Growth Generator

I have been activily involved in helping those in need in my local community back in the United States and wanted to combine helping people with traveling to learn new cultures. On June 14th 2010 I will complete a two week volunteer program at an orphanage, in a village outside of Arusha, Tanzania. During this time I am expecting to help with the general work and daily chores, which range from cooking and cleaning to farm work, assisting with feeding programs, caring for children and teaching. Over this period I will get to directly assist the orphans and learn some of the culture by staying with a local family.

Understanding the Tanzania Orphans:
Sub-Saharan African countries are suffering from huge number of orphans left behind after their parents die from illnesses such as HIV/AIDS resulting in a larger number of orphanages in countries such as Tanzania. Contributing to this disproportionate number of orphanages is the fact that in some cases the parents are simply unable to provide for the children or they have been abandoned. In Tanzania orphanages are not organized the way most expect. Because of the family-oriented culture, orphans tend to be absorbed into extended families or by neighbors. These added children put a huge strain on the families who take them in and so the orphans are sent to ‘orphanages’ for certain hours of the day to receive education, interaction and food. The children usually do not live at the orphanage and are only there for a few hours in the day.