Tanzania (my sister Maya Lanfer)

First of all I want to start this blog by clarifying something. While the previous blog post might have suggested otherwise, I have completely recovered from my illness in the Zambian wilderness and am now completely healthy.

This past week my Mom and I took a trip to Tanzania. My Mom was working with an organization called Mainsprings and I was coming along to help (but mostly just for fun). Visiting Tanzania was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. One of the main reasons why my parents moved us half way across the world to live in sub saharan Africa was so that we could experience true African people and culture, and I think that that trip has done that in every way. 

Mainsprings is a non-profit that aims to end rural poverty in Tanzania. They have a 4 pillar system that involves primary and secondary schooling, a refuge for girls who were in extreme poverty or who were not in a safe home environment, free healthcare, and training in effective permaculture/farming techniques. While we were there my mom interviewed parents, students, farmers, staff, and social workers from both of their campuses to help mainsprings work on their strategy. 

(The whole mainsprings staff for the final strategic meeting)

Their hospitality was like none we had ever experienced before. All over the campuses were welcoming signs saying”Welcome Maya and Ashley” or just ”We love you”. Each place we went there were people waiting to give us giant hugs and to show us to an immaculate bungalow where we would be sleeping. They had planned out every one of our meals whether it was eating dinner with the girls, walking with a Maasai warrior to eat with a village family, getting breakfast on the road, or eating at their lakeside restaurant. It is safe to say that we have never been better fed or more frequently fed as we were fed at Mainsprings.

(The Kahunda girls home)              (Violate(our translator), Anneth(director of admin),and 

                                                        Mr. Benson(head of the Kahunda campus)

I think that the time that I enjoyed the most was the time that I spent with the girls. Although they have had such hard pasts they were filled with joy, spirit, and talent. Every night we would have prayer time with them. It was completely run by the girls. We were amazed by all of their incredible voices. They would sing in beautiful harmonies, each of them taking turns to lead different songs and parts. It didn’t seem possible that each one of them could have such an amazing voice. The second campus that we visited had much younger girls so there was a significant language barrier, but we still had a lot of fun. We taught each other hand games, they tested my math and swahili skills, and we played a very energetic game of football(soccer).

(Us with Bahati,Joyce,Leah, (getting ready to go to the village   (Welcoming to Kitongo)

and Neema) with a Massi warrior)Tanzania is a beautiful place. We spent most of our time on lake Victoria surrounded by mountains. We went to two of Mainsprings’s campuses and spent a day in Mwanza (Tanzania’s second largest city). Both of the campuses have incredible greenery and gardens. There is a big focus on farming and permaculture at Mainsprings. Everywhere around the campus are different kinds of plants that can grow year round and support each other in various ways. One of the most interesting parts of Tanzania’s landscape is its rocks. All of the mountains are covered in large boulders that are stacked precariously on top of each other. We couldn’t stop marveling at them and wondering how they had not yet toppled over and crushed all of the houses beneath them.

(one of the rock fixtures)            (permaculture and gardening)      (morning on lake victoria)

The thing that struck me most about Tanzania and Mainsprings was the community that they had built there. While some of them have so little they have poured themselves into this organization and the families and girls that they support. There's so much joy and happiness that they have created. Each of the girls that they support are filled with talent and potential. When I first met them all we played an introduction game. They all went around the circle saying who they want to be in the future and what they wanted to do. They wanted to start schools, sing, act, be the president, teach, and support girls' education. 

What was even more amazing was speaking to the graduates who had made those dreams come true. They were all in or finishing university. One of them had gone back to teach at the Mainsprings school, another had started a whole non-profit while still in college. They all feel like Mainsprings is their home and the people there are their family. I am so lucky to have experienced part of that family.

(The graduates)