In February 2025, Marianne and Kurt were able to travel to Tanzania again. In this blog post, Marianne shares this wonderful family time with us, gives us an insight into the intensive conversations and takes us on visits to the projects. These regular visits are a gift for us all. Let us take you on a journey to Tanzania.

It was wonderful when we arrived in Dar es Salaam: the sun welcomed us with its full force. We quickly got used to the difference in temperature - if even our mamas say that it's very hot at the moment, then that's saying something. We can only admire our children and young people who study all day in a crowded classroom in these temperatures. It's no wonder when a child experiences a tired moment. As always, this visit was peppered with many happy moments. But there were also sad situations, which always show us all that when we stand together and carry each other, the burden we share is much lighter.

On the first day, we met with Angela, manager of our partner organization Hope & Wonder. It was very nice and we were able to spend some very valuable and informative hours together. It's great that we can help severely disabled children together and that there are also visible improvements after hospital stays or special examinations and treatments. We always assess together where it makes sense to help, what options there are, but also what risks exist. Angela and her colleagues, together with us and our team, are grateful that our local leaders work well together and take on all these challenging situations.

Another important meeting was with our Maisha Bora management team to go through the construction plans for our new children's home. We talked about changes, improvements, functional adjustments and their costs. It was a lively discussion and we were pleased to feel that everyone was very well prepared, had already given a lot of thought and everyone defended their role with the structural benefits, but was also prepared to come to an agreement at the right moment. The aim was that we were all talking about the same thing when we met the architect and that we had addressed all the points so that we didn't have to invest many more hours and were able to have a final concept together. It was important for us to take a clear step forward during this visit so that we can start building soon.

Our next step was to inspect the completed wall around our property. The main gate and the two emergency doors had already been installed. We were amazed at how carefully the tree had been integrated into the wall. Surely our professionals at home can now see that not everything is correct, but by Tanzanian standards this wall is very well built. We will only plaster and paint the wall once the children's home has been completed. It was great to stand on this beautiful piece of land and get an idea of how our future, larger children's home will look.

Punctual as a Swiss watch, everyone arrived at the agreed meeting point for the meeting with the architect. We agreed that the Maisha Bora team would lead the meeting and that we would only be guests and provide input or answer questions if necessary. We want this concept to be supported by Maisha Bora. Only then will it be implemented as it should be. Because it should not be built according to our standard / according to our wishes, but according to the requirements of a functioning children's home for the local conditions. Kurt and I were pleasantly surprised at how harmoniously and respectfully everyone approached each other here and, above all, how we spoke to each other as equals. Now we are all eagerly awaiting the final plans so that we can prepare the construction documentation in Switzerland.

As with every visit, our aim is to see and experience all the projects. So we also visited the Mapinga School. It is great to see and hear from the school principal that the children are doing well and that our food support gives them strength. Many children are noticeably more focused during lessons and it is also remarkable that there are fewer absences. The regular health checks by our nurse Winrose also contribute to this. Due to new legal requirements, the Maisha Bora team had to switch to gas for preparing meals in the kitchen container at the school.

We also made various visits to very poor families and single mothers who are facing major challenges due to their children's health restrictions. The visit to Antony made our hearts cry with joy. We were able to witness a small miracle: thanks to the operation we were able to finance, this boy can now walk to school, play with other children, walk upright and all this without pain. Antony is overjoyed and very grateful. It is so wonderful that together we can give people/children hope and quality of life.

Of course, a visit to our trainees at Tuwapende Watoto was also a must. It is a pleasure to see that the young people feel at ease here, that they are allowed to learn and that what they have learned can also be applied in everyday working life after their training, thus offering them career prospects.

We also took the time to find a good bicycle for and with one of our employees that was not too expensive and still functional. Goodlove, our security guard, was on his feet for over 3 hours a day to do a good job for us. Masia and Kurt took their time and I just enjoyed the colorful and turbulent happenings around me. After a long search, a suitable bicycle was found for 60 USD.

The next goal was to find a sun umbrella, as the tree that had previously provided shade unfortunately had to be felled. In the current children's home, there was no longer any shade on the forecourt and in these temperatures it is so important that the children can spend time outside as well as in the confined spaces of the children's home. Finding a sunshade is no longer a big problem. The challenge was to find a good quality one at a good price. Having enough time is an advantage here and can achieve the desired goal. Once again, we were very lucky and were able to find people who made this possible. Thank you for all your support. The men then took over the assembly and were proud that the umbrella was standing. Our Abu (23-year-old autistic, who belongs to the Maisha Bora family) watched the construction work with me from a distance and when the work was done, he grabbed his chair and sat down in the shade. We were all surprised by Abu's behavior and he clearly enjoyed having the umbrella to himself. We were very touched by this reaction. :)

Large suitcases full of clothes, coloring books, children's books, puzzles and much more arrived safely and were distributed by the mamas. There was great joy about the things we brought and everyone was/is very grateful.

The Saturday club then started at 12.00 noon. Many children still have school in the morning. Once all the children were home and the Maisha Bora Club children from the region had arrived, the English teacher started her two-hour lesson. The temperature raised the thermometer to 35 degrees and the air was dry. We were surprised that everyone had gathered in the small house and squeezed together. The teacher did her job very well and kept the children and young people moving during the lessons. Afterwards, everyone had a well-deserved lunch and a little rest time.

At 3 p.m., everyone swirled around us and the Mamas were suddenly all in their training suits. A cheerful, jubilant atmosphere swept through the children's home and as quickly as it became loud, it also became quiet. The more than 50 children and all the staff and Kurt traveled to the Mapinga school grounds for their weekly training session, where the boys' football training and the girls' netball training started. Mama Leah and I stayed home alone with the two youngest kids. We both enjoyed the peace and quiet and finally had some time to ourselves to catch up and talk about lots of things.

Everyone else went to the school playground, where many more children were already waiting to do sports together. Those children who didn't have their own sports clothes were given some by us. Then it was time to warm up in separate groups. The girls prepared for various ball games with the mamas, while the boys went through a more rigorous and intensive program before playing football.

Masia was well prepared with our first aid kit and also made sure that the children drank enough water in these temperatures.

Sunday was family time and everyone came together. Even our former children, who were now adults and allowed to become independent, visited the mams and younger siblings to look after them lovingly. They danced, played and also helped with the cooking. Even Goodlove, our night watchman, loves to help the mamas on the bigger occasions.

There was a wonderful harmonious atmosphere and not just because we were there, no, this positive atmosphere is the work of our staff over many years. Of course, there were also small arguments and here and there a tear or a loud shriek because things weren't going the way a child wanted, but that's part of real family life and should be allowed to happen.

And so the hours and days flew by and it was time for us to say goodbye and say see you again. Let yourself be seduced by the following pictures to Tanzania and perhaps you can perceive one or the other feeling from them.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to dive into the world of the children here in East Africa with us. You make it all possible and you give the children this family life.