Over the past several years, since Mu-llingar photographer John McCauley first visited Tanzania in 2010 and encountered the little Amani orphan children, a great deal has happened and much has changed for John, but more especially in the lives of the youthful residents in the orphanage, and in the surrounding area.
This year, in August, John and thirteen local volunteers travelled to Tanzania to advance still further the major improvements to the little orphanage which began after that first chance meeting in 2010, when John and his friends, who had a special interest in wildlife, went to Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania. It was while going back to Kilimanjaro airport afterwards, when John saw an ‘orphanage’ sign, and asked the driver to stop, that the encounter began which changed not only his life, but also his life-view.
It wasn’t plain sailing by any means, but over the past three years, John McCauley’s previous experience as a manager with local firms, with good management skills and a meticulous and straightforward approach in dealing with other people, has stood the entire project in good stead, and now the Amani Orphanage has become a remarkable success story, with a wide range of life-changing improvements put in place, the latest being the new €20,000 school, which has two large classrooms and a small office area, and is a huge improvement for the thirty-two children. Two local craftsmen made the desks for the school. As far as possible, all the funds are used to benefit not only the orphans and orphanage project, but also the local area. The orphanage also has indoor toilets, dormitories, a kitchen and vegetable garden and there’s an internet cafe and computer room, which helps to generate an income through others using this facility. Milling machines purchased have also greatly helped not only the orphanage, but also in developing a measure of self-sufficiency, as local people come with their grain, and the small fee they pay helps to make the orphanage pay its own way.
The Irish volunteers who travelled to Tanzania this year did valuable work in painting the school and cleaning up the dormitories. They cleaned the walls and painted them all and they also bought new mattresses and covers for them for the children, which makes sleeping much more comfortable.
For Anna, the local lady who does so much for the children, the purchase of a washing machine to do a task that was all done by hand up to now, was a huge advance, one which she marvels at, having spent a lifetime washing by hand, and getting her a new bed to replace her own wooden one has also been a big event for her, and one which she hugely appreciates.
COMMITTEE
John McCauley ensures that every cent generated and every cent spent is accounted for, and that he is kept informed at all times, so that all those who make donations can be kept updated. “They are wonderful people, like Anna, and they all want to learn how best to manage things, and what we’ve done has been to help them do this. There has to be a businesslike approach. One of the ways in which we’ve done so this year is by setting up a local committee, with the local chief as chairman, and with a local lady as secretary, and a similar mix of men and women. I had to make this happen, as locally, it would be all men and no women, but I managed to persuade them, and they all have jobs to do, and will be keeping in touch with me.”
John is very grateful, not only to all the volunteers and all the Irish people who’ve been involved at the orphanage, but also to all those who have donated or helped in any way. “I can’t thank people enough for all their help, but it is all for the children, and people’s generosity has been outstanding.”
Next week: John talks about where the Tanzanian project might go from here, and what plans he has for the future.
