Milestones, Miracles, and Moving Forward

It is incredible to see that the last time I wrote an update (end of July), we were in need of sponsorship for eleven daycare children and here we are at the beginning of November with all of our daycare sponsorship fulfilled! You are incredible people who make this life changing work possible each and every day and we can’t thank you enough. Please do accept my apologies for failing to send updates at the end of August and September, I really do not know where this year has gone and continues to keep running to! You may have heard we have experienced political unrest here in Tanzania with protests ending in extreme violence and a large number of deaths related to the general election held on October 29th. We had five days without any internet connection for almost the entire country and strict 6pm curfews whilst we listened to gun fire and tear gas bombs exploding outside. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have lost loved ones, nothing has ever happened like this before in a country known for its peace. The last week will forever be recorded in the history of Tanzania.

Back at the beginning of August we celebrated our 1st Birthday for Hope and Soul Daycare. We crafted a beautiful banner which included all children and staff handprints, enjoyed a beef pilau lunch, shared a celebration cake with the local community leaders and the children loved receiving a balloon at home time. The following weekend I invited the daycare staff for a lunch together in town to ensure they felt celebrated and recognised - being the incredible workers who make daycare possible, this one year celebration is as much about them as it is the children. I produced a pack of UNO cards after lunch and although all but one had never played before it soon became the most competitive game ever! It was a proud moment to look around the table and see these women share in such humble joy. Most of them are mothers, who as a result of Hope and Soul are receiving an income that supports their young families, this is the power of what we do - not only impacting the children in our community but also providing stable incomes for hardworking individuals.

August: New Beginnings, New Spaces, and Lifelong Impact

August also saw the completion of a construction project at Hope and Soul Daycare, generously funded by our 2025 volunteers! We have named our little building - The Happiness Hut and given it a beautiful sign with all the volunteers names who fundraised so passionately to support our projects before also giving up their time and travelling to Tanzania in March and June of this year. The Happiness Hut is a multi-purpose building that serves as an outside all-weather play area, a space to host parent meetings, counselling sessions, youth group gatherings, micro-finance project meetings, tutoring sessions and more. Thank you to Lloyd, Shannon, Abby and Rhea for making this beautiful building possible.

On August 16th a huge dream of mine came true. After over six years of supporting our very first ‘OG’ kids from Women’s Christian Orphanage the centre closed and we as an NGO were granted responsibility of care over the eight remaining children. We are so pleased that two of the youngest children (and siblings) were reunited with their mother at the beginning of September with ongoing support for education, health and nutrition needs provided by Hope and Soul. We are always so pleased when children can return to life with a loving parent or carer away from an institution style living. This is of course not possible for all of the children, the majority of whom have come from very far village areas and are unable to return due to unsafe circumstances or extreme poverty. The children have spent over ten years away from extended family and village life and now whilst still in education we will honour to love them and care for them until they have achieved their education dreams.

September: A Season of Graduation, Growth, and Bold New Dreams

The 13th of September was the start of our graduation season for our class seven and form four leavers. We have six class seven leavers this year but only those in private schools have the opportunity to celebrate which for us was a total of three children including Ayesha. Ayesha and her younger sister Mariam lost their mother suddenly on the 2nd of January 2023 following complications related to a severe chest infection. The widowed father requested that we support the girls into boarding education so he could continue to try and provide for their future and keep a stable home for during school holidays. The loss continues to be incredibly hard for both girls to carry but they have shown such resilience and courage. Watching Ayesha smile and sway with her class friends to the graduation entry music, dressed in her black and gold graduate gown was a moment of tribute to her mother’s love, a triumph over hardship, and a statement of possibility. Her cap and gown are symbols of resilience, courage, and the hope of a brighter future. We will continue to support Ayesha through her secondary school education and we hope she will one day achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.

On September 25th I made the drive out to Kilimanjaro International Airport to welcome a group of very special people. For the past three years and possibly longer I have had a future vision for Hope and Soul that I have only dared to dream due to its somewhat incomprehensible size. Last year I shared that dream with a close supporter and mentor in my life and following further discussions over the next few months that dream that I had not dared to share with anyone but my very closest family and friends was given provisional backing. This friend and mentor who wishes to remain anonymous travelled to Tanzania for the first time this year to witness the current work of Hope and Soul and to get a real idea for how this vision could become a reality. He travelled with some of his very talented and inspirational friends and family and we enjoyed an incredible two weeks together. I am thankful each and everyday for the life changing impact Hope and Soul is already having, but I truly believe we can do more and Hope and Soul Daycare is only the beginning. We are so incredibly excited about what the future might hold for even more children and families here in Arusha and although you will forgive me for being so vague we so look forward to sharing the journey with all of you!

October Highlights: Childhood Bonds, Second Chances, and Futures Transformed

The second primary school graduation followed on the 3rd of October for Johnny and Jackson. The pictures below speak a thousand words but these boys have held an incredibly special place in my heart since 2013 when I first met them whilst volunteering here in Tanzania for the first time. After needing to buy washable nappies for Johnny and put them on him each morning before starting a small teaching class for him and the other children at the orphanage including Jackson, to today reaching primary school graduation - it really is a very special honour. Having grown up together from just over one year in age these two are like brothers but also couldn’t be more different. Johnny is so laid back but incredibly smart, Jackson on the other hand has to work hard in his studies but has incredible social skills.. and dance skills! Oh how we love these boys!

Graduations for our secondary school leavers started in October, this year we have five graduates including Michael and Edgar who were previously living on the streets of Arusha back in 2019. I really do not have enough words to say how proud I am of both boys, there have been many sleepless nights, tears cried, emergency counselling sessions and days of ‘drop everything and sort this out’ to get them here but it has been so worth it. They were amongst an initial group of over ten young boys that we gave an opportunity to return to education and safe housing away from street life but only two had the resilience and determination to make it this far. Michael is set to graduate with grades in the top percentile and Edgar has proven that even at your lowest point it is possible to get back up and with humility start again and succeed. Finishing secondary education in Tanzania gives young people the foundation and confidence to pursue opportunities that once felt out of reach, and the hope to shape a brighter future for themselves and their communities. We know they may not go on to become the next president or an astronaut for that matter, but to have completely changed the future outcomes expected from a life that started on the street we are now so incredibly proud they have defeated the odds. The graduation for Michael was a three hour drive away from the city out into what we like to call ‘safari land’ I am surprised we did not see a giraffe but Michael tells me that they sometimes do! There were over a thousand people at the celebration for less than one hundred graduating students and I was the only white person in attendance which as always brought some interesting attention but also made it easy for Michael to find us in the crowd of loved ones!

When we have visitors or volunteers here we always ensure a full and purposeful schedule to make the most of precious time with precious people. It does mean that I often have a substantial pile of administration work to catch up on when a group leaves and for October that included finalising a new daycare curriculum we hope to start in January 2026. Writing a curriculum for a Tanzanian daycare that is inspired by Western teaching methods has been challenging but when comparing the two national curriculums both for Tanzania and the UK the differences are actually few. Towards the end of October we started a unique but in-depth assessment for every child at daycare that we hope to complete twice a year. I was delighted but not surprised to see the incredible progress our children are reflecting following the excellent nurturing environment they have at Hope and Soul Daycare. The assessments took three days for us staff to complete the different tasks across all classes but I promise the children just thought they were playing different games and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

An equally important day for us at the end of October saw our seven eldest daycare children attend an interview to start Primary School in January. Our teacher Janet who has been working with these children since August 2024 was extremely nervous as they all left our little blue gate to travel to the local private primary school in two brightly coloured ‘tuk tuk’s’. She returned beaming from ear to ear proudly reporting that all children had qualified and would have a place in class  one in January. This is not only teacher Janet’s first year of teaching at Hope and Soul Daycare but her first year of teaching since qualifying and she has succeeded so gracefully with these children. For those of you who read my updates regularly you may have noticed I talk about the living conditions of our daycare children regularly. Our daycare children are all interviewed at home prior to starting with us and specifically chosen for meeting certain criteria related to factors of poverty. Starting life in such harsh and severe poverty has a huge impact on their little developing brains. Janet has not only taught the children in accordance with early years education standards she has more importantly instilled confidence, excitement for learning, a love for music and dance, nurtured creativity and taught the children how to have fun! The little ones who entered our gates in August 2024 will never be the same again and are likely to change the entire future pathway not only for themselves but their families.

A Heartfelt Thank You as We Welcome November

I would like to apologise again for not getting my monthly updates written on time but I hope you are reassured after reading this particular update that even if we are a little quiet its because we are busy making every donation and sponsorship reach its greatest potential - The impact of Hope and Soul continues to shine so brightly.

As we enter November we would like to invite those of you in the Portsmouth area to attend our  annual Christmas fundraiser on the 15th of November. An opportunity for you to drop in at a time convenient with you, purchase some unique Christmas gifts and learn more about all projects with a big slice of homemade cake and a hot drink. There is no pressure at all to give or purchase, we know so many of you already do so on a regular basis, we would just very much love to see you! We are well aware there is still a lot to achieve and celebrate before the year is finished but what a year to remember indeed. I look forward to sharing with you all again at the end of November and thank you always.