S T O R I E S

"From Tanzania," by Kristen Keil is a delightful telling of one young lady's experience in Tanzania.

Kristen is daughter of Ken Keil, LAW Contributing Educator and Good Neighbor Law Treasurer.

Greetings from Tanzania!

I hope you all had a very holy and blessed Christmas and New Year! First and foremost I would like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT! I apologize that I was not able to send out thank you cards before I left, things were a bit crazy, but please know I appreciate your support spiritually and financially. Without you, I would not have been able to embark on this journey. Because of your help I was able to achieve my goal of raising $4,000. Your support means the world to me, and I cannot even begin to express my gratitude. I received such an outpouring of generosity and love I knew it could be nothing less than God’s Grace. Through your help, God is accomplishing many things!

I have been in Tanzania for about a month now and I am learning so much! I am staying in a city called Geita (The life that I describe below is strictly of Geita- Dar Es Salaam is a very big bustling city and has a lot more similarities to the U.S. The more rural you get the more different it is). Every morning I wake up around 5-5:30 am, because that is when the Islamic call for prayer rings throughout the city through some sort of loudspeaker. It seems the entire city is up and running while I still want to crawl back into bed! There are many Muslims and Christians here (majority are Christian). I am slowly learning Swahili, and have learned enough to get me around...but also still have a long ways to go! Thankfully almost everyone speaks a little English…or at least enough to understand what I am trying to say. There is running water and electricity where I am, and there is not a shortage of water. However, many people do not have plumbing, and most people squat when going to the bathroom, and take a bucket of water to shower with. Although Geita is a city, there are people who live in rural areas, in villages, that do not have electricity. People do have cars, and there are taxis, however owning a car is rare, and most people do not own them or even know how to drive. Many people walk everywhere, or take dalla dallas (bicycles that are used like taxis ) or piki pikis (motorcycles that are used as taxis). Practically everyone does use a cell phone, although many of them have never seen an iphone before. I have not yet conquered the task of carrying something on my head…although I am determined to do so! I have also had the pleasure of eating giant grasshoppers (sanene) and termites (kumbi kumbi- koombee koombee)…people love them here, but I have to admit they are not something I am too fond of ;) I discovered that the people here ferment their milk on purpose, and that is how they like it…it came as quite a surprise to me the first time I tried it! I have learned how to wash my clothes by hand- and wow is it a lot of work.

The pace of life here is MUCH slower than at home. Everything happens slowly here; if you tell someone you will meet them at 10, it might be 11 until they are ready; it may take days to accomplish a task…the people even walk slow- but I also think it is a very beautiful piece of their culture. The people here are never stressed out; they trust that things will get done when they need to, and therefore take their time getting through life. Everything here is also divine chaos. There is no organization whatsoever; I recently rode on a bus that held about 50 people, and there were at least 80-95 people jammed in! They have an incredible sense of community here. It is beautiful because most people here are poor so many of them live similar lives, share similar difficulties, and therefore they understand each other and stick together. The majority of people here do everything by hand; no dishwashers, no washing machines, no ovens, no microwaves, etc. From raising the egg to killing the chicken, everything is 100% organic all the time. The people here live a very difficult life and must work so hard in order to provide for themselves daily. The life here is very physically demanding- Africans don’t need to work out because their entire life is a workout! I enjoy the simplicity here so much; people here do not require much to live, and most of the population is very unattached to material possessions.

Since I arrived in Geita I have been working at the orphanage (Moyo Wa Huruma-Compassionate Heart) and it has been such a blessing! I have never met such well behaved and disciplined children in my entire life. The children bring me so much joy; they like to play with my hair, touch my skin, and love taking pictures and looking at my camera. The orphanage is funded by the Catholic diocese here, and is also sponsored by the gold mine that is present in Geita (known as GGM). While the children live much better than they were before coming to the orphanage, it is by no means easy. There are 88 children at the orphanage and many of them have very intense pasts; unfortunately, every single one of them has lost both of their parents to HIV. They have all been tested, and somehow, by the Grace of God, none of them have HIV. Since birth, they were given cow’s milk instead of nursing; many of the children at the orphanage are siblings. There are six women who live at the orphanage who are paid to take care of the children. The orphanage does what it can for the children, but they still lack many things. The children do not eat much; they eat one cup of porridge for breakfast, ugali and beans for lunch (Ugali is a mixture of water and flour that is cooked), and for dinner two pieces of meat, ugali, and a vegetable similar to spinach. Most of their diet is ugali. This isn’t much when the children wake up at 5 am everyday as well. They have a decent amount of farm land, and grow many things including corn, sweet potatoes, many native green vegetables, tomatoes, sunflowers (for cooking oil) , etc. However, in order to maintain what they have, the children have to work very hard. Cooking for 90+ people every day is hard work! The children take care of the farm themselves…it is hard to believe how much work they do. They also help cook the meals, and have to hand wash their own clothing. So far I have been teaching 3-8 year olds, math, English, and art. I have been able to buy some supplies, such as paper, pens, pencils, scissors, erasers, etc. If there is one thing that is lacking here, it is education. The orphanage definitely does not have the materials necessary to educate the young ones (the older ones go to school). In the next week or two I will begin teaching English, religion, and computer at a Catholic school run by the diocese. My goal is to create religion and computer programs that can continue after I am gone; currently they don’t teach them at all. So far, I have found that my biggest mission here is simply to Love. The children here do not receive much individual attention, as there are only 6 women for all of them. Unfortunately some of the women do not treat the children very well, so I have discovered God is asking me not only to Love the children but to show the women how to love the children. I have also had the privilege of visiting a school for disabled children and the local hospital. These experiences have been some of my favorite, and I hope to be able to contribute to them in some way. The suffering here was difficult for me to cope with at first, because the people here suffer so differently than people at home. Seeing children and families suffering so badly because of the lack of proper medical care, technology, and medication, moved my heart very deeply. I sometimes get overwhelmed because I feel there is so much work to do, and yet I am not quite sure how to accomplish it!

Life here is completely different… I could keep writing for days, but I’m sure this is long enough for now! If you have any questions please feel free to email me, and please pass on this email to anyone you think may be interested in this mission or

I have forgotten to add to the email list. If you or anyone you know is interested in continuing to donate to this cause, donations can still be sent to 1405 W. 6th St. Loveland, CO 80537, if interested I also have a way anyone can donate directly to the orphanage...ask me! Any money I am given will be used to help the people here, especially the children. God is doing so much on this journey, continue to pray for me, and I for you. A man I met here told me, “There are no such things as problems, only challenges.” May we give thanks to God for all of our challenges!

Thank you very much (Asante sana) for your support, God Bless, and Happy New Year!

Live simply, so that others may simply live.

Krista Keil
Ps- Sorry it took me so long to send out this first email! I have run into many problems with maintaining a good internet connection and various computer problems…as technological things are not easily accessible where I am living ;)