Ok we have admittedly been very delinquent on our blog since
we have been in Africa but I swear it’s been for good reason. For the last month we have had the pleasure
of spending all of our time getting to know and falling in love with the
wonderful people at Good Hope Orphanage and School in Ngusero, Tanzania. So to
catch up on blogging and fill in interested parties on what we have been up to
we thought we would share some information on the organization, the people and
our life here.
The story of Good Hope is a touching and heart-warming one.
Unlike many of the orphanages or volunteer “organizations” ( I use
the word organization lightly because really some of these places should be
called volunteer businesses since they are often started and run by
international people charging over 1000$ a week to volunteer there, while
nearly none of that money actually gets to those that need it……sorry I will save
this rant for another time), Good Hope Orphanage and school were started by
a local family that was compelled to help others in their community.
In 2005, the founder, Mama Asha found a young girl named
Rayah living on the streets of Arusha. She had lost both her parents and there
was no one around to care for her. With deep compassion, Mama Asha and her
family took Rayah in as her own daughter. In time, Mama Asha’s daughter, Fatma,
became Rayah’s foster parent. Meanwhile, Mama Asha and her family devoted their
lives to establishing a full-time orphanage for other street kids in Tanzania,
taking in children who lost their parents because of a disease, accident and
poverty or whose parents could no longer care for them, at present there are 15
kids at Good Hope where they are provided with a stable and loving home. They receive
clothes, toys, a bed each, 3 meals a day and an education, which actually is a
lot more that many of the kids in the neighborhood who have both parents. Good Hope Orphanage really is a family for
these orphans and provides a stable and loving home for them
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| Mama Asha with Rayah |
From 2005-‘10, Good Hope Orphanage used a rented house for
the children, staff and volunteers to live. Thanks to many donations from
around the world, Good Hope Orphanage was able to build their own house. The
Good Hope Nursery and Primary School is located on the same property. The
school was started 6 years ago with just 6 students and is now up to 150
students from the neighborhood. It ranges from baby class (nursery school) up
to class 5 and as we speak they are building another classroom so they can go
up to class 6 next year. This way the current class 5 will have somewhere to go
next year to continue their education.
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| Current property with Mt Meru in the background |
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| Local kids at the school |
Over the course of the month we really got to know each and
every one of the kids and in a short time had fallen in love with all of
them. Many, Many times I caught myself
longing to have a massive house back home that I can bring them all too – but there
is no way I could care for them better than they are here!
The Girls
Rachel – The youngest
of the girls, is the smallest, tiniest little thing ever. Even at 6 years old
she is smaller than the 4 year olds, I am pretty sure she still fits into
toddler clothes. She has been there almost 2 years and speaks English quite
well. She is a fearless little thing; she can watch scary movies with the boys
and will attempt things on the monkey bars that used to make me cringe.
Anna – She is one
of the most gorgeous little girls I have ever seen and loves to play with all
the volunteers. You can’t go one day,
barely one hour without her saying “come to play, come to play”. If she sees
you doing something with one of the kids you can bet that you will do it with
her too!
Usthra – She was
definitely the quietest of all the kids and you rarely heard a word out of her,
but she loved to cuddle! You wouldn’t hear anything from her and then all of a
sudden she would have her head on your leg. She also fell asleep this way all
the time and would need to be carried to bed!
Nusura – One of the
most fun loving of the girls who had one of the best laughs I have ever heard. She
always had something positive to say! She loved to play hair saloon on me and
showed me the proper way to hand wash socks.
Rayah – She was
the original child for whom the orphanage was started and she clearly holds a
special place in the hearts of all the founders. She is a super sweet little
girl, and number one in her class!
Janet – She is
both the mom and the joker of the kids group. Almost every day you could find
her helping the aunties with dinner, helping clean up or helping out with the
younger girls. But she also loves to joke around and pull pranks on everyone.
Prisca – She is
such an amazing girl; I often had to remind myself that she is just a kid. She is
probably one of the smartest kids I have ever met (also first in her class) and
100% fluent in English. She always would play translator between us and the Aunties
since they only spoke Swahili. She is also funny, sweet and sensitive!
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| From L to R: Prisca, Rayah, Usthra, Rachel, Nusura, Anna, Janet |
The Boys
Gifty – He is one
of the absolutely most adorable kids I have ever met. First off he is just the
cutest thing, but on top of it he is also super sweet. I swear I contemplated emptying
my entire backpack so I could put him in it. He loves puzzles (and for 4 years
old is really good at them), is afraid of pretty much all movies, gives big
hugs and kisses, and if there is music on he WILL dance to it!
Jonny – Jonny is
not actually a child at the orphanage, his mother is one of the aunties who work
there, but since she is there working from 6am to 9pm 7 days a week he pretty
much lives there and we got to spend as much time with him as the others. He is
still working on his English and learning volunteer names so he pretty much
just calls everyone teacher lol! He loves to do puzzles too, but is still
figuring out to concept (i.e. not just mashing pieces together).
Freddy – He is
the fasted kid ever and will beat absolutely anyone in a race. Even though you will often catch him with
what looks like a scowl on his face deep down he is a really funny kid and really
lovable - even though he hates girls lol! I couldn’t convince him to give me a
hug before leaving but he did cave and give me a high 5.
Mohamed – Is one
of the more quiet kids, but is always up for going outside to play soccer, rugby
or pretty much anything you propose. He also took our typing lesson time quite
seriously and caught on crazy fast! I would also catch him being really sweet
to the younger boys and definitely has some older brother qualities building in
him.
Aloise – A master
on the jungle gym, I nicknamed Aloise Spiderman because he could actually scale
or climb anything. He also lovvvvved to do card tricks, but is still working on
mastering them. He is a really sweet kid who was also just entering the “I don’t
like girls” phase…..but I did convince him to give me a hug before leaving!
Living – The most
positive kid on earth. Period. Spending time with Living (or In Living Colour
as we liked to call him) was such a pleasure. We always had a huge smile and
never would get down about anything. He is a great athlete and loves to watch
movies so he was always easy to please. He also loves to make jokes…..him and
Jonny were like two peas in a pod.
Amri – One of the
kids who touched my heart the most. One of the oldest of the kids there along
with Swaif (both 12 years old), I found myself worrying about these guys the
most because they are starting to move out of the kid stage and into teenager
stage so puzzles, colouring and games just don’t do the trick with these guys. Especially
Amri, he is the introverted, but really sweet kind of kid. I loved spending 1
on 1 time with him.
Swaif – Full of
personality and wicked smart as well (number 2 in his class), he was also
tonnes of fun to spend time with. He likes to give the volunteers a hard time
when they take off for the weekend and would give me the silent treatment of I was
out too long during the day, but he always came around!
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| From L to R: Jonny, Living, Amri, Mohamed, Freddy, Gifty, Swaif, Aloise |
The Aunties & Ally
Bibi Jamila – She lives at the orphanage full-time and her
primary responsibility is to care of the children. She gets them ready in the
morning/evening, and helps with the preparation and cooking of the meals.
Auntie Fatuma & Ma-Jonny - The aunties’ primary
responsibilities are to take care of the Orphanage. They do orphanage duties
every day and ensure that the Orphanage is running smoothly. They leave around
9pm and return around 6 am, working countless hours to ensure a stable home for
the kids
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| Ma-Jonny, Fatuma and Bibi |
Ally – Mama Asha’s son and all around AMAZING person with
the biggest heart. As Good Hope Orphanage coordinator, he organizes and
supports volunteers, handles donations and assists volunteers with planning
fundraising events.
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| Jonny and I with Ally on our very last day at Good Hope |
During our time at Good Hope when we weren't hanging out
with the kids, aunts and other volunteers, Jonny helped out with some
construction work that needed to be done on the medical center, sanding and
painting mostly, and I helped out around the school. I regularly taught French to class 3 and class
5. I learned that I would make a
TERRIBLE teacher haha……but the kids were great (most of the time) so that made
it a lot better!
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| Inside a school assembly |
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| Jonny scrapping away some vandalism |
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| Last day with my Class 5 French students |
In addition to helping out at the school and at the medical
center we also did a lot of activities with the kids and other volunteers. We
took them to the movies to see Batman, went out for pop and chips Mayai (this
amazing African dish that is basically an omelette with French fries cooked
into it – GENIUS) and organized a weekend of Good Hope “Olympics” filled with
games, medals and prizes. We also enjoyed many a days just hanging out on the
playground and cuddling up for movie nights in the kids’ room.
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| Jonny goofing off with Gifty |
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| Playing in the play ground |
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| Kicking off the Good Hope Olympics |
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| Boys 100m Race |
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| Nusura taking the lead of the spoon/ball race |
While we were staying at the orphanage we also got to check
out lots of Arusha and even had the chance to hit the town a few nights for a
couple Tuskers (an African beer brand) with some other volunteers and local friends
we made through Good Hope. We even took in some African line dancing…..seriously
I said line dancing. It is much like regular western line dancing but with a
bit for style and rhythm haha.
The experience of volunteering at Good Hope is whatever you
make of it. There is no “to do” list for volunteers telling you what you should
be doing every day, but whatever you put into your time here, you will
definitely get back 10-fold. A lot of
times we felt guilty because we felt like we were getting so much more from our
time here with the kids then we actually gave. Saying goodbye to the kids after
more than a month with them was really hard (yes I did shed tears…..how could I
not!), but this definitely will not be our last dealings with Good Hope, these
kids are in our lives now and we will hopefully get to stay in theirs. Our time at Good Hope was amazing, fun and
incredibly fulfilling, but mostly getting to meet these kids and the people who
started and run this organization really showed us what it is like to give back
to your own community. This is a family, and a group of people, in a place
where no one really has “extra” means or resources who used whatever they had
to give back to these kids and give them more than just food, shelter and
clothes, but give them opportunity for the future.
If you are interested in finding out more about Good Hope
just drop us a line or check out their website directly
OOO_Talia and Jonny
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