Kait & Saumu's Visit

We brought candy for the children and the picture above is of Saumu distributing it. Her brow looks a little furrowed because she's running out of candy and I think that stressed her out a little...

The children seemed to think it was fun to hold their hands up for all the pictures. I don't know where they got that idea from, but it was cute. They get so excited to see pictures of themselves and ask for more and more.

Kaitlin and I got in touch with each other just before I left for Tanzania through a mutual friend attending Walla Walla University. Kaitlin has been to Tanzania multiple times now doing projects with an orphanage and school in the town of Tanga. The purpose of her most recent visits have been to check up on and spend time with Saumu, a 13-year-old girl she sponsors to attend boarding school. If it weren’t for Kait’s sponsorship and love, Saumu would most likely be living on the streets as an orphan. Her father is alive, but he is a drunk and takes no part in her life.

When I found out Kaitlin would be coming to Tanzania to visit Saumu for a few weeks before Christmas, I thought it would be great if we could get together! Tanga is on the coast and about a 7-hour drive from Arusha, but Kait and Saumu decided they would endure the trip and get out together on a little vacation to see the babies at Cradle of Love, to visit me, and see some new sites in and around Arusha. Since we had only been in touch by emails, it was exciting for me to meet Kait for the first time as well as her beautiful friend Saumu. While they were visiting, we drove out to the Maasai village as well as the hot springs. On our way, we ran into a heard of camels (we think they use them for milk), as well as some other wildlife. It was so much fun to have my first visitors here!

Kait has done many other travels and keeps a great blog. You can learn about her work in Tanga and catch a glimpse of it in her pictures. While here, she took some beautiful pictures of our babies, so I would encourage you to check them out at http://kaitstravels.blogspot.com/2011/12/oh-baby.html.