Luther Markou
Benevolent Safari
Explore the meaning
of affection!
DECEMBER 23, 2022
Mr. Luther Markou, as a travel blogger, would make the members of the Reform Club bet that he could surpass Phileas Fogg.
The aesthetics of his pictures look like pages taken from a magazine of National Geographic.
On his IG account, he only accepts close friends and makes few remarks to his journeys. His pictures depict each experience like a digital calendar of memories. Don’t try searching him up. He doesn’t share nor publish his experiences on any online blog.
He accepted my request to interview him with great excitement. We met a few days before Christmas. He opened the door quickly, like Flash, and he said passionately: “COME ON IN”.
“Not even a welcome cookie”, I thought to myself as he fired up his laptop. I was certain he wanted to get rid of me quickly.
– “Let’s begin with a safari, what do you say?”
– “Ermm, can we talk about anything else? I am not really a fan…”
– “From what I know about you, I think you will find it fascinating. It’s a big trip, get ready!”
He opens up the door to the kitchen and points to the table: “Get a first taste from around the world!”
On the table there were Christmas cakes, apfelstrudel, cannoli, truffle cookies, kourabiedes.
“Okay I was unfair to judge him quickly but still I don’t get why should go on a safari?” I said to myself while grabbing multiple bites.
You don’t need to travel to the other side of the world, you can offer your time, your kindness and even some of your money to someone who maybe lives the next corner.
Mr Markou I must say I am surprised. I came prepared to go on a journey, but not for a safari.
Okay, so let’s begin they way you had it planned. But please call me Luther from now on.
Okay Luther, you have been on epic adventures. With the experiences you have, is there anything that could truly impress you or catch you off guard?<
I like the question. But you are using a shortcut. You went straight to the safari! It seems you have great curiosity about life. I think its best to focus on one great experience. The time I spent in Tanzania.
Tanzania? “Snow in Kilimatzaro”? Where the author partook in a great safari? Is this the Safari you were talking about?
Haha, no I didn’t think of it at all! Don’t tell me you have read the book.
No I just came across this questions while playing trivial so I learned about it.
Well, I was talking about a benevolent safari. I went to Tanzania over the summer to volunteer at an orphanage.
That isn’t an easy decision to make.
Well, it isn’t hard either. In 2017 I met a kid from Tanzania. I found out that he was cooking together with his sister when their hut caught on fire. Both of his legs burned. His parents left it to die. Because of the poverty there, all family members must be productive otherwise they have no value, even in their own families.
The orphanage of an NPO, AMG, took care of him. When he grew older, they took him in Athens. It was then that I met him, in a fundraiser to gather money for artificial parts he needs for his legs. From then on, I watched him progress. He managed to walk again! He was an amazing student, and he even received a scholarship to study in the USA.
I want to study in the US too. It is incredible what that boy managed to do, especially we consider where he began from. I recently met a boy from Congo. He told me that kids over there don’t go to school because of poverty. If you go, someone must pay for your expenses. If they do, that means that you are obligated to work for them.
What I am trying to say is that the kid you met is very lucky.
Exactly as you say. In Tanzania, it is considered as a privilege to live in an orphan. Someone could say orphanages there are for children with prerogatives.
But the boy I am talking about wasn’t lucky. He never went to the states. He got sick again and died within six months. He spent part of his terminal treatment here in Athens. The efforts made the impact the fights this young man put up was so immense that it made me want to visit this orphanage.
I am very suspicious when it comes to NPOs.
I am too. But I went and saw for myself the great work they have done over there.
What was the process you went through to make this visit happen?
I sent an application to volunteer in the orphanage. I was on hold for two months. They choose the volunteers based on very strict criteria. You must send endless documents and validations. They want to make sure you are the right person for the job.
After this the only thing I remember is landing at Mbeya’s airport.
How long was the flight? Did you cover your expenses by yourself?
The journey seemed endless, I had to cross by air most of the African continent and stop at impressive and luxurious Arabian airports and land to a very crowded and basic structure airport buildings in Africa. All expenses are covered by the volunteers and that’s the true meaning of volunteering not only to sacrifice your holidays you have to rest from work but to sacrifice and large amount of money toward the expenses you need to visit those places.
How was the airport? Did you feel like landing in an alternate reality?
The flight ended up in the biggest city of Tanzania called Dar es Salaam. Most of the people think that Dar es Salaam is the capital of Tanzania but is not. The capital is Dodoma but nobody flies via Dodoma as is just a small city. I had to take a connection flight from Dar Es Salaam to Mbeya in the very west of the country. Mbeya’s airport was very tiny in the middle of crop fields. A car from the orphanage was waiting for me and we started another long drive this time. The drive was over 3 hours, and the road was very crowded with 3 wheel cars and little motors pushed by animals. On our way we stopped in a warehouse called “the mall” to get some supplies. The new reality was in front of me, and I had to adjust to the new reality for the next month.
How was the children’s welcome to your arrival?
By the time I arrived at the orphanage the children were asleep so the first contact I had with them was the next morning at breakfast. Each volunteer was assigned at a different table to get to know the children step by step. The children were very shy at the beginning, came slowly to touch you, to ask for your name, to give you the biggest smile ever.
How was the orphanage? Can you describe the area around it? Was the heat exhausting?
The orphanage was next to a very small village in the very west of the country. That part of the country is very poor and has the highest population of orphans. The life expectancy is no more than 50 years old. The orphanage was in a very high altitude (1.200m) so during the day the temperature was up to 23 degrees max and at night the temperature dropped down to 10 degrees.
Wow! Cooler than our own summer! I wasn’t expecting that. What about the facilities? How do things work over there?
The facilities consist of the area with the buildings where the children sleep, the area with the school buildings and the rooms where the teachers live, the restaurant building, the rooms where the visitors and volunteers stay and large areas with green and trees where the children can play around. Also, a little farm with many animals. The director is a very dynamic and charismatic lady and her daughter, taking care of everything.
What were the ages of the children? You said they were priviledged. How are they selected. What happens to kids that are not selected to be taken care of from AMG?
The youngest kid in the orphanage, at the time, was 2 years old and the oldest 17 years old. The selection of the kids to join the orphanage it is a little complicated, a special team visiting villages around the area and even further, speak with local people and asking if they know families they cannot raise their children or children without families. When they spot the children, they have to go to the mayor of that village, and they form a special council to decide if they are going to let that kid be taken away. So, it’s more up to the council if that is going to happen or not. The needs are endless such as so many children need surviving. When I was looking the villages around and their so many needs I was thinking that the orphanage its like a drop in the ocean of needs, but later when I met better the children I realized that drop it may be so small but even if you can impact at ones child life for the better that it is so totally worth it!
What was your schedule like there?
The day started very early as you had to wake up very early to help in the kitchen to prepare the breakfast, take breakfast with the children and talk with them. Later you joined a class at a school and helping as a parallel support to some of the kids needed extra help. After lunch you had again to help in the kitchen and later you had time to play various games in the fields with the kids. Later the day after dinner we had time to entertain the kids as we were performing some plays or organizing a karaoke night. The day was so long but seemed so small because you wanted to offer as much as you could to those kids. The days we visited the summer campus the days were more relaxed as you had to spend most of the day by the lake learn the kid how to swim, hiking the mountain into the jungle and discovering little beaches by the lake with the kids.
What was your schedule like there?
The day started very early as you had to wake up very early to help in the kitchen to prepare the breakfast, take breakfast with the children and talk with them. Later you joined a class at a school and helping as a parallel support to some of the kids needed extra help. After lunch you had again to help in the kitchen and later you had time to play various games in the fields with the kids. Later the day after dinner we had time to entertain the kids as we were performing some plays or organizing a karaoke night. The day was so long but seemed so small because you wanted to offer as much as you could to those kids. The days we visited the summer campus the days were more relaxed as you had to spend most of the day by the lake learn the kid how to swim, hiking the mountain into the jungle and discovering little beaches by the lake with the kids.
Are there any stories you would like to share?
Once a week we had to drive two hours to the hospital for some children to get their weekly treatments. That little van was full of songs, big smiles and laughs and not even in a million times I would think those children were under medical suspension for a untreatable deceases.
How is Tanzania and its people? Did you travel somewhere else besides the orphanage?
I would say that the people in Tanzania and in Africa overall are the most happy people on earth. They might struggle to survive and feed their families, but they always have a big smile in their faces and want to welcome you and talk with you. After my stay in the orphanage, I visited a very famous destination in Tanzania called Zanzibar. That little island was full of white tourists staying in huge and luxurious hotels and next door lots of locals living in poverty trying to survive by selling or begging for something to eat.
Do you remember the names of the children? Are you in contact with them?
I do remember the names of the kids in the orphanage because most of them had very distinguished names. In Africa if someone is Christian most of the times named by a biblical character or if is Muslim named after a very specific name. Unfortunately, keeping in contact with the children is not possible by the rules of the orphanage and that is the right thing as they don’t want some kids to be distinguished versus some others. But you can monthly support a kid to cover the basic needs and school fees, because surviving is the most important for those children. I would love to visit again Tanzania and the Orphanage, I see pictures of the kids when I receive the monthly newsletter and its crazy how fast they are growing up and becoming adults.
What are the qualities needed for someone that wants to serve in this orphanage?
I strongly believe that you born to serve other people, to extent you can. If you born with a heart to give and to help you can be volunteer to everyone and everywhere. You don’t need to travel to the other side of the world, you can offer your time, your kindness and even some of your money to someone who maybe lives the next corner. So let’s be kind to each other, start from the smallest things like hold the door for the next person, give your place in the line or in the bus to someone in need and if your heart is more adventures, travel and be kind to people you never meet again and you don’t expect anything back.
Is there anything left to say?
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to all. May God bless the children of AMG and every child in need.