Such an immense expanse and such beauty of nature, as if you were breathing in life itself.

Simply by being there, that air and that life flow through you. 

We bring you an interesting account of volunteering at an orphanage in Tanzania, from Grgur Vugdelija, a young man from Metković.

I don’t know exactly how I came up with the idea of going to volunteer, and in Tanzania of all places. The opportunity simply presented itself. I had always wanted to go to Africa. For as long as I can remember, it had always been my wish. And so I went.

My mother organised all of it, together with Ivana Marasović, president of the Kolajna ljubavi Association and her good friend, who works in Tanzania. My mother had always told me about Ivana, and about the Kolajna ljubavi Association, through which our family has for several years now been godparents to a girl in Tanzania. When I finished my undergraduate studies, I had time to devote myself to volunteering. I was also encouraged by some friends who, when they were young, had already been to other continents. One reason was that I wanted to help, and the other was that I really wanted to see the world, especially Africa.

To begin all of this, I first had to become a volunteer of the Association, in order to prepare for volunteering in Tanzania. First I had to complete a psychological test, and after that carry out 80 hours of volunteering at some association or institution. I did mine at a school for children with special needs, Voštarnica in Zadar. That was a very special experience for me. Firstly, because it prepared me for what awaited me in Tanzania. Not everyone has brothers and sisters, so as to know how to communicate with children, especially those facing difficulties. That helped me learn how to communicate with children who have special needs.  It would have been hard for me if I had arrived there without knowing how to approach those children. In the end, I stopped seeing those children as having special needs. Once you get used to them, you see that they are the same children as any others. They have their own little quirks, like everyone else, but you see that it’s all perfectly normal.

That lasted about two months, after which I organised a fundraising event for the association. I did this in front of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Voštarnica, Zadar, where I sold souvenirs from Tanzania. People could leave a voluntary contribution and take whichever product they liked. After that, I began preparing for the trip to Tanzania. I took only the most essential personal belongings. I also brought two large suitcases of things intended for the orphanage, along with scholarship funds for the orphanage, for the children’s education, mostly for books and the uniforms they wear at school.

As the time of the journey drew near, it was only then that I became aware I was going to Africa, an entirely new world for me. I flew Zagreb – Istanbul - Dar es Salaam. It all took a long time, since I had to wait a long time in Istanbul for the flight to Dar es Salaam. When I landed it was a strange feeling – suddenly everyone around me was black, and quite strikingly so. Then a wave of heat, an enormous change in temperature since it was winter back home,  everything I wasn’t used to. I had never experienced such humidity, which was a great shock at first. After getting off the plane, I sorted out the visa formalities, which took about 2 hours. I had only half an hour to find the bus to the place I was supposed to travel to. I boarded the bus as the last passenger, a minute before departure. The bus station is one enormous field, where there were roughly a thousand buses. I was lucky that the Uber driver spoke good English and helped me find the bus. It was very stressful, but also the first instance of God’s providence.  There are smaller buses called Dala Dala. They are smaller and carry all sorts of things – people, animals, goods, going from place to place. These other buses are normal, like ours, and meant for long distances. But they too stop every so often, people get on and off, they’re always full, something very strange for us. I travelled to the town of Songea, in southern Tanzania, for about 18 hours. Although I was the only white person on the bus, I didn’t feel any negative energy, or that anyone disliked me, or any sort of racism towards me from anyone. On the contrary, it was as if they tried to be kinder to me throughout the whole journey, as well as during my entire stay in Tanzania. They approach you themselves and talk to you, on the street or anywhere else. They are far more sociable than we are. They stop, talk, ask questions, show you that you are welcome.

In Songea I arrived at St Anthony’s orphanage, where, alongside the children, there were Tanzanian sisters and one volunteer from Croatia, who had only a few more days left there. Songea is a large town, though it seems to me a less developed area than other parts of Tanzania, and the orphanage is located right in the centre. For us, the town centre is quite a strange place, because only a couple of streets are paved, very little for such a large town. Mostly it’s the main roads connecting one place to another that are paved.

The children regularly attend nursery and school and return to the orphanage in the afternoon on weekdays. In the first few days I got to know the town a little, and then in the mornings I mostly distributed school fees – directly to the older children, and to the younger ones through their parents, mostly mothers. In the afternoons I worked with the children, first with the younger ones from the nursery and later with the older ones too – drawing, storytelling, helping with homework, and so on. The children accepted me right away and I quickly became friends with them, since they are used to volunteers. The children are very peaceable, even among themselves. There was rarely any quarrel or argument among the children. It was as if they were all brothers and sisters to one another.

The children come from quite difficult family circumstances. Either there is great poverty, or they have lost one or both parents. My impression is that it is easier for the children to stay with their mother. The mothers are the ones you see at every turn doing something – selling, carrying, working in the fields. I learned many of their life stories. But I didn’t want to question them too much, in case they had to relive some trauma. Many of these children have lived through difficult life situations. They themselves don’t talk about it fully. Still, you can sense in a particular child whether some tragedy has happened or not. You can sense a certain sadness in the background. Despite everything, they are smiling and cheerful. I rarely heard crying. And when it did happen, it was never to draw attention. The child would go and stand quietly in a corner and sob softly, just to let the pain out. I remember that when I used to cry, it was often to draw my mother’s or father’s attention.

I also worked in the fields. I love nature very much. As for food, mostly we ate "ugali" (a maize mixture, without much flavour), rice and beef. I found that meat hard to get used to, since it isn’t prepared or seasoned the way it is at home, so it took me longer to adjust. Fruit is eaten every day, and that was a real discovery for me – so much varied and delicious fruit, something wonderful. I also ate fish once a week, though I don’t know what kind, since I had never come across it back home.

After a month, I went to the north of Tanzania, to the Ngorongoro area. In Ngorongoro I was welcomed by priests, and it was there that I encountered the Maasai tribe. I spent a week in the mountains at 3,000 metres, mostly in the village of Nainokanoka. It is an old volcanic range, a strictly protected reserve. There I again distributed donations among the Maasai tribe, which itself has several sub-tribes. What impressed me most there was the simplicity of their life. They live as they did several hundred years ago. They have no permanent structures or buildings to speak of. Their houses are made of wood filled in with mud, with thatched or tin roofs. It’s strange to see a thatched roof with a solar panel on top, so that they can charge a mobile phone.  

Although extremely poor, they are very hospitable and generous. They share with you everything they have. Everyone welcomes you and gathers together with you. I was constantly given various gifts by them. For example, I was given a whole barrel of their mountain honey, and other things too – bracelets, decorated sticks and more. The natural surroundings amazed me. I had never breathed such air, never seen before me such an immense expanse and such beauty of nature, as if you were breathing in life itself. Simply by being there, it was as if that air and that life flowed through you. It’s a truly special experience. I visited craters, villages and clearings. I was constantly out exploring.

Although they are a warrior tribe, I never once felt threatened. However, among them there are still certain customs that are difficult for us to understand. For example, if someone rapes a girl, his family must compensate her family by giving a cow or something similar. Or, if a lion kills a cow, they go out to hunt the lion. They are very brave and fearless. On the other hand, they can be superstitious and are afraid of certain forces. Many of them speak neither Swahili nor English, so it isn’t always easy to communicate with everyone. They are very direct and straightforward in communication. Somehow, in conversation, you always get to the heart of what their problem is. I can say that many young people need a scholarship in order to be educated, because their families are so poor that they cannot provide for it.

In the town of Monduli, near Arusha, I met our missionary priest Tomislav Mesić, who welcomed me wonderfully. I distributed donations there too. He had arranged everything marvellously – both their plants and ours. I also brought him pepper seeds. Everything from our fruits that could grow, he had planted – pomegranate, oranges, apples, even pine trees, everything that could thrive. It looks like a park. There is also a small orphanage there, which he built. Not all the children there are without parents; there are quite a few girls. Sometimes a girl’s future husband is decided the moment she is born. If she isn’t sent to school in time, her whole future can be decided for her, without her consent. It was lovely, after more than a month, to speak Croatian again. I stopped briefly in Arusha, where I met another Croatian priest, Velimir Tomić, the brother of my religious education teacher. He too had built a large centre, with several schools and other institutions. He started it all with a single shipping container.

From there I continued on to the town of Lushoto, also a mountainous area, then to the town of Morogoro, and then back to Dar es Salaam. I didn’t stay long in Dar es Salaam. It’s an enormous city, and it’s only there that you feel something unpleasant could happen to you. I carried on to Zanzibar, which amazed me. Just like in the films – palm trees, coconuts, huge sandy beaches, a beautiful sea. Something wonderful. I stayed there a few days – Stone Town, Uroa, Paje. Zanzibar is considerably more developed because of tourism, but a great deal of poverty is also visible there.

I returned once more to the orphanage in Songea. After about a month I had to renew my visa. I did this at the border with Malawi. Since I had made friends with the border guards, I didn’t even have to cross the border – they sorted everything out for me. Otherwise I would have had to cross the border and spend the night there, where the currency and everything else is different. I am very grateful to them. I went back to the town of Mbeya and toured the town and its surroundings once more. After that I returned again to Songea. I was supposed to stay at least another month, but then Covid appeared and I had to return home. I didn’t really know the real state of things or exactly what was happening, since my mobile phone was broken and I wasn’t fully informed. I couldn’t return directly via Istanbul, since flights had been cancelled, so I went via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Somehow I managed to catch what was almost the last flight, thanks to my mother and the Association, who made sure to find me a flight. It was strange to see people in hazmat suits, as if astronauts were walking through the airports. It was especially strange at Istanbul airport, which had been packed with people on departure, but on the way back there was hardly a soul. Even then I didn’t feel any real fear, although everything was strange. In a way, my family was more worried, which is only natural, since they weren’t sure how I would manage to get home.

Now I feel a strong wish to go back to Tanzania again. After a month of staying there I had relaxed a little, but it was only towards the end of my stay that I felt completely at ease, so much so that I even felt as if I were Tanzanian myself. I got to know quite a lot of young people and their way of life, both in the town and in the countryside. There isn’t really any great difference between them and us. They have clubs, bars, they go out, talk to one another and socialise normally. They have mobile phones and similar topics of conversation to us. In that sense, they’re interested in the same things we are. There’s no great divergence. I connected with a lot of people, and I especially became friends with Levijas at the orphanage. He’s a bit older. He helped out at the orphanage, especially with the scholarships, so we grew quite close. We’re still in touch almost every day. He’s currently studying near Dar es Salaam.

I would recommend to all young people that it’s worth gaining the experience of volunteering, especially the kind of opportunity I had in Tanzania. In conclusion, I would like to say that what particularly touched me, despite the difficult living conditions for many of them, was their WARMTH in welcoming you and their CARE-FREENESS. They have no complexes about the way they look, one way or another. It simply doesn’t create complexes for them, as it can for us, where some less important thing can weigh on you. What weighs on them are life’s real problems. That care-free spirit is almost something you can feel in the air. Their HAKUNA MATATA – NO WORRIES. I would like to repeat that experience as soon as possible. I became especially attached to the children from the orphanage where I spent most of my time. So, Tanzania first, and then, if the opportunity arises, some other country. Most of all, I would love to travel across the whole of Africa.