SIMSBURY BOY SCOUT SEEKING DONATIONS FOR AFRICAN ORPHANS

Eagle Scout candidate Carter Hill is currently seeking donations for a unique international project focused on children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in Africa.  The service project will benefit the Mkombozi Centre for Street Children in Moshi, Tanzania.  Mkombozi (“liberator” or “emancipator” in Swahili) is the leading child-focused agency in Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions.  It uses education, research, advocacy and outreach to help vulnerable children.  Hill, a senior member of Simsbury Troop 175, intends to bring critically needed items to the Centre later this year.

“I had the opportunity to visit Tanzania and the Mkombozi Centre during a scout trip in 2007,” said Hill.  “It has unimaginable poverty, and a very high percentage of children orphaned by the spread of AIDS.  It’s a challenge to plan and execute an international service project, but scouting is all about meeting new challenges,”

Hill anticipates a visit during the Christmas season to bring the children at the Mkombozi Centre lightly used clothing, shoes, school supplies, small sports and camping equipment and personal hygiene items.  He will be accepting both donations of these items as well as financial assistance to purchase items and to defray the costs of his trip to the region.

For more information, please contact Carter Hill at (860) 651-0290.

To learn more about the Mkombozi Center, visit their web site at www.mkombozi.org

About Troop 175

Boy Scout Troop 175 in Simsbury, Connecticut, is a successful and growing troop in the best tradition of scouting.  An active troop with strong adult leadership and  nearly 90 scouts actively participating, the troop focuses on building traditional scout skills, helping boys become leaders, and fostering a strong commitment to community service.  Scout skills, such as camping, hiking, fire building and orienteering, are regularly taught and tested during a wide variety of  trips.  The troop sponsored eighteen trips during the 2008/2009 school year.  In addition to domestic venues in Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and the Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico, scouts from the troop have also traveled to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro (2007), camped in the Amazon jungle in Peru (2008), and canoed through the Algonquin National Park in Canada (2009).  Sponsored by St. Mary’s Church, Troop 175 has a proud record of success in engaging scouts and turning out the next generation of community leaders.  In 2008, the troop raised $25,000 through an Adventure Race to benefit a scout from a neighboring troop with a traumatic brain injury, which will be the topic of an upcoming “Boys Life” magazine feature.  Since 2000, 38 boys from the troop have achieved the ultimate rank in scouting:  Eagle Scout.  Learn more about Troop 175 by visiting our website:  http://www.SimsburyTroop175.org