A personal journal entry from a 14-day Northern Tanzania safari, June 2025

My journey back to Tanzania

Subsequent to my first African safari back in 2001, I have traveled back to Tanzania so many times I have lost count. I dunno, something like 12? Maybe 15 times? Each and every time is very different and each time is an amazing and even life changing, transformative visit. Every time I leave – I get this sort of “home-sick” feeling and I long to go back as soon as my feet hit the US tarmac.

My most recent trip was a 14-day safari in Northern Tanzania (June ’25) with my sister, Alesen. And as I am want to do on such trips, I like to explore new places each time, so I planned a visit to a new and still emerging non-profit organization called Masai Girls Rescue Center (MGRC).

Discovering MGRC: A mission of hope

I had stumbled across their website while doing research prior to our trip. The more I read about it the more interested I became to see it personally.

The vision statement of this little non-profit, start-up was intriguing: a self-sustainable ecoVillage whose mission was to give at-risk girls not only a chance but a choice.

MGRC’s core mission

• Offering safety and security to vulnerable girls in the midst of sketchy tribal practices and traditions that don’t favor the female gender
• Providing opportunities for formal education where it never existed before
• Teaching self-sustainable practices for independent futures

This sounded ultra humanitarian and certainly altruistic – full stop. But I HAD to make this ecoVillage and rescue center a deliberate stop on our journey. As it turned out it was to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.

Location: The heart of Northern Tanzania

The ecoVillage sits tranquil among the rich red “voombie” (Swahili for dust/soil) seated on a gentle slope above the fertile Iraq (pronounced Eer-wockwa) valley. Located just outside the small but vibrant town of Karatu.

Side note: Karatu Town is generally the gateway to the UNESCO Heritage site: The Ngorongoro Crater. Karatu is probably one of my favorite non-safari stops in all of Tanzania and a place I could envision myself living…maybe in another life. Anyway back to reality.

Arrival at MGRC

After bumping along a dusty road, the voombie announced our arrival at the security gate of MGRC. After brief clearance we were directed to park near the large main building. Though some construction was still underway for new ecoLodging facilities, the newly completed dwellings were beautifully set and surrounded by lush natural landscaping.

We were promptly greeted by a very large “family dog” whose name I can’t remember, but whose friendly and exuberant joy would echo the spirit of its human counterparts. Maybe the animal doubled as a watch dog at night; the sheer size of this enormous German Shepherd would be quite imposing to someone outside the compound if intentions were not altruistic.

Meeting the MGRC girls

Not too far behind this happy animal came a group of young girls casually walking, talking and giggling softly as they approached us. I could tell they were being polite and trying not to stare too long at the strange foreigners that just stepped out of a safari Jeep looking rather disheveled and unkempt.

I’ll be hard pressed to guess but I’d say the girls ranged from the ages of 12 to 14. It was Sunday and the girls were headed to church.

These striking and attractive girls wore smart dresses and each was draped with the traditional, brightly colored material (called a “Kanga”) representing their various tribes of origin. They were also adorned with their hand-beaded jewelry with metal dangles which made a soft tinkling sound as they walked.

Meeting Rick Morro, MGRC Director

We had previously planned to tag along and arranged to do this with the MGRC director via email prior to our arrival but hadn’t met him yet so first we needed to make our presence known and meet with the director of the establishment, formally.

The door to the large handsome building opened up and out stepped Rick Morro, the Director of MGRC, who welcomed us with a wide smile. “Hi! You’re just in time,” he said, “If you want to join the girls for church, go right ahead. We’ll talk when you get back.”

A walk to church: Building connections

Having Rick’s blessing… off Alesen and I went among the sea of colorfully adorned girls in their traditional clothing and beads. I felt way under dressed!

The girls were shy and politely as curious about us as we were to learn more about them. Many of the girls knew English and were happy to translate for the others who didn’t. We queried each other to share perfunctory information as we walked. A couple of the girls quickly grew comfortable enough with us to reach down and hold our hands.

We made our way down the uneven red dirt road, three abreast, to church. Holding our hands was such a spontaneous and endearing gesture. What a tender way to make such a sweet connection. Binding heart and soul through touch, transcending mere words and dissolving strangers.

The church experience: Music and community

As we approached the church we could hear the choir already singing. The voices were in total harmony in acapella. The melody wafted past the large metal doors and infused music into the small community like warm sunshine.

A church unlike any other

Back at home I’ve been to churches of all different denominations countless times, but this Church was like nothing I could have expected. It was a new and emerging church in its beginning stages of construction. Like the rest of Tanzania, it appeared to be sprouting right up from the rich, red soil. And with enough water, sunshine and time to nurture it to maturity, it will someday emerge a thing of beauty – but it had a ways to go.

Church features:

• Bare brick walls enclosed the congregation
• Sturdy corrugated tin roof
• No flooring – just hardened dirt
• Neat rows of plastic chairs served as pews
• An elevated altar and pulpit

The service: Beyond language barriers

As we entered the building, curious heads turned to see us – the latecomers. We were quick to find enough seats together to accommodate all 10 of us. The choir consisted of several folks of various ages from the very young to very old. Only one instrument that I could see or hear appeared to be a sort of conga or drum and its player struck it to keep the beat but only during particular songs, otherwise the voices were in pure acapella harmony and didn’t need any accompaniment.

Of course Alesen and I couldn’t understand a word of the sermon because it was in Swahili. The entire list of Swahili we knew was:

• “please”
• “thank you”
• “I don’t know”
• “good afternoon”
• “good night”
• and other less important phrases

But the language barrier at this church simply didn’t matter.

By the style of the pastor’s formal robes and altar adornments, my guess is that it was of Episcopal or Anglican denomination, or maybe Methodist. There were no kneeling benches or marking of the crucifix across bodies, so I ruled out Catholic. Oh heck, what does any of that matter anyhow? Jesus himself strongly emphasized unity among believers, warned against division amongst the churches and prayed for their oneness stating all believers are ONE in Christ.

A universal message of love

Beyond denomination, the tone of the pastor’s voice, the genuine smile and gestures of this (sometimes histrionic) female pastor, laughter and sincerity alike, I knew she was teaching a lesson that mere words – in any language weren’t necessary to illuminate. The message was loud and clear: “There is love here. There is acceptance here. There is hope here that transcends.”

Tanzania is amazing for many reasons: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.

The MGRC girls’ performance: A moment of pride

I was going to leave it there, but I forgot to mention something important. At the end of the service, the MGRC girls… “Our girls” were summoned to the front of the church to sing the closing song before we were dismissed. It was so beautiful. These girls sang in unison with their sweet young voices and mirrored each other swaying to the melody, making synchronized hand motions to emphasize the meaning of the song. Tears welled in my eyes like a proud parent!

Reflections: The universal language of human connection

In all my visits to Tanzania I have learned that mere language doesn’t have to be a barrier to alter the commonality of shared human experience. One simply needs to open mind and heart no matter where you come from or who you think you are. Tanzania will open her heart and blow your mind with her loving people, beautiful flora and fauna, and thrilling spiritual experiences… whether in church – or in the middle of the African savannah.

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This journal entry is from Chapter 1 of “Tanzania 2025 – Laurin Hayes Journal,” documenting a transformative visit to the Maasai Girls Rescue Center during a 14-day Northern Tanzania safari in June 2025.