LONG READ: Jambo! (hello) Mullingar from a Tanzanian Heavenly Home

Mary Reynolds tells the story of her journey to the heart of Africa with a Mullingar charity

On June 20, I set off from Dublin Airport on a journey to Tanzania that was to be a life-changing experience. I was fortunate to be part of John McCauley’s amazing group of volunteers. (Continues below photo.)

 

We arrived in Kilimanjaro airport at about 4am. The airport staff were very informal and most didn’t wear uniform. Once through security, we began the two-hour drive to our camp site in Mto Wa Mbu.

As we drove into the village, the poverty struck me greatly. I think that no matter how much you think you’re expecting it, you can never be fully prepared for what you see.

Although it was only 6am, I noticed that there were people everywhere, women with baskets on their heads, men cycling by and children carrying containers full of water. Despite the fact it was still night time, their day had already begun.

Children everywhere

We began our first day in Mto Wa Mbu by taking a tuc-tuc (taxi) to the orphanage. As soon as we walked through the gates children popped up out of everywhere and ran over to us grabbing our hands and climbing into our arms. (Continues below photo.)

 

My friend Caoimhe and I spent a few hours there just playing with the children. (Continues below photo.)

 

They wanted to be held and hugged all the time. This made me realise that all they wanted was the love and affection they’d missed out on.

Later, we went to see the home for the elderly that was the focus of our project. John’s friend Pascal had been in charge of building it during the year, funded by the people of Mullingar.

The building, with four large bedrooms, a shower room and a toilet, had just been completed when we arrived.

It was our job to paint it, equip it with furniture, beds, and curtains, and prepare it for the elderly people to move in. Pascal did an amazing job and we were all proud of him, John especially so. (Continues below photo.)

 

The next few days consisted mainly of working on the project because we had so much to get done in two weeks.

We painted every day for the first week, completing the majority of the building, and by the second week, with the painting done, we had time to spend in the markets to purchase beds, curtains and bedclothes.

Caoimhe and I had great fun bargaining with the locals who followed us all the way up the road trying to sell their products. A few times I think I gave in and just bought because it was the easier option!

One day a man tried to sell us a whole fish which he carried around with him on the handlebars of his bicycle!

Another day we spotted a man walking into our camp site with three full, un-plucked chickens in his hands – we had chicken for dinner that night.

Some days, as soon as we were finished painting, Caoimhe and I got a tuc-tuc to the orphanage to play with the children.

There were a few that I became especially fond of. They are in my arms in nearly every picture that was taken of me. I really wanted to bring them home with me!

Whenever we took sweets to the orphanage, children would surround us, almost knocking us over until the last sweet was gone.

I loved that. It showed how simple their lives were and although they had so little, they never had anything other than smiles on their faces.

During the two weeks I spent in Africa, I learned so many interesting things about the Tanzanian culture as well as a few words in Swahili. One evening while walking back from the project to the village, John’s friend Jacqueline explained to Caoimhe and me what married life is like for women in Tanzania.

All marriages are arranged between fathers. The father of the bride will allow the groom to marry his daughter in exchange for cows, land or money. The bride then belongs to her husband and has to obey his commands.

John tried to sell me off a few times and offered me to a tuc-tuc driver named Amos for 20 cows... we got a picture taken together afterwards!

A day of rest

Sundays in Tanzania are rest days and nobody works and so, out of respect we also took a break.

On our first Sunday, we climbed a mountain near Lake Manyara National Park. It was really beautiful and although it was quite steep, most of us managed to struggle to the top.

Our guide was a member of the Maasai tribe – a group of nomads who make up a significant amount of Tanzania’s population.

The man’s English was excellent and as we climbed the mountain he showed us the trees his tribe use to cure various ailments.

On top of the mountain was a sort of plateau, covered in maize plantations, under the careful watch of a security man who guards them against baboons.

On our way back, we met a Maasai man who was travelling all the way down the mountain and into the village to buy soap and phone credit.

It amazed me that although the country is so underdeveloped, technology has reached even the nomadic tribes.

The following Sunday we went on a safari to Ngorongoro, a crater created when a volcano collapsed. Wild animals now live there and it is one of Tanzania’s biggest tourist attractions. It was a beautiful place and everyone really enjoyed it. Later on that evening, we went to Pascal’s soccer match.

The game was played on dusty ground with sawdust used to mark out the lines. It was amazing to see how well they could play on such a basic pitch.

One evening we were invited to go and visit a Maasai boma (camp) to see how they live. Caoimhe and I were excited as we found everything we already knew about the tribe interesting.

Maasai welcome

As soon as we arrived at the boma, the tribe danced a traditional welcome. Their dress, sound and movements combined to create something magical, which we felt privileged to experience.

Before they finished we were asked to join in and I even played a tune on the tin whistle! We then dressed up as Maasai with cloaks and jewellery before we were taken in to see their houses.

The huts were laid out in a ring and were made from cow dung, sticks and mud, with no windows, which made them warm and dark inside.

After visiting the huts, we were shown samples of the Maasai women’s beautiful handmade jewellery, and some of us bought pieces. (Continues below photo.)

All Maasai people have circular scars under their eyes, formed with a hot wire when they are about seven years old. It is believed to prevent eye disease. They also take out one front tooth so that if someone becomes ill, he or she can be fed through the gap.

The Maasai diet consists mainly of meat. For breakfast, they bleed a cow with an arrow and drink the blood fresh with milk.

They also eat fresh cow liver and kidney.

A Maasai man can have as many wives as he likes. The more he has, the more wealthy he is seen to be.

On the way back in the tuc-tuc, we spotted men with shovels surrounding a load of stones that had fallen off a truck. They had no choice other than to reload them by hand.

Poverty conditions

One evening Pascal drove all of us to the local shop, where we bought a big sack of maize and rice.

We then spent the evening distributing it among the poor elderly people, giving them a bucket each. This was the most important part of the trip for me.

Going around visiting the poorest people, who would be moving into the home we built, and seeing their living conditions made all our efforts worthwhile.

I realised that these people were the reason John returned year after year. These people were the reason all his hard work paid off.

One old man we visited, who was to move into the home, went around from door to door each day in search of food. He had the nicest smile.

It will stay with me forever.

Another man we met had broken his hip and didn’t have enough money to pay for the operation. He was left with a stick and nothing more to help ease the pain.

My granny broke her hip a few years ago and after seeing the pain she was in I can’t imagine what that poor man had to live with.

John made sure the man was looked after and I feel much better knowing his life has been much improved.

The final house we visited had holes in the roof and the walls. The couple living there were the poorest people we met.

They had one small single bed with no mattress, in which they both slept.

Their kitchen consisted of a few buckets on the floor in which they cooked.

They didn’t even own the house and although rent was only 5000 shillings (about €2) a month, they struggled to pay it.

Pascal told us the couple had two children who, because they couldn’t afford to keep them, were put into an orphanage.

When John told the man that we were going to help him tears, rushed down his cheeks.

They were a young couple but the worry and despair they had to live with had aged their faces, making them appear older.

Their story really affected me and has remained with me since.

The day before we left for home, John’s friend Emmanuel took a few of us to visit a hospital across the road from our camp site. We were shown all the rooms, which were basic but clean.

The hospital is hoping to receive funds to buy ultrasound equipment and to build a surgical room for performing C-sections.

In the maternity ward, we met a mother and father and their newborn baby girl. As soon as I held the baby, I knew that I’d be reluctant to give her back! The couple decided to call the baby Mary after me.

This was a very special moment that I will never forget.

On our last night, a few of John’s friends came to our camp site for dinner. I was sad to be saying goodbye because I made friendships over the two weeks that I know I will treasure forever.

Going to Tanzania was the best experience I’ve ever had. I saw a completely different side of the world, made memories that I will never forget, learned things that I could never learn in school and most of all I feel that I helped to make a difference in the world, no matter how small that difference might be.

Coming home to a world where everyone has everything, from a world where some people are lacking the basics, has made me realise just how lucky I really am.

I now appreciate things so much more because I know how little some people have.

Sometimes I think about that old man or that child in the orphanage and wonder what they are doing. But I know in my heart that they’re doing exactly what they were doing while I was there.

All I can hope for is that we managed to make their lives a tiny bit easier.

Thank-yous

I would like to thank everyone who helped out fundraising in any way, washing cars, making donations, collecting copper coins. The efforts people made were truly wonderful.

I would also like to thank Loreto College Mullingar for allowing us to run all our fundraisers and to the girls in TY who were out washing cars with us in January.

I want to thank Aoife Davitt (teacher at Loreto College), who supported Caoimhe and me from the beginning when even we thought the idea was a little crazy!

Thank you to the entire group of amazing volunteers who made me feel so welcome throughout the two weeks; Mary and Gerry Gillen, Sinéad Owens, Ann Egerton, Mary Ahern, Jenny Gavin and Eamon Boyle.

Finally, I would like to thank John McCauley from the bottom of my heart for giving me the amazing opportunity to experience what I did, which has marked my life forever.

Thank you, John.