Cocoya at Shirikisha

For lunch today we had a unique dining experience. We visited “Shirikisha the Garden” just northwest of Moshi. There we met yet another unique individual in the person of Cocoya. Some years ago she sought to make a place for persons who did not feel they had a connection with society at large. The word “shirikisha” means “share” in Swahili. Cocoya has certainly shared her care and compassion for those less fortunate. She has established a place wear persons with hearing disabilities. Like many persons with any form of disability, they are kept away from Tanzananian society and often shunned by family. At “Shirikisha” these same people can make a variety of crafts which they sell. They also help in tending the all-organic garden and preparing the meals they make, in part, by what they cultivate in that garden. We were fortunate enough to have had lunch here, prepared and served by this unique individual and those she is trying to establish a place for, followed by a garden tour.