The vision of ABCD: Art Building Children’s Dreams is a world where vulnerable children can achieve their dreams. We are a Canadian charity that raises funds to help children in rural Tanzania complete their education.

News Archive

ABCD:
Art Building Children's Dreams
PO Box 1113
Mount Albert ON L0G 1M0
Canada

Day One at Kilema

Lynn and I arrived at Kilema Hospital this afternoon after a long, bumpy and dusty bus ride up the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro. Our group was then treated to a wonderful reception held at a local elementary school, Mkyiashi Primary School, which consisted of welcoming songs, drumming and dances by the children. We also heard speeches of thanks given by representatives of several local schools about the tremendous support they have received from Rotary and CACHA (Canada Africa Community Health Alliance) in the last few years. Lynn and I then had an opportunity to meet with Joseph, our member of the ABCD: Art Building Children’s Dreams team here in Tanzania, to plan visits to our 30 children at their homes and their schools. A meeting is also planned with UMWI, a local agency which is also working to help children whose families are affected by HIV/AIDS. Joseph has done a lot of invaluable work over the last few months in planning these meetings for us. He has notified the families, the schools and the members of UMWI of our arrival and we are looking forward, as they, are to sitting down together to further our work.

Arrival

Arrived safely at Kilimanjaro Airport last night and at the Leopard Hotel in Moshi town. We are posting from the hotel office with the fan blowing to ward off the plus 30 degree heat already at 9:30 am. Getting ready to go to Kilema this afternoon and hopefully plan with Joseph our first hike to meet with some of our children. Looking forward to getting on the trail with our cameras and art materials and seeing the children again.

Pre-Trip Preparations

There’s less than a week before Lynn and I leave for Tanzania and as the excitement mounts we’ve got a lot of things to look after before then.

We’re so happy that we found a used laptop for Joseph yesterday and will be able to bring it over to him to do work for us. He contributes so much to the success of our cause.
We’re still fundraising and yesterday I really enjoyed doing presentations at Pierre Elliot Trudeau High School for two groups of 50-60 students. Four senior students at the school organized it and are fundraising for ABCD: Art Building Children’s Dreams. They invited me to come in as a guest presenter and be part of a course project they are doing involving global outreach.
On Monday, the day before departure, I am going to visit two grade nine students at Middlefield Collegiate Institute who have also been fundraising for us. They have been working hard and have some funds to pass over to me.
It’s so great to be a part of the energy of young people as they become engaged with the work of ABCD. We hope to develop this mutually beneficial connection between ABCD: Art Building Children’s Dreams, Tanzanian children and Canadian children.
So, the work continues right up to the last day before leaving, and Laurie is going to be busy at home taking care of the work of thanking our many generous sponsors and donors, and notifying everybody involved about our new blog!