Our Kiswahili teachers take us on field trips weekly to help reinforce the language. We took a trip to an institution nearby called the Watoto Foundation today. This organization finds and recruits boys ages 13-15 from the streets, gives them a new home, educates them with a primary school educations, and gives them specialized skills like carpentry, welding, or agriculture. The foundation also secures the boys a job or secondary school education after their graduation from the program.
When we arrived, we got a quick introduction to the organization and split off into pairs with the boys. Robert approached me, shook my hand, and took me on a tour of the foundation’s compound. I practiced a ton of Swahili, and he got to practice some English! Robert is 16 years old and really wanted to come visit me in America. He also likes 50 cent, and is studying carpentry. We played foosball and he showed me some furniture he’s made for the school! The school is really self-sustaining; the boys have many jobs to help keep the school going. Some are in charge of the rabbits, others are in charge of the chickens, etc. They even use some of the cow feces for bioenergy!
I tried to ask him about why he left his home for the streets, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it. Some of the boys were orphaned and other had terribly dysfunctional families, so they turned to living on their own in the streets of Arusha. It was a really incredible experience. Check out the foundation at: http://www.watotofoundation.nl/en/
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