Global Volunteers - Tanzania

Melissa Slovich is organizing this fundraiser.

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All- I am raising money to volunteer abroad in Tanzania. While there, I will be working in an orphanage with children that have been abandoned by their families due to poverty and/or HIV/AIDS.
Ever since I was younger, I developed a passion to make a positive impact on the lives of those less fortunate. Before I complete my last year of my masters degree in counseling at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, I am hoping to express this passion in an overseas experience in Tanzania that will help me to learn firsthand about my interests.

I am especially interested in the development of African children after the horrific Rwandan genocide in 1994. While over two decades ago, the genocide had a lasting and profound impact on Rwanda and its neighboring countries. The pervasive use of rape as a weapon of war caused a spike in HIV infection, including babies born of rape to newly infected mothers; many households were headed by orphaned children or widows. The destruction of infrastructure and the severe depopulation of these countries crippled the economy, and in turn left many families torn apart, without the necessary resources to survive. Growing up in poverty, without proper education and without any nurturing support, many of these children have grown up without the know-how to make educated decisions when it comes to health and safety precautions, and in turn have continued the cycle of socialization so that now, this epidemic continues.

For those of you that do not know me well, before I became a legal secretary I worked as a certified nursing assistant and as a residential specialist in group homes with individuals with persistent mental illness and with children who have severe mental retardation; helping to feed, bathe, dress, groom and attend to their fine motor skills and socialization abilities. I believe that my skill base will help me immensely while in Africa, not to mention give the children a qualified and compassionate caretaker. But also, studying abroad will allow me the opportunity to to make memories that I will be able to cherish for the rest of my life.

Types of volunteer activities I will be doing include:

* Working with mentally and physically challenged adults.

*Assisting Tanzanian leaders teach health, nutrition and hygiene education, infectious disease prevention, physical fitness and diabetes prevention.

*Demonstrate effective hand washing with soap and water, teeth brushing and physical rehabilitation.

*Help Tanzanian health care providers to administer non-invasive patient care such as health screenings, lice treatments, ear cleaning, nail clipping, dental and eye exams, and de-worming treatments.

Please help me make a difference.
Thank you in advance for your generous donation.