The Shalom Orphanage Karatu Tanzania

I have been in Tanzania for 5 days now and I am now settled in and started volunteering at the orphanage in full force. The children are wonderful, full of love and laughter. I help the youngest kids with math and writing their letters, I teach the older kids some English and then they have taken me on a few walks around the area – telling me “don’t worry they will take care of ME.” I had a chance to sit down and talk with the founder and local volunteer to learn more about the organization. Here is the inspirational yet heart wrenching story of Shalom Orphanage & Children Care Center.

The Shalom Orphanage is located in Kartau, Tanzania which is about 2 hours west of Arusha near the Ngorongoro Crater. The orphanage was founded in 2004 by my host mother, MamanWarra and host father, Rev. Nnko (Baba.) Their sole mission is to improve the lives of poor and disadvantaged children in Karatu and neighboring communities Arusha and Moshi ensuring they are shown mercy regardless of religion, tribe or ethnicity. There are currently 56 living at the orphanage ages 0-15.

Baba is a minster and while he and Mama were in Karatu ministering at a church they met many vulnerable children. These children did not have proper clothing, food, or a place to sleep. They met some of the children at the dump where they were searching for food to eat. Mama and Baba knew they had to do something and that is when they took in their first three children, Anna (now age 15 and the oldest child at Shalom – pictured in the middle,) Maggie (age 10 – right) and Well Well (age 8 – left). These 3 children Mama and Baba took to their home to live, thus beginning the start of Shalom. (the photo was taken in 2004.)

Mama Warra is a woman of faith who believes she can achieve anything with the help of God and this inspiration is what has made her the visionary for this home for children. She started with 3 children in her own home, then moved to another rented 3 bedroom house where she housed 15 children and now because of her hard work and savings from donations given by travelers and volunteers she was able to build the current orphanage 2007. There are still many dreams for this location but I will talk about them in a little bit.

Innocent, a local volunteer at the orphanage and Mama helped explain the circumstances that communities in Tanzania face. The biggest problem is HIV/AIDS, at the orphanage there are 6 children who are infected with HIV, but many children across the country lose their parents to this disease. The proper education is still lacking and so many people do not understand the consequences of HIV/AIDS. The 2nd biggest problem is road accidents. There are many road accidents killing many people each year as there are not the laws that we have in the US. When a parent is killed, especially the father, it is extremely difficult for the other parent to provide for their children. In Tanzania the husband goes to work and the wife stays home to care for the children so if that father is gone it’s almost impossible for the mother to be able to financially support her children and she ends up abandoning them. The 3rd major issue is alcoholism. When a parent becomes addicted they start to lose their mind and no longer care about feeding their family but just how to get their next fix. This brings about many vulnerable children because the alcoholism brings about harsh punishments and starvation so the children start begging on the street and looking for food at the dump. Other problems that these children face are lack of available work, educated parents, other diseases, and shame. If a young girl becomes pregnant she is usually kicked out of school, sent away from home and then blames the baby she is carrying for ruining her life, and more often than not she leave her baby out in the bush to die or for someone else to find.


Since 2008, the orphanage has had many successes, including the purchasing and building of the current site, which holds the living quarters, kitchen, a classroom for preschool aged children for both children from the orphanage and from the community. They have established a farm, with sheep, cows, chicken, ducks, turkeys, pigs and land to grow corn and other vegetables. This is all important because when Mama finds these children they are severely malnourished so she works extremely hard to make sure that she can provide them with the proper food to help them grow and become healthy. Another success and income generator is the orphanage’s grinding machine for corn, for both the orphanage and the community to use. The orphanage was able to drill and build a well so that they have their own water and they do not have to pay for public water, which they were doing and it was so expensive they are still paying past bills. Lastly, there is an amazing project that is almost complete which is the Bio-gas project created and lead by Innocent. This project will provide heat and light energy to the orphanage by using the waste from the cows on the farm. As mentioned previously Mama was able to save from donations given by trhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifavelers and volunteers to be able to build all of this; however the funding is never a definite as I mentioned there is no permanent funder, like the Good Shepherd Orphanage I was at in Ghana.

There are many setbacks that come with running an organization like this. The fact that they survive on donations and never knowing when they will come is its own struggle, sometimes there is not enough money for food; even with the farm there are other needs for the children like bean which they currently are not able to provide to the children. The orphanage also has no play equipment and barely any toys. They would like to give the children a “football” (soccer) field as it is a very popular sport here, and also a swing set for the younger children so that they have a place to play. Running an amazing place like Shalom comes many bills, including electric (which is being threaten to be turned off,) past water bills, school bills, as the orphanage only has one classroom for the youngest children they have to pay for all of the older children to go to school, as education, even in public school is not free here. This is not only costly but the education is not very good. The last challenge they face is the need to pay their staff. They have 15 staff members including: child care workers, social workers, teachers, cooks, cleaning help, and gardeners. Due to lack of funding some of the staff has not been paid since March they pray each month that there will be enough money to pay their personnel.

As I mentioned Mama Warra is a visionary, she has many long term goals for Shalom Orphanage and listening to this story brought tears to my eyes and even as I write this blog I have been holding them back. Mama’s biggest goal is to be able to help more children. There are 56 children currently living at Shalom but there are still so many children in the community that need a place like Shalom to call home. The most important project that Mama would like to see complete is to build a school on site for all children to attend. This would help cut down the school cost and it would also guarantee that all of the children are getting a solid education. Children from the community would be able to attend helping to bring in some income. The second vision is a Child Care Village; this would be an area with 6 houses where 10 children would live with a mother, father and older sister who would care for them. They would live and take care of each other as a family. This would be like a stepping stone for the children; they would start in the dormitory and then be able to live in a family unit to teach more about a stable family dynamic. Lastly, Mama Warra would like to build a volunteer house on-site. Where I am staying now is not far from the orphanage but she has to rent it and it is becoming very costly. This volunteer house would not only serve current volunteers at the orphanage but it would also be available to travelers who would like to come to Karatu (not far from the national parks) and stay overnight, much like a hostel and all of the funds would go back into the orphanage.

As I have mentioned throughout this post Mama Warra is an amazing lady and the children and staff at Shalom are full of love (I’ve only been here 5 days and I know I’m going to miss them so much when I have to leave.) Mama Warra wants to empower these children to know how important it is to continue to help. These children have no iPods, no cell phones, no video games new clothes and on Christmas Day they go into town to meet the street children and bring them food, pencils, clothes, and toys – all items that were donated to them and they then share these gifts and give them to other children who do not have a place like Shalom, they call it “Celebrate Christmas Donated By Shalom.”

Shalom believes that every child has a dream and it is their hope to give these children an opportunity to use their skills and gifts to reach their full potential and see their dreams become reality. They can’t do this on their own there is a high demand for support. Below is more information or you can email me directly at beth.hickox@gmail.com if you would like to help this great NGO, it is something I have now become very passionate about and would like to do all I can to help.

How you can help
Financial and Material Support:
• There is a high demand to purchase items on their daily wish list including food, first aid supplies, tooth paste and brushes, cooking oil, soap, medical care, etc.
• Contribute to the construction costs of upkeep to the current building, a hope for a new school, community houses and volunteers house.
• Help with the cost of utilities
• Contribute academic materials such as backpacks, school supplies, and books
• Volunteer!

Contact
Warra Elisamia Nnko – Director
Shalom Orphanage Center
PO BOX 370 Karatu
Tanzania East Africa
Email: shalomchildren2006@yahoo.com
www.loveandpeacehomestanzania.org

You can also contact me if you would like to donate, I am going to work on getting them funds through donations when I return the US.

Tanzania Update

I made it to Tanzania safely after and EXTREMELY long and exhausting flight. I am working on my next blog post tonight and hope to have it perfected tomorrow. It's all about the orphanage I am volunteering at and a "must read." If you read nothing else please look for this post.

A Tad More Traveling

After we departed from Denu we traveled to Accra, the capital city of Ghana. We stayed at the Salvation Army Hostel where I had the chance to meet many other volunteers who were in town to travel or fly home.


We did a little sightseeing around Accra, we went to their market, which is about 5times bigger than the one in Denu. Simon pointed out monuments and important building and then took me and our new friend Connie (who had just finished her internship and was stay in gin the hostel) to see a coffin workshop. Seriously people a coffin workshop!!!! In Ghana one of the most visited places is the coffin shop. Simon explained that coffins are designed to suit the deceased occupation or hobby. When I got on the plane to Tanzania there was an article in the in flight magazine! It said: "fantasy coffins have become one of the more unusual and significant expression of modern craftsmanship." Who Knew!?!

The following day I did the coolest yet scariest thing ever! I did the canopy walk at Kakum National Park. That's right, I walked above the trees of the rain forest surrounded only by ropes and walking on planks that swayed side to side. That fear of bridges came back pretty fast at first but since I was with every school group in Cape Coast region I couldn't NOT do it! Plus I just kept telling myself - "I jumped out of a plane once, I can do this" and then I was ok and I embraced this opportunity. I will say I was thrilled when I was back on solid ground!

The Construction Site...Not Just Cement Blocks But Building Blocks For The Future

While traveling with Simon, I really had a chance to talk with him about the future orphanage in Denu. After being there helping I had even more questions about the project. I learned that this orphanage will serve mentally and physically disabled children from all over Ghana, and will continue to be completely funded by STAESA

In Ghana when a child is born differently abled it is believed that the parents are cursed and these children are often left to starve or just not taken care of. I loved what Simon said, he said if you make an orphanage just for these children it is not helping them, you would confine them and prove to them and society that they are different; so children without disabilities will also be living there. In addition, children from the community who are not orphans will be able to go to the school. This concept will show all the children the importance of acceptance and how to help one another by empowering all of them to be successful and teaching them how important they each are.

The orphanage will house about 60-70 children and each room of the living quarters will have a "mother" who will care for that group of children so that they will always feel loved. Many orphanages only have 1 or 2 Madame’s for many children, so here each group of 7-10 children will have their own mama.

There is nothing like this currently in Ghana, which is why it is so important that the orphanage be completed sooner than later. The living quarters are close to completion and they are focusing on the school walls now that will take about 5,000 blocks of which 1,500 are completed. I am also happy to report that two more volunteers arrive August 3rd from Los Angeles to help with the progress. Hopefully there will be even more volunteers soon and even groups coming to help in the near future so that the need for both funding and workers can help with the completion by 2012.

Ladies and Gentlemen The President of Africa...Rev. Simon Kudzo

Simon is the director of STAESA and has been with the organization for about 11 years. He is the one that I have been communicating with since I started the research of this trip. He has answered probably 1,000+ questions and helped put me at ease about traveling so far by myself. His detailed emails have always had not only lots of information, but they were very genuine. He is the reason I chose STAESA to be the volunteer organization that was right for me. There are so many organizations out there and I think I looked at over thirty of them.

Simon is also crazy!!! In the best way possible :) He is a visionary and an extremely passionate person plus a lot of fun. I finally got to meet him last week when he picked me up in Denu to take me around Ghana a bit before I left for Tanzania.

It was great to be able to talk more with him and get to know more about STAESA and all of the different projects that they have throughout Africa. Simon oversees all of the projects with help from his country coordinators (about 31) and an office staff of eight. Simon knows everyone and that is why I call him the President of Africa!

As I said before Simon is very passionate about the work that is happening through STAESA. I don't believe an organization like this can be successful without a dedicated staff and a leader who sees the bigger picture and that's what he does. I hope someday to be able to love my career like Simon does. His spirit just makes me want to continue to help after I am back in the States and we talked a lot about that too, so not only has this experience been so positive for me while I've been here but I will continue to "change the world" after I return, one building block at a time just like Mr. President.

The Worst Part of Ghana

I just figured out what the worst part of my trip has been. It hasn't been the heat (actually I heard it's hotter at home,) mosquitoes, cold showers, or the dust. It is/was having to say goodbye.

Since Sunday I've shed a lot of tears saying goodbye to my new friends and family. At church Rev. Perry made an announcement that I was leaving and invited me to the front so they could pray for safe travels, while tears streamed downed my face. A new friend from church Louis, who is an artist, gave me the most beautiful fabric and a painting both done by him as a farewell present. Both of these I will treasure always. The fabric he dyed himself and I LOVE it, it's purple and blue and has the traditional royal stools around the bottom. The painting is of the beach and fisherman from the area where I was living which I loved to watched when I was there, it's a portrait of my home in Ghana.

Monday I brought over diapers, baby wipes, powder, toys and some other needed items (Thank you cousin Jen!) When it was time to go and say goodbye for the last time I was biting my tongue so hard so that I would not burst into tears. It was like the babies knew that I would not be returning. Princess cried when I put her down (usually not the case), Agogo grabbed onto my leg, and Prince kept his arms up to be picked up again. I broke my heart to walk away.

The hardest goodbye though was to my host family. All day the little girls wanted to sit on my lap and spend time with me. Forgive sat on my bed while I packed and just kept looking at her hands not saying anything. When Simon said ok let's go and we started carrying out my bags that's when I saw Pearl sitting in the sand crying and Forgive came running over for a hug to which Pearl followed continuing to cry and that's when I lost it. I told them to be good girls and walked to the car where Bless and Celesting were and I saw Bless had tears in her eyes we all hugged and I said goodbye to my family tears running down my face.

I knew leaving Africa would be hard but I never thought it would be this hard. I'm grateful to have met such wonderful people, and thank God for Facebook so I can keep in touch. I am also happy to have another adventure awaiting me in Tanzania!

Until Tanzania

Well friends, tomorrow I give back the computer and start organizing and packing for the next step in this adventure, travel a bit in Ghana then fly to Tanzania. I am not sure what kind of computer / wi-fi access I will have after tomorrow so if you don't see any posts for a while don't worry. I will try very hard to get more stories and updates up as often as possible. I was presently surprised by the ease to access the web in Ghana so hopefully it will be the same in Tanzania. Till then.... Kwaheri (goodbye in Swahili, I'm trying to practice!)