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| From Tanzania 2011 |
Today we drove to a rural area and visited two homes of girls who received bedkits in 2010. The two girls walk about six kilometres to and from school each day. At the first home, the team observed the mosquito net, her school shirt, the school bag (tattered), the bedkit carry bag, and the foam mattress that the child had received. Interestingly, the mattress was without its material or poly cover.
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| From Tanzania 2011 |
Mama Wandoa says the mothers of recipients may make a dress from the material covering the foam mattress. The girl, aged about eight, said she liked having the exercise books to use at school, which she still had although they were filled.
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| From Tanzania 2011 |
When asked what impact the bedkit has had, the father said that thanks to the mosquito net, their daughter no longer had many mosquito bites. The parents also said the child was doing well and enjoyed going to school. The home was a frame construction, with masonry walls and steel sheets for the roof. There were three rooms in the house and twelve people lived there. It was completely dark inside as there was no electricity.
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| From Tanzania 2011 |
At the second home the bedkit recipient was also a girl. The team observed the mosquito net over the child’s bed. The bed was a wooden frame with rope strung back and forth to support the foam mattress.
As in the first home, the mattress did not have its material or poly cover, which may have been used for other purposes. The mother had made the khanga (a wrap around material) received from SCAW into a dress, which the child was wearing and which was still in good condition.
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| From Tanzania 2011 |
The mother showed us the school bag, unopened in its original packaging. She explained she was saving the school bag for the next school year, since it was too big for her daughter to wear when she received it.
The Sleeping Children team thanked both families for allowing us to come into their homes. The visits reminded us how fortunate we and our children are in Canada, how little the bedkit recipients and their families have, but also that the bedkits are having a positive benefit in their lives.
Ted Swanston
for SCAW Team Tanzania 2011
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