INTRODUCTION
On February 16, 2005, three friends were having a leisurely breakfast in the courtyard of the Keys Hotel in Moshi, Tanzania. Just 24 hours earlier, they had returned from the summit of Mount Kilimajaro, elevation 19,345 feet. They had climbed Kilimanjaro for a charitable organization along with 21 other climbers from 10 countries, in order to raise money for children worldwide with life threatening illness.

That evening, they were to return home to the United States, after a 14-day trip in Tanzania. The three of them, Avi Bar-Aharon, Eitan Battat and Jonathan Perkins, were very much looking forward to being reunited with their families in Woodbridge, CT. However, first they were very interested in visiting the remote villages around Moshi, specifically to get a feel for the extent of poverty in Tanzania. As they searched for an appropriate guide who would drive them around, Jon, from Tusker Trails, recommended they speak with a very distinguished man who was in the corner of the courtyard, doing some paperwork. It was their first encounter with Dr. Fideles Owenya. Fideles coincidentally had a prior appointment cancelled, and offered to take them to his home village of Tella.

 

THE JOURNEY
The travelers, along with Yoni Dotan, the Charity Organization Spokesperson, who led the climb on Kilimanjaro, crammed into Fideles’ four-wheel Mitsubishi on their journey to Tella. Within a few minutes, they entered the most colorful, crowded marketplace they had ever seen. They spent 20 minutes in the market, purchasing Jack fruit from the natives, while taking many photos of the beautiful native people.

 

Their road out of the market into the Tella village was unpaved, bumpy and dusty. Fideles explained that women and men walk from the village, a three–to-four-mile hike from the mountain into the marketplace in an attempt to sell their produce and other items. Unfortunately, during the rainy season, when the roads are impassable, villagers are under siege in their homes, and the little commerce they do have, cannot be conducted.

Their minds wandered to their homes in the U.S.A. and the convenience of their fully stocked homes and grocery stores they so often take for granted.

The road to the village of Tella, although treacherous, carried them through a tropical terrain of coffee and banana plantations. On the road, they saw children walking home from school. Their minds again were thousands of miles away, thinking momentarily of the modern conveniences of their own children.

THE TELLA PRIMARY SCHOOL
The travelers arrived at the Tella primary school around 12:30 PM. To their amazement, children were running all over the place, yelling “Wazoongo! Wazoongo!” which means “white man” in Swahili. They were immediately surrounded by kids of all ages, who were very curious to see the new visitors. Fidel was gracious to communicate in Swahili with the kids and Yoni Dotan engaged them in songs and other activities.

Very soon, at least 50 kids surrounded them and, repeating after Yoni, said “Shalom, Shalom,” which means hello and peace in Hebrew. It was quite a sight to behold!!!

They visited the kindergarten classroom. To their astonishment, there were only a few wooden benches in the dark room. There were no children’s drawings, art work or posters, nor were there books, board games, or blocks.

 

WHY TELLA, WHY JERUSALEM?
They met with the Pastor, Barnabas Jackson Ngowi, who serves as the Principle of the school. His warm sincere greeting shed light on the magnitude of the impact their visit had on the school. When he heard most of them were from Israel (Avi Bar-Aharon, Eitan Battat and Yoni Dotan are Israeli born) he mentioned he would love to visit Jerusalem one day, and asked if they had been there. When they told him they had all been to Jerusalem, they earned the title (in all of Tella) of ”People from Jerusalem.”

 

$30 FOR 50 KILO SACK OF SUGAR
Fidel and the Pastor informed them that a sack of sugar would last the entire school year and provide 300 children with sugar.

They were touched and immediately offered to buy a sack of sugar that would last for a year. Later they learned that many children could not afford to pay for the sugar, and had dropped out of school. But now they would return to school after this small act of generosity. Word quickly spread and the entire school assembled in lines and saluted us by singing the Tanzanian National Anthem. They were all moved, touched and inspired. The friends made a commitment to help the school in any form we could.

 

 

WHAT DO WE ACTUALLY NEED?
A. Kindergarten – Any games which stimulate brain development – ie: blocks, crayons, paper, paint, paintbrushes, pencils, pens, poster board, etc.
B. Laminated wall maps, laminated body charts
C. Jump ropes, soccer balls and other outdoor game equipment
D. Money to pay for remodeling, painting, shipping costs, food, etc.

If you would like to support the Tella primary school, please use the form attached to send in your contribution.