The growling of his empty stomach drove the four-year-old boy to rise early and search for food scraps in the garbage dump at the edge of the village. Finding food was all he could think about. His mother had died after an extended illness, and he and his six-year-old sister had no one to look to for help besides their mother’s 12-year-old sister. But she was as hungry and scared as they were.
Someone in the village became aware of the children’s desperate plight and notified the Welfare authorities. A Social worker arrived one day and drove all three of them to a place where their daily search for food would be over.
At Treasures of Africa Children’s Home, Samweli was given a bed with clean sheets and a blanket. He received new clothes to replace the ragged ones he was wearing. The smell of freshly cooked food wafted from the kitchen. The kindness of the strangers who ran the place amazed him. A soccer field with lush green grass beckoned him outside to play. Samweli had never seen such a place in his young life. Was this heaven?
Samweli blossomed overnight. The sudden infusion of nutritious food provided without fail three times each day strengthened his body and encouraged his soul. He felt safe for the first time in his young life. His dynamic personality, which had been hidden under a veil of worry, too great for a child to bear, seemed to develop out of nowhere. He quickly found a friend at TOA, another 4-year-old boy named Antoni, and for years to come, they would stick together like glue.
As time passed, Samweli began school, and it became clear that he was very bright. When he completed Primary School, Samweli was accepted to one of the best Secondary Schools in the country. He excelled there and was chosen by the school administration to serve as the head of the student government.
When asked how his student leadership appointment came to pass, Samweli answered this way: “It is the outcome of something I was trained to do at Treasures of Africa - to be friendly to everyone and to communicate well with others. As a result, the school administration saw that I was kind to the other students and to the teachers and they decided that I was the right person to lead others. Our school motto is ‘Be a blessing to others’ and they focus on raising leaders who will be a blessing to other people.”
More Stories About Our Treasures
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A Baby Named HOPE
By Rita Langeland A new baby joined the Treasures of Africa family. An abandoned two day old infant found in the bush went from unwanted to cherished in a single day. What a difference a day makes! One of the privileges we have at TOA is being able to choose a name for these precious treasures when they come to us without one. We take that responsibility quite seriously and we pray for God to reveal the identity He has for that child. We named this beautiful baby girl "HOPE" because we believe she will be a great encourager and "hope-giver" to other people during her lifetime. Please pray for… Read More -
From Sorrow to Blessing
We can only imagine the anguish of a young mother in Africa who feels she cannot adequately care for her newborn son. Her desperation must have been overwhelming to do what she did on that day. Perhaps she was a single mother with no money and no extended family to help her. We don’t know for sure. All we do know, is that she bravely carried her bundled child to a local church in Moshi, Tanzania and stood in a prayer line. After waiting for a while, as a visiting Bishop prayed for those who patiently stood in line, she asked a nearby woman if she would hold her baby… Read More -
Lucy Created Her Own Video!
Missionaries Vince and Vicki Welch work with our kids at Treasures of Africa doing tutoring each week. When 12 year old Lucy expressed a desire to learn how to make a video, Vince volunteered to teach her the ropes of working on the computer to put together a simple video. She made a video about her life at Treasures of Africa. We thought you would enjoy seeing TOA through Lucy's eyes!Read More
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