…In the spring of 2012, my two oldest daughters discussed their desire to go to Africa to help orphans, and then asked my husband to consider joining them. We researched and found Engineering Ministry International (EMI), which was assembling a team of engineers and needed an architect to help site survey and design an addition to an orphanage in Mlandezi, Tanzania. The three of them quickly committed to the project, and with an initial bit of work on their part, God generously provided the funding for their trip.
Gone for two weeks, they flew east across the Atlantic to meet the rest of their team at Heathrow International Airport in London, then flew south to Dar El Salaam, Tanzania. Their final leg was overland on mostly unimproved roads to the town of Mlandezi. A woman had started the orphanage by taking in children in need of loving assistance. The orphanage was bursting out of the attached homes that mainly composed the facility. Global Aid Network had decided to come alongside her when they learned of her situation while putting a clean water well in the town. Funds are being raised now for the new construction addition.
On the way home they were able to travel back to Dar El Salaam, enjoy a beach resort, see the sights, and shop at an open air market. My husband nearly died laughing at his two daughters in the meat market. It seems a huge water buffalo head sat on the floor, and customers were slicing pieces of meat right off of it as they walked by. As sisters, they were two peas in a pod yet different as night and day. One daughter nearly ‘lost her lunch’, while the other daughter was laughing hysterically, completely intrigued with “the head.” Their favorite part of the trip was playing soccer with the orphans and neighborhood kids each afternoon. Thank goodness Cary had taught them how to play the world’s number one sport, all those years ago in Montclair.
The three of them fell in love with the project, the people, and the orphans. It was a life-changing trip for them as individuals and as a family unit. How fortunate the Lord worked it out for them to experience this amazing adventure, together, before my husband passed away the following year. I think it would be a significant thing to be able to travel with my daughters to see the orphanage addition when it is complete. To view one more part of the legacy my husband left would be extremely memorable and meaningful for me, as well as my girls….