In 2008 I spent three months in Tanzania and got to serve at Hananasif Orphanage Centre (HOCET). Those three months changed my life. God has directed my path to Hananasif and tied my heart to this ministry and these people. My heart has been yearning to return for the past year and a half! Now the time is right and God is calling me back to Tanzania and to HOCET. The Tanzanian staff at HOCET have invited me to serve with them for a whole year.
Aziza and Msekwa are two students at Hananasif Academy who I became good friends with in 2008.
I am leading a trip through my church for a group of college students to visit HOCET and June 3 is my departure date. The team will follow on June 14 and then on June 28 I will return to the US with them. I will spend the month of July in Florida, to be present for my nephew’s birth and for the wedding of a dear friend. In early August I will depart for a full year in Tanzania.
During my stay at HOCET, I will offer my skills, knowledge and experience to serve the orphanage, its children and its staff. I will bring my love for the kids and my passion for caring for the fatherless. Joining with the local staff, I will help teach the children that their identity is not in their poverty or in being an orphan, but that they are loved and cared for by their heavenly Father. They have a new identity, they are “watoto wa Mungu” – children of God. I will also work with the staff to provide these kids with tools to overcome poverty and bring change to their communities and their country. One of the main tools the orphanage provides is education. Read more about Hananasif Academy at www.kujali.org.
One of my major projects will be educational programming for the younger children at HOCET’s city center. These children currently attend government primary schools, but are not being adequately prepared for secondary school. I will help organize and coordinate supplemental education times at the center to ensure that these children obtain a strong foundation in Swahili, Math and English.
Hussein, Peter and Dafloza are three of the children who will benefit from the Educational Programming at the city center.
Beyond my immediate contribution to HOCET, I am looking forward to the things God will teach me and the ways I will be discipled by the Mwalugaja family (founders of HOCET), other staff members and the children themselves. I truly admire the work of HOCET and the people who have committed their lives to the task of caring for orphaned and vulnerable children. I am thrilled to join them in this work.
I am excited to share this next step in my journey with you. Please prayerfully consider making a commitment to support me through prayer and/or financial contributions. In the next five months, I need to raise a total of $17,000. This will cover all my expenses for both trips to Tanzania, some specific training courses before I depart and $2,000 for project funding. I currently have about 9% ($1,521) of the total amount I need. An intermediary goal I have set is to at least reach $4,250 (25%) by the end of March.
Can you help me reach this goal?
You can join me in this effort by clicking here: to donate.
All donations are tax deductible.
Or email me at iris@kujali.org. I would be more than happy to share more with you about my trip and answer any questions you have for me.
Following Iris 
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