SOS Children

In my last week volunteering I managed to organise an afternoon trip to the north of Arusha to visit an orphanage run by SOS Children, and Sarah and Kelly came with me. I had found out about this charity before leaving the UK, and had offered to help out with some editing on a voluntary basis when I get back in July. They suggested that I try to visit their village in Arusha - I'm glad I went; it was a very moving experience ...

SOS Children was founded in Sweden in the 1940s and they now have over 100 villages all over the world - 2 in Tanzania - 1 in Zanzibar and 1 relatively new house, started in 2000 in Arusha, and they are hoping to build another in Dar es Salaam too. All the villages are based on the same principles, and it was great to see one in action!

Some of the houses the children live in

We were shown around by a very helpful Mr Molel ... The Arusha village houses 100 orphans who have come from destitute backgrounds - there are 10 houses in the village and each is lived in and run by a 'mother' who looks after up to 10 boys and girls of different ages, who live there together as a family. Siblings always stay together, and the children grow up in the same house - the house we visited had children and a mother who had been living there together for 7 years. The mother is provided with a budget and she is responsible for buying and cooking the food for the children - children help her to shop and cook and so learn about normal family routines. There are bedrooms, each for up to 4 children, and another for the mother - any babies sleep in cots on the same room as the mother - no dormitories here.

In the village there were a lot of green areas to play in, and also a playground and a communal village hall - all very pleasant. SOS Children also runs 3 schools on site - a kindergarten, a primary school, and a secondary school - for the orphans, but also for children in the community who pay subsidised private school fees. We visited the kindergarten which was lovely - another world from the nursery I've been working in! Part of me wished that some of this could be spread around more thinly to more, but then it wouldn't be the same, so maybe better to have a really good model for others to follow?

The kindergarten - a world apart from where I'm working!

We also learnt that the orphans keep in touch with any extended family and sometimes go to stay with them in the holidays. Also, when the children are 18 they move into a youth section, and live semi-independenly with a youth leader supervising them. And even when they leave to go to work or university, they keep in touch with SOS Children and are able to contact them for help and advice.

At the end of our tour we spent a while just playing with some of the younger children and they seemed really well adjusted and happy. They are clearly very well cared for and loved here, and despite really sad backgrounds, it's encouraging to see that they are being given a good chance of a happy life. Apparently other orphanages are now trying to follow this model. Tanzania has a long way to go to care for all their orphans, but this gave me hope!

If you want to find out more about this charity, go to: http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/. I've also added the link to the right-hand column.