The children's TV presenters had their eyes opened to the plight of Tanzanian kids

Bubbly children's TV presenters Matt Gibb and Dayna Vawdrey interact with all types of kids from the energetic to the reserved. But when the Studio 2 stars travelled to Tanzania to meet African orphans, it broke their hearts.

The pair was eager to see World Vision's projects in the AIDS-ravaged nation, which rates among the world's poorest. But they were ill-prepared to see kids the age of those they entertain on their hit TV2 show living in such poverty and despair.

‘Everywhere we went, we took soccer balls and balloons, and the kids loved them,' Dayna, 27, tells New Idea. ‘Although one place we went to was a day orphanage where children went each day to be looked after. The kids there were four or five years old but they didn't know what to do with the toys. They didn't even know the concept of "play".'

Matt adds, ‘They're all living with AIDS and you could tell from their eyes that they never had fun. They just stood there and held the balloons. It was heartbreaking.'

That was just one of the duo's many life-changing encounters in this land of incredible contrasts, where lush pockets of land give way to arid terrain, and corporate billboards are a stone's throw from aluminium-shack villages.

Dayna had a similar culture shock 10 years ago in Bangladesh on a World Vision trip, but Matt, 28, was overwhelmed by the emotional onslaught of colliding with a destitute population, where the life expectancy is just 52 years.

 

No way to prepare

‘I didn't think it would have such an impact on me,' Matt says. ‘I hadn't prepared myself for the level of poverty, and I don't think I ever got used to it. The day I thought I was completely used to it I lost the plot and had to walk away because I was bawling.'

For Matt and Dayna, it's the memory of 17-year-old Dennis that will stay with them for life. The smiley teen's mother died of AIDS, and his father - who had passed on the virus - left the family for another woman, whom he then infected with HIV. Dennis was left to raise his 15-year-old brother and 13-year-old sister in one tiny room.

‘Dennis has AIDS and is looking after his siblings, finding food for them and struggling to pay the rent, yet he has so much joy,' Dayna says. ‘We all wanted to do more to help. I was going through my bag, bringing out clothes for his sister Edina.'

Dayna became involved with World Vision when she organised the 40 Hour Famine fundraiser at her high school. At 17 she was selected as one of four ‘scholars' the charity took to Bangladesh, where one of her three sponsored children lived.

‘I walked away from the first trip feeling overwhelmed, but on this trip I felt like we are making a difference,' she says. ‘There's still so much to do, but I'm inspired.'

Her passion for World Vision's work encouraged Matt, who already sponsored an Indian child, to get involved by joining her on the Tanzania excursion and sponsoring a second child.

‘Dayna has ranted on about World Vision for years and now I can see where she's coming from and how that trip affected her, because it's affected me in the same way,' he says. ‘It's definitely brought us closer together.'

Seeing Tanzanians' struggles first-hand has instilled in the pair a sense of duty to increase World Vision supporter numbers.

‘I know times are tough and we're not going out as often, but people in Tanzania aren't having meals,' Dayna explains. ‘We don't want to put guilt on everyone but we want to share what we've seen.'

Matt adds, ‘You can't walk away from having met them and not want to do more to help.'

The compassionate pair has returned to their comfy Kiwi life, but memories of Tanzania linger.

‘I got all teary on a school visit in Auckland recently, knowing that the kids we met are still there and still walking for hours to get water,' Dayna says. ‘We met a lot of families headed by children, and it broke my heart because a lot of the kids in those families were the same age as my sisters, who are 15, 11 and nine.'

Matt, too, has been irrevocably changed by the experience.

‘I feel I've swanned through life. I've had no major tragedies,' he says. ‘Now, I'm seeing more clearly things that would have passed me by. I would have to go through a lot to be anywhere near what they've been through.'

By Trudie McConnochie

l Lend your support to World Vision by phoning 0800 800 776 or visiting www.worldvision.org.nz.