Service safari

Tom Wallace, Star Tribune

Wayne Wilson traveled with daughter Jessica, left, son John and wife Susan to Tanzania to do community service with the Global Citizens Network.

Two weeks in a Tanzanian village with hammers, paintbrushes and African songs prove life-changing.

By Julie Pfitzinger , Special to the Star Tribune

Last update: July 25, 2009 - 4:02 PM

Print this story

For more information about the Global Citizens Network, visit www.globalcitizens.org

Wayne Wilson will never forget the sight of Tanzanian children streaming out of a village school to greet them last summer. Before long, the huge group formed a sprawling circle around the newcomers and began singing, dancing and drumming. Wilson's teenagers, Jessica and John, then 19 and 17, and other members of their Global Citizens Network travel team got swept up in the action, singing and dancing alongside the youngsters.

"Seeing all the kids interacting so happily together was definitely one of the highlights of our experience," said Wayne, who calls his family's volunteer service trip "life-changing."

The Wilsons, who live in Plymouth, spent two weeks in Bukoba, capital of the Kagera region in northwestern Tanzania. Bukoba is a poor community. Many of the women are single mothers; the AIDS epidemic hit the region particularly hard. The Wilsons took part in several community service projects.

"There was a room in the school that we repaired and painted so they could turn it into a library," Susan said. "We helped install water collection systems, similar to gutters, which collect rainwater so villagers can give water to their goats. We built pens for the goats, too."

Linda Stuart, executive director of Global Citizens Network in St. Paul, said that more families than ever are seeking travel opportunities with a focus on service. In addition to Tanzania, the organization offers service trips to several countries, including Kenya, India and Ecuador, as well as to indigenous communities in Washington, Arizona and Minnesota.

"There is a greater emphasis on travel with meaning," Stuart said. "Last year, over 30 percent of those who took Global Citizens Network trips traveled in some sort of family combination -- we had parents with kids, a grandfather and grandson, and a father and daughter."

Becoming immersed in the culture of Bukoba made lasting impressions on each member of the Wilson family. John was struck by "how easy it was to get along with everyone." Jessica found that focusing on the similarities between herself and the young villagers "made it so much easier to relate to them." Most of the people who live there speak both Swahili and English.

"Relationships are absolutely everything to the people in Bukoba," Susan said. "It doesn't matter if it's family or people they've just met. For me, that was an incredible example."

Wayne agreed. "When people are engaged in an important conversation in Bukoba, they don't just walk away from it to do something else. They finish what they are doing because relationships mean so much to them. They don't hurry like we do here."

Wayne and Susan hope to go back to Tanzania soon. John, who will be a freshman studying international business at St. Cloud State University in the fall, is weighing options for future service travel. Jessica, an English major at the University of Minnesota, has already applied to john the Peace Corps -- something she has wanted to do since she was little.

"If you're willing to give up your way of life for a certain period of time to serve others," she said, "you almost have the responsibility to do it."

Julie Pfitzinger is a West St. Paul freelance writer.

Recent Travel Minnesota stories

Richard's Restaurant & Pub in St. Peter: Seasonal fare done with care - July 25, 2009

Richard's Restaurant & Pub in St. Peter: Seasonal fare done with care - Chef Emily Streeter -- who ran the show at the former Three Muses in Minneapolis' Lyn-Lake neighborhood -- now is giving diners plenty of reasons to daytrip to picturesque St. Peter. More

Chicago for less than you can drive (really) - July 25, 2009

Chicago for less than you can drive (really) - This week American Airlines is offering last-minute airfare out of Minneapolis to Chicago for just $118 roundtrip. More