Gerladina Orphanage & Education Centre

In July 2005 I spent 3 weeks in Tanzania, Africa as a volunteer with World Vision. Thadeus is the head of child sponsorship in Tanzania and joined me on some of my visits to children and their families. We drove out into the rural area in our Land Rover over dirt roads that quickly turned to little more than a bumpy path. Finally the path came to an end and we had to stop. Now we had to walk the rest of the way to Geni’s house. We were hardly out of the vehicle when we saw that Geni had walked to meet us. Here is a photo of Thadeus and I greeting Geni. The fellow behind Thadeus is a translator. Geni’s family only spoke a tribal language, so this fellow translated their language into Kiswahili to Thadeus, who in turn translated from Kiswahili to English to me.

The highlight of the trip for me was meeting the 2 children I sponsor in Tanzania. I had sponsored dear Leonard for about 6 months before I met him and his family but we had already made a great connection through our letters. I was so happy to bring small gifts for each member of his family. Recently Leonard’s family was able to move to a better area which is not in a project being run by World Vision so his sponsorship was cancelled. I miss him and think of him often but am so glad his family is now in a much better position.

Here is Lucia, a child I still sponsor in Tanzania. She is a very outgoing girl and was a delight to meet. I always love receiving a letter from her.

I also met children who had full blown AIDS acquired from their mothers when they were born and orphaned children looking after their younger siblings. It is really hard for those of us who have never seen it first-hand to imagine the impact of HIV/AIDS on the continent of Africa. The first solution is education which is happening now in most countries …. the children are being educated about the cause of HIV/AIDS and I think with the next generation being educated the rate of this horrible disease will decrease. But in the meantime a whole generation of people is being eradicated. The heroes in this sad situation are the grandmothers who despite their age and poor health are taking in all these orphans. The problem is that they are aged and do not have work so they have no way to provide for the children. It must break their hearts to know their children are dead and their grandchildren have no future. Here is a photo of a grandmother and her 2 grandchildren. These 2 children, Irene and Lillian, will be moving into the orphanage as the grandmother has no house, no job, no way to feed and clothe them. I am the sponsor of Irene….. her picture just captivated me and I could not forget her face. This picture sears into me the tragic stories of so many grandmothers who are not able to look after all their grandchildren.

Posted on March 13th, 2007 by kim No Comments »