SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 21

Today’s distribution took us to Chekeni Mwasonga, about an hour outside the city. We were struck by the school’s community - despite an average of 82 students per class, the connection between the parents and the school is carefully fostered by the headmaster.

Before the distribution began, the parents gathered and listened attentively as Benjamin and our team explained what their children would be receiving in the bedkits. As Benjamin translated into Swahili, the team displayed the items, Teegan modeled the kanga and backpack, and demonstrated the mattress carried on the head - a common practice here. The parents responded with joyful cheers and waves of gratitude.

This school also includes a thoughtful follow-up component; every Friday, teachers conduct home visits to check in on the families of children who received bedkits. After a previous distribution here in 2023, teachers confirmed that the bedkits were being used as intended, including proper use of the mosquito nets.

 Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2025: July 20 and 21

July 20th

Today was our first day in beautiful Sri Lanka. It started with a team meeting with our wonderful in-country partners, the rotarians of Kelaniya.

What a wonderful adventure we will be on. The rest of the day we travelled south through lush countryside with a stop at the most southern tip of Sri Lanka.

We can’t wait to see the children tomorrow.

Team Sri Lanka, 2025

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2025: July 21

Beliatta, Sri Lanka

Our first distribution was today and we successfully delivered 1200 bedkits!

We were welcomed with a special ceremony last night at our hotel and we continued to feel the warm embrace of Sri Lanka as we began the day with our wonderful Rotary partners.

Floral tributes, marching bands and beautifully costumed dancers celebrated the arrival of the volunteers and made it a truly special day!

Team Sri Lanka, 2025

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2025: July 20

We have arrived!

This has to be one of the best on-arrival greetings we have ever had. This trio met us right at the exit ramp from the plane, guided us through immigration, and on to baggage claim, making sure we had all our luggage. Zero problems with the arrival card. Many thanks to the Rotary Club of Kelaniya for easing our entry into Sri Lanka.

Team Sri Lanka, 2025

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 20

Today the team was able to enjoy a day off. We took in a little Tanzanian culture and history with a quick plane ride to Zanzibar. How lucky were we to enjoy this incredible sunrise as we stepped off the plane.

We were met at the airport by our guide for the day - Mady. He took us to our first stop which was the Jambo Spice Farm where we were greeted by Doula. Doula informed us that there are over 30 spice farms in Zanzibar.

He then took us through the farm when we encountered over 20 different spices including lemongrass, vanilla, coffee, cacao and of course cinnamon - known as the Queen of Spices and cloves known as the King of Spices! Doula even made us some new jewelry.

And who knew that empty coconuts are used to fertilize new growth?!

We then had an amazing lunch of the local fare before we departed to ”Stonetown” where the slaves were encased. It is a town built all of stone with no cars and of course it is the birthplace of Freddy Mercury!

We are back at it tomorrow with another 700 bedkits to distribute as we complete the last half of the total of 7000 bedkits in Tanzania!

Lala Salama!!  🛌 

Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Sri Lanka, 2025: July 18

Pre-Arrival

Team Sri Lanka is ready for take-off and eager for the busy distribution ahead. We are looking forward to working with our partners, the Rotary Club of Kelaniya. Stay tuned.

Team Sri Lanka, 2025

Rotary Club of Kelaniya 🇱🇰 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 18

We had a wonderful day at Vikindu Technical College.  It was a lovely site with plenty of shady tress and very pleasant weather. 

It was a busy site with lots of activity and even a few monkeys.  We used the mattresses today to build a backdrop for our 132 pictures. 

Unfortunately, we ran into some terrible weekend traffic so it took 4 hours to get back to the hotel, a trip that would normally take 1.5 hours. Just another day in Tanzania . . . .

Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 17

Today we travelled to Mgagala Annex school to begin Day Four of our distributions. As we arrived we saw all the volunteers from Upendo working hard to unload the 700 backpacks and mattresses from trucks and vehicles.

In the middle of the unloading was Mama Wandoa carefully watching every detail and counting. She started counting at around 5 a.m. at her home making sure every backpack was accounted for and placed in the right vehicle. She has a system. It is marking everything in groups of fives. Every time a helper walks by her and has five articles they say tano (5) and she tracks it on her clipboard. Her careful attention to detail makes for a very successful distribution.

During our day SCAW and all the volunteers count children, pictures, labels, mattresses, backpacks and at the end of the day we celebrate that 700 children are going home to have a better sleep.

It all begins with tano, a small number that grows to amazing joy for the children.

Tonight we count our blessings. What a wonderful day.

Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 16

Today we visited the school Chanzige and we were greeted by signs all along the school road that were all positive affirmations like “never stop learning as life never stops teaching” and “you are the hero of your own story.” Someone has put a lot of love into this school and it shows. The children were so friendly and loved practicing their English with us.

While handing out the 700 bedkits we noticed that the children were kicking around plastic bottles to play football with. Our generous partners from Super Banco gifted some “footballs” to us so we were happy to gift two of them to this school. After the headmaster showed us his football skills the kids were happily playing with them before we left for the day.

This is my first distribution with SCAW and it has been such a rewarding, enlightening and heartfelt experience, especially because I am able to share it with my mother.

Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 15

Day 2 of distributions was busy with lots of smiling faces eagerly awaiting us. We were set up under a beautiful ancient mango tree. The children waited patiently and sang some songs while we set up.

We began with tying a kanga around each child, took their photos and ushered them to collect their backpacks stuffed with goodies and their mattresses.

There were a lot of high fives and thank yous. Not even some brief rain dampened their smiles.
The volunteers were amazing. It was a busy and gratifying day.

Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 14

Team Tanzania has arrived and are ready to work!

After a gruelling two days of travel, the team of 8 has arrived in Dar es Salaam to begin the journey of enriching the lives of 7000 children in Tanzania with a bedkit from our generous donors. 

We’ve had a lot of time to bond and get to know each other as team members travelled from British Columbia to Toronto to Addis Ababa to Dar. 

We hit the ground running after a good night’s sleep with a pre-distribution meeting Monday morning at Mama Wandoa’s house. Here we were able to see where all of the bedkit items are made and stored. The mattresses come from the factory every morning. Mama’s team have been hard at work over the past 4 months. This is our 25th year of partnership with Mama Wandoa, her children, her grandchildren and now her great grandchildren along with the exceptional volunteers from Upendo!

Immediately following the pre-distribution meeting we travelled to a school near Mama’s house where we were met by 700 smiling faces of children and their parents. 

Stay tuned as we work through the next 10 days handing out 7000 bedkits and proceed with the new sleep project supported by Mama and her team.

Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 13

It’s late Sunday and we’ve just arrived after quite a gruelling couple of days. Lots of waiting and a loooooong flight, but we are all in good spirits and will sleep well tonight. Wendy and Benjamin met us at the airport. 

We are meeting at Mama Wandoa’s house at 9:00 Monday morning for a pre-distribution meeting followed by the first distribution. 

Team Tanzania, 2025

Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Tanzania, 2025: July 12

Pre-distribution preparations:

The 3 photos below show the Upendo volunteers who did the packing of the 7000 bedkits. They are all stored safely. The black coloured bedkits are for small children and the blue coloured bedkits are for older children,  all carefully labelled for boys and girls.

All 7000 children are waiting eagerly for their new uniforms and a mattress to enable them to have a peaceful night’s sleep. From Monday the 14th to 25th July we will happily tell the children "LALA SALAMA". 

At this time, the SCAW Canadian volunteers are on their way to Tanzania. They should be almost half-way through their journey so stay tuned as there will be lots of excitement to write about. Both teams are eager to work together to ensure more children will have a good night’s sleep.

Team Tanzania, 2025

 Upendo 🇹🇿 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: South Africa, 2025: May 29

Sadly, today was the last day of distribution . . . but with sadness comes happiness as we knew we would be providing 400 children with the gift of a bedkit.

We started our day at with a class of 6 years old. Their excitement was infectious.  They were smiling and jumping up and down.  We then had the opportunity to meet with some of the older students of the grade 6 class.  When we told them what their present entailed they couldn’t help but have massive smiles.

We took some time for interviews with 2 parents along with 2 teachers.  They all agreed that the mattress was the number one item and really appreciated all the items.  They couldn’t be more thankful for the gifts of hope.

The end of the day was capped off by a lovely grade 1 class who were a joy to be around. It’s sad to say farewell as we truly enjoyed our experience in South Africa. We are thrilled to know that our combined efforts have ensured that 2000 bedkits were distributed and now a number of children will have a good night’s sleep.

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: South Africa, 2025: May 28

Today’s distribution started with the older grade 4 children whose command of English is very good.

After we introduced ourselves they shared with us a rendition of their national anthem, after which we sang our national anthem. Their voices were superior to ours.

We received many thank yous with smiling faces and pure joy. 

Afterwards we had the opportunity to see a house nearby.  There were 11 people living in approximately 250 square ft. including a new mother and a 2 week old baby. There was no bathroom nearby but there was well water.  

We had a quick tour of the settlement and saw the entrepreneurial spirit alive and well.  It was interesting to see where the children live. We also met an after-school tutor who helped the kids after school.

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: South Africa, 2025: May 27

The day began on a very positive note as the children were dressed in their new outfits and ready for us!  We had delivered over 300 bedkits to a school that was about 1/2 hr from our hotel.  The contrast of where we stay and the conditions of the settlements are quite startling. The need is great.  There were over 1600 children attending the school with the average class having 52 students.

We have been blessed to have some older children assist the young students with their bedkits as the only logical place to take photos is in the parking lot.  While we took a break it was interesting to hear about what the kids were doing and how far they travelled to school.  They seemed quite educated on how local politics work and knew the roles of a Mayor and Council. 

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: South Africa, 2025: May 26

Good morning Ma’am , , , Is this gift for me? Absolutely yes!

Thank you so much! Thank you so much! Thank you!!

Our third day of distribution was a huge success! The principal and vice principal met us, and everything went smoothly. I want to give a special shoutout to Sanette for all the hard work.

We learned that most of the kids come from single-family homes where the mom is the main caregiver. Out of the 200 graduates, we think about 18 might find jobs. Most of the parents are unemployed, unfortunately.

Our driver, Theo, has been a lifesaver in helping us bridge the language barrier. We really appreciate his thoughtful gifts to the team.

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: Kenya, 2025: May 23

We finalized our last bedkit distribution on May 15th at Oloolchura and it went as smoothly as the distribution the day before at Oloolaimutia. Both of these schools are in the area of Kenya known as Maasai Mara. One of our team members interviewed several of the students' mothers to learn that all of the items in the bedkits were treasured and more school items such as books, stationary, pens & crayons were welcomed. Many of the families in this area have as many as 7 children, and the mattress in the bedkits might be used by more than one child. 

We were entertained by some of the students and several of the Maasai Mara warriors after the children received their bedkits. The mamas were very anxious to adorn us with small bracelets and necklaces to say thank you to their new friends from our SCAW team.

After we left the school we were able to spend 3 - 4 hours with the help of our driver Charles in the game reserve where we saw many wonderful animals.  Beautiful African faces and beautiful wild African animals - make a day we won't forget!!

Team Kenya, 2025

Rotary Club of Nairobi 🇰🇪 + SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: South Africa, 2025: May 23

Today we were up early to head to the distribution site.

Our day was filled with surprises and joy.

We arrived at the distribution site at 8:30 a.m. and we could feel the excitement. 
The older children (ages 9-12)  could clearly understand what was being given from Canada. We took the opportunity to show them what was in the bedkit.  We explained how far we had come and how they were gifts.

There are certain days in life that are incredibly special. Today was one of them. From the hugs, to the beautiful songs, to the excitement on their faces, are things that will remain in our memories.  One 10 year old girl said it best when she said, “ THANK YOU. I will remember you forever”.

The kids were very happy with the quality of the bedkits.  Many kids kept asking for the “sponges” (which we soon figured out were the mattresses).

As we left at the end of the day . . . the smiles and the waves kept coming. 

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: South Africa, 2025: May 22

Today was the day we came for . . . to see the children’s smiles. We drove an hour out of town to the famous gold fields. The school was near a small settlement.

The children were shy but well behaved. We asked their names but they were very soft spoken. They opened up when we had a break to sing songs like the Hokey Pokey and The Wheels on the Bus. The quality of the bedkits was very good and included many items the children will find useful.

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We were very impressed. One of the children said, "Namhlanje ndizo lala in peace" which translates to "tonight I'll sleep in peace." That phrase warmed our hearts.

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦

SCAW Blog: South Africa, 2025: May 20 and 21

May 20

We awoke to a beautiful day in Honeydew, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, South Africa and met with the other members of our team, Sue and Warren.

Our driver picked us up and we travelled to the factory where the mattresses are manufactured. We met up with Sanette from the Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon and had a tour of the factory. We saw the completed mattresses along with some of the additional items contained in the bedkits. Sanette informed us that the supplier of the hats in the bedkits was able to purchase two more sewing machines and hire two additional employees with revenue from the order. Excellent news!

After meeting Sanette again in the evening and seeing her level of enthusiasm, we are looking forward to a successful distribution.

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦

May 21

We were up early today as we had 3 factory tours ahead of us.  After a bit of a drive we arrived at the factory that constructs and makes the mattresses for the children.  It truly was an interesting process from the mixing of the chemicals, to cutting the massive foam blocks to sewing the coverings. The children will certainly sleep well on their new beds!

Our next visit was to a small shop where they sewed the tracksuits that each child will recieve.  The lovely female owner showed us how they create the suit and showcased the 15 sewing machines and staff that worked diligently to produce the 2000 tracksuits . . . the children will look sharp in these  for sure. The last visit was to the supplier of the school supplies.  We were treated to a tour of this distribution center that serves all of South Africa.  All in all, it was a very informative and interesting day . . . tomorrow we get to meet the children as it's our first distribution day! We are really looking forward to meeting them!

Team South Africa, 2025

Rotary E-Club of Eagle Canyon 🇿🇦 and SCAW 🇨🇦