A new home in the making

The children of the United Hearts Center giving a tour of their new home

We are on the last leg of our trip to Africa and we get to finish it at the United Hearts Children Center in Bawjiase, Ghana where we are building a new orphanage for the children that live here. For the last year, Mama Hope Global Advocates Lauren Wright and Katherine Theus have partnered with Mama Hope to fundraise and build a new orphanage for the children.  Together they have raised $57,000 and construction on the new orphanage is 70% percent complete. Currently United Heart’s, director Pastor Elisha is renting a house where he houses 27 children in two rooms of wall to wall bunk beds.  The lanlord will be evicting Pastor Elisha in December because the children have grown past the capacity of the house so the new orphanage could not have come at a better time.  The new orphanage will have 14 rooms and a separate wing for boys and girls.  It is surrounded by banana trees, coconut trees and corn fields.  It still is missing the tile flooring, plastering, electricity, and painting but still the children show us their future rooms with pride and can hardly wait to move in.

The new building is about a 10 minute walk away from the old orphanage. Last friday we got the grand tour from the children.  Our tour guides were Kweku, Kwasi, Kofi, Darco, Akia, Raelle, Barbara, Agogo and Joe.  They range from ages 3-7 and Pastor Elisha tells me they are all experts on the new building.

Story time at the United Hearts Children Center. I am reading to Barbara while Amy is reading to Irene.

Each afternoon Amy and I go to the orphanage and read the children stories or they read us stories.  Most of the stories are about a group of friends going on a walk that turns into an adventure.  And as we walk through the banana and cocunt tree jungle to get to the orphanage I feel a little like we are in our own children’s book.  We hopped over trails of ants and crossed bridges and climbed little hills.  We were passed by beautiful women with baskets of cocunuts on their heads.  Every few steps the kids would yell “my shoe, my shoe” as their flip flops would fall off.  And the whole time they were picking flowers and handing me them saying “for you” until my bag was full of little yellow and pink buds. The 10 minute walk turned into a 45 minute stroll where everyone would point out “Look, catterpillar, look a giant frog, look, lizard.”

Our stroll to see the new Orphanage

When we got in sight of the new home the kids were all chanting “New home time! New Home Time!”  The girls immediately ran to their rooms and Barbara blocked the would be doorway yelling “No boys allowed!”  A bunch of boys ran around her and started dancing and singing “we are in the girls rooms.” Then the same mayhem was repeated when we went to the boys wing.  The girls would sneak into a boys room and then be escorted out by two little boys on either side like bouncers at a club.  Even though the inside of the building is still just a skeleton of walls and doorways the children went into detail explaining each room, “This is our study where we will have desks and do all our homework.  Here is our dining room where we will have large tables to eat at and here is your room for when you come back to visit us again.”

Nathaniel and Daniel building a car from scrap metal

When we got back outside the children started playing on the construction sight like it was a giant playground.  They were digging in the mountain of sand and collecting found pieces of scrap metal and carefully putting them in their pockets to use later to make toy cars.  We finally headed back to their current home singing “the ants go marching one by one hurrah, hurrah…”  I was carrying Agogo, a 3 year old boy who was through with walking and holding the hand of Kwasi.  Everything was very serene and I had a moment where I realized that once this new home is finished, it will be providing a safe haven and a family to children who have not even been born yet.  And this beautiful home was made possible by the fundraising efforts of two 23year old girls. This is why this project is so special to Mama Hope and it makes us so proud to see its progress.  I took the moment to be amazed at how much people can accomplish once they care enough to do something outside of themselves and that made me smile and be thankful to have a job where I get to work with people who have the courage to make a lasting impact in the world.

Please help us complete the United Hearts Children's Home by Donating below

A big thank you to Katherine Theus, Lauren Wright and all of our donors who have made this building a reality! We are now in the home stretch of construction. We have $28,000 more to raise before December so that these children can move into their new home. Please help by making your very own impact on the lives of these children. Donate here! 

Sun up, Sun down Safari

At 7:00 am  Amy, Bryce, Joe, Raffy and myslef were sleepily waiting on the side of the Arusha Highway for the St. Timothy’s Students to pick us up in their buses.  Today all 134 students were going to the Tarangine National Park on a Safari. This is a field trip that Mama Hope funds annuallly as a way to celebrate the end of their school term.   At 7:30am the buses pulled up and kids all stuck their heads out the windows waving to us.  When I stepped onto the bus there was a sea of green and white uniforms because it was completely packed with students.  There were 4 children to every two seats, they were sitting on each other’s laps but none of the kids seemed uncomfortable.  They were all grinning and excited for their field trip so they just scooted around to make room for us and we were all on our way.

Almost immediately your typical “Field Trip Bus” hijinks began.  One student would start singing a song like “Bingo” and for a few minutes everyone would raucously join in until it trailed off about 10 minutes later.  A few students were playing a version of “I spy” counting everything they saw that was yellow and every time one of the students named Alvin saw a sign for Tarangine he would update me enthusiatically, “106 km and we arrive!”

When we reached Arusha, Esther tapped me on the shoulder excitedly pointing at something in the street, “Look, I’ve never seen one before.  And now there are two!”   I looked around trying to see what they all were so excited about and then Doreen told me “Look its a stop light.  We don’t have them in Moshi”.

A little later into the trip I heard some commotion and Acinta shouted “Meshak, you just farted!  Open the window!”  Meshak sat there looking embarassed as everyone laughed and the girls looked disgusted. Then he laughed and proudly said “I did!” and played it off like only a 9 year old boy can with the other boys giving him high fives for grossing out the girls.

After about 5 hours we finally arrived at the park and a tour guide got on our bus and said “if you want see the animals you have to be very quiet.”  The kids immediately got very serious.  It was safari time.

Tarangine’s landscape was absolutely breathtaking it was covered with herds of animals, wildebeests, warthogs, impalas, zebras, giraffes, elephants and hundreds of massive baobob trees.   At one point, we were looking at a group of zebra who seemed to be distracted by something and then we saw why.  Under a baobob tree about 50 feet away was a giant lioness eating a wildebeest. The kids all clammered to get a look and whispered “simba”.  I announced “that is my first time seeing a lion”  they all responded enthusiastically “me too!”

After seeing the lion it was time for lunch and we descended upon the picnic area.  When we were finsished and headed back to the bus out of the corner of my eye I saw a giant baboon sneaking up on a group of khakied dutch safari picnicers.  He broke into a run, hopped on their table, roared and grabbed one of the women’s lunch boxes and jumped over the fence and defiantly ate it all right in front of her.  Then if as on cue, 35 baboons emerged from the bushes hopping on tables, stealing lunches and chasing little girls.  We all watched from afar and as they reclaimed the picnic area.  When we all got back on our buses and left the baboons stood in the parking lot as if to say “And stay out!!!”

Two hours later, after seeing 5 more lions and hundreds more animals, it was 5:00pm and time to make our way back to Moshi.  A few hours into the ride Doreen was asleep in my lap, Sarafina and Jessica on either side using my shoulders as pillows and I was balancing Peace’s head in my hand as she slept.  The mosqitoe bites on my leg were itching like crazy but I didn’t want to move and wake the girls so I tried my best to doze off as well.  Just as I finally was starting to dream I was awakend by a huge “BAM!!!” and a loud clunking noise started coming from the buses engine.  It was about 9:00pm and it was pitch dark except for headlights of the passing cars.  I stepped out of the bus and stretched for the first time in 4 hours.  Soon all of students piled out of the bus excited by this new development in their field trip.  They were playing tag and Joe showed a few curious students how to use the southern cross constellation to find Saturn.  It was one of those moments I was sure could of never happened in the USA.  There was no fear about the dark just joy.  There was no complaining from the children or angry parents demanding a refund.  Instead while we waited for a new bus to pick us up we watched shooting stars appear above us everywhere.

The Second 2 Weeks: Kisumu

Joe Sabia and Raffy Marty visit the Mama Hope projects in Kenya and Tanzania. Here is the first hike of many with partner project OLPS Director Anastasia Juma.

Jane Kanango harvests tomatos at the Mama Rita Rose Garden in Kisumu, Kenya. The garden provides nutrition to over 800 people living in the community.

Anastasia and Paul give us a lesson in bow and arrow garden defense.

Joe makes a friend named Phien.

Raffy's impromptu travel log with Helen, a member of the Mama Hope sponsored Woman's Micro-finance Group.

Dorcas, another member of the Woman's Micro-Finance Group, shows us her sewing business in Kisumu, Kenya.

Wherever we go, children tend to follow. We're a little like the Pided Pipper.

Mullen, Program Director of OLPS, gives a tour of the Children's Rescue Center in Kisumu, Kenya. Mama Hope is currently raising funds to complete this community initiated project.

Raffy does his best to help out with the Children's Rescue Center bricks. He later admits he has no clue how the rock working crew manages it day in and out.

A Mama Hope induced stampede at Nyomonge Primary School (aka a game of Mr. Fox).

The longest congo line in the history of East Africa.

Joe teaches geography and American slang.

Raffy plays netball with the Mama Rita Rose Garden women. Netball is basically basketball without dribbling.

... and with a soccer ball.

Nyomonge community meeting. Their most pressing need: water.

Amy dancing with the women of Nyomonge (a continuing theme).

Bryce getting down at the Mama Hope house party with with OLPS and project beneficiaries on our last night in Kisumu, Kenya.

Joe and Nyla editing on the way to Moshi, Tanzania. Total bus time: 30 hours in 4 weeks.