Today we introduce you to another new addition to the TFFT Team. A few months ago we had to say goodbye to Josh Nassari as Scholarship Director. Josh left to pursue his dream of a career in politics, and we watched with pride as he won his first election last month. Since Josh left, we have been in search of someone to fill his shoes. Of course filling the position was top priority, but our standards are quite high, and we were waiting for a perfect fit. In the interim Fratern, Melissa, Hedwiga, and Daniel each took on extra work and stayed busy around the clock to make sure TFFT didn’t skip a beat in the absence of a Scholarship Director.
It is the Scholarship Director who oversees all of the children, charts the kids’ progress, and intervenes wherever there is a concern. Think it’s hard to keep track of your kids’ shoe sizes? Our Scholarship Director has 82 kids to keep straight–that’s 164 feet and 820 toes to protect!! Imagine having 82 report cards to review and teacher conferences to attend! The Scholarship Director is also the liaison between the sponsors and their scholarship students. Delivering notes and packages to the students and mailing out progress reports and letters from the students to the sponsors is also a time consuming part of the job.
Needless to say, the job is not an easy one, and finding the right person resembles looking for a needle in a haystack, but our patience paid off. We found just the person for the role, and Erasto Kyando is shining as the new Scholarship Director. On April 29th all the kids went back to school after their month long break between terms. At the time, Erasto had not even officially begun the job, yet he enthusiastically showed up to help the team transport the kids back to school. Coordinating foster home pickups for 82 children is no simple task, and Erasto rose to the occasion without hesitation. We are so lucky to have him. He fits right in with the team; our kids love him already; Meghann and I are eager to join the rest of the Team in Tanzania in June.
Erasto with a group of TFFT scholars
Tomorrow you will hear from Erasto himself!