There are over 2 million orphans in Tanzania East Africa, a nation of just over 33 million people. A combination of factors including AIDS, malaria and other diseases have produced an average life expectancy of barely 45 years of age. The end result has been an abundance of orphaned children whose futures are bleak due to the overall poverty of the country, a complete lack of social services and the fact that education even in the government schools is not free.

The TREASURES OF AFRICA CHILDREN'S HOME is being opened in Moshi Tanzania to make a difference in the lives of AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in East Africa. You too can change the life of an orphaned child ...get involved...visit our website... www.treasuresofafrica.org

One interesting story...

In the process of preparing to open the Treasures of Africa, our organization (Hidden With Christ Ministries) shipped a 40 foot long cargo container FILLED with donations for the orphanage. We had not only filled it with BRAND NEW bedding, and children's clothing, and some furniture, but also power tools, a generator , flooring, paint....many things to refurbish the 15 bedroom boarding house that was to be  transformed into a beautiful, safe, warm and homey environment for 36 Tanzanian children who had no where else to go.

This cargo container sailed on June12 from Long Beach California and made its way to the port city of Dar Es Salaam Tanzania on July 14th.  We had a team of volunteers including two building contractors from California who flew at their own expense to Tanzania to work on that building to prepare for the childern. And all the tools and materials they needed to do the work were in that cargo container.

The cargo container arrived in the port, but the Customs officials would not release it. It sat there for 3 weeks even though we had all of our paperwork in order and they were well aware it was for a charitable organization doing charitable work in their country. It was as if they were waiting for some "unspoken thing" to motivate them in order to release it.

While I was pounding the pavement of Dar Es Salaam and going from government office to government office to try to get the container released, an interesting thing occurred. I was walking along the waterfront, a few blocks from the government offices killing time before the next appointment. I saw a young boy who looked no more than 12 or 13 years old. He  approached me and my companion and with a shy but beautiful smile asked for money for food.

Now I am well aware of the issues with street kids and how giving them money does not solve their problems...especially if they use it to buy glue or the latest street drug. But somehow I felt convinced I needed to help him have food to eat that day. So I gave him  some money, not a large amount at all, and then it was time for us to leave for that next appointment. I felt bad I could do no more for him than that. HE didn't run off when he got that money, but instead hung around, as if longing for something more than just a handout.

Two days later, we were back along that same stretch of beach, talking about the cargo container situation which at that point seemed utterly stalled since I refused to offer a bribe to move things along.

Within moments, that same beautiful shy smile appeared again. This time he did not ask for money, just thanked us for the money we had given two days before and said, "I ate rice today."

This time...I was not going to walk away. We were finished with our appointments and had time on our hands. I suggested to my Swahili speaking companion that we take the young boy out to lunch and ask him his story.

Sitting in the restaurant eating chicken and chips, the young boy told us his story. His name was Juma, he said, and  13 years old. His mother died in childbirth with him and his father, upon hearing of the death of his wife, abandoned the infant at the hospital. A grandmother eventually came and claimed the child and raised him for several years. When he was 10 or 11 years old, an uncle who lived in a rural area in Northern Tanzania, came and spoke to the grandmother. Saying he wanted to relieve her of the burden of raising a child at her age, he promised to take the Juma to live with him and put him in school. The grandmother agreed.

The man took Juma to his home and immediately put him to work herding his cattle. HE did not place him in school but had just arranged for himself to have free child labor. Juma ran away at his first opportunity and found his way back to the grandmother's house, where Juma told her what happened.

However shortly thereafter, the uncle showed up and told the grandmother that Juma was lying and just lazy. The grandmother released Juma back to the uncle's care. The man forced him to work in the fields again and beat him and threatened him. When an opportune moment came, Juma ran away with an older teenage boy and they took a two day train ride and arrived in the city of Dar Es Salaam, where he felt sure the uncle would never find him.

For nine months Juma had been living on the streets of that city. Begging everyday for enough money for food, and sleeping at night in the doorways of shops. He and the other street boys banded together for protection and would pay the sescutiry guards who guarded the shops 500 shillings (less than 50 cents) to allow them to sleep there.

After hearing his story, I was determined not to dump him back on the cruel streets of Dar when we finished our lunch. But I had a huge dilemma...what could I do with Juma? Our own children's Home (TREASURES OF AFRICA) was many months away from opening and it was in a city 8 hours away from Dar Es Salaam  by bus.

We took  care of him for several days while trying to find a suitable place...but found out that  the children's homes in the city didn't take kids over 12 years of age.

In the end, the young man who was with me when we met Juma, a young pastor from that city, decided along with his wife, that they would take Juma in to their own home personally. After hearing of his willingess to do that, I pledged that our ministry would provide monthly financial support to help them house, feed and pay for his school expenses. They did not have any room in their tiny house to add another family member. SO while I was there, I helped them find a larger house to rent that would give Juma his own room. That was July.

I just returned in October from being in Tanzania again and where I visited Juma and his new foster family. The shy smile has now become a confident one, and it seemed as if he could not stop smiling! Juma is now in school, happy, healthy and enjoying his "family life!"  

I tell you that story to illustrate the tremendous needs of the huge number (over 2 million) of orphans in Tanzania alone. Each one has a story...and a heartache. We believe it is far better if a child can be placed in  a  loving family environment than in even the best "institution". And we will continue to support children like Juma when it is possible to find a good family situation like his. However, there are many children that don't have the opportunity that Juma received and for them, there needs to be a SAFE LOVING  place that they can call home.

For that reason, we are opening the TREASURES OF AFRICA CHILDREN'S HOME IN Moshi Tanzania. It will be a place where 36 precious children will receive excellent, loving care, healthy food, and medical attention, excellent educational and vocational training and an opportunity to meet the loving God who created them and has a great plan for their lives. It is our goal to raise EVERY child who comes to TOA to know that they can be a leader in their nation. And we will provide the educational opportunites that they would otherwise NEVER receive (as public education is not free in Tanzania) in order to reach that goal.

If you have a heart for orphaned, abused or abandoned children, please consider making a donation to HWCM and specify it for the Treasures of Africa Children's Home. You can do that by going to our website at www.treasuresofafrica.org  or www.hiddenwithchrist.com

Thank you for reading this lens...if you like it...will you please rate this lens and recommend it to other people to read  ...and help us to raise money for the precious orphans of East Africa. Thank you.

Oh...and PS...we did get the cargo container out of the port and it arrived in Moshi where we unloaded the precious cargo and painted, fixed  and  furnished our building. go to our website to see BEFORE  and AFTER photos!