Visiting Kenya really showed me TUMAINI – “HOPE” in action. I always wondered how it worked…. Coordinating the children/families, checking in on the Community Based Organizations, keeping up with our College Students, counseling where it necessary, showing love and tending to people’s very basic needs………. We are blessed to have a staff that LOVES children and goes above and beyond to care for them and does it well every single day. I highly recommend taking a vision trip if you are able, you will love each and every minute. I heard a long-time sponsor recently say “It’s been more of a blessing to me, even than to the children” …and I understand what he means. We have some of the best SPONSORS and It’s my pleasure to get to work with them every day.
For those of you who have not met me, I am Jeni, the United States Sponsor Relations Manager for Tumaini International. Several people in our family have been a part of supporting Tumaini over the years and when my sister Amy asked me if I would be interested in volunteering to help Susan with an office project last summer, I was so excited to see more of what Tumaini was all about! My volunteering quickly turned into much more and I’m so thankful I get to be a small part of the INCREDIBLE program that Stanley and Rose started so many years ago that is actually a giant vessel that God uses to bring HOPE to his children in Kenya.
This past July, I had the incredible opportunity to GO SEE and work with my colleagues and new friends in Kenya! It was really a joy to get to meet the children my husband and I sponsor and see their families and homes. THIS was my most favorite part…. meeting my children’s guardians and having them smother me in hugs and thankfulness for sponsoring them, because sponsoring them means helping their entire family. It’s hard because you have this beautiful picture of your child (sometimes they’re smiling and sometimes they’re not because they don’t enjoy the camera so much) and you maybe write them a time or two and sometimes they write back but you don’t really know the impact you are having on their lives each day. They really do appreciate all you do and they really are happy to show you their home and they really do cherish the time they get to spend with you when you are there and you can know this……. YOU ARE MAKING AN IMPACT when you partner with Tumaini as a sponsor. God does BIG things through your donations.
Vision trip highlights included:
The opportunity to travel with my mom, my sister and my brother-in law (who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro!).
Meeting many long-term sponsors who were also there at the same time.
Visiting the Tumaini International Girls’ High School and a few other primary schools where our sponsored students attended and the homes of our children.
We also got to see and experience a college campus, the Tumaini Farm, 2 churches, the Tumaini Mission Hospital, Kilimanjaro Guest House, Tumaini International Administration Offices, a CBO (Community Based Organization- SO FUN…the people here were WONDERFUL)
And we even got to do a few fun “tourist” things where we saw WILD animals. Beauty every day.
Our Tumaini staff are some of the most humble, hospitable, gracious people I have ever been around and I count myself so blessed to get to be a part of their team. I highly recommend that you go on a vision trip to meet the staff and seeing their offices, getting to a part of their corporate worship and praise, and traveling with them and our drivers near and far to learn about our families and about Kenyan culture, part of which is eating Chapati! So. Yummy. I also really liked seeing the different landscapes and plant and animal life and Kenya is BEAUTIFUL. It was fun seeing the birds and flowers and plants and I especially enjoy the visiting monkeys that pop in at the guest house.
BE a SPONSOR! GO on a vision trip if you are able. Maybe just try out a onetime thing…...send a Christmas Voucher for a Child in Need or send a Guardian gift to a family and see how fast you want to be more involved! It will bless your heart in a way you probably don’t expect.
We have resources available on our vision trip page of the Tumaini website
https://tumainiinternational.org/participate#visiontrips. Please let us know if you are interested in seeing the work in Kenya, we have an incredible team led by Sylvia at the Kilimanjaro Guest House. Waking up in the morning at the guest house, walking down to the restaurant to an awesome staff who is waiting to serve your breakfast and send you on a day full of adventure like no other…..You are welcome most any time of the year, we only have a couple of blocked out dates so far. Feel free to contact me anytime at general@tumainiinternational.org! I’m happy to help you sponsor a child or answer any questions you may have.
~Jeni
