ages here in Tanzania. They have an orphanage and a school for the younger girls, they give training and work opportunities through craft and design to adult women, and they also have a volunteering program where you come here and make a difference in country. It's a really inspiring organization that gives women a bigger opportunity to have education, work, and family. My goal with them is to help them touch and impact more lives by helping them become more well known. I'm going to go to their location weekly and gather pictures and inspiring stories/bios from the girls to share in the social media world and show why they are unique and why they matter. They already have a Facebook, website, Youtube account, a blog, and a twitter, but I feel like an Instagram would be a huge help and reach a lot of people around the world. So I'm making them an Instagram account and updating pictures and stories at least weekly, sometimes more! So if you guys want to be involved back home and help this amazing organization reach more people, you can like their Facebook page and like/share their posts or whatever I post about them and it would reach a lot more people. And you would be making a difference! That's all it takes. Two clicks to show some support. :)

These projects have helped out the people here, and it has helped me so much in return. It's helped me realize how grateful I am to have all of the things I have. It's helped me realize the importance of service. It's helped my testimony grow so much, and become more independent. I'm so grateful for having the healthy body I have, and for the opportunity to learn and grow each and every day here on Earth. I'm grateful for my family, for my friends, a shelter over my head, for loving and providing parents that both have solid jobs, for the gospel, for prayer, for my job to help me pay for this experience and for college, for the missionaries that brought me into this church, for the amazing home ward I had, for incredible leaders that have touched my life in so many ways, for music, for the people I've met here, for EVERYTHING. I am so blessed and haven't realized it until now. The life I live is a great one, and I am eternally thankful to be who I am today because of everything I have experienced and gone through.

I love you all! And I'll blog again soon!