CHILDREN OF AFRICA: VOLUNTEERS 2010

PAU AND ALEXIS

With the help of Alexis Moles and Pau Menéndez (the two volunteer architects from Barcelona and Ibiza), we could make it to build two latrines and two showers, and of course they also helped with the construction of the library, especially makinf door frames, benches, tables, preparing cement, bringing bricks, transporting materials, etc. All the hard jobs that would have taken much more time without them.

They were fixing all types of things, erecting walls, digging soil to place the pipes of the latrines, etc. They also wanted to contribute with the acquisition of a solar panel and pay for all the expenses for it

to be installed on the roof of the library. The total cost of this project was around 400 Euros. And the electrical light finally arrived to Tsunza!

They were great with the kids too and could not stop taking care of them, playing games and organising sports with those who wanted. Everybody will miss them in Tsunza!

JORDI AND ANNA

The last weekend of July Anna and Jordi, a couple from Girona (Spain), also visited Likoni and Tsunza. They had fundraised money for both places and spent half of the amount buying a lot of food for the kids at the orphanage and with the other half they paid for food for 14 families in Tsunza and bought a handcart for transport.

LORENA AND MONICA RUBIRA

Two volunteers from Spain. These two twins helped with the construction of the two remaining classrooms in Barcelona Block in Timbwani School. They also brought some kids to the doctor and brought school material and baby clothes to Tsunza village. They bought a double bed, bedsheets and matrasses since, when they arrived, there weren’t enough beds and some kids were sleeping on the floor. They restored furniture and bought new one. They bought breakfast every morning, shoes and underwear for the kids.

They paid for the monthly rent of July (250 euros) and bought food for the kids. They also bought some school material and organised some evening lessons and studying atmosphere for the kids at the orphanage. They also brought the kids on excursion and so many other things. In general, they had a great experience and were even able to visit Tsunza village for a weekend.

AINA NOGUERA

After two weeks in Kenya, the third of our volunteers arrived, Aina Noguera from Mallorca, who was also a great help both in Likoni and Tsunza. Aina was tagged as the entertainer of Children of Africa. She was great playing with the kids, and was able to make everybody laugh every day.

She taught songs, she organised football matches, Swahili-English lessons under the tree, and so much more. She contributed to the development of Tsunza by paying for the furniture necessary to roof the library and to make the shelves, as well as, varnishing, covering books, bringing stones, etc. Her energy was endless!

THE ESSENCE OF VOLUNTEERING

"Volunteering abroad is not an opportunity given to the rich and developed citizens of occidental countries in order to experience an extraoridinary adventure. In fact, I think it's unacceptable that we allow ourselves the luxury of dreaming about sensational experiences, while the people of the needy countries we want to visit can only allow themselves to dream of some piece of bread in their mouths.

A volunteer workcamp is not a selfish opportunity to satisfy our egos or our cravings for travelling; a volunteer workcamp is an opportunity that the volunteer himself provides in order to offer inconditional assistance and support, time, economic resources and efforts to the most needy ones; an opportunity to change a small, tiny piece of the world.

Therefore, a volunteer should never allow himself to become an extra burden for those he's trying to help. It would be simply nonsense. A volunteer must be a relief, water on top of fire, sugar on top of the bitterness that rules their lives, a streched hand, a balm for the open wounds, a whisper of peace...

Then, we cannot expect that a home, where we are planning to spend some time and where they already have problems enough to bring 50 children to school and provide them with food, water, clothes, etc., opens its doors for us only for love's sake, just becoming another mouth to feed. It is not the same being a volunteer in our own country or being a volunteer in a different continent in somebody else's home. Here, we can offer our time and efforts and later go back home where we are catered with everything. In Africa, to become an assistant requires something else.

When we arrive at an orphanage, we become part of it, another member, which means more food, more water, more electricity, more dirty clothes, more washing-up liquid, more bed covers, etc. It is clear that the romantic idea that Occidentals have of bringing our big love and tenderness to those people, of spending time by their side and exchanging our knowledge with them is highly praisable. But there is something that we should never forget: LOVE ON ITS OWN DOES NOT FEED CHILDREN.

I've been moving in and out of Kenya for almost four years now, living with those incredible peoples, and I swear that they really appreciate the time we spend with them, the moments we listen to their problems, the time we play with their children... But, no matter how strong you might me hugging them, if in that moment their stomachs are empty, and there is nothing to bring to their mouths, our big love will be vanished to ashes. And it is normal and understandable: human beings can only allow themselves the pleasure of loving and dreaming when the basic human needs are covered (drinking, eating and sleeping).

As a consequence, with my full belly, I allow myself a dream: to fill their bellies so that they can also dream. And among many others, the best ways to achieve such a dream are those where governments will never invest enough, building up strong and long-lasting infrastructures, with auto-sustainable projects which can bring them autonomy and better life standards and, ABOVE OF ALL, improving the whole institution of education by building up better schools, with better materials, improving teachers formation, and working on the basis of universal values and human rights.

Susanna

CHILDREN OF AFRICA

VOLUNTEERS 2010

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