 One
Month in Arusha...
By Oliver Longbottom and Heather Ross
Loving Hand for the Disadvantaged and Aged (LOHADA) is a small Tanzanian
non-governmental organization serving disadvantaged children at risk of going to
the streets and destitute elderly people in the Arusha and Shinyanga regions.
We have been volunteering at Camp Moses in Moshono for the past month. During
our time we have had the privilege of witnessing LOHADA's growth and
development. The vegetable garden at Camp Moses has been expanded, and fruit
trees have been planted thanks to a donation from Huddersfield Parish Church,
England. The money they have collected has also enabled us to donate seating
mats for the classroom at Camp Joshua, and have made a donation towards
landscaping the outside area at Camp Moses.
Being our first trip to East Africa, we wanted to spend some time living a true
African lifestyle. LOHADA's volunteer programme gave us the opportunity to make
this dream a reality. We have been living with a family for the last month,
experiencing Tanzanian food, television, culture, and the warmth and generosity
of your people. Many westerners only come to Arusha for a few days, in order to
arrange a safari trip before heading off on their way to Zanzibar. While at
times we have been frustrated with the continual hounding from street vendors
assuming that we are just another muzungu who might like to buy an international
newspaper or batik, we have taken great pride in treating Arusha as our home for
the last few weeks.
It has been a joy to work with the staff at Camp Moses, and to spend time
playing with the children at the camp. It is often very hard to believe the
background from which they have come, when you see them with a beaming smile on
their faces. However, while working to create profiles of the children at the
camp, for the forthcoming sponsor-a-child programme that LOHADA is establishing,
the realities of the children's family situations is often a harrowing read.
LOHADA aims to break the poverty cycle into which the children were born, at no
fault of their own. LOHADA provides the children with a safe, supportive and
loving environment in which they can develop and grow into self-sufficient
adults with a well-established and positive future ahead of themselves. While
LOHADA originally started with Camp Moses, the new building work at Camp Joshua
in Unga Ltd, which is progressing fast, will enable LOHADA's loving hand to be
extended to more families within Arusha.
LOHADA's two camps in Arusha; Camp Moses and Camp Joshua, are part of Arusha's
society and infrastructure. Mama Wambura's vision and courage to try to tackle
some of the problems that poverty brings, rather than turn her back to them, is
something that should be heralded as a great achievement, and for which the
people of Arusha should be most proud.
It has been an honour and a privilege to volunteer at LOHADA, to spend time
living in Arusha, and to live with a local family. We will forever remember our
time here fondly in our hearts and will continue to keep in touch with LOHADA to
hear of all its future developments.
For more information about LOHADA's activities, please visit
www.lohada.org .
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