Greetings family, friends, and supporters of the Hope Ministries December 2015 Tanzania Team! My name is Taylor Kavaya and I previously traveled with Hope Ministries to Tanzania in January 2014. I am very blessed to return to the beautiful country of Tanzania and I am accompanied by three of my colleagues that also attend BVU. We are all interested in working in the medical field and are very passionate in the service of others.
Our journey started with the joys of traveling for almost 30 hours! Three of us flew out of Omaha and almost missed our flight to Amsterdam in Minneapolis. Thankfully, God was watching over us and we got a ride to our gate and made it just in time. We were also very uncertain if our bags would make it Tanzania due to the delays. However, God proved that He was watching over us again and they were all here when we arrived. As Gayle kept saying, “Remember God is in control and it will all be alright, trust in Him!”
As soon as we stepped off the plane, all the memories started to come back and I was eager to make new ones. We were warmly greeted by our Tanzanian assistant and drivers Julius, Freeman and Faraja. It was so special to me for them to remember me and I replied with “I told you I would come back!” We arrived at Tudor Village late Tuesday night and we will be staying here for a couple weeks until Gayle arrives later in December. We were all able to get comfortable in our rooms and (attempt to) sleep for the night.
A cliché rooster crow awakened us and upon stepping outside we were able to see the beautiful landscape around us including Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance. After breakfast we all sat on the patio and talked while enjoying the beautiful 70-degree weather! We were then welcomed by mama Lynn, who moved to Tanzania almost 16 years ago and started Light in Africa. Her presence was different from the first time I met her two years ago. She was very sad to deliver the news that there was an emergency this morning with one of what she called high maintenance children, which means children that require full attention and care for all of their needs. George was someone that mama Lynn has cared for many years that had cerebral palsy. He was being fed this morning when food accidently got into his lungs and was rushed to the local hospital; he passed away at the hospital and was welcomed home. Looking around, I could tell that we all had heavy hearts for mama Lynn and although we did not meet George we could see how much love and care these children receive, but also give to their caretakers.
Mama Lynn had then asked us to travel with some children who have HIV to the local hospital for checkups. The children here are so beautiful and their smiles are so incredibly contagious. We arrived at the hospital and the children were seen one by one while we waited with the rest of the children giggling and giving lots of high fives! We then enjoyed lunch at the medical school located near the hospital before heading back to Tudor Village.
We are spending the rest of the day relaxing, catching up on sleep, and taking a tour of Tudor Village and meeting the children. Even on our first day, God sent us to accompany these children on what can be a scary trip to the doctor to make them more comfortable. I am so excited what He has in store for us the rest of our days here.
