Aneth from Tanzania was born in an family with 9 children. She is the only child with a disability. As far as she can remember, she has always received love from her parents and her relatives in equal measure.
They have always cared for and supported her.
“My late father valued education and ensured that he sent all my siblings and I to school,” she shared.
From her family, Aneth experienced love and she learned service.
“Although my parents were not rich, they were God fearing and not only cared for us as their children, but they also cared for other children who lived in the neighborhood but came from poor families,” she added. Her parents were keen on supporting children and women from their village whenever they sought for help. This kind of help included giving them foods and clothes.
This seed of love and generosity that was sowed in Aneth as a child by her parents and has kept on blooming. When she started her own family, she continued with the tradition of service.
“As family, my husband and I decided to conduct a resources drive to support extremely poor families with women and children living with disabilities. We collected used clothes from rich families and distributed them to the poor families,” she said. That first act of giving bore Fuwavita.
Fuwavita has become Aneth’s platform to support women and girls with disabilities in towns and village in Tanzania through equipping them with entrepreneurial skills to enable them to start businesses. Through their businesses, the women are able to cater for their personal needs and those of their family members.
To support the activities of the organization, Aneth always use my minimal resources and volunteers her God-given gifts as well as leveraging the support of some like-minded stakeholders. Together, they to visit different families with children who are living with disabilities and talk with them comfort them and offer them humanitarian assistance.
Aneth and her husband have also started teaching her 3 children; Baraka, Beatrice and Brayson how to support their fellow children.
“Sometimes I travel with my kids to support children with disabilities and show them what my work and helping others involves,” she shared.
She hopes this will develop their heart to support others. She has taught them to share the little they have with others, be it water or food because she has learnt of how much peace there is to those who give and to the ones who receive.
We are inspired by Aneth’s desire to create a positive change not just in her family but also in her community. It teaches us that you do not have to have much for you to do great things. All you need is the desire to help and the good will to support others in your community. Ifyou have a Sunshine Family Volunteer story to share or your family wants to start a project, email younshim.park@globalpeacewomen.org.