Danielle - Tanzania 2012's Profile

UPDATE - Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for your support! Thanks to you, I reached my goal (ahead of schedule too!) and am just 5 short weeks away from the sweet pearly white smiles of the kids in Tanzania. I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful, kind, generous people in my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

If you'd still like to donate, hold that thought; I'm sure to be signing up for another trip again soon! :)
http://youtu.be/aOLSEEegp5I
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3/14/12 - As many of you know, I fell in love with Africa on my first trip there in January and could not wait to go back...and now it's happening...in June! I am so excited to get the chance to go back and see the sweet, joyful faces of the kids we meet,while giving shoes and hope to.
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As you may already know, I have been actively involved with Soles4Souls, a non-profit organization that distributes shoes to people in need all over the world; domestically and internationally, in times of disaster and in areas just simply in need. Not only does Soles4Souls equip people with the basic necessity of shoes to protect them from disease & injury and make it possible for children to obtain an education, they also provide the opportunity and means of a Micro-Enterprise program in many places for local people to start their own business, which I particularly strongly advocate for, and that's one of the many reasons I chose to volunteer with them. It's wonderful to give people things they are without, but in order to have a lasting impact, they need to have the sustainability to make their own living and provide for themselves and their families.
I've been on 2 distribution trips with Travel4Souls; first to Costa Rica in the summer of 2011 and then to Tanzania in January 2012. The experiences and friendships I've come away with are indescribable, and have had a profound impact on my life and I want to continue doing more. It's truly amazing to know you're touching people's lives not only with the simple gift of shoes, but perhaps more importantly, just spending time with them.
While in Africa, we will be visiting schools, orphanages, and communities in Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, and Gombe.
My wish is that with those physical pairs of shoes, also comes hope and love.

Why Am I Doing This Again? Here's an excerpt from something I wrote shortly after returning from Costa Rica to help explain why I am so passionate about this.
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Now that we're back, I find myself reminiscing on the trip, missing everyone from the trip, and most surprisingly of all to me, finding it difficult to talk about it to anyone who wasn't there. I didn't think that would be the case; after all, I wasn't "shocked" by the level of poverty we encountered and were immersed in for those few days - I've seen the equivalent before...many times in fact, and I've definitely volunteered and done work similar to this before (though not on the same scale). So I was surprised at myself and my reaction the first time someone outside the trip asked me how it was and even more surprised, that it didn't get any easier the more people I talked to. Words like "good, awesome, incredible, and amazing" obviously don't do it justice. And I found it difficult to explain it (in a few sentences no less) what exactly we did. Sure, we gave shoes to nearly 700 people in the village, or "slum" of La Carpio, as many articles on Google describe it, and we got to interact with the people while we fitted them for their shoes. But it was so much more than that. I shared on our last night during our "debrief" within the group that one of my two favorite memories of the trip was on the first day. We had just arrived to the place we were distributing shoes and hadn't even begun unloading the shoes off the bus yet, but were just checking out the set up and layout of where we'd be working and this little boy about 4 years old waved to me and said, "Hola", I smiled back and replied in Spanish and next thing I know he's latched on to my leg giving me a hug. The trip could have ended right then and there and it would have been worth it. Here's this little boy, whom mind you probably didn't even know we were there to give them anything, be so eager to show appreciation and love just because I was there. My second favorite was on the last day when we had gone to a school in La Carpio for the distribution and went around the classrooms to pass out stickers to the kids. I was taking pictures and chatting with the different tables of kids in my *less than stellar Spanish*, when we realized that the next group was going to be arriving soon for their shoes, so I started saying adios and waving bye, when I was literally almost toppled over by this young girl who rushed over to give me a hug. As we were hugging, several other girls came over and before I knew it, little girls were hugging and kissing me from all directions. I relished in that for a few moments before really having to leave -- talk about hard goodbyes. Others have similar stories that left a special impression on them: a blind "tween" aged boy who was all smiles from the moment he walked in the door and was just so happy and beaming the entire time (I wasn't the one fitting him, but I remember him because I noticed how HAPPY he was and I remember watching him from across the room. It wasn't until later I learned he was blind, but I knew exactly who he was as he was being described), a little kindergarten boy who happens to be HIV positive (obviously through no fault of his own), a woman who literally got up after getting her new shoes on her feet and did a little dance...
How do you begin to describe what it was like to experience and witness all that? It is moments like these that make these trips special and so unique. Yes, it is awesome to give people a physical pair of shoes that they need for everyday life and protection, but when that tangible thing transforms into so much more, that is truly indescribable. We do not know the whole extent of how this may have affected their lives, just like they don't know the impact and effect they had on us. When I called my mom to tell her I was back safe and sound, I remember telling her, "the people we met are awe-inspiring. Coming in from the streets where they live in something most people would hesitate to call a house, yet are cheerful, loving, and kind". It was really neat to see on numerous occasions an older brother who accompanied a younger sibling, even if they weren't getting shoes themselves, and watch as they comforted their hesitant younger sibling. These are the kind of people that inspire me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt-Jp-ISBUo&feature=g-upl
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Love, hope, kindness and humility - these are the things I now strive to remember more often and these trips are the perfect place to be indulged in all of that, while also serving the needs of the local people.

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