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Mbise: orphan taking care of orphansby Staff Writer
Robert Abraham Mbise maybe an orphan who for years, has been struggling to work from hand to mouth as a bracelet peddler in Arusha streets. This year, however, young Mbise started to take care of other orphans. He came to The Arusha Times offices this week and gave us his story. "I was born and brought up in Ndoombo village at the Tengeru location of the Arusha district." he explained. The deaths of both his parents forced him to go and live with his brother in Dar es Salaam city where he actually got his education. "I attended Mgulani primary school and later on Jitegemee secondary but trouble started while at Haly-Aramain high school, so I never completed Form Six!" he said. Somehow, he differed with his brother and decided to return to Arusha where he started hawking artifacts like bracelets and wooden carvings. Now aged 30 years, Mbise’s life changed when like all other "Machingas" he accosted a tourist, trying to sell him some of his wares. The "tourist" turned out to be Jim Arden, the Director of the Jim Arden Foundation, a US based organization aimed at assisting African children and youths precisely underprivileged ones, to find their feet again. Jim Arden, a former Science teacher for over 30 years, advised Mbise not to waste his life peddling bracelets and instead, look for something worthwhile doing. Arden then employed him to be his guide, the year was 1998 when the director was then assisting the Arumeru based, Nshupu primary school on building another classroom wing. But just close to the school, stand the Huruma Orphanage Centre, whose director, Zacharia Nassary saw the development at Nshupu primary and appealed for similar assistance from Jim Arden. Mbise helped to introduce the orphanage to the Foundation and right now, he has been chosen to be a key player in planning for future development plans for the Huruma Orphanage. "Mainly to make it self reliant and self sufficient in future", said Mbise, who in January 2004, was made deputy director for the orphanage. "So far it has seven children and just one building", explains Mbise who apparently has two children of his own (not in the orphanage though). Plans for the orphanage however, may wait a bit as he jets off to Connecticut, US next September, to attend his first Jim Arden Foundation board meeting His trip is being sponsored by one Tom Passalacqua who recently came to Arusha, to assist in the construction of Nshupu primary being an expert in carpentry. So, what does Mbise do meanwhile? He hasn’t exactly forgotten his old trade or ditched it. Mbise
runs a small curio shop at Kiosk number A52 along the now christened "Vinyago
street". The straight backstreet alley which joins Makongoro road and Joel Maeda
street.
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