Making a difference...

Day two at the orphanage and what a nice surprise! When we arrived with our car full of suitcases with the blankets, we immediately noticed a change in the school yard – they started to build the veranda! They must have dug the foundation last night and we are so pleased to see the immediate difference we’ve made with our funds! See for yourself and compare with exactly the same picture from yesterday:

the foundation is dugged and measured

We are all relaxed yet excited – we took the blankets in four big suitcases to the orphanage this morning - which was a bit challenging keeping in mind the limited space in a normal car. Alice started writing the notifications for the ‘guardian’ of each child, who will have to come tomorrow to pick up the food bags, the blankets and our other goodies.

Alice writing and cutting the notificatons for the guardians

She explained that food is getting so expensive nowadays in Tanzania that we will surely see some tears of joy and appreciation when handing over the food bags. We can’t wait for tomorrow! We provided 2 million THS yesterday to the widows to shop the following for each of the 85 kids’ families:

2 kilos of rice
2 kilos of beans
2 litres of oil
2 kilos of flour
2 kilos of sugar
2 soaps
2 packs of washing detergent

Waiting for our food bags to be delivered, we've played a bit with the children outside. As soon as they spottet us they came running in total joy of seeing us again! While organizing the really big purchases for tomorrow (running shoes, white boards and track suits) we could literally watch the veranda taking shape. Man-pulled wooden carriers arrived with sand and a few helpers started to mix it with the cement to build the foundation. The kids were visibly excited about the new addition and we were amazed how fast things can take place as soon as some money is available.

concrete is getting mixed

In general, today was a bit more quiet, there was a lot of organizing to do, everything fell into place, we had exchanged all the money (Yves was a walking ATM!) and Alice could start ordering all items today. In between, Zoe blew some bubbles with the kids, Yves pushed the swings and I just cuddled all day with the cutest little ladies in the orphanage. It is amazing to see what difference some affection makes to these kids!

Zoe blowing bubbles

me and the girls

Yves and Zoe with the kids

We've noticed that the socks and shoes of the kids were in very bad shape. Some shoes had literally no soles at all, the heels part of the socks was missing, pullovers hanging in threads and many buttons missing on the blouses. The three of us gathered for a little 'meeting' and broke down our remaining budget for the trip. From the savings we've made in the blankets, the flights and the cheap accommodation, we've had a considerable amount left apart from the other purchases.

Therefore, we've decided to fulfil a big wish of Alice and announced that we'll buy 85 track suits not only for the pupils but also for the little neighbor kids that are hanging out at the orphanage a lot:

the neighbor kids removed their shoes before sitting on the paper

We were waiting for the food bags to arrive and had a look around the orphanage:

kitchen with its wood oven

the new office building, awaiting funds for wiring

Finally, parts of the food delivery arrived and we were assigned to help out with packing individual food bags tomorrow morning at 7.30am.

many things going on in the school yard - and now the food arrived!

Before we left for the day, we had a small surprise - balloons! They were greatly appreciated and put another big smile on their faces:

a special treat

in the classroom