Hearts in unity with postcards
At Postcrossing HQ we are always looking for ways to do good through postcards. Today we are happy to share with you a simple but very powerful way to ignite big smiles.
Hearts in Unity is an organization working towards improving the life of orphan and at-risk children in Tanzania. Through several projects, they aim to feed, clothe and give access to education to Tanzanian children as well as tell the world more about this African country, one of the worlds' poorest with over 2 million orphans.
One of Hearts in Unity projects is Messages from the Heart which consists in bringing heart-felt messages of greetings, friendship and encouragement to Tanzanian children. And what better medium for that than a postcard?
The Hearts in Unity representatives in Tanzania hand-delivers those messages to those who need them most, many in remote villages where there isn't even postal delivery services. This is the only way for some of those children to have contact with postcards and receive greetings from somewhere else in the world.
We believe this is a great match for Postcrossers, who understand what a postcard can do to lift our spirits and bring some encouragement.
If you wish to participate in this cause, this is the address where you can send postcards to:
Hearts in Unity P.O. Box 6497 Moshi, Kilimanjaro TANZANIA
For sending anything other than postcards such as parcels, donations or enquiries, please use this address instead:
Hearts in Unity “Messages from the Heart” P.O. Box 41 Germantown, WI 53022 USA
You can use this address as well if you are in U.S.A. and wish to save some postage. The correspondence will be forwarded to Hearts Tanzanian representatives as well.
If you need ideas about what to write, or even how to write a message in Swahili, check Messages from the heart project page.
Please note, that Tanzanian children don't have a way to send postcards back - an international stamp can cost more than half of a family's average daily wage in Tanzania. However, Hearts in Unity also has a penpal project. In fact, they have many other projects, so be sure to check their website: http://www.heartsinunity.org/.
47 comments so far
Thanks for letting us know about this :D
TAM
Sanidara
Congratulations to organozers and to postcrossing by letting us know the project.
I have already joined this project by sending old Christmas card (just cut the front part of the card and you have a new postcard) to Tanzania. Also I have a penpal in Kilimanjaro! It's a great feeling to help and encourage someone, with just a small note or letter.
But there should be more to it, and it is not quite clear to me how the organisation works and how sustainable the projects are.
Personally I would have prefered if Postcrossing would have chosen a non-religious/non-christian organisation!
If you wish to send a parcel or do a donation, you are encouraged to contact Hearts in Unity in advance to learn more about their organization and how they work.
But mind that all we are asking here is postcards. :)
:-)
But this is a really great project, it's awesome to have a chance to help these children by not just donating money! Receiving postcards brings lots of light to my life, I can just imagine what it can do for these people. :)
Anything large or that might not be considered correspondence and go through customs (such as parcels or objects inside envelopes) are candidates for postal fees or custom taxes, thus it's better to route them through the U.S.A. address.
with love and hope
I'm looking forward to sending some postcards to Tanzania.
Is there a deadline or is this an ongoing thing?
Thanks for sharing.
The first cards to arrive have traveled all the way from Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Japan and the USA (Florida, Arizona, Vermont). Your special greetings and words of encouragement mean more to these children then you could ever imagine. Such an inspiration to children who have so little in their lives. Thank you again.
Asante sana (Thank you!) to Postcrossers in the following countries who have already sent their wonderful messages of greetings and encouragement to these children: Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Helvetia, Holland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Taiwan, the Umited Kingdon, Ukraine, and the USA.
Your postcards and your kind words are bringing lots of smiles! You're the best!