FISHING

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.

That is our ultimate goal on these trips: to teach self-sufficiency. However, it’s hard to teach a man how to fish when there isn’t any money for bait and a fishing pole.

Right now Mr. Kimaro is fishing with no fishing line, no bait, and no hook. In other words he is making the best out of what he has worked hard for, and what he has worked hard for isn’t a lot. Mr. Kimaro works from 7am-4pm Monday-Friday as a teacher at the LOAMO School in Arusha. Once school is out of session, Mr. Kimaro heads to the University of Dar Es Salaam in Arusha from 4pm-8pm, Monday-Friday.  He is getting a diploma certificate in computing & information technology in an attempt to get a job at a Secondary English School in Arusha. According to Mr. Kimaro, “My salary won’t save my life for a month. Therefore, I am forced to borrow, borrow, borrow, in order to support my family of five.” Sometimes borrowing isn’t even enough for Mr. Kimaro, as he also told me, “I must suffer a lot to make sure my family is fed 2 meals a day.”

Mr. Kimaro has every rare quality in a person that will result in success. However, he is missing one major resource that will prevent him from being successful: money.

I know this post is short. But after what I saw today, I am surprised I found any words at all to express what happened today. There are no words to express how I felt entering and leaving Mr. Kimaro’s house today.