This summer, Brit and Gracie traveled to Tanzania and spent two weeks visiting our teams. In terms of donations, this was our biggest trip yet! We were able to bring 20 soccer balls, 55 cleats, 45 socks, 2 agility ladders, 20 cones, 15 shorts, 10 shirts, 3 pumps, 42 water bottles, 55 sports bras, and 35 backpacks, all of which were distributed amongst the teams. Below is a short overview of our trip!
Days 1-2
Day 1: Gracie and I meet and spend the night in Dar es Salaam, TZ.
Day 2: We take the train from Dar to Morogoro and arrive midafternoon at Sega Girls’ Secondary School. Here we took a tour of the school and sat in on an English class. Then we joined an impromptu soccer game during the sports hour and spent the night at the visitors house.
Days 3-4
Day 3: We left Sega early in the morning to visit the Young Strong Mothers Foundation and the Pamoja Queens FC.
We started at the Young Strong Mothers Foundation office where we had tea and met with a small group of nonprofit owners. From there, we traveled to a Morogoro secondary school where our soccer event was being hosted. First we introduced ourselves and Spreading Smiles Foundation to the school, then headed over to the soccer fields. We played in two soccer games with the Pamoja Queens, and then handed out our donations to wrap up the visit. Finally we returned to Sega to spend the night.
Day 4: We said our goodbyes and left Sega on a train to Dar es Salaam in the morning. We then flew to Arusha and arrived at The Girls Foundation of Tanzania (TGFT) Girls Leadership Center where we spent the night.
Days 5-6
Day 5: The fifth day of our trip we took to explore Arusha. We visited the Arusha Cultural Heritage Centre and the Arusha Coffee Lodge. We ended the day at dinner with representatives of TGFT and other nonprofit foundations and spent our second night at the TGFT visitors house.
Day 6: The TGFT girls soccer teams met us at the soccer field at the Girls’ Leadership Centre and led us on a tour of the campus. Then we played in two close soccer games with the teams. After the games we ate lunch together and then handed out our donations. We were so excited to be able to fill their sports room with all the cleats we collected from our own friends and teammates. We were so impressed by the leadership and skill demonstrated by the TGFT girls and cannot wait to watch them grow!
Days 7-9
Day 7-9: We said our goodbyes to the TGFT staff and headed back to the Arusha airport where we flew to the Serengeti National Park. Here we spent two days on safari before flying to Zanzibar.
Days 10-13
Days 10-13: We ended our trip on Zanzibar island swimming and soaking up the sun. On day 13 Gracie and I parted ways to go back home after an unforgettable trip! Looking forward to our next one!!
Spreading Smiles Foundation 