I went on a ten day trip to Tanzania with my mother this August.  It was life changing experience that I will never forget. We traveled with a small group of teachers and missionaries who were supporting an organization called the “Carpenter’s Kids Program.” This program was formed to help AIDS Orphans receive uniforms, school materials and one meal a day so they can get a primary school education through their local parish.  50-70 orphans (the worst cases) are screened and selected from the different villages to be part of the program. We visited  9 of the different parishes. The parishes are linked to 9 parishes back in New York which are raising money to aid and support the Carpenter’s Kids in their linked parish. 

Back at home, I know many students and friends who have helped to raise money for Africa.  Some have raised money to build schools.  Others are raising money for mosquito nets to prevent malaria.  Some raise money to buy cows to provide food for the village. I have always donated some of my lunch money to these fundraisers like the bake sales outside the cafeteria. I’d seen many pictures of the poverty in Africa.  I thought I knew what to expect. But, to actually be there on the ground; to see the suffering, the starvation, the faces of the children living with no parents, little food or water, changes your perspective on everything.  Many in our group were crying, including my mum, but I knew that crying wasn’t going to do anything. Yes, it was devastating, but when we were learning and understanding the problems each village had it was inspirational too. 

So, what happened in the villages?  We’d have to get up between 6 and 7 am each day. The group from New York would split into 3 smaller groups, get into 3 different vans, and ride down 3 different long incredibly dusty, nauseatingly bumpy roads to 3 different villages. When we’d arrive, the whole village would be waiting for us. (According to one group, their van broke down 50 miles into the bush and they arrived two hours late, but the villagers were still waiting for them when they got there.) The entire village welcomed our van with dances and songs, and children ran alongside the van shouting “Karibu!” which means, “Welcome!” in Swahili. When you’d wave back to the children, they’d giggle and hide their faces shyly. Many young girls carried their baby siblings on their backs. All of them wore their best outfits which were still dirty and torn. But they were so happy! In every village we visited the people were extremely hospitable, warm and grateful to see us.   In some villages they had never seen a white face.  In every village the American visitors (that includes me) were required to present themselves to the village through a Swahili interpreter.

I learned a fair amount of Swahili before we left the States.  It was easy to communicate with the children even if there was a language barrier. In one village the children taught me how to count to ten in Swahili and I taught them how to count to ten in English. I taught them hand games and how to high five.  They taught us “Nime Tanu” which was like an African high five with your fist. We danced with them, we clapped along to their songs and laughed with them.  In every village there was a part of the program in which we initiated children into the Carpenter’s Kids program.  This involved giving them their first uniform and set of school supplies.  I worked with the village volunteers to do this.  At the end of every initiation ceremony we took the kids’ pictures and handed out candy.  In some villages they let us blow up balloons for the children.  This was of great interest to the kids since none of them had ever seen a balloon.  There were 50 - 70 Carpenter’s Kids in each village who received supplies and gifts from us.  It was very hard watching the other children who did not make it into the program.  I felt every child should have the opportunity to participate.  This was very hard for me to deal with.

Another difficult thing to handle was the incredible poverty and life threatening diseases that these people face every day of their lives.  We saw chronic malnutrition, malaria, aids and other diseases.  And yet the villagers spoiled us with gifts.  They made pots, bowls and baskets for us.  The priests and village chiefs treated us to two meals usually one in their home and then a second in the village church.  I felt terrible eating their food knowing how little they had and how starving the children outside were.  It was hard because it was rude not to accept their hospitality and yet at the same time I felt guilty about the fate of their children.

Each village trip involved a tour to do research on the issues facing that village.   Our job on returning the US is to find ways to fund these projects and help these people.  None of the villages have running water or electricity. There are basic (and I‘m sure contaminated) holes called wells in the ground that run out of water by September.  A mother and her child have to walk miles after that just to get a bucket of water for the family. The cost to build a well in each of the villages is about $2500.  The cost to bring electricity varies from village to village but in most cases it is between US2500 and US5000.  None of the children receive any healthcare.  If they are sick they need to travel  long distances to a hospital or healthcare center in one of the main towns.  These are people who earn less than $1 per day and so the cost of a bus fare not to mention a doctor’s bill may be difficult.

We spent a lot of time with the Carpenter’s Kids Aids Orphans.  One child in the program is called Jennifer.  Both her parents died of Aids when she was born.  She lives with her grandmother who is blind.  Another girl named Sarah, lived with her crippled grandfather and blind grandmother.  They slept on cement platforms inside their homes. Some of the homes which we saw were for families of six. The area where the  family lived, ate and slept looked like the size of my bathroom at home.

At the end of the trip our group all got together for a wrap up meeting with all the visitors from America, the Carpenter’s Kids team on the ground and the priests and leaders from all the village visited .  The leader of the group and the person who created the Carpenter’s Kids program chaired the meeting.  His name is  Bishop Mdimi.  We were each asked to discuss our feelings on the trip and share our ideas on how to improve things for the future.  

As I said in the beginning of this recap, this was a life changing experience.  I am grateful that my mother gave me the opportunity to experience this program.  I gained so much from this experience.  There is so much more I want to do to help these people find their way.  I also hope that more parents and kids from Horace Mann school will get involved with this project and others like them.  We have so much to give and they need so little just to have a chance to live.  Every life is important and I believe that we must continue to work and help these children as a community in New York.        

I want to end by telling you about a special experience that I shall never forget.  One day we visited a primary school where many children like the Carpenter’s Kids could study in the future. While we were there I met and talked to many girls who were my age. They spoke English very well. They loved to touch my hair and they loved my name, “Gabriella” too. When it was time to leave, I wrote my address and email down for them in one girl’s notebook and we all kissed and hugged goodbye. When I got on the van to drive to the next school I was handed a piece of notebook paper from a girl outside.  It read, “Hi!! Gabriella I love you very much. My name is Emmy. Do not forget me.”

The Carpenter’s Kids Program is currently raising funds to develop their first website.  My Mom and I are going to be working on this together.  In the meantime if you wish to make a donation to this worthy cause please go to www.thecarpenterskids.org