Letty McMaster was 18 years old when she travelled to Tanzania to volunteer at an orphanage. What she found there stopped her in her tracks. The children were being kept in deliberate poverty -- a cycle of neglect designed to attract donations from Western volunteers, with the staff taking the money for themselves. Letty stayed. She learned Swahili. She exposed the abuse. When the local council shut the orphanage down, she was registered as the legal guardian of nine children who had nowhere to go. She was 22 years old.
Over the next ten years, Letty raised fifteen children in a family home she set up and ran herself in Tanzania. She founded Street Children Iringa, which now supports three houses -- a family home, a safe house welcoming over 100 street children a year, and a newly opened home for young mothers living on the streets. The children she raised have gone on to university, professional boxing, and international football. One of them achieved the best A-level results in the country and is now studying civil engineering at the University of Cape Town.
This is one of the most remarkable stories we have heard on Everything Changed.
To support Street Children Iringa visit www.streetchildreniringa.org or find them on Instagram at @streetchildreniringa.
This episode is brought to you by RevitaLash Cosmetics. RevitaLash was founded by a physician who created a lash serum for his wife during her breast cancer treatment -- because he wanted her to feel like herself again. Find them at revitalash.co.uk. ✨
00:00 Cold open00:59 Rosie's intro01:26 Life at 18 -- A-levels, saving up, the plan to volunteer01:42 Arriving at the orphanage -- and what Letty found01:52 The voluntourism business -- how the cycle of abuse worked03:34 How long did she stay?04:02 Learning Swahili -- and why it changed everything05:11 Were the children really orphans?05:54 Becoming legal guardian to nine children at 2207:38 Opening the home09:22 The challenges of raising fifteen teenagers10:23 Founding Street Children Iringa10:57 The three houses12:41 Why are there so many street children in Tanzania?13:30 The girl who ran away with her newborn at 1114:32 Life now -- splitting time between London and Tanzania15:45 How to support the charity -- and what 300 pounds does17:54 The children ten years on -- civil engineering, boxing, Real Madrid21:29 Why Letty takes no volunteers23:14 What would you say to your 18-year-old self?24:13 Did you ever feel scared or threatened?24:35 How the children shaped her25:15 Did you always want to help children?26:17 Find Street Children Iringa
Everything Changed on Instagram: instagram.com/everythingchangedpodcastListen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2XH1S48Q9rubN7TaywfxVe?si=cd71458fbb06449b
UK