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Erin Yenney's Blog From Tanzania
May 08, 2014 | Women's Soccer
May 8, 2014
Mambo!
Life in Arusha, Tanzania is definitely very different from life in Louisville, KY. For instance, today I sat on a 'dolla-dolla' van (their form of public transportation) with 24 passengers that maybe would have held 13 in the U.S.! The first weekend I went on a very bumpy three wheeled 'tuk-tuk' ride and swung into the water hanging from a piece of wood attached to rope. A few fellow volunteers and I also went to Shanga House and witnessed where handicapped (most are deaf) Tanzanians are given work and create beautiful items by glass blowing and jewelry making.
I am living in a home with a few other volunteers from around the world. We all are working at different schools and orphanages. Mama is the mother of the house. We know not to break any of Mama's rules and she takes very good care of us.
Monday was the first day at my placement. I am at Aston Vision Orphanage, which houses 10 children, and about 30 more come every day to be watched after, given an hour or two of free education, and a cup of porridge. Most of the children have no parents (or maybe one) and live with an aunt or uncle in a surrounding village.
It is currently rainy season in Tanzania, so the orphanage is basically a big mud pit every day! And it is located on a hill - so you have to walk everywhere very carefully (the kids do laugh at you when you slip :) ). The school is basically a cement shelter - no real windows or doors. There is one small chalkboard at the front and five small benches where the children sit. The orphanage director is a Tanzanian who used to be a street child himself, and created the orphanage to provide for children who are just like he once was.
I teach in the morning - we work on numbers and letters, and the more advanced children can do addition and subtraction. Then we just play with them - puzzles and coloring usually, but they get pretty rowdy let me tell you (next thing is to teach them the CARDS cheer).
Yesterday I ended up having to teach the entire class of 40 by myself because I was the only volunteer who showed up! That was a challenge, as the kids have very short attention spans and do not know any English. But we did okay and I saw progress in some of them in just that one day.
It is amazing how little they all have. The children have almost nothing and the orphanage is in need of many things, but for now they use what they do have and the children are in a much better place than without anything at all. I try and just show as much individual attention as I can and encourage them every day with a warm heart and smile. They are so much fun, but more importantly they are already teaching me more than I thought was possible.
