My Tanzanian Girls

Rusia is 14 years old. She is one of 7 children, and she is the only girl in her family. Both of her parents died almost a decade ago of HIV/AIDS. Her grandmother and aunt found it hard to take care of all 7 children. They asked Bethany to take care of the youngest 3, and Bethany took them in. Rusia has been in the orphanage since January 2007.

Fatuma is 16 years old, and one of 6 children. Both of her parent died of HIV/AIDS in 2001. They were left to the care of her father's relatives. Because their mother was a Christian and their father a Muslim, the family that was left to care for them instead took everything the children were left with (house, car, and all possessions). The children were considered illegitimate because their mother was not Muslim, so they were not allowed to inherit anything. The grandmother (mother's mother) took Fatuma to Bethany, seeing no way to take care of her. Fatuma is now in England studying child care in the university!

Esther is 9 years old. Esther has been living at Bethany since she was 6 years old. Her sister lives at Bethany, too. She came to Bethany because her father did not want a daughter (he wanted a son). Her father refused to help her mother care for Esther, and Esther's mother found it difficult to care for the 2 girls on her own. What made the situation worse is that the mother has a very sick son who must be cared for constantly and taken to the hospital every month. Her mother was overwhelmed with trying to care for a very sick son, and 2 healthy daughters. She asked Bethany for help, and they immediately stepped in.

Maria is 10 years old. Her father passed away of AIDS in 2003, when Maria was only 3 years old. Two years later, at the tender age of 5, Maria and her sister Naomi found themselves alone and not knowing how to fend for themselves, when their mother left the house and never came home! They walked to their grandmother's house, and stayed with her for a couple of years. However, the girls found themselves in the same situation they were in when they were at their mother's house because their grandmother was never home but out getting drunk. Maria's sister Naomi was 15 in 2007, and so it was decided she was too old to be taken into to Bethany. Maria was only 7, so she was taken in and care for by the orphanage.

Susana is only 7 years old, but she has been an orphan since she was 2! Her parents both died in 2005. Susana's aunt took her and her brother into her home and was raising the 2 children as her own. However, her aunt's husband was an angry alcoholic and did not want the children in his home. The uncle forced them out of the home, and they were taken in by the village leader until 2007. In 2007, they arrived at Bethany orphanage, and were taken in with open arms.

These are the 5 girls I chose to write to at the Bethany orphanage in Tanzania. They all have stories to tell of a hard life before coming to Bethany. It makes the letters and correspondance all that more important.