Today we’d like to tell you a story about a man, without whom you wouldn’t be reading this, as there is a very high chance that CR HOPE would never come to existence. This man was the reason our co-founders Cosiano and Renos were able to understand each other – quite literally actually, as thanks to him Cosiano learnt English. Don, a Canadian secondary education professional, met Cosiano during one of his trips to Tanzania in 1992, and since then their relationship has flourished. He has kindly agreed to answer a few of our questions and tell us about his story, how he met Cosiano and how we can encourage others to help those around us.

CR HOPE: Please tell us a bit about yourself, Don.
DON: I am now 79 years old. I retired from a career in secondary education in 2001. I was a school counselor and head of secondary school counselling and guidance services. For my final 15 years of employment the school district selected me to develop and operate programs for teenagers with behavioral problems so severe that they couldn’t function in regular classrooms. Since my retirement I have continued to volunteer each year with various Canadian organizations. This has fortunately taken me to many developing countries to work with people with handicaps. In recent years I have taught English as a second language. My most recent assignment was to teach young Buddhist monks in Laos. I returned on four occasions. I have always had a passion to help people, especially those less fortunate and those in trouble.

CR HOPE: And where in Canada are you from? Tell us a bit about your childhood.
DON: I have always lived in British Columbia. My boyhood years were spent on my father’s small mixed farm where I learned the value of hard work: milking cows, harvesting fruit and vegetables, haying, and tending to the sheep and chickens. My adult years have mostly been spent in Kamloops, a city of 80,000 people located in the interior of the province.

CR HOPE: Great. And what exactly lead you to Tanzania? How many times have you been here?
DON: In fact, I have been to the country five times. A large part of my heart still remains in Tanzania. My first visit was when I took a leave of absence from my Canadian teaching job for two years 1991-1993. I was 50 years old when I first arrived in Dar Es Salaam. My wife at that time and I had been selected by C.U.S.O. (Canadian University Students Overseas) to do volunteer work in Hanang District, Arusha Region. At that time Hanang was a relatively new district. Our assignment was to work with the Barabaig Tribe in the community development. Those were the two most rewarding years of my life. We were housed in Katesh but drove out to several very remote surrounding villages. We spent some time speaking to the village elders to assess what their greatest needs were that we might help them with. We worked in three villages but concentrated on the village of Mureru. We helped the villagers to build their first village school, a two-room primary school that has since grown to four rooms. We helped to organize women’s groups to finance the establishment of power maize mills through microloans. We also helped youth in one village to build a small store from which they could sell staple products to the villagers. All these as well as other projects came from the ground up. Villagers took maximum involvement and were largely responsible for the success of their projects.

During those two years we also founded C. H. E. S. (Canadian Harambee Education Society), which was totally separate from C.U.S.O. This organization finances scholarships for poor young women from rural villages to attend secondary school. It was first started in Kenya and we were responsible for bringing it to Hanang. Of the seven girls who were part of C.H.E.S Hanang in 1993 there are now over 200 girls receiving their education through C.H.E.S.