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The Reality of Their LivesDave Dryden — Oakville, ON
April 29, 2009 was a significant day for those of us connected with Sleeping Children Around the World [SCAW]. It was also a significant day for many children and adults living in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Three hours before Pinball Clemons, the Hall-of-Fame football player for the Toronto Argonauts, stood to deliver his inspiring message to more than five hundred attendees at the inaugural Pinehurst Club Breakfast raising funds for the Legacy Fund of SCAW, a violent explosion shattered the lives of many families in Dar es Salaam. Suddenly and without warning a military ammunitions dump located on the outskirts of the city at Mbagla blew up hurtling live munitions over a widespread area. In Toronto there was a mood of inspiration. In Mbagla there was destruction, injury, death, and panic. Three and a half months later our six-person Canadian team arrived in Dar es Salaam to distribute 7,000 bedkits. Appropriately our first distribution to 700 children was held at the Kizinga School in Mbagla.
Following the distribution, the principal of the school gave us a tour of his buildings. He took us to a shattered school classroom with a four-foot jagged hole in one if its concrete walls. The rafters were splintered. Two minutes after students evacuated, a missile pierced the wall and detonated in the classroom. Total panic ensued. Many students are still traumatized from the incident. As of yet there has been no official explanation as to what went wrong that day in Mbagla. Later in the day we walked through an area where many students had lived. Most homes were damaged. Many were totally demolished and abandoned. Large tents bearing the markings of Red Cross and UNICEF had been brought in to house the residents. Joy in Toronto, fear in Tanzania — sometimes it just doesn’t seem fair.
Sleeping Children donors have been helping Tanzanian children since 2000. So we can beat the horrendous traffic we always get an early start to the day. This also lets us observe the “real life” of the Tanzanian children and their families. We usually arrive at the distribution site at a school just as the children are arriving and our Tanzania volunteers are unloading the mattresses and bags containing the other eight items in the bedkit. We hear and see the swishing fagios the students carry to sweep any debris from the playground. We hear the bell — usually a truck tire rim struck by a heavy object like a truck shock absorber — announce the starting of the school day. If we are truly serious about trying to help the children we do need to understand the reality of their lives. I believe that the SCAW Tanzania Team 2009 was given that opportunity and privilege. We are grateful for it. LLIN:
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