"Giving Hope" in Tanzania: The Story of Godben Godwin

Abeth, Denis, and Godben Godwin. Photo: HUYAWA

HUYAWA – Huduma ya Watoto (Service for Children) -- Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, North Western Diocese

"I don't have to ask for help or beg for money," says Godben Godwin, 17. "I depend on myself and can support my siblings." Godben and his younger siblings, sister Abeth and brother Denis, live in Kangabusharo village. Their father died in 2000 and their mother in 2005.

Godben sometimes makes a little money by helping to build houses, a skill he started to learn in honor of his father who was a bricklayer. But Godben makes most of his money by selling fish, a business he started through a short-term loan from Church World Service partner HUYAWA (Huduma ya Watoto = Service for Children). Though he has to buy the fish on the lakefront, which is far from his home, he is very glad to have the income.

"When we need something in our household, I can buy it," he says.

Godben Godwin and his brother and sister also grow cassava, bananas, and sweet potatoes for food.

HUYAWA is part of the Church World Service Giving Hope program to provide orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS with skills to manage their own well-being and the stability of their families, and to participate in the economic development of their communities.

Individual support for Church World Service, along with assistance from the St. Marys United Methodist Church Foundation Worldwide and other U.S.-based foundations supporting Church World Service's Africa Initiative and HIV work, helps make this program possible.

Updated 8/24/2007

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