Destination Tanzania!

Attention all world travelers
(and yes, world traveler "want-to be's" are certainly included)!

Today's destination?

Tanzania, Africa – home to the precious orphan and at-risk children who are held so close at heart by all those who support the mission of Hearts in Unity.

Let us give you a brief tour... Tanzania is the proud home to:

Mt. Kilimanjaro -- At 19,000 feet, it is the highest point in Africa and a destination for some of the world's most adventurous and dedicated climbers.

The "Big Five" -- lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard, rhino. "Big Five" is a term originally coined by big-game hunters to refer to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot, but is used commonly now by most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss wildlife safaris.

Some of the most beautiful national parks in the world are in Tanzania (Our Hearts in Unity website includes videos of some of the national parks and also includes links to the official websites for each national park in Tanzania).

Located in East Africa, the eastern border of the country is on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Tanzania is also bordered by 9 other countries including: Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mosambique, Malawi and the island of Madascar. The island of Zanzibar, along with mainland Tanzania, make up the United Repuplic of Tanzania.

The influx of refugees from neighboring Rwanda, Burundi and Congo over the last decade has placed a heavy burden on a country already struggling to care for its own people. Tanzania is the 5th poorest country in the world with families living in heartbreaking poverty -- struggling to survive on an average household income of less than $1 a day.

$1 a day?
Can one even buy a cup of coffee these days for less than $1?

Maybe "living on less than $1 a day" in Tanzania is easier to comprehend when put it into some sort of familiar context.

Let's compare it to poverty in the United States. Our government has established that the "poverty level" for a family of 4 is approximately $21,000 per year -- or about $58 a day. Yes, it's all relative, and one must put the numbers into context, but the difference between $1 a day and $58 a day is both striking and alarming by any measure.

But for all the ways that this crushing poverty affects the daily lives of the people in Tanzania, they are a people rich in culture and hospitality. Perhaps they don't know what they are missing -- other than the basics of life such as food, clothing and education for their children.

But they seem to have their priorities in order. Their foundation is their family. Their strength is in their faith. Their hope is in a better future for their children. Though complicated in so many ways due to the poverty of the generations before them, their lives are simple.
And they simply need our help.

To learn more about the many ways that you can join us is in making a difference in the lives of the orphans and at-risk children of Tanzania, please visit our Hearts in Unity website.

Asante sana – Thank you very much.

Travel with us on Twitter!

Check out our "tweets" on Twitter! You don't need to have your own Twitter account to read the exciting updates on our mission. Just click onto our Twitter website and read all the latest!

Follow us on Facebook!

Join our new "Hearts in Unity" group on Facebook and get all the latest updates on our mission to help the precious children of Tanzania!

A Partnership with "Cards for Kids"

Hearts in Unity is delighted to announce our new partnership with "Cards for Kids" -- an organization started by an amazing teenager who is dedicated to the creation of handmade and painted cards for children around the world who are facing poverty, homelessness, or difficult circumstances.

We just received in the mail our second package of beautiful hand-made cards from Haley and her friends at "Cards for Kids" which we will be sending to the orphans and at-risk children in our Tanzanian villages of Seela and Mwika.

These cards really do bring smiles -- and will be treasured by the children in Tanzania who will receive them.

Please visit the "Cards for Kids" website to learn more about our newest partner.

Become a fan of "Cards for Kids" on Facebook just like we are and read all about "Cards for Kids" in a recent news article.

When we join together, with hearts in unity for the children of the world, we can truly make a difference and change lives!

We welcome you to join us in this mission!

A New Year's Resolution

As you reflect on a the year gone past... and contemplate the year to come... consider the following...

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." -Morrie Schwartz-

Imagine the impact we could have on the world if we EACH were to make a New Year's resolution to do just ONE small thing to make a difference in the life of another.

A random act of kindness.
A friendly offer to help.
A word of encouragement.

It's really quite simple. And we can help you to help another.

All it takes is a pen, paper, a postage stamp and a few minutes of your time. Simple words of encouragement, written from your heart, can give hope to an orphan or other at-risk child in Tanzania, Africa.

It's a new year. Start it out with Hearts in Unity.

Visit us at http://www.heartsinunity.org/Message.html to help make a difference in the life of a precious child in need of your encouragement.

Recycle your Christmas Cards!

Recycle your Christmas greeting cards… and send a smile to a child!

Did you know that those Christmas cards you received this year can be "recycled" in a way that will bring hope and joy to an orphan or other at-risk child in Tanzania, Africa?

Just cut off the front of the card and use the blank side as a postcard on which to write a note of encouragement. You then simply send your written postcards to us (U.S.A address) and we will ensure they are delivered personally to children in Tanzania who are in need of a message of encouragement.

It’s a gift that stays in a child’s heart. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. And it’s easy for everyone to do.

Learn more at www.heartsinunity.org/message.html

Nimble Fingers in a Labor of Love

We are continually humbled by the selfless giving of time, energy and love by those who are knitting and crocheting hats for the children of Tanzania.

The most recent distribution of these beautiful, donated hats took place just last month. It was a day of smiles and laughs -- each Tanzanian child delighted with a new hat to help keep them warm during the cold, rainy season high up in the mountains of Tanzania.

We welcome you to view this short video of some of the children who have been truly blessed by these gifts.



We are always looking for additional volunteers to join us in this mission of love. If you knit or crochet, and you would like to make a difference in the life of one of these precious children, please contact us at hearts_in_unity@yahoo.com

To learn more about this ongoing project, please visit our website at: www.heartsinunity.org

Merry Christmas

"I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."
~Charles Dickens

This Christmas season, may you experience the joy that comes from acts of kindness and generosity shared among all of the people of this world.

May God bless us all.

Krismas Njema...Merry Christmas,
Sue and Roland

A Gift of Shoes

A school uniform ... a shirt, a skirt or pair of trousers, and a pair of shoes. Seems simple enough. If you have a school uniform and shoes, you can attend school.

Yet, for families in Tanzania, buying the required school uniform and shoes for their children is a burden that they too often can not bear. When a family is struggling to survive on less than $1 a day, parents must often make heartbreaking choices about providing for their families.

Their children are hungry -- for both food to nourish their bodies, and for education to nourish their minds. Do they, as parents, sacrifice their children’s access to education, the only key to breaking out of the cycle of poverty, in order to have the means to feed their children sometimes even just a single meal each day?

Orphans, often living with grandparents, are at an even greater disadvantage in the stronghold of the cycle of poverty.

But there is a simple solution. With a single donation to Hearts in Unity to purchase school uniforms and shoes for the orphans in the Tanzanian villages of Seela and Mwika, you can help ease the burden of a difficult choice for these parents. By making a simple donation towards the purchase of school uniforms and shoes, you can help these children to attain the education that allows them to have greater opportunities in life than they ever dreamed possible.

During this Christmas season, give a gift that helps feed a child's mind -- a simple gift of shoes for a child living in Tanzania, the 5th poorest country in the world. When a child has shoes, he or she can attend school, and a whole new world of opportunity opens.

Is there room in your heart for these precious children?

Please help us to reach our goal of providing 100 more pair of shoes for the orphans in our Tanzanian villages before the start of their next school year in mid-January. Click on the "Give" link on the right-hand column of this site to make a difference today.

For more information about this and other Hearts in Unity programs to help feed, clothe and educate the orphan and at-risk children of Tanzania, please visit www.heartsinunity.org.

Asante sana na Mungu akubariki sana (Thank you and God bless you).

Daily Life in Tanzania -- Tweet!

Karibu! Welcome to Tanzania!

Today is the start of the journey back to Tanzania! Please join us!

Experience life in the remote villages on the slopes of Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro. If the internet connection is cooperative, and fuel is available to run the generator for electrity, we plan to log our November travels and project updates through our journal of daily "tweets" on Twitter.

In addition to the full history of our "tweets" on Twitter, the most recent Twitter updates are also viewable on this blog (see right-hand column) and on our Hearts in Unity website.

Don't have a Twitter account? No problem -- our Hearts in Unity Twitter page is open to the public. We hope you will follow us!