August 27, 2010
Sharing an account of a recent trip to Tanzania
Jonathan Baglan is surrounded by children during a recent trip to Tanzania. The parishioner at St. Raphael Church, Dubois, says the trip was “truly a gift from God.” Click for a larger version.
The following article was published in the parish newsletter at St. Raphael Church in Dubois about Jonathan Baglan’s recent trip to Tanzania with Father John Judi and parishioners from Louisville.
By JONATHAN BAGLAN (St. Raphael Church, Dubois)
“Two months ago, I never thought I would be experiencing an amazing place like this.”
This is what I was thinking many times throughout my trip while I visited Tanzania. My trip was planned on a very short term basis, so when I actually arrived in Africa it was like I was almost in shock for awhile, taking in all the amazing things I was looking at.
Every day brought new experiences that touched my life in their own way.
One of the main things that touched me was visiting the orphanage. When we first arrived, the kids came running outside and literally leaped into our arms, not letting us put them down.
On our first visit we stayed at the orphanage for only an hour. However, [we] went back another day and got to spend the entire day there. First, we started off playing with the kids all morning. We were just there and got to be with the children.
At around noon, we sat all of the kids down for lunch and helped feed them. Afterwards they all went to take naps. I believe this experience was so touching to me just because of being able to interact with the children and become close with them.
Each child has an individual story of why they are there and we got the privilege to learn about some of them. I believe this is one of the reasons that made it so special because we got to build a special relationship with certain children.
Other than the orphanage, I think the second thing that touched me the most was just the people of Tanzania that I met. All of the people that live there are truly amazing and extremely nice. Everyone was so welcoming and happy for us to be there that it made my entire trip worth being there.
While I was there, I got the privilege to meet many people. I also got to build strong relationships with great people that I will never forget.
Everything about this trip was just truly a gift from God. And, I do thank God for giving me the courage and spontaneity to go on this trip because it really did change my life.
I also encourage anyone who is even thinking about visiting Tanzania or any part of Africa to follow their heart and hopefully get to experience what I did because no one can even imagine being there until you actually experience it.
It is a truly amazing place, and I would encourage anyone to make a visit there.