The Rau Daycare Center is situated in Rau village, in Moshi. Rau area is very poor and HIV –statistics are high. Unfortunately there are also a lot of kids carrying the virus. As well as being HIV-positive, many of the children are also under-nourished. Medical treatment of HIV is often unsuccessful if the patient is in poor general health due to malnutrition. Aim of the daycare is to offer a safe environment for children to grow up and to make sure they are staying health by giving them two nutritious meals per day. Daycare center also enables parents to go to work.
Rau Daycare Center was founded 2009 with donations from private individuals. The future of the center was constantly in jeopardy due to financial pressures. At the moment the financial situation of Rau Daycare Center is stable, thanks to Same Sun NGO’s sponsors who are donating money to Rau monthly.
There are four women working in Rau Daycare Center. Jacklin Athumani, “Mama Zulfa”, works as early-education teacher. The food is prepared by two cooks, Lightness Benedict and Adela Bernad. 17-year-old Juliana works as a nanny. The meals served at the day-care center are the only meals of the day for many of the children. Rau Daycare Center is able to accommodate around 30 children, aged between 3 and 6 years old.
Mornings at the Rau Daycare Center start at 8, and the day finishes around 3 in the afternoon. The day-to-day life at the Rau Daycare is very different from daycare in Finland. The children are learning letters and numbers and they are studying English and Swahili. Older children are patient enough to follow the teaching, while younger ones are playing. The children love music, singing and dancing. Toys given as donations to the center have also been extremely popular.
Despite their illnesses and poverty, the children are happy and positive. Guests are greeted with warm hugs and joyous laughter.
