All aboard for start of Heavenly Homes trip to Tanzania

The trip of a lifetime for 20 volunteers started out in glorious sunshine in Mullingar as participants in the 2026 Tanzanian Heavenly Homes project assembled for the long trek.

The charity builds homes, provides daily meals, and delivers essential supplies to vulnerable and forgotten elders in Tanzania, primarily in the village of Mto Wa Mbu.

Founded in 2012 by Mullingar photographer John McCauley, the organisation looks to improve the living conditions of the elderly population of that area who would otherwise live in mud huts without water, electricity, or basic facilities.

Last Thursday week, the volunteers started a journey from the Westmeath county to the East African country.

“I just can’t thank the people of Mullingar and the surrounding areas enough. They just walk up to me and give me money without my asking. The generosity and trust these people show is a reflection of the nature of Irish people,” John told the Examiner.

John and his team travel to Tanzania every year to help the elders and the poor. Using donations collected in Ireland, the charity buys rice, maize, beans, beds and mattresses for the poor people in the community.

John was greeting the volunteers as they boarded the bus for the first leg of an 11,000km journey: “We are going into my 15th year of organising these trips. Everybody you see here pays their own cost.

“We are a registered charity. We bring vital support to people who live in poor conditions. All of these friends you see getting on board this bus, they are going to see a life that they would otherwise never see,” John says.

The Mullingar-based non-profit undertakes a wide variety of initiatives, from building to planting fruit trees in the poverty-stricken village: “For the next two weeks, our volunteers will be part of that community. They will have a truly moving experience. Some will come out crying, but we will all give each other a hug and then we sing them a song. It’s just very emotional.”

The group are dominated by fresh young faces, all eager to voyage to a world far beyond what they know: “It’s a tremendous opportunity for young people. They’re all over 18. We were oversubscribed this year, I had to turn away 15 people because I just didn’t have enough room. We’re only bringing 20 at a time.”

Volunteers can spend time working on farms preparing the land and picking fresh fruit and veg for the elders. They get a lot out of the opportunity: “They’re getting out of their comfort zone,” John says, “all to do something for another human being. That’s what the journey is all about.

“I believe that every human being is entitled to their dignity before their God calls them. Everybody is entitled to the basics of life. This year, we’re funding a number of solar projects – solar pumps and solar lighting, providing hot water, toilets, hot and cold showers.”

Along with the volunteers gathered in Mullingar to climb aboard the bus are a number of family members. Catriona O’Connor of Killucan and Karen Earley of Milltownpass are seeing their daughters off.

“I’m so proud that they’re going on this trip,” Catriona tells the Examiner. “They’re going to gain such lifelong friends. Gain lifelong experiences. It’s an opportunity that doesn’t come around every day.”

Karen concurs: “They’re fabulous to want to do this. To give to people who are less fortunate than them, but honestly I just can’t wait for them to be home.”

The mothers spoke of the trust they have in Tanzanian Heavenly Homes: “I think because it was John, we knew him from the schools, and through his photography. We know how good he is, how he takes them under his wing. It made a big difference to allowing her to go. And because he’s done it for years.

“We know other people that have gone. And what they’ve got out of it. So to be going with a good group is reassuring.”

The group is not just young people. There are mature volunteers among the 20 who will head off to Tanzanian. The mothers would love to be a part of the trip: “I 100% would do it,” Catriona says, “it’s just other life commitments too. It’s not that easy.”

Over the next two weeks, the volunteers and organisers will undertake a range of projects that will have a profound impact on the East African community they will join.