Through a child’s eyes: 11-year-old Bangor boy visits Tanzania with child development charity

Last month, 11-year-old Elliot Gray from Belfast, Northern Ireland travelled with his dad to meet 13-year-old Anold from Olkollili in northern Tanzania.

When Elliot met Anold in April, it was an unlikely friendship; the boys are being raised almost 4,000 miles apart in different families, neighbourhoods, races and cultures.

Anold lives in a remote hillside village of around 3,000 residents. The houses in Anold’s neighbourhood are mostly made from earth and clay while the rooves are made from grass or tin. Anold’s house has no electricity supply but some of the surrounding houses do. The local customs in Anold’s village make early child marriage a particular risk for girls whilst boys often work as animal herders. 85% of the adults in Anold’s area are unemployed but when they do work, they often work as farmers, herders or plantation workers. The average income for adults in his neighbourhood is £9 per week.

Elliot is from Belfast and is in his last year at Strandtown Primary School. He loves reading, Tara his dog, MarioKart, chilling with his mates, and music- he sings his way through life. He plays rugby for a local junior club and is just back from a mini Rugby tournament at Butlin’s Minehead, hosted by Leicester Tigers. He collects fossils and preserved insects and has a reconstructed Lego version of Middle Earth in his bedroom. He loves being part of his church in Bangor West with his parents and younger sister Amelie.

Elliot describes, “Before I met Anold, I felt both excited and a bit nervous. Once I had spent a bit of time with him I really liked him- he was a lot like me and we got on well together. He spoke English very well and we chatted a lot. We loved playing rugby together!”

During the trip Elliot was shown around Anold’s school, classroom, library, Compassion project and home. Elliot describes, “Anold lived on a farm, most of the buildings were made out of mud and wooden walls. Although his dad is building a new house out of blocks, bit by bit as they have enough money. They had wallpaper made from newspaper. The family has two pigs, a cow, a chicken and three goats- Anold gave me a lesson and I loved milking the nanny goat! They don’t have a lot of stuff in their house like we do, but have everything that they need.”

“At school, all the kids sat in rows, and they didn’t have many books. The teacher asked them questions and wrote with chalk on a blackboard. There was no interactive whiteboard or computers and very few books or posters. There were a few good roads but most of them were made of mud. People bought their food from sellers who set up stalls of fruit and vegetables beside the roads and a lot of ladies carried food like big banana bunches on their heads. They loved the rain, it was so important for them to grow the food they needed,” Elliot shares.

Anold is connected to a sponsor through Compassion, a child development charity which seeks to empower children living in poverty through the support of local churches. Compassion has more than 60 years’ experience working with some of the world’s poorest children. At present more than 1.8 million children attend Compassion’s church-based projects in 25 of the world’s poorest countries.

Dave, Elliot’s dad reflects, “We visited two projects while we were in Tanzania. The contrast between a community that had partnered with Compassion for the past seven years and the other at the beginning of that journey, was stark. I loved the flourishing of Anold’s young life and the life of his whole community because of Compassion’s investment.”

The Grays have sponsored 7-year-old Barack from Arusha through Compassion UK for 6 months.

“I think that visiting Barack and witnessing the transformation in the lives of all the children we met will shape Elliot’s understanding and connectedness to people who struggle with poverty, but more importantly remind him that it is possible to make a significant difference in their lives by partnering practically through sponsorship. Our family, in a real way, has adopted this little Tanzanian family and is richer because of it,” explains Dave, an assistant pastor in West Church, Bangor.

Elliot recalls, “The thing I learnt most from the trip is that the world doesn’t revolve around me. I appreciate more what I do have. I can see how I can help kids who don’t have as much as me, and I will try to do this through all my life.”