Growing Up an Orphan

Alfayo and his fiance Linda

Street  Scene of Iringa where clothing is sold.

Monday afternoon as Lyn and I were about to have tea, a young man came to our door to see Tom and Sandy Hendrickson, our new roommates.  Tom and Sandy were not home so we invited Alfayo, our visitor, to have tea and cashews with us while we waited for Tom and Sandy to return.  I guessed Alfayo might have a fiance, because so many of our conversations with young men have involved the process of getting married.  A huge smile preceded our conversation about Linda whom he intends to marry in September.  The date is not quite set yet, but the exact day must be determined three months before they plan to marry.  The wedding bands are set three weeks before the wedding.  We had already talked with Mfaume about his wedding and the gifts he provided before he and Jeniatha were married.  Alfayo told us that all the gifts have meaning.

Alfayo's list follows:

•  Two cows - symbol of his good intentions, his seriousness, his love for Linda, and his plan to provide animals to plow the field 
•  Two goats - food for the wedding feast
•  Two hand hoes
•  Two blankets - for  Linda to take to her mother's home when she is pregnant and stays with her mother for the last three months of her pregnancy
• 500,000 Tanzanian Shillings - cash payment- about $300

Alfayo and Linda plan to marry at Cathedral Lutheran Church which is the church we attended on our first Sunday here.  Two of Alfayo's friends represented him with a letter to the clan (Linda and Alfayo are both Hehe) requesting permission to marry Linda.  A letter of acceptance came to Huruma Orphanage from Linda's Clan.  Alfayo has no known living relatives and his home for ten years was Huruma Orphanage.

If you asked Alfayo what he does for a living, he will first tell you that he volunteers with the Macedonia Center which is a program set up to rescue children off the streets of Iringa.  Most of the rescued children are boys.  Alfayo earns money by owning an internet cafe in the town where he lives which is a suburb of Iringa.

Alfayo is an orphan.  His father died three months before Alfayo was born.  Alfayo's mother and father first lived in Dar where his father was a political science professor and his mother was an administrative assistant at the University.  Alfayo's father was born in Zambia, but had left Zambia because of political turmoil.  Zambia seemed safe when Alfayo's parents returned to Zambia, but his father was assassinated there.  Alfayo describes his father's death as a political assassination.  Alfayo was seven years old and very close to his mother when she passed away.  Alfayo said he did not "sense love" after his mother died.  Relatives came and took things-lots of things.  Alfayo said a man with a lot of hair on his arms and head offered to take Alfayo back to Iringa to Alfayo's family; this man was a bus driver.  The hairy man (remember Alfayo was 7 years old) stayed with Alfayo in Iringa for about a week.  They tried to find some of Alfyo's relatives but did not find them.  The bus driver had to leave Iringa and left Alfayo with another man.  Alfayo spent six days on the street around the market.

Street near market in Iringa

  He met some Christians and found his way to the Huruma Orphanage and met Mama Chelawa.  Mama asked Alfayo what he wanted.  All Alfayo wanted was to go to school.  At first he went to school with the help of the Huruma Orphanage and after a while he accepted an offer to live at the orphanage.  At 18 years old Alfayo had to find another place to live.   He credits the Orphanage with his growth in faith and the many friendships he made at the Orphanage.

Mama Chelawa at Huruma Orphanage

Entrance to Huruma Orphanage

Alfayo completed Form 5 and 6 after he left the orphanage.  He studied Business Administration at Tumaini University and has a successful internet cafe.  His current business plan calls for dividing his internet cafe into two parts; one part for adult customers and a second area partitioned off from the adults for school children to use for their school studies (with restricted access to the internet). The Macedonia Center finds street children and screens each child or placement. I asked Alfayo about whether there were any girls in this program.  Answer:  girls are placed more easily and so they are not a very big part of the Macedonia Center.

Dorm Room at Huruma

Children at Huruma Orphanage when Augustana, W. St Paul, visited

We were anxious to visit the Huruma Orphanage becasuse we had a letter and present for Jetiana Kimbwene at Huruma Orphanage.  When I asked about Jetiana, Amy on of the staff at Huruma, said that she did not live there any more.  The Orphanage has a rule about having older children at the orphanage and at a certain age the student must leave the orphanage.  At one time the rule was 16 years old and at another time the rule was 18 years old.  Later on in our visit, Amy saw Jetiana about a half block from the orphanage.  Jetiana came to see us and I was able to give Jetiana her letter and gift.  Jetiana is in school and the orphanage is arranging her schooling paid by Shepherd of the Valley and her sponsor is Juanita Brandenberg.  Our friend, Alfayo, knew about Jetiana.  The Orphanage is very supportive of the adult children who were once at the Orphanage.

Jetiana Kimbwene supported by Juanita Brandenberg through SOTV

Carol Langness, Amy, and  Jetiana reading Juanita's letter

Although growing up an orphan is not easy, places like Huruma Orphanage  provides support and enables the young people of Iringa to grow up and lead successful productive lives.