One cup of tea, two orphanages, and three mangoes.

On Wednesday we brought the last batch of clothes and food over to Hamisi's house. His mama is so humble and so kind. She gave us a bunch of mangoes to eat, which was very generous of her. In general, the people are extremely hospitable. The day prior, when we had dropped off the clothes and supplies for Abedi, Saumu, and Zubeda, their Grandma had insisted on preparing tea for us. We made sure that she boiled the water and she prepared some amazing tea. Outside of her house, there is a collective fire that the surrounding houses share. She added sugar, cloves, and other spices to the tea. It was delicious. We sat in her house, which was about 120 degrees, and sipped the hot tea while she watched. It was a wonderful moment. At both houses we were welcomed in with no hesitation and given whatever they had to offer.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to Tuleeni, a local orphanage in Rau village. It is run by one woman, Mama Furaji, who has put her whole life into the place. It is completely funded with her own efforts and some outside donations. There are several rooms, a place to keep a goat, a cow, and some chickens, and a small kitchen. The kids are of all ages, ranging from newborns to 20 years old, and were brought in by Mama Furaji through word of mouth. There are about 37 orphans living there. We had a great time playing with the kids and just running around with them. They have little help there and function as a family unit. Mama Furaji is another beaming example of how the women here are amazing, and so willing to sacrifice their own lives.

On Thursday afternoon, we went to Upendo Orphanage which was where we originally intended to set up our project. The differences between Upendo and Tuleeni are striking. Upendo has a large campus, set up rooms with nice neat beds, plenty of food, and because it is a teaching orphanage, plenty of help. We still had a great time running around with toddlers and holding the babies. The sisters (it is a catholic orphanage) don't give a lot of physical love to the kids so they just love to be held. The kids are so cute and so endearing. We learned that after they leave the orphanage at age 6, they are transferred to another orphanage in the south of Tanzania where they go to Primary School. This wasn't clearly communicated to us before and we are really happy we decided to shift gears away from supporting them. It was the right move.

Today (Friday) we are going to the local Juvy, where Jennifer had placement last year. Tomorrow we go to a Valentine's Day Party at Tuleeni, which should be a blast. And then on Sunday we leave! Our time has gone by so fast but it has been really productive and has been wonderful to be back. I can't wait til next time!