Tunaishi Fencing Project

Here I am, about to go into my senior year of college, and these past couple of years have been tough. I fell into a slump and the boring routine that many college students fall into of class, going out with friends, eating cheap food, sleeping, and studying when you find the time. Although I hadn't acknowledged it yet, or at least wasn't willing to say it out loud, I was tired of my mundane daily life and I knew I needed to get back to my roots of travel, service, and living with an overall purpose. So- I planned a trip. When I began on my 2 and 1/2 month journey through Africa in late May, I had no idea what I was about to dive into. I knew I was excited to explore a new city and a new country, Cape Town, South Africa, and return to my home away from home after 5 years, Tanzania. I had a moment while serving in Cape Town, standing in my host mom's house, where I had this powerful, and excitingly familiar feeling of happiness come over me, and honstely I began to cry. I couldn't believe that I had spent so many years without feeling true happiness, a happiness that was so essential to my life that it felt as if I was living without water for the past 2 years. 

As I said goodbye to Cape Town (one of the most amazing cities in the world, I might add), I was welcomed whole heartedly back to Moshi, Tanzania- the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. When I arrived I was ready to begin my next month long service project with the Tunaishi group. 'Tunaishi' in Swahili is directly translated to "We Live" and this is a group of 40 women, men, and children who are living with HIV.  The incredible Mama Sarah leads the group, and spends almost everyday taking the bus to the hospital to pick up medicine for those members who cannot leave their bed, walking around to each person's house and checking in on them, going into town to buy groceries for the group, planting or picking corn from her garden, and many other activities directly relating to the group. One of the main goals of the Tunaishi group is to become self-sustainable, and in the past, volunteers have helped Mama Sarah and the Tunaishi group with creating projects, such as raising and selling chickens, in order to achieve self-sustainability. Unfortunately many of these projects have failed because of theives who jump the wall to Mama Sarah's house and steal the chickens, her clothes, the corn she is growing, and her money. 

When I first met Mama Sarah, I orginally wanted to help her buy new chickens or plant a new vegetable garden, but the more I thought about it, I realized that as exciting as it would be to give the Tunaishi group 200 chickens, they would eventually get stolen again and the work I would have put in to serve her, would actually be more of a budren on her than helpful. So, I took a few steps back, had a long conversation with Mama Sarah, and realized that before anything else can be done for the Tunaishi group, the brick fence around her house needed to be finished so they could safely keep chickens, pigs, a cow, vegetables, etc in their property without fear of somebody taking it. 

After talking to a specialist and getting an estimate of what they project will cost, here I am at the next step; the fundraising. The money donated will go to helping finish Mama Sarah's fence so that the Tunaishi group can progress to becoming self-sustainable. If you donate $7 USD, you will help buy 1 bag of cement. At $60 USD, it will help buy 1 bag of sand. At $100 USD, it will help buy 1 roll of barbed wire that needs to go at the top of the fence. 

I know there are so many issues in our own country right now that need help, and I am not blind in that I know this will not cure HIV in Africa, but it WILL help this group of people to live. As the great South African, Desmond Tutu has said, 

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."