Five month at Karibu Nyumbani, or how to tame a horde of little children.
I came to Karibu Nyumbani in February 2014 after having spent four months working at a Tanzanian hospital. Directly I felt at home at this place, not only because of Fiona, Ester and Ludmila welcoming me very friendly, but also because of the eight children running towards me and cuddling up to me. I was impressed by the nice and clean environment which I did not know from my previous workplace.
During the next days I got to know all the people working there, and I was very happy, that Chiara, another volunteer, was around in the beginning, so that I had a person who could explain and show everything to me. Besides duties like cleaning or washing the dishes, that have to be done every day, I had a lot of time together with the children. We played, learnt, painted and cooked together. After a few weeks, we decided to run a small kindergarten, and we invited ten children to join us each morning. Suddenly I was sitting in front of fifteen three- or four-year-old kids, trying to teach them English, counting and singing. Most of the days, after numerous toilet accidents, battles with drinking water, injuries and attempts to make them sit quietly, I felt totally exhausted. But after a little while, I saw all of them improving in what we were learning and doing, and that made me very proud of them. I appreciated a lot that there are only eight children at the moment, because I had the chance to forge close links with each of them. Especially with Advent and Isayah I had lots of fun because I slept in one room with them. Before going to bed we told each other stories and talked about anything and everything.
In Tanzania I lived a completely different life from what we know in Europe. We washed our clothes by hand and cooked our food without electricity. Of course it took much more time to do all these things, but it also gives the possibility to chat with others and to enjoy the moment without doing everything in a hurry. Apart from these everyday things, it was interesting for me to explore the culture. In the beginning I found myself lost in an ocean of strange manners and foreign values, but gradually I got used to it and started to like certain ideas. There are a lot of enriching impressions I will never forget.
Definitely I can say, that I found kind of a second family at Karibu Nyumbani and that I will come back one day.
Written by Laura on the 21st of August- see her photos bellow!
