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| Lohai (l) and Raymond (r) |
July 13th from Mama . . .
And so, you might wonder, how do two young men from a coffee plantation in Karatu, Tanzania, desperately poor and hopelessly fighting for some kind of a future find Ontario, Canada?
“Eet is gud,” they reply. Steve (my husband) and I gifted Raymond and Lohai with a visit to our farm this summer and they arrived just over one week ago. Mastering the airport transfer in Amsterdam themselves, they arrived excited, exhausted and without a hitch after we got their visas arranged and after missing their first flight because the headlights failed on the car their were driving in. (There are NO streetlights on the way to the airport . . . when it is dark IT IS DARK!
Raymond and Lohai, you might remember, are two of the finest people I have been blessed to meet, ever, and they have, each in their own rights, earned their way here. No one at Tumaini works harder than 26 year old Lohai, whose parents were too poor to send him to secondary school, and who, through years of malnutrition, weighs just 107 lbs. Most of you who have met the boys remark on their sizes for their ages. We need to fatten Lohai up a bit. Having said that, his sleight build doesn’t slow him one bit from working hard and we feel honored to call him a part of our Canadian family here.
Raymond and Lohai, you might remember, are two of the finest people I have been blessed to meet, ever, and they have, each in their own rights, earned their way here. No one at Tumaini works harder than 26 year old Lohai, whose parents were too poor to send him to secondary school, and who, through years of malnutrition, weighs just 107 lbs. Most of you who have met the boys remark on their sizes for their ages. We need to fatten Lohai up a bit. Having said that, his sleight build doesn’t slow him one bit from working hard and we feel honored to call him a part of our Canadian family here.
Raymond, at 129 lbs. beats out Lohai by 22 lbs. (I weighed in at 123 lbs), but is still sleight, instead Raymond has developed muscle from playing football (soccer here) and working out at school. He was more fortunate when Oddo found him a sponsor to attend a neighborhood secondary school. After meeting him, I helped bring him to Makumira from where he will graduate in February Division I, which is the highest academic achievement one could hope for in Tanzania.
Thus far, they have mini-putted, enjoyed ice cream, and seen and walked on a beach for the first time. Raymond especially is enthralled with automatic doors (when we went to another store lacking them he waited quite awhile for it to open). Both of them love scanning groceries and were “blown away” by a drive thru restaurant.
They LOVE the food, (not too crazy about shrimp though) some of which we have introduced at Tumaini but their favorite, here AND there is burgers . . . hands down, and without a doubt.
They have snowmobiled on grass (you’d have to take that up with a certain crazy fellow named Dave in Stratford), attended a wedding, are visiting Niagara Falls with fellow director Lisa Engelhardt Robinson today (and will be jet boating), will ride up in the CN tower next week with fellow director Dr. Patricia Barry and hope to go out on Lake Erie with John Davies, our treasurer.
Raymond would like to return after graduation and attend post secondary school here in Canada but that will certainly require some financial assistance and Lohai is improving his English and learning how to drive tractor, use farm implements, etc. which will help him back home.
I thank those of you who stop us in town to welcome the boys and give them a moment of your time. This is a great big new world for them and your greetings make them feel welcomed and special.
Thank you also for your continued love and support of our very lucky Tumaini children back home in Tanzania. They are well and happy and busy and we will take new bikes back with us when we return. Our boarding students are writing exams and returning home for a month off in August. For myself I must say thank you again for your encouragement and support while I’ve been ill. It has been a rocky road these past few months, health wise and I am only just getting back on my feet, this time, after suffering through shingles. I hope the worst is over and I am finally, finally on the mend! I may be returning to Tanzania at the end of this month if all goes well.
Don’t forget we are planning a yard sale (hopefully July 23 and 24th) so feel free to contact us if you have gently used things you’d like to donate. And remember to watch Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies compete on our behalf on August 17th on the new show, Canada Sings and please consider sponsoring one of our climbers who are fundraising for us by climbing Mount Kilimanjaro next month! Visit www.climbkilifortumaini.com.
Specifically, there are several important thank yous to go out but, next time! Be well, we hope you are enjoying your summer, and for everything and from the bottom of my heart . . . Asante!
