The cycle of kindness

In the middle of Moshi, the McLaren family and I had accidentally found each other again. We could not believe our chances looking back it really does feel like it was meant to happen that way.

We walked and talked, and I told them about all that I had been through and how I was feeling. Parts of me still longed for the end of my suffering, which I could only see by ending my life.

The McLarens opened their family to me once more, offering me a home where they lived in Tanzania. Their kindness and love started to make me feel more alive. Emotion started to run through my veins, and it was overwhelming. There was so much love that I could not quite work out what to do with it.

They kickstarted my life for me. I was growing increasingly concerned for my mother and her safety. It was always at the forefront of my mind and I longed to be reunited with her. It had been four years since my Communion, and I had cherished the directions she had given me to find her.

Clive McLaren offered to drive me to try and locate my family. I was confident that by following key street names in villages, I would be able to find my mother by asking local people for help and directions in Swahili. This is typical within the villages, for many local people cannot read and rely on talking to strangers for assistance when they have a problem to solve.

It was a long journey, and when we arrived my mother was not there. Her neighbours told us that she was alive and well but had gone on a trip and would not be back for several days. It was a blow but signified the beginning of a reunion I knew I would have.

Here I am as a teenager

Together, the McLarens and I looked at schools where I could continue my education. At this point, they also gave me my first pocket money. I felt like a rich man, having never had money and the option to choose what to do with it.

I admit, I splashed it! I went to a beautiful, Western-style restaurant with a lovely courtyard. I ordered rice and fish with a bottle of Sprite and ate like a king. Then, I bought new shoes, trousers, and a shirt. I felt very powerful, visiting markets to shop rather than to work. There was more choice than I knew what to do with.

As you can imagine, I very quickly learned my first lesson about budgeting and how to be wise with money.

The lesson served me well. I learned responsibility and how to be empowered by what I had. I started at Seminary school as the McLarens kindly continued to send pocket money. I saved it in my first bank account and spent it during the school holidays where we students had to look after ourselves. Since the McLaren family had returned to their home in England, I used the money for accommodation and extra tutorial studies during the breaks.

I was empowered by their love. Their support made me feel like I could do anything and be anybody. My mind shifted completely. I just needed to work hard and continue to be the best person I could be. Knowing that I was loved and that I mattered, made it possible for me to rise above the bitterness and forgive my mistreatment as a child. Instead, I decided to look back on the past with gratitude, forgiveness, and grace.

“I have evolved into a man who is full of compassion and empathy. I have let my trauma go. ”

The love that the McLaren family shared is a beacon of my strength and the source of my gratitude.

In 2009, the McLaren son, Harry helped me to launch my own career. He had returned to Tanzania running an international charity and employed my services. I was responsible for setting up placements and teaching Swahili to his teams, as well as translating. During this time, I was still able to study thanks to his parent’s sponsorship.

Once I had finished studying, I decided to set up my own business to supplement income. Genuine Tours and Safaris ran in Moshi during the tourism season, and my barbershop was open year-round. Harry helped to set me up online and was kind enough to give me a grant to get the ball rolling. In return, he asked me to return the favour to somebody in the future. I promised that I would, and that I’d keep the chain going.

My business, Genuine Tours and Safaris, is a charitable (limited by guarantee) company newly registered in the UK. We will be providing tours showing the beauty of Tanzania to tourists, and use the income to supplement education fees, housing costs, meals, and medical expenses for those in need. Our focus is on eradicating disease, providing education for more people, and empowering females in the areas where tourism masks the problems. It combines my charitable skills and passion, my humanitarian nature and knowledge in the tourism industry.

I had to try again to reunite with my family. Taking drivers from my safari business for protection, I drove to the village where I last knew my mother to be. I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst. It was a fantastic surprise to find her there, alive, and well. We were both in shock as she asked, “are you who I think you are?” whilst searching for a birthmark on my head for confirmation. It was an amazing but a very intense reunion, filled with tears and warmth. She kept asking me to smile, telling me it always reminded her of my father’s smile.

We spent the day together, drinking tea from the sugar and teabags I had brought as a gift, and she had so much to tell me. In a small mud and stick house thatched with banana leaves, I met my brothers and a sister who struggled to believe I was alive and there. They had no clean water or beds to sleep in. It was a scary experience, and my siblings were apprehensive as they worried that I would take what they had away from them.

She was very proud of me; that I was educated, could speak multiple languages including English and that I had been able to grow into somebody who wanted to do good and saw the good in others. It was difficult to leave, and we planned another visit. Later, she planned to visit me in Moshi.

The money that I was able to earn and the money kindly provided to support my studying helped me to support my family. I used my income to move my family in to a rented house in Moshi. It was close by to my school and to the charity that I worked with. We were finally reunited. My salary sustained them day-to-day and paid for my brothers to attend school.

As I continued to study and work, I felt stronger and more confident. I saw my family grow happier and healthier. I got my mother a job cleaning, and she enjoyed her independence and being able to support her children.

However, my siblings continue to struggle with who I am and how I can still be alive despite everything they know. One of my brothers continues to reject our relation, even to this day. It is difficult to deal with, having encountered everything I have in hope that I would have my family.

I met my wife, Freda, when she was volunteering for First Aid Africa following her graduation from the University of Edinburgh. We married in 2012 and moved to the UK together in 2013. She joined me on this dream of mine and as our family grew, we built the foundations of The Roof of Africa in 2016.

The Roof of Africa was founded and registered in 2017 by me, Genuine Mwasha. The charity’s trustees are Freda Mwasha and Jo Mackenzie.

The charity aims to provide fee-free education to disadvantaged children in Tanzania. It gives them a safe space to learn, create and grow as well as supporting their families and communities in times of need. As a transformational centre, we aim to offer an education that will break the cycle of poverty and bring generational change in the poorest communities.

We teach children to own their success, build on their challenges and overcome obstacles. Our teachers share strong, contemporary values that empower students to be empathetic, responsible, and kind, with an open mind to a world of opportunity.

The Roof of Africa hopes to reunite children with their biological families where possible and safe, with adoptions with suitable local families being observed. We also seek to make family homes as comfortable as possible to be lived in, keeping children safe from danger when they are at their most vulnerable. This includes looking at ways to ensure accessibility to clean water supplies, teaching trades and crafts to sustain income, and support for grief, trauma damage and emotional wellbeing.

The Roof of Africa aims to provide long-term support by safeguarding futures. Whilst celebrating childhood, we also support students as they begin to finish their education and think about leaving home.

Founding The Roof of Africa and the work that we do allows me to continue the cycle of kindness. I have been on the receiving end more times than I can count, and it is my dream in life to help empower children in the same way that I have been helped. The generosity that I have been shown is what fuels my passion to provide a voice for the children in Sonu without access to education, food and hope for a better future.

We are a small charity, but big in heart.