Tanzania food aid trip is life-changing for Karen (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)

Tanzania food aid trip is life-changing for Karen

11:00am Friday 11th December 2009

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BIG-hearted Karen Westby says her life has been transformed after visiting a drought-stricken region of Tanzania.

Karen, a sales executive with TNT in Railway Street, Ramsbottom, was touched by the plight, determination and zest for life of malnourished schoolchildren.

She helped sow the seeds for a brighter future for youngsters in the country during the emotionally charged trip.Karen was part of a TNT delegation who flew out to Kilimanjaro to support the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) to feed and educate impoverished orphans and youngsters.

The team travelled extensively by Land Rover convoy and light aircraft to reach the Oloipiri village primary school in Loliondo northern Tanzania. They went onto the “frontline” with WFP workers and helped serve maize meal porridge to more than 500 youngsters.

Other highlights included helping build a “green” wood burning stove and presenting a cheque for £7,000, courtesy of fundraising activities by the 10-strong TNT delegation. The money will provide the village with vital rain harvest tanks.

Karen, of Ripon Hall Avenue, Ramsbottom, said: “We have all been moved by the plight of these people who, like 900 million others on our planet, suffer from a lack of water, food and education.

“But what makes it all the more remarkable is that they are so amazingly happy and always smiling, laughing and singing.

“It’s been a humbling and yet richly rewarding experience for all of us.”

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