Anna intake photo early, 2009.
DOB April 26, 2006
Came under Tumaini care early 2009. Anna is partially sponsored by Baba, Mama, Ella and Maya but still looks for support.
Older sister Martha, Daniel, Gerehad and Connie all came to us from one of the poorest regions in all of Tanzania, Songea. My partner Oddo was born there and although I haven’t yet been, he shares stories about people walking about without clothes because, although they have a relatively stable food source (fish from Lake Malawi), they have virtually no means of earning money. Many, many people walk around shoeless and without clothes and when we arranged to bring the children to Tumaini from their various villages, we sent a large supply of our used clothing down to help the situation. It is a dream of Oddo’s for us to find the money to travel to Songea one day and drill wells so that the people of his former village will be able to drink potable water and not the horribly contaminated water so many of them consume now.
I met Anna after an eighteen hour journey (first by bus and then eight hours by car from Dar Es Salaam). Our cook and I and a couple of other mamas were working in the kitchen and joking around with each other. The mood was jovial, in anticipation of her arrival. By the way, it should be noted that neither she Daniel, nor Gerehad spoke a word of English nor Kiswahili, only the tribal dialect of their home village. They arrived exhausted and of course hungry. We greeted them and brought them to the table to eat while we continued with our banter. At one point, mid joke, I smiled and reached for Anna. She lurched away from me with a cry of terror at which point we all realized I was quite possibly the first white person she had ever seen! I, as you can imagine, felt terrible for frightening her but the food had her
Anna and big sister Martha
greatest attention! I am happy to report that within two days Anna would not leave my side and you can see in the photos how terribly happy she is to be with Mama and at Tumaini House!
Anna attends our Tumaini Primary School and is an average student. She is a VERY charming little girl. Please read Martha’s bio to discover by what very tragic means these two little girls have come to be a part of our Tumaini family.
