An idea developing....

When I first viewed the TAFCOM website a month ago, I noticed that there was no easy way to make a donation (i.e. online!). Since arriving in Tanzania, I have been asking the folks at TAFCOM a lot of questions and have discovered that their website was created and is managed by a former volunteer. My partner (Erin) and I have tried to contact the volunteer a couple of times, but she has not responded. Apparently she is the only person with administrative rights to the website, so making any changes will be a lengthy process (including adding online donation capability).

While researching some alternatives I discovered that many NGOs have American-based counterparts (i.e. a 501c3 organization established to allow U.S. people and institutions the ability to make tax-deductible donations to an international NGO). I began to talk with Jonas and Nie at TAFCOM about this, and think that I have the go-ahead to set up a 501c3 in the U.S. After I discussed this with them they informed me that another past volunteer had also suggested this, so I sent her an email yesterday to see if any work has been done towards this goal. I hope that I'll hear back from her soon so that I can start moving on this! Finally, a possible idea where I might be able to help!

Monday with TAFCOM we visited a man named Happiness who is literally on his deathbed. He was unable to move or eat, he weighed 90 pounds at the most, and was wasting away in a disgusting room with a dirt floor, holes in the ceiling, no electricity or water, and animals running in and out at will. It was completely heartbreaking. His wife is also HIV positive and trying to care for him, but they have no money, no food and no support. She was also very thin and worn down, but doing her best to keep him alive. Nie gave them 500 shillings out of her own pocket to get some flour so that the wife can make a "paste" to try and eat. I can't find the words to explain how terrible their situation is - and their situation is identical to so many others. Erin and I were so depressed after visiting them, and although we are not supposed to do this we gave Nie a small amount of money to buy Happiness a little food. It's unbelievable how far just a tiny bit of money will go. We gave them a total of about $1.00 USD which will feed this man and his wife for a few days!!!

I've had the opportunity now to look at the business plans and budgets for two local NGO's. One spent a budget of ~$30,000 USD last year, and they are helping over 200 women rise out of poverty and become self-sustaining with education and micro-loans. Shari put it into perfect perspective - that's less than what my former employer would spend/waste on one engineering experiment. We spent more than that on sodas and office supplies.

Can you imagine how many lives could be completely transformed with the money we (myself included) "throw away"??? I wonder how many people I might have actually saved from death or sent to school this year...just by donating the money I drank at Starbucks. It's so hard to comprehend all of this and know what to do.

Today we went to visit the TAFCOM children's center and I acquired a tiny bit of hope...hanging out with little kids will lift your spirits! TAFCOM rents a very small little room where they run a nursery school for ~35 kids. The children were from 2 - 4 years old (although there was one 6 year old, more on him in a second) and they have a "teacher" (who doesn't have her teaching certification) who works there for FREE - she does it as a volunteer. Her name is Katherine and she is really cool, seems to be doing a wonderful job caring for these children. The kids are either orphans whose parents died from AIDS or from really poor homes where the family is somehow affected by HIV/AIDS. Katherine somehow managed to keep the focus of 35 kids in a tiny space with no desks, no chairs, no school supplies, no blackboard to write on, no books, few toys, no food, no uniforms. They sang us a sweet little song when we arrived and then they taught us some Swahili! She is really amazing and TAFCOM is lucky to have her.

One child, Kelvin, really touched my heart. The kids were arranged/grouped by age, and Kelvin was with the littlest ones (2 year olds). He was so cute and funny, but I could tell that he had some sort of disability. He can't really talk, but he liked our cameras and playing with a little empty backpack that was in the room. Turns out he is six years old, HIV positive, and he had a seizure right there while we were in class. They just wiped his mouth, calmed him down and he went back to playing.

There is so much more that I want to write about, but I have used up my computer time (and then some!)...