Life in an orphanage in africa - streetkids international e

Since July 1st, 2009 all children live happily together and safely on our property in Mwandege, on the edge of Dar es Salaam.

There are currently 50 children aged 3 to 18 at home in the four orphanages. In order to give even more children a safe home, school education and thus a future, we already bought a neighboring property in 2013, on which two more orphanages and a Montessori kindergarten for our youngest are being built.

A day at the orphanage

The day begins

In the Muslim region, the muezzin wakes people who live in the village very early in order to ask them to pray in the morning. Our children can still sleep a little longer; at 6:00 am the night is also closed for them The End: The maids come, start brewing tea and cleaning the house. In addition, the property around the orphanages is swept with a straw broom and cleared of leaves to uncover possible snake traces. After everyone has washed and dressed, there is breakfast: It usually consists of mandazi (a type of deep-fried pastry) or bread and a cup of tea with a little sugar.

The school is calling

Then it goes for the Children to school: Most of our children attend the Dayspring Primary School directly opposite our orphanages, where – in contrast to the state school – the teaching material is taught during the lesson. In addition, the class size is relatively manageable (30-40 children per class compared to 100-130 children per class at the state school).
Some of the older children also go to the local public school. All in all, the clocks in Tanzania tick a little slower than in Germany – but the children have to be at school at 8:00 a.m..

Strengthening in the house

After school, the children come home to the orphanage and then have lunch. Our dwarfs then take an afternoon nap; the older ones do their homework and then mostly play outside – preferably soccer.

Help in the orchard and vegetable garden

We even have enough space on our property to grow fruit and vegetables. We are proud to harvest pineapples, passion fruits, sweet bananas, plantains, tomatoes, eggplants and spinach!
Our children and teenagers help a lot with the care of the fruit and vegetable garden.

In addition, our grown-ups brought small fish from our farm, built a small tank in the ground with a little cement and are now trying to breed fish.

Hygiene as an integral part

In addition to supplying the vegetable garden, the children also have rotating water and cleaning services. Ensuring hygiene is also part of their daily tasks: all of this takes around one and a half hours a day.
By involving the children in their daily duties, they learn from an early age what it means to take responsibility and to help. Because it is one of our greatest concerns to instill a sense of responsibility, discipline and thus the ability for self-help in children.

The evening arrangement

Christian worldview

Mostly interns from Germany, Austria or Switzerland are on site who always bring new impressions, games and stories.

In addition, through them, as well as through the house parents, a Christian world view is imparted: Our little ones are brought up with Christian values and guided through their lives; a fact that is very much supported by the small church in the village. All our orphans go to the village church on Sundays. They are always looking forward to everyone dressing up and then singing, dancing and almost always drumming in the church.

The ethical values give the children a lot of support, hope and guidance in their young lives.

Ways to help

training sponsorship

Help and take on a training sponsorship so that the children can lead their lives independently and safely.

Donate immediately

Simply use the online form to make a donation directly online and with little effort.

Donate and help

You have the opportunity to help with a small donation. This can be an immediate donation, a sponsorship, a training sponsorship or it can also Time you donate. Read how to do it here.