The children at Big Tree

Mdoula- Tanzania

Just when I thought I had witnessed some very terrible living conditions for humans I met a woman , an African who has a small NGO with little to no funding ,and she was trying make a difference.

When she described to me the conditions the people of this area were living in it sounded bad but somehow similar to the way others were living in which I had been serving. But still I wanted to go and see for myself so I took a very dangerous 7 hour bus trip through the hills and mountains to the region of Dar es Salaam .

When I arrived my nerves were not as they should be but I was in one piece and happy to be off that bus.

She took me to visit a pastor of a church that also was trying to serve the people of this community, his name was pastor Bartholomay and he was as poor as everyone else. He rented a small room for he and his wife and children, about 10 ft by 10 ft ,and struggled to pay the $3 per month rent. They had only a thin foam mattress on the floor for sleeping and food was also a huge challenge. To sit and talk with this man you would not get the impression that life was so difficult. He was happy and enthusiastic and just a really nice person, they all were.

So we walked about 6 k up and down the hills and as I walked I noticed a few small water holes about 20ft in diameter and filled with murky brown water, like coffee with cream in it. We arrived to a small area where there were mostly mud houses with grass roofs and a curtain for a door and many of the houses were crumbling. Near these homes was a school made of brick in 2002 but now is crumbling also and serves about 225 students. There were 3 teachers working at this school even though there were supposed to be 8 but the living conditions were so bad that the others moved away and were never replaced. .They took us on a tour of the school property and I could see that if something is not done that these building could topple over and there would be a school no more.

Next we visited some families nearby that were also members of the church and there life was also a constant struggle. Also their homes were made from mud and sticks with grass roofs and very small. The strange thing about this church is that they meet and pray under a nearby tree as they have only just acquired some donated land and now are trying to figure out how to get the $6000.00 it would take to build there church. I said I would gladly build there church for them but it would take me a while to save that kind of money.

Now about the people, some of them worked small farms or made grass carpets or housed chickens but all earned very little money. Also I learned there is no clean drinking water. The water holes I mentioned earlier was their drinking water and they do not filter or boil it before using it so it’s a wonder that many of the children have intestinal worms that are untreated and who knows what else. Also I learned that that there are over 250 orphans in this area and that number is growing due to the spread of HIV and none of these children have been tested because there is no organization to help them , I am the 1^st.

Education and awareness is the foundation to the solution to their issues but also caring and compassion from outsiders as well as the locals is helpful. I was told that I am the 1^st mazungu ( white person) to visit them or this area and as I mentioned I am the 1^st NGO to visit as well. So I tell you now I have a plan of change and development for these people , for these children ,for this area.

The one thing that acted like a beacon of hope to me was that in the center of this area stood a tree as tall as a 12 story building and its roots were as round as a house, I was mammoth , and it was the only one like it around anywhere that I could see so I called this area “Big Tree”. I f you believe in God then you believe this tree was put there for a reason, perhaps to help find these people and to give them what we are all gifted at birth--LOVE.