For those who are not aware today is Alley's (one of our fabulous Program Directors in Tanzania) 1 year anniversary of being on the ground in Tanzania working with our kids. For those of you who are parents you'll be able to commiserate a bit with alley. Working with kids is not always the easiest job. They are not always the first to say thank you or you've done an amazing job or I couldn't bear to loose you, but always the first to need something, hang their skinny little bodies on your legs or in Tanzania to say "na mimi, na mimi.." "and me..and me". Alley's role is a large one, technically speaking she's the "Relationship Manager" with our schools and orphanages but in reality that means dealing with ALL needs of our 66 scholarship kids, whether it's being in doctors offices days at a time with one child that has malaria, one with an ear infection, one with a cold.. It requires often driving 45 minutes to school from our office at 7am and 7 pm to make sure Rach gets her ARV drugs on time and in the proper manner. It's being in the market day in and day out to get the best deal and all the necessities children from 5 -20 need..and yes that's a lot..think school shoes, sports shoes, flip flops, soap for washing clothes, soap for washing bodies, lotion/Vaseline, shoe polish, locks for lockers, more locks for lockers..oh and even more locks for the lockers whose keys work in everyone else’s lockers. It requires coordinating and overseeing our tutoring program, evaluating the children's performance and making sure investors in our Scholarship Program are made aware of our kids progress. It'sbeing there to wipe tears, listen to problems or tell them when their misbehaving. It's actually quite comical to hear Kate Gosling complain about 8..i almost want to introduce her to Alley's life and see what she has to say! Alley definitely doesn't get ski trips to Park City for her and the kids! With all that being said I've never met a more self-motivated, dedicated team member than Alley. She does all this day after day (often 7 days a week) and still manages to wake up and see the value in it and the opportunity she's helping to give to these children. She's got an amazing laugh and a heart of gold and because of that I want to THANK Alley for all that she's done for TFFT and our children!
Hat's off to ya Alley!
Lots of love stateside! xxoo
Some of the children showing off their artistic talents!
Completed Mural by Wyatts & Matanyok Children
