Saturday, October 31, 2009

Welcome Home to Tanzania!

The month of November will be an exciting time for Hearts in Unity!

Sue returns to Tanzania again this month where she and Roland will continue to build on the many wonderful Hearts in Unity projects underway in the mission to help feed, clothe and educate the orphan and at-risk children in Tanzania.

So what will the next month bring? Here are a few of the highlights...

Spending time in the villages of Seela (on Mt. Meru) and Mwika (on Mt. Kilimanjaro), we plan to meet with the women of the Mioyo Pamoja (Hearts in Unity) sewing coops to help them further evaluate and fine tune their business plan so that they can continue with the great success they have with their tailoring/knitting business -- in particular, the important service they provide to the community by sewing school uniforms for local children. We are excited that we will be able to purchase the knitting machine that they have been requesting. We will also begin to gather the information we need to apply for financial grants from the Tanzanian government to help assist these women in the expansion of their sewing coop to include tailoring classes.

We will also spend time at Seela Primary and Maring'a Juu Primary schools to meet with the teachers for a discussion of the current needs of the school, the teachers and the students. While there, we will distribute donations of fabric school bags filled with much needed school supplies, and distribute eyeglasses to the children who need corrective eyewear to help them better succeed in school.

We are excited about our upcoming implementation of a music education program for the children of Seela...distributing recorders (flutes) and sheet music, and teaching the older students how to play the musical instrument so that they in turn can teach the younger children. Music is such an integral part of the Tanzanian culture that this will be such a joy for the children and parents alike.

We will also visit with the orphans in Mwika who have been connected with pen pals through Hearts in Unity, bringing greetings from the U.S. and taking photos to bring back to the pen pal partners of these children.

We are eager to continue to expand our livestock project -- with plans to purchase a cow and several goats to help provide nutrient rich milk to the children in our villages, as well as purchasing chickens to provide protein rich eggs. Several meals are also planned to help feed the children of families in the village who are struggling to put food on the table for their families.

Many of the orphan and at-risk children will receive hand-knit hats to help keep them warm during the rainy season. These hand-knit hats are a labor of love donated by the many volunteers who have opened their hearts to the children of Tanzania.

It will be a busy month!

What a privilege it will be to give gifts from those who have so generously opened their hearts to the children of Tanzania. With your help and support, we are truly making a difference and changing lives, one precious child at a time.

Thank you for joining us in this mission!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Kind Hearts... Warm Kids!


Africa gets cold? It sure does!

For those living on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro or Mt. Meru, the rainy season brings cold weather that chills everyone to the bone. Children living on high on the slopes of these Tanzanian mountains are at particular risk -- they often live in houses made of mud and sticks, and rarely have enough clothes -- hats, jackets, shoes -- to protect them from the cold rainy seasons.

But thanks to the kindness and generosity of Kathy M. and her friends at of Lodi Presbyterian Church in Wisconsin, more than 50 children will soon have brand new hand-knit hats to help to keep them warm as the rainy season approaches.

Asante sana! Thank you very much!

This gift is truly a labor of love -- God's work through the hands of so many who have opened their hearts to the orphan and at-risk children of Tanzania.

If you also knit or crochet, and you'd like to get involved in the mission of Hearts in Unity, please visit our website to learn more... http://www.heartsinunity.org/Clothe.html

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Messages from The Heart

Jambo to the 2nd grade Girl Scouts at Shady Lane Elementary School!

We are so happy to have spent time with these 23 wonderful girls who have opened their hearts to children on the other side of the world.

They learned about life in Tanzania through stories and photos, and then shared their messages of encouragement and friendship through their letters from the heart....letters that will be hand delivered this November to the children at Seela Primary School in Tanzania.

Please take a few minutes to watch the start of another amazing connection -- child to child -- reaching out with hearts in unity!

Their efforts are inspiring!



If you'd like to reach out to a child in Tanzania and share a message from your heart, please visit us at www.heartsinunity.org/message.html