www.theonepersonproject.org
Scholastica, Mary and Faraja children with the items sent by The Friends of Faraja -
The Summerland Montessori School (B.C. Canada.)
The wonderful ladies who run the Farja Orphanage
Faraja isn’t a typical orphanage as we in the West would understand it.
The children are housed with families and a volunteer committee looks over the
welfare of the children, providing a place for them to come together each day
and supplying shoes and clothing to the children and giving them food to take
home to the struggling family that has taken them in.
In developing countries a child may be classed as an orphan even if one
or even both parents are alive but are unable to care for the child due to sickness
and/or extreme poverty or some children are just abandoned.
The Faraja Orphans Group is made up of a small group of women, headed by
Scholastica (pictured). Using their
own money, the village committee also provides funds for school and medical fees. The
women also grow vegetables to sell and are able to make money from the herd of
meat goats provided by the Friends of Faraja (Summerland Montessori School).
Click on Farja in the labels on the right for more pictures and details
or read Brenda’s Planet Ranger Travelogue.
Our dear friend Joseph looks through the photographs with Mary and Scholastica
Miss Sheena and the children and families of the Summerland Montessori School send photographs, letters, funds and resources for the children and their foster families.
I cannot find a figure for the number of Faraja-style orphanages but there are currently around 52 traditional
orphanages in Tanzania caring for about 3,000 orphans – it is difficult to give
an exact figure as many orphanages are forced to close their doors because of
costs. In fact the Faraja ladies have been forced to rent out the building they
use to keep the program going, so the children meet outside.
Out of a population of 44 million, there are more than 3 million orphans
in Tanzania alone, many of whose parents have died from AIDS. According to UNICEF There are 53 million
children living without parents in Sub-Saharan Africa.
To make a donation send a cheque to The One Person Project, 10108 Julia Street, Summerland, B.C. V0H 1Z5, donate on-line or email me.
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