The first rumblings of thunder can be heard in the distance, a large dark cloud gathers over the children's village, and the daily rain begins. The rainy season has finally arrived. All kinds of insects and animals venture out of their hiding places, and as soon as the rain stops, the children go on a discovery tour. From scorpions to large frogs from the swampy areas created by the rainy season to small flies that the children catch to eat as a little snack. Because here, it is quite normal to enjoy insects as a small meal.
The rainy season in Tanzania also heralds the start of the Christmas season.
The staff house is now decorated with a homemade Advent calendar for the management, made from kitenge (the traditional Tanzanian fabric) and sewn by the volunteers so that they can experience a little bit of their Christmas traditions from home.
Since the beginning of the rainy season, the “Chumba cha ubunifu” has been inaugurated in the children's village, which translates as “room of creativity” or simply “creative room.” The former sick room has now been redesigned to provide enough space for toys, books, painting and craft materials, and tables and chairs for playing together. The new creative folders, in which the children store their work, now also have their place here.
Throughout the week, the children are busy painting, doing crafts, doing puzzles, and, of course, playing lots of games. Right from the start, the children have been busy designing and decorating the room. Homemade bird mobiles now adorn the ceiling, and the four children's houses have also been given their own large, homemade mobiles.
The children’s picture wall grows every day, as their creativity knows no bounds—using acrylic and watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, and various other craft materials. The wide range of supplies is made possible by donations from Germany. Thanks to these contributions, the children are creatively supported and given the opportunity to experience a similar creative environment as other children their age.
The creative space has already become indispensable for the children's leisure activities. After school, homework and household chores are quickly taken care of so that they can spend the afternoon painting together.
Since the beginning of December, after their final exams, the children have been on vacation and are enjoying their free time in the children's village together with the older children who have returned from secondary school or university for the holidays.
There is a general buzz of activity, because now that all the children are in the children's village, there is a lot of work to be done and everyone is happy to have so many helping hands. Larger tasks are done together, such as planting trees or cleaning all the windows.
A holiday day in mid-December began with everyone heading toward the field near the football pitch at sunrise, armed with shovels, small buckets, and sacks slung over their shoulders—filled with seeds. Together with farmer Mary and the other female farm workers, the older children, the house mamas, the gate watchmen, volunteers, and the management team, they planted maize. The field had already been prepared, so they could immediately sow the seeds by hand and then cover them again with soil. Finally, driver Omari arrived with the tractor to prepare another field for the following morning. As the sun rose high above the field, the heat became too intense to continue working, so they began the return journey to the children’s houses, where the younger children were already waiting, eager to begin their day.
For the upcoming Christmas party, decorations are being diligently crafted to adorn the “Ukumbini” (assembly hall) magnificently.
Meanwhile, the children can hardly wait any longer. Their anticipation of Christmas and curiosity about their presents grows every day, because they suspect that the Christmas elves are already busy thinking about little gifts....
Regards from Mbigili, Jojo and Karla