VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Jambo! This is a traditional Swahili greeting, and if you come volunteer at Tumaini you will learn this and much more! My name is Alex Elliott and I am volunteering at Tumaini Miles of Smiles for four months. My time here at Tumaini has been the most amazing experience of my life! I am living at the guest house with the Tumaini director, Rose Bugusu and other volunteers who are coming and going. Less than 100 yards away is the orphanage where 49 beautiful children live! My time here has been spent doing many things to help improve the quality of living and learning at Tumaini. At school I am teaching English and Life Skills classes. Other volunteers are teaching subjects like Creative Arts and Physical Education. After school if you find Violet (the social worker who looks after the orphans) she will always have a job you can do! Some of the things we help Violet with include sewing/mending the children’s clothes, hanging new mosquito nets in the dorms, making diapers for the infants, and bathing the children. Of course, my most important job that I have at Tumaini is loving the children! And trust me, this is not hard. The kids vary in age from one year old all the way to 14 years old and they soak up all the love and care you give them. Anything from reading them a bedtime story to playing a game of football (soccer), or painting their toenails can make their day, and will also make yours. Our director, Rose, is also very involved in the community and assisting others. Recently we have begun a feeding program to help widows provide for their children because of the famine Kenya is facing. We also participated in a fundraiser to help an orphan pay her high school tuition so she can further her education. You can see God working in the lives of everyone at Tumaini on a daily basis. It is truly a gift to have the opportunity to be involved in this wonderful work in progress. I encourage anyone who has the desire to help others to come participate in the work God is doing here. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me at alexpalex2013@yahoo.com. I also invite you to follow my blog describing the daily life here at Tumaini alexelliott-alexpalex.blogspot.com.
