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OLASITI ORPHANS PROJECT

Field Report January 2006

[The dusty winds features the villages]

 

    This is January 30th, Monday. The sun is real bright to most of us. It is dry in most parts of Tanzania and the weather is harsh to most of us. All the people show something exceptional to our culture, all members of the families are busy working here and there rather than cropping here and there. The bad weather heated most of our food crops and we learned something else. Weather brings so many responses and everything is changing.  [Culture] Most of the kids skip school to go to find petty jobs in the nearby markets.

      In August 2005 one kg of flour was 200Tsh but now it is 500Tsh per kilo. The average size of most families in the village is six kids plus 2 or one parent and requires 4kgs of flour per day. Such a big family should also care for 2 or more orphans of their dead brothers or sisters. The head of the family is always the father, if he is employed somewhere and not addicted  to alcohol, the family can push days forward, if so the family should starve and each member should work his/her way to survive. An orphan always suffers the most.

    Loshoki Navarana is an orphan who has lost both parents and lives by his own. His situation enabled him to become creative and meaningful. He is active in the Center, building his life skills. He is 17 years old and they are six in their family. He and his brother who is still in secondary school are responsible for their family survival. They recently went to friends, teachers and churches asking for help but this time everybody is suffering.[low water, shortage of food, economic stresses etc] Loshoki has passed his Final Primary Education Examination and has been selected to join government secondary school. His study in primary education was free, but to secondary school he should pay for different services. Loshoki himself cannot afford to pay school payments so that he can join the secondary education and he needs aÕ Guardian AngelÕ. Eleven more kids who are in an orphanÕs project have passed to join secondary school. The Olasiti Orphans Center now is providing scholarship to 5 orphans to continue with secondary education.

 

Zenana story and discovery

ÒTHE COST TO BE IN SCHOOLÓ

      It is about 14 km from orphans home to school, itÕs quite far to trek all along to school and no passengers buses. Only big trucks go the way past to school to collect some construction materials. The big trucks pass past to school in unscheduled trips and passengers should wait either for long or short time to be picked up.

       I as a caregiver to these orphans I woke up early in the morning to go registering them. We walked like 1.6 kilometers from home to the oljoro road and there was a mass of students waiting for transport which we joined too. After an hour of waiting we heard a hooting sound of a BIG BIG truck and the students signed for stop but the driver was hurrying. Fifteen minutes later another lorry came and stopped. The driver picked only beautiful girls to get in. Ten minutes more another truck came and picked only girls but as the truck left one giant hearted boy clanged.  We were all very sad and we had to wait. After half an hour, again came a BIG BIG truck and it stopped to pick us up. The truck was 12 feet above from the ground and we had to lift up our legs very high to manage to enter onto the lorry.  I found it very funny and each of us was happy. The road was too rough it had merciless pot-holes, very dusty; we gripped firmly the sides of the truck and before even covering ten kilometers our ribs were really paining. We paid 100Tsh as a fare and walked like five hundred meters to school.

We reached the school too late. The sun was real burning that day, not enough water, some of the students had no enough chairs and tables and the wind was really strong and dusty. The dusty devils crossed in school every time and vividly took three roofs of villagers. No vegetation cover on the ground and only brown trees survived.

After school hours we walked to the road and started the second begging and praying deal. There were more than one hundred kids waiting for transport. The big truck came and the students signaled for stop and help, but the driver didnÕt stop. Another one came and only students who had a relationship to the driver and a turn boy were picked. Few big and strong boys acted crazily by chasing and clinging to the big trucks on the move. Usually the boys wait close to big pot holes so that once the trucks speed down they cling up and to leave the truck they do at the big bumps near their station. Three more cars came and only girls were picked and finally after three hours waiting we were all picked up we sat on sand in a randomly sequence [others face back, front, sides etc] we close our eyes but still ducked sometimes to watch out for high electric wires which crosses the road. There was a case of a student shocked out by electric wires (in the past).   [Photo: The trucks ready to pick students]

 

 

Although the difficult environment, the new secondary school joiners were happy to manage and adapt such environment. They thanked me on behalf of donors and said Òto the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the worldÓ They added by saying ÒWhen the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail. Now we will have the second tool [education] and any problem come will be solved by two or more tools.Ó

 

 

 

 

The five orphans we are supporting.

 

From left is Loshoki Navarana, Joseph John, Charles Kisuda, Haruna Ramadhani and Lightness Meloo.

 

Thank you Professor Jeff and all who help our Center!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A bicycle purchased by our donors to be used by secondary orphans.  We have purchased three bikes so far at $85 each.                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT YOUR DONATIONS PROVIDED IN JANUARY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problems faced

 

 

 

 

 

 

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