Doris spent last Christmas in Tanzania for the first time. The idea immediately occurred to her to organize a Christmas surprise for all of our sponsored children and families. In Tanzania it is part of the Christmas tradition that on the first public holiday, i.e. on December 25th. they go to church and afterwards there is a special meal for the whole family. It consists of: white rice with peas, brown circle with potatoes, cabbage and kachumbari (finely sliced salad made from tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots).

However, this is also a great challenge for our families, as one can hardly afford these dishes.

So Doris got the idea. All families should have a sack full of this food and the children should be given a play ball.

We then submitted our proposal to all sponsors and immediately met with broad approval. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the idea and made donations for it.

Two days before the festival, Doris made a mega surprise for the families with this extraordinary Christmas present.

But before that the real work for Doris began. Together with our Maasai security guard, our loyal soul Olining’o, we started the preparations. Everything had to be bought in large quantities. The rice together with some cabbage had to be packed in separate bags. In addition, she organized Jamaica bananas. She chose unripe bananas, which can then be stored for a week. You can’t imagine how delicious they taste. This was then packed in a larger bag along with the rest of the ingredients.

The next morning everything was stowed away in the four-wheel drive vehicle and off we went with the “Christmas sleigh” to the children. At first she had doubts whether it was even possible after the heavy rain, but everything was fine.

The joy, those happy eyes of the children and the parents – simply unimaginable. Seldom did they have a more laid table at the Festival of Joy than this year. So at this point, once again, thank you very much to all godparents and friends who contributed to this great Christmas surprise.