The Shadows of Africa Team has a fantastic source of inspiration: our customers. Not only adventurers, but people with open hearts and great ways of thinking.
Patty and Kathleen from the USA brought one extra bag for their safari. We were surprised to find out it was full of hand-made bears. Kathleen has been a part of the community, “Mother Bear” for fourteen years and they have sent thousands of bears to different African countries.
Now her dream came true – she finally had an opportunity to give these bears to kids in person!Lesia and Julia from our team joined the ladies for the orphanage visit. They headed to Africa Amini Life, which is famous not only because of its unique lodge but because of its successful social projects such as the local hospital, school, and orphanage support.
One of the founders of Africa Amini, Austrian doctor Kornelia Wallner, met guests in the hospital and escorted them to the orphanage. She shared a story about a newborn child they’d just saved from death. Unfortunately, the mother died giving birth, but the baby was strong enough to survive. That’s why they gave her the name, Leon, which sounds close to “lion”.
It seems like these bears really have lots of a mother’s warmth that kids from the orphanage are looking for. All of them were more than excited to get their presents and started playing immediately, trying to guess their new friends’ names. Kathleen and Peggy taught the kids to sing a “Teddy Bear Song” and the kids all banded together to teach the ladies how to sing a popular local song, “Jambo”.
We are proud of our travelers who can bring additional meaning to their African journey. It’s not that hard to do something great and important in your life, you just need to be brave enough to start!
