We have a Swahili proverb which says…’”Penye nia pana njia” which literary means ”Where there is a will there is a Way”. This is what happened to Namelok,a 13 years girl(then) who is now 18.
It is our family traditional to invite some neighbors for Christmas celebrated when we are home. In 2018 Christmas lunch, one of the neighbors who came to have lunch with us was an old lady, I will call her BIBI(Grandmother) who came to visit his son in the city. She came from one of the villages in Lake Zone.
We had a great time, enjoyed lunch together, playing some loud music and just having funny. The kids were playing and having their funny as well. We have a lot of talks and laughter’s.
After some time, our neighbors started to leave one after another. Also, the BIBI left and promised to come and visit us in following days.
This was a Christmas of 2018 which was the beginning of Namelok life change.
After like three days, this Bibi knocked the door and we invited her. She said she had some “conversation” with us. So, we had a talk and her talk was about her granddaughter who just graduated from the primary education and was supposed to go to secondary but no one could pay her school fees. She wanted us to pay for granddaughter. We asked her about the girl and her parents.
Bibi started to cry. We found out that, Namelok both parents are dead. So we had to again comfort her and change the story so to clear the environment. We learned a lot about her family and the kids she lost, including Namelok’s father and mother (in Tanzania when you are married you are completely moved to your husband’s family and become a daughter). She left and the question remained to us on how to support this girl.
We shared this to a family friend who lives overseas and previously travelled with our company. We stayed in contact with them and knew they have passion to support orphanages, as they did that already to another girl we know. We shared the story to them. They agreed on the spot. I was more than happy that day.
Namelok was able to go to good private school in one city in Tanzania and she is now in form four. She will be graduating for high school end of this year before joining the University. The family have been paying fully tuition fee and all the stationaries and anything needed. Namelok is one of the few girls who got their education and eventually her life won’t be the same.
Tanzania Wild Touch AdventureLtd supports such activities. As director being an educated lady from Maasai community, my passion is to support girls who needs education but can’t afford .But we also support widows and orphans.
Be part of us, by travelling with us ,some of your money will change someone’s life and bring a smile.
Till next Time.
Ruth Laizer.
Tanzania Wild Touch Adventure Ltd…Come as Tourist…Leave as a Friend…
In 2009, My husband and I met this lady in Moshi Kilimanjaro.
She is a widow, who was taking care of 16 children, out of which only 2 boys are her own biological sons. I was curious and interested in her story so we set up a day to visit her in her place. So we drove to visit her, in Arusha and found her in a two-bedroom house with all those boys and girls.
Their house was full, and they were living a shif-life routine. Everything…sleeping, showering, school uniform, etc….They were giving themselves shifts, others were going to school in the morning, others in the afternoon. So even, for school uniform, was the same, they share, one can wear a shirt in the morning the same shirt will be worn in the afternoon by another one…. Same to shoes…same to sox…etc.
Interesting…they could spend days without food and they were smiling all the time…
How about basic needs like toilets. Where someone wants to go for a call of nature??? Shower?? I was so curious. And I asked her…It was terrible. They do shifts…waiting and waiting if someone is in already…… So, we decided to start with making one for the lady so she can have a bit of privacy…as a Mother…that was successful in a few days.
How does she manage to pay the fees for all these kids??
By the way, being a Widow in countries like Tanzania is no joke, a woman goes through a lot of pain, starting from financial ,being moved from a family house and everything being taken by the deceased family ,called a witch and being blamed that a widow is the one who killed the husband, also a widow goes through a lot of troubles…so one grieves a loss but also the treatment after the loss.
We again, jumped in, supporting her financially slowly and also paying her house rent. We did this for years, and we are grateful some of the kids graduated from university.
In 2019,one of her biological son(28yrs) became blind from unknown reasons. He woke up in the morning and found himself blind. It was painful for her and even for us. Hospital bills and check ups has to be taken care of. He is still blind, and no hope for a sight. No money for those expensive checkups and hospital bills….so he stays home and she is taking care of him .
This Year, we decided to start a three-bedroom house for her. It is still a work in progress project, and we think she will be moving in March 2021 or so. It will be only habitable but not full completed
This mama is so inspirational to my life, working hard and always positive for the future. Some of the income from our company, goes to social projects like this. Just to put a smile to a disadvantage one in our community. If you consider travelling with us, rest assured part of your money will touch someone’s life in Tanzania. KARIBU SANA.
Come as a Tourist…leave as a Friend
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