In the summer of 2017 I left on a journey, 8,000 miles from home to Usa River, Tanzania to volunteer independently, without an organization, not even knowing who would meet me at the airport. Once I landed I was in for the ride of my life. A ride where I would fall in love with the Tanzanian people and their culture over the next three months. Initially I was only going to work at an orphanage, and though I continued volunteering there, two weeks into my trip I stumbled across a semi- constructed home- with unfinished ceilings, a bare cement floor, and only water pipes jutting out from the wall (no sinks!)- that serves as an unofficial daycare for about 40 infants and children. It is called Vipaji Daycare Center and is run with a mission to provide free or reduced childcare to support women in the community so they can work to provide for their families. However, the center was in dire need of structural, organizational and curriculum improvements and I felt compelled to try to make positive changes at the center. I worked to get a dental hygiene room constructed, kitchen and bathroom sinks installed, a chicken coop built and stocked with chickens for eggs and selling capital, and the children's curriculum revamped.  In between volunteering some days at an orphanage, I prepared lessons plans and craft activities for the daycare center and in the mornings would teach the children either with a translator or as time progressed, by myself in Swahili. Afternoons were spent overseeing construction, shopping for supplies and building materials, playing with the children and conferencing with the school's director Goodluck about day to day needs, challenges, and operations as well as the future direction of the center.  I returned the next summer (2018) and with your donations a playground was constructed at the nursery school, the college education of the nursery school's teacher sponsored, and five children were sponsored to transfer from crowded government schools to private schools through our new Mind Investor program.

From all of this the nonprofit From Hearts 2 Hands was born and many projects have followed every single year and we have expanded to different regions throughout the country. Click the “Deeds Done” tab to learn more.  Close contact is kept with all projects throughout the year and we are always thinking of the next step and next improvement, and in fact new projects never seem to stop rolling in!  We are also excited to have expanded our efforts to the surrounding community, partnering with other schools and organizations and continuing to add more students to our Mind Investor program. Our reusable sanitary pad project has allowed over 750 girls to avoid the stigmas surrounding menstrual cycles and helped them not miss days of school. A recent partnership with Kwankono Disabled Center was able to provide new wheelchairs, handicap accessible bathrooms and showers, and cement pathways that makes the entire school campus accessible for all in wheelchairs.

With continued investment and support From Hearts 2 Hands continues to work transform the lives of children and by extension many communities in Tanzania, both now and in the future.

Harvard trained physician Paul Farmer known for his revolutionary medical and public health work in Haiti had these words to say:

“It is the curse of humanity that it learns to tolerate even the most horrible situations by habituation.”

Join me today in allowing what tugs at your heartstrings to also propel you forward to be an agent of change.