Helping Those In Need
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Steppin Out has had the privilege to work with some amazing people as we traveled to various countries around the world.  So many people in the different countries we have visited have enhanced our lives, our perspectives, our awareness as well as our talents by sharing their world, their traditions, their home with us.

So, I designed a very special program where people in the US meet some of these locals for a true insight into the lives and culture of people around the world through a virtual but interactive exchange. This way the people in other countries can earn a small livelihood.  There’s a lot that goes into producing our interactive travel experiences and we take pride in the group that helps us to make these events the best possible. Two things we need to make this virtual trip come to reality are a camera person and a video shooter.

When we started working on our Tanzania experience with women in the rural part of the country, we were referred to Sammy Skimbo to do the video production. Sammy is also an elephant conservation expert, an ornithologist, and one of the elite safari guides in East Africa. In his many trips leading National Geographic, he learned from the experts about shooting video and now applies it in his home country.

What we didn’t know, when we talk to Sammy about this project, was that he was ill and had many medical issues, including having one of his legs removed. Since our focus with these interactive virtual travel experiences is to help those in need, we thought we would do a special call-out for this program so that we could help the community and also be able to pay Sammy a little extra.

Our virtual itinerary in Tanzania, which Sammy would take part in, is with Mama Ana, the founder of the Mulala Women Group. Mama Anna was just a farmer. In 1992, she received a donation of a single cow from Heifer for the purpose of producing milk to sell that would eventually help her earn some income and support her family. At some point, the demand for her milk became bigger than her capacity so she decided to join forces with other women in the village (in milk production) for the purpose of meeting her consumers’/customers’ demand…and thereafter Agape Women Group was born!

The Agape Group has funded education for the youth in the villages, empowered women, and has done so much for so many from one cow.   When we meet Mama Ana in our program, you will get a peek into daily rural life in Tanzania, in an area where Mount Kilimanjaro is in its own backyard.  Learn local traditions, recipes and gain insight into social entrepreneurship.

Thanks so much and I hope we can count on you to help Sammy and/or join one of the sessions!