Four students of the IOP-run preschool, The Kid's Corner, take a break from their activities for a morning meal of porridge. (Photo by Amanda Gallagher '07)

Water is a scarce commodity in Ilula, and fetching it is one of the many time-consuming chores at the Ilula Orphan Center. The girls take turns carrying water for household chores and farming, as Zaineb and Enedia are doing here. (Photo: Liz Koelnych '07)

Each day after school, the girls of the Ilula Orphan Center must complete chores at the Center and surrounding farm. Zainab is helping with the laundry which is all washed by hand. (Photo by Arly Scully '07)

The Ilula Orphan Center sits on a 65 acre farm with many crops and animals to tend. Here, one of the girls living at the Center, Hainess, takes a turn with the outdoor chores. (Photo by Liz Koelnych '07)

In a mountaintop village of Ilula, June 2007, this small boy peers at the strangers who have come to visit his family. (Photo by Lynn Monty '07)

Children at the Itungi School are required to wear a uniform every day. Many children must wait for their chance to attend school because they have no money to purchase a uniform. Photo: Lynn Monty '07

Amanda Gallagher '07 (left), Professor Siplon and an iop preschool teacher line students up for a lunch break of porridge at the Kid's Corner Preschool, which is run by the Ilula Orphan Program. (Photo by Michelle Bookless '08)

Due to AIDS, the Iringa region has the second highest number orphans in Tanzania. Children are being increasingly raised by grandparents or foster families. This grandmother supports her HIV-positeve daughter and 4 grandchildren. Photo: Michelle Bookless

Students at Itungi Primary School in the Iringa region in tanzania take a break in between programs during an outreach workship on children's rights sponsored by the Ilula Orphan Program. (Photo by Michelle Bookless'08)

Although Hainess, Rose and the other IOP girls have chores they must complete before and after school, they still find plenty of time to play outside. (Photo by Michelle Bookless '08)

The Ilula Orphan Center is a 9000 square foot facility that is home to 33 girls, and doubles as a center of operation for a number of iop's cummunity development projects. With sufficient funding it could house up to 80 girls. (Photo: Mike Morris)

Liz Koelnych '07 (center) shows a group of girls at the Ilula Orphan Center a photograph on the back of her digital camera (Photo by Jerry Swope)

Belina (center), and her twin sister Rose (left) teach Liz Koelnych '07 a hand game at the Ilula Orphan Center. Currently, the center is home to 33 girls from ages 7 to 18. It can house 80 girls, but only has funding for 33. Photo: Jerry Swope

Members of the St. Mike's service learning group plus two volunteers from Denmark and IOC Headmaster Edson Msigwa pose with members of a local Maasai tribe during a cultural visit to their village in the Iringa region of Tanzania. Photo: Berit Skaare

The Ilula Orphan Center in the Iringa region of Tanzania is home to 33 girls ages 7-18. It can house 80 girls. Currently there is only funding for 33. It is one of 15 different programs run by the Ilula Orphan Program. (Photo: Jerry Swope)

Girls from the Ilula Orphan Center greet the St. Michael's guests with song and dance. For the 33 girls living at the center, singing and dancing are an integral part of their daily activities. Photo: Jerry Swope

Students from Isagwa Primary School look at a group of visitors from St. Michael's College and the Ilula Orphan Program. This school is located in a village over 20 miles down a poorly managed dirt road. Photo: Jerry Swope

After visiting with an elder in the community, Liz Koelnych '07 was gifted a chicken as a sign of gratitude. (Photo by Amanda Gallagher '07)

Students at Isagwa Primary School complete admission applications to the IOP sponsorship program. The program finds sponsors mainly in the United States and Europe to cover school fees and other educational costs.Photo: Jerry Swope

Near the end of the trip staff and residents of the Llula Orphan Center held celebrations to say good bye to their guests from St. Michael's . Here, girls at the center and St. Michael's students sing and dance around a camp fire. Photo: Jerry Swope

Before the Ilula Orphan Center had a well dug in 2007 ,water had to be trucked in weekly. Easy access to clean drinking water is a challenge for many. Some women are forced to resort to prostitution in order to obtain it. Photo: Amanda Gallagher

Berit Skaare's duties as Coordinator of the Ilula Orphan Program make her a frrequent visitor to the area's schools. Here she helps students at Isagwa Primary School complete application materials for the Sponsorship Program. (Photo by Jerry Swope)

After a seven hour bus ride from Dar es Salaam to Ilula. members of the St. Michael's service learning trip are escorted by girls of the Ilula Orphan Center to the orphanage. (Photo by Jerry Swope)

Like children everywhere, the girls of the Iluna Orphan Center always manage to find time for some fun. Here Mwanaiba (left) and Lucy share a private joke. (Photo by Liz Koelnych)