Ever since high school, I’ve had a strong desire to go to Africa, and a little less than two years ago, I decided to work on making that dream a reality. My Google searches led me to Kolajna ljubavi – the organization that started my volunteer journey. The first stop was volunteering in Croatia, and the final destination was St. Anthony’s Orphanage in Songea.

The journey to Songea is long, chaotic, and exhausting, but all of that fades away as soon as you feel the positive energy of the children behind the large green doors of the orphanage.

The first few days of adjusting, while I was wondering if I would really be able to remember all their names and if I would get used to my clothes being full of red earth, passed quickly. One day, you just realize how easily you become a part of them.

I became part of their daily life… Meshaki and Imani taught me Swahili, I learned numbers with Rehema, Sabrina and Evans taught me dance moves, Veronica braided my hair, I shared the ‘coolest’ greetings with Baraka and Joel, I made pasta for dinner with Emma and Edith, Sofia gave me the best lessons on self-confidence, I talked about fashion with Neema, Beatrice, Jackline, and Joyce taught me songs in Swahili, I helped Alana with her science homework (neither of us excelled), and the youngest ones – Isaya, Alice, and Herieth – gave me the warmest hugs.

I am endlessly grateful for every game played, every dance, every song sung, every cartoon we watched, every homework assignment completed, and especially for the warmest hugs that I will remember for the rest of my life.