Emma's experience of volunteering in Tanzania: 

My trip to Africa, through the Kolajna ljubavi association, turned my life upside down. Volunteering in Songea, in one of Tanzania's poorest cities with a large number of orphans without proper care, was already a merciful decision in itself, but also the fulfillment of all dreams. A full-day stay in st. Anthony Orphange and life with such beautiful children left an indelible mark on me.

When people ask me to tell them what it was like for me in Africa, what I've done and seen, it's very difficult to express it with words. Each day was so special, special and unique. It is difficult to convey all the feelings that bind you to them, to the events and to describe the places that sound so ordinary, and have become special to me because there I lived the fragments of my life that will forever be in my memory. Africa is a whole new world. I couldn't say it was for everyone. A different culture, food, but also a way of life.

Why has this life journey turned my life upside down?  In a month, I realized how ungrateful I am for everything I have and how many things in life I take for granted, as if it were normal and everyday. You realize that everything that you have so far considered an obstacle and a problem is essentially irrelevant and temporary things.

And them? Even the youngest teach you about the value of life. Can you imagine that? When you look at them every day smiling and truly happy, grateful and with much less than what we think is necessary for a "normal" life, you feel indescribable gratitude, but also sadness that at that moment you cannot give them everything you have. But what you can give them is a smile, give them your attention and love that they will give back to you triple.

If you want to help these children in any way and you get the thought of going to volunteer, don't think twice. Just go! Be one of those who will help them fulfill their humble dreams and desires. Play football, knit braids, accompany them to the school, help them do their homework, dance with them before going to sleep, and learn something new and different from them every day. What is it that God can use to make something beautiful out of it? 

"It's true. What we're doing is just a drop in the ocean. But without our work, the ocean would be poorer for that drop." Mother Teresa

Volunteer Emma