When my husband and I first arrived in Tanzania ,February 2012, I knew that I wanted to open a children's home. I started working as a preschool teacher at a baby orphanage and volunteered at several others in Arusha. Day after day I would go to work and I would meet the families of the children that were living at the orphanages. I witnessed babies being left while the families were crying and heartbroken over the decisions they had to make. A decision they had to make because no one was helping them to keep the children in their homes. Most of the orphanages only have the funding to take care of the babies and can do little to help support the families that want to keep their children or an orphaned child. I did not want to contribute to this generation of Tanzanians that are growing up in the orphanages, without a family. I decided I did not want Walk In Love to do what everyone else was doing but I wanted us to focus on keeping the children in their homes and communities. Every child deserves the love of a family.
Here is a piece that I wrote on June 26, 2012. I called it "Finding Inspiration":
Ibrahim is a beautiful little baby with the face of a beautiful old man. He has dark skin, dark eyes and barely any hair. When he laughs the world is a better place. Ibra came to the baby home when he was one month old. His mother died shortly after his birth and his father is unknown. His family did not want to give him up but they knew that they could not support him. They had to make a decision: keep Ibra and he would more than likely die or give him up and he would live. The staff told me that when Ibra was dropped off there was not a dry eye in the place. His family was holding him so tightly that everyone could feel how much this baby was truly loved.
On Monday morning I arrived at the baby orphanage and met our newest addition, Patricia. She is three months old but looks like a tiny new born. She has mocha skin,big light brown eyes and lots of curly hair. Her mother had dropped her off over the weekend because she was no longer producing milk. She didn't want to leave her but she knew that Patricia was already too small and malnourished. There was nothing the mother could do to help her only child anymore. The mother herself was starving and could not feed her daughter.
I do not know this boys name but I will call him Isaac. This is a story that I cannot tell without getting choked up. I have told many people and every time I want to burst into tears. I met Isaac at the SOS Childrens Home. We were taking our older children to live there until they are 18. We can only keep children until 2 or 3 then they go to bigger homes. SOS is a beautiful place and I am happy that our children were able to get in. While we were settling our children in there was another boy there with is mother. I would guess he was around 10 years old. He never spoke and neither did his mother. They just sat with the saddest expressions on their faces. After about 30 minutes Isaac and his mother were in one of the back rooms. All of a sudden I heard a blood curdling scream and the mother went running out the front door. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I can right now. This experience will forever be with me and haunt me.
These three children and the circumstances that they and there families are in have moved me. I now know what direction to take Walk In Love. I want to help keep families together. Mothers and fathers love their children the same in the USA as they do in Tanzania as they do all over the world. The difference is that I/we, in the USA, would never have to give our children up that we love and want because if they stayed with us or our families they would die. I cannot imagine having to make that decision but I know which one I would choose and I know you do to. I know that if I could not take care of my children then my parents would and if they could not then my aunts/uncles would and if they could not then my cousins would. These are not options here. I would like to give parents and families the option to keep their children and loved ones.
All of this had led us to opening up our first WIL Community and Child Development Center. Its a place where we will hold women empowerment groups, vocational training, adult education classes, tutoring for school children, 2 meals per day to the neediest of families, a daycare and child development center that will be safe place for children to go during the day while their parents or guardians are working, clean clothing for children and adults,a community garden, a shop to sell handmade items, a community library and a place where the community can come together and discuss their day to day struggles.
Monthly sponsorship is crucial to the success of our community center. If you would like to join our WIL team as a monthly sponsor please use the drop down menu to chose the amount you would like to donate and click on the "Subscribe" button. To make a one time donation please us the donate button. Both buttons are located on the bottom of this page.
You can also check out our Sponsor a Child tab to meet our children and see if you would like to be a sponsor and change a child's life!
Thank you so much for your continued support from all of us at WIL!!
I will be giving a "tour" of our community center in the next blog entry.
