A British woman has taken in 14 Tanzanian children that she met after volunteering abroad – adopting 9 of them in total!
Letty McMaster, 26, had only expected to be in the African country for a month before entering university in the UK aged 18. However, she found her purpose in helping those less fortunate that she ended up staying for 3 years.
While in Tanzania, she worked in an orphanage hoping to help some of the poorest children in the world find hope and a brighter future. However, the conditions she found at the orphanage were grim, with children being beaten, abused and sometimes fed only once per day. She said:
"The abuse the children were going through in the orphanage was horrendous and I saw the impact that it had on the kids and knew immediately something had to change. I couldn't leave them in that situation so my new goal was to get them a family home."
When the orphanage was shut down, Letty established her own charity, 'Street Children Iringa', and personally took in 14 of the children, 9 of whom she became legal guardian to.
McMaster spoke to LadBible about her project and her new family, saying:
"These children are my whole life, I raise them all on my own and they keep me going through the long hours of juggling everything. I'd always had in mind that I wanted to help street children so my family and friends weren't surprised but I never expected to end up doing all this. I am the parental figure in the house - some of the little boys who never had a parent view me as their mum but most see me more as a big sister as I'm not that much older than some of them. I'm just like any mum raising teenagers - I made a commitment to them and I just feel so blessed to have two families!"
She went on to say just how well her children have advanced since being taken care of and how they now have opportunities unlike ever before.
"Since having a place to call home, they have all excelled in education and in every aspect of their lives. Gosberth is one of the boys that I've looked after for the past seven years and is now studying at one of the top private schools in the country and is the number one pupil in his year. Eva is 19 and is chairperson of her year at university - she's doing so well and has got a volunteer internship with an international NGO. Obviously it takes time to settle into the house from street life and traumatic experiences and it can take a while to get them into family life, routine and leaving street behaviour behind. Razarlo is studying to become a tour guide at the national park whilst Plshon and Iddy have recorded music that is played on local radios. Seeing their drive, determination and success is what makes all the balancing that I have to do worth it."
You can find out more about McMaster's project and make a donation here.
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