June is the month for our equivalent of a ‘summer holiday’ here in Tanzania, with most children having just over four weeks of break from school. Those who have National exams in September are given only two weeks but it is the longest break meaning all of our boarding school children are home needing resources topped up and our little ones get to have a rest from long school days. At Hope and Soul Daycare we also closed for two weeks to give our staff time with their families, however we are always keen to keep it short because we know how important the daycare service is to our children and families.

We were delighted to receive a delivery of two suitcases filled with donations, generously carried over by a school friend of mine who came to Tanzania for her honeymoon! We had a little ‘unboxing’ and play time with so many of the items purchased from our Spring Amazon Wishlist alongside gifts and donations people in the UK have very generously donated throughout the year. Knitted hats just in time for our July ‘cold season’, second hand clothing and shoes and child specific gifts from sponsors. I love watching our children play with new toys because our daycare children have never had anything like this and it really stretches their little imaginations and cognitive development, you can almost see the little mind cogs turning!

On the 5th of June we had boarding school pick up day, a day filled with lots of smiles as our most vulnerable children in boarding school are excited to go home to visit loved ones. On that note, please let us know if you would like an update on your sponsor child, operations and administration work have been keeping me very busy and I’m aware that you may think I am a little quiet. Those of you that reach out for updates I know have been very blessed to see photos or share letters, so please all it takes is a message on social media or an email to me at hopeandsoultanzania@gmail.com and I look forward to updating you.

In the afternoon of the 5th we also had a parent daycare meeting. For the first time we included our parent board members on the panel of speakers and it worked very well for our elected leaders to reaffirm specific points our staff wanted to make to all of the parents as group. Mama Anna has particularly blossomed in her role and came in a beautiful blue skirt and confidently addressed the large group of people. We host a parent meeting every three months, provide worming medication for all our children and parents are given a drink and snack for the visit. We give the parents time to share feedback, both good and constructive and ultimately use it as a time to celebrate the progress of our children and thank our staff.

We have been blessed with lots of visitors this month, Auntie Sam from Australia came to visit Daycare on June 6th to see all of her and her partners generous donations in place - sleeping mats, a TV, extra large cooking pots, new staff uniform, store room shelving and more! On the 12th Auntie Sapna worked with Jenipha our social worker despite the very cold rain to complete two home visits and clothing shopping for some of our girls before we enjoyed a chicken and chips lunch together. On the 20th of June Jenipha and I attended the 2025 Arusha NGO forum with over one hundred representatives from different organisations in Arusha. I was invited to speak on a panel about the use of social media relating to sustainability and did my best to mix my Swahili and English on a complex but important topic! 

Getting straight back to operational work on the 21st I was up early to attend the dentist with our secondary school student Nora who needed a total of eleven fillings and one root canal! It is appointments like these when I know the incredibly important impact we are having on these children's lives really is life changing. This is medical care that without our support she would never have access to.

On the 24th of June we had more special visitors from Croatia! Sara and Leonarda who are currently volunteering in Tanzania spent two afternoons with us to visit a number of children that Sara and her family sponsor. The trip coincided with a birthday for Mamu who had some very special gifts for her birthday including pink sunglasses and a new school bag. It was wonderful hearing Mamu talk about the visit weeks later with her friends on the way back to school, describing Sara as a ‘beautiful and kind Auntie who came to visit’. Our children really do remember all these special and thoughtful interactions with visitors.

The 25th of June was a busy day with two trips to the airport to welcome Abby and Rhea from the UK for a two week volunteering trip with Hope and Soul. We enjoyed a movie and pizza afternoon at the orphanage on the 26th of June before they headed off for a four day camping safari on the 27th. We look forward to sharing more about their trip in our July newsletter!

My favourite part about June is getting to do home visits knowing children are at home and we can spend time together catching up on school stories, checking on academic progress and just generally enjoying seeing families that we have supported for a number of years now thriving. Mama Rajabu and her five children are a great example of this, they are now living in their own home which we supported this single mother to build after she worked hard to save and purchase her own plot of land. All her children in education thanks to Hope and Soul sponsors and although Mama Rajabu is still working hard to put food on the table everyday she is extremely grateful for our support to keep her children in life changing education opportunities. Mama and Baba Murusali also an example of parents who have had a life transformation thanks to Hope and Soul. After supporting the reunification of their son who was placed in an orphanage due to severe poverty at home, now all three siblings are thriving in different education pathways and the family lives in their beautiful home that we built, together - exactly as they should be. Although both parents have worked hard their entire lives they are now much older than most of our parents and therefore our support with education materials and school fees combined with a weekly food shop are vital to support the health and future of the whole family unit. This is what our sponsorship and support does! A life changing and life sustaining impact! If you would like to be part of what we do and sponsor a child please reach out on social media or send an email of enquiry to hopeandsoultanzania@gmail.com, we would love to hear from you.