Close your eyes for just a moment, whisk yourself away to a beach on the tropical island of Zanzibar, in the Indian Ocean. The wind is lightly blowing through your hair, you smell a fresh saltiness in the air as your feet gently sink into the sand as you walk. You hear the innocent laughter of the children playing in the distance and feel such freedom and joy as these moments are ones to treasure in times to come. Then comes a gentle touch on your leg as you walk, you turn and see a pair of beautiful eyes, and a smile so big your heart melts. A little voice speaks up and says... "Pencil?"
This little story is a brief, romantic insight into life if you ventured down to this part of the world. However, there's a small part to the story that should really make you think... Why is there a child on a beach asking for a pencil?
In this episode we chat with cabin crew Dalila about her experience down on Zanzibar with CR Hope Foundation. Dalila tells us the story of how the foundation began, and what they are doing on the island for the betterment of the children.
Sadly, education in the country of Tanzania as a whole, isn't that great, so children are missing out on something so important in their lives. With CR Hope Foundation's core endeavours, and the help of volunteers and donations, they are taking huge strives in pointing the children of Zanzibar in a direction where they have the chance to succeed.
As a volunteer, Dalila experienced some amazing moments from her time there, and can really recommend this as something that we can all do... and something we all should do at some point in our lives.