I'm
taking the liberty of a change of pace with today's Tanzania Live
update - Day 6 and 700 bed kits having just been given out at a school
in Chem Chem. I wanted to share with you what an energetic, skilled and
dedicated team of Sleeping Children volunteers I have the pleasure of
leading. You have met most of them in photos and videos accompanying
Live Updates they have sending, but I wanted to tell you a little about
each of them.
Several
things happen at each distribution - the SCAW team has the joy of
greeting the children and their parents, and then we get down to work
including choosing a photo site, setting up the bedkit, taking a photo
of each child, interviewing parents and children, and finally, the joy
of briefly meeting each child, looking in their eyes and
wishing them Lala Salama, a good night's sleep, and giving them their
bedkit - the personal touch that shows each child that someone cares for
them.
Our
team also came to Tanzania with the goal of sending a more vibrant and
complete picture of what happens on a SCAW distribution each day, using
social media tools like Facebook, You Tube and others. You are seeing
the results of their skill and efforts. My team is accomplishing this
second goal beyond my expectations.
Each
of my team members that you see in the videos and photos is an
outstanding individual who volunteered to come on this trip. Let me say
a few words about each of them.
Lori
Albrecht - it is largely thanks to Lori that our team is sending back
the wonderful "one-minute videos" with highlights of each day. In
addition to her responsibilities for the day (and learning considerable
Swahili to speak with the children), Lori is videoing the children,
parents, overseas volunteers, SCAW team and capturing many of the
wonderful sights and sounds of a SCAW distribution. After each
distribution, in our vehicle or back at the hotel, Lori then works on
selecting the "pieces" she likes best from all the videos she has taken,
and distills them down into her "one minute of magic" each day.
Graham
McDougall is the youngest member of our team at 17, and he has an
amazing knowledge and passion for photography, computers and video
creation software the names of which I have never heard before. Graham
has taken hours of footage on this trip, from which he plans to make a
short video showing the highlights of a SCAW distribution. Graham has
also been advising Lori with some technical aspects of putting together
her "one minute videos", including using a Wi-Fi Hot Spot for mobile
internet while on the road, and figuring out how to cope with variable
strength internet at our hotel.
Jennifer
Travis is from the United States, and our team and SCAW are very
excited to have Jennifer travelling with us on a distribution. Jennifer
is passionate about interacting with the children, and making the
distribution day a truly special occasion for the children. Whether
blowing bubbles or bouncing balloons, Jennifer had large groups of
children surrounding her and enjoying every moment they were with her.
Jennifer's energy and passion for making things special for the
children are resulting in many, many smiles on the children's faces in
the bedkit
photographs.
Lori, Graham and Jennifer are on their first SCAW bedkit distribution. Jeff
McDougall (Graham's dad) on the other hand is on his fourth SCAW trip.
Jeff has exceptional leadership qualities and interpersonal skills, and
is making a significant contribution in many ways on this trip. I had
never met Jeff before this trip, and the other day said to him I feel
like I have known him all my life. Jeff provides good
ideas and wise counsel, and is a pleasure to work with. I hope SCAW
will see a lot of Jeff in the years to come.
Last
and certainly not least, team member Leslie Banner will be taking over
as Tanzania Team Leader in 2014. I have not traveled with another team
leader for many years, and am benefiting from hearing Leslie's
suggestions in a wide range of areas involving the leadership of a
Sleeping Children team. I have the privilege of working with Leslie in
other
areas in the SCAW organization, and have learned on this trip that she
is as effective in leading a bedkit distribution as she is in
contributing in other leadership areas back home in SCAW.
Every
member of my team is contributing to making the Tanzania 2013 trip a
success. So today I would like to recognize each of them, and thank
them for their efforts in ensuring six successful bedkit distributions
so far, for making each day special for the children and their parents,
and for their skill and
efforts in enabling our team to share many special moments with the
outside world through video, audio, words and photographs. I am very
proud of each of them.
Ted Swanston For Team Tanzania
