Get the latest delivered to your inbox
Privacy Policy

Now Reading

One Decision Changes Many Lives

One Decision Changes Many Lives

Published 11-29-23

Submitted by FedEx Corporation

Children smiling while holding different objects

Tony Matteroli, Sr. Specialist – Talent Acquisition, FedEx Freight, has a special connection to Tanzania and the Maasai people – his adopted daughter, Angel, was born and raised in a small Maasai village.

Recently they returned from a summer trip where Tony and Angel visited her family, with whom she remains close, and brought much-needed donated items such as shoes, clothing, electronics, and more for people in the village. It’s a journey Angel embarks on each summer, accompanied by Tony every other year.

Tony began volunteering at an American school in Tanzania in November 2010. “I had always wanted to visit Africa,” Tony says, “and I had always wanted to do some international volunteer work; and the opportunity came up to do both in one trip.”

It was on this trip that Tony first met then 11-year-old Angel, a student at the school. Angel grew up in a traditional Maasai village where people live in small mud huts with no running water or electricity and often faced a scarcity of food. Despite the lack of resources, she was raised by a large, loving family with a father, who believed in the value of education. Her father, unable to send all 16 of his children to school, selected Angel and one of her sisters to attend school in another village.

two people next to each other smiling

While there, Tony developed a close bond with Angel, in whom he saw so much potential, and her family. In 2012, Angel’s family agreed to allow Tony to adopt her, so she could take advantage of educational opportunities in the U.S. With the adoption, Angel’s family grew larger by one more father!

Angel began a new life in Colorado and excelled in school with Tony’s support. Never losing the connection to her village, she founded a nonprofit – 1 Love - while in high school. Through her nonprofit, Angel helps provide clean water, electricity, safer housing for the village, and opportunities for more Maasai children to attend school.

Angel is now a senior at the University of Colorado Boulder, majoring in Digital Communication and Media/ Multimedia. She continues to spend summers with her family in Africa providing support for not only them, but the entire village.

***Photo credit Angel Mollel, 1 Love

Three people stood next to each other wearing colourful clothing

 

Children looking through purple fedex cares bags

 

FedEx Logo

FedEx Corporation

FedEx Corporation

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenue of $88 billion, the company offers integrated business solutions through operating companies competing collectively, operating collaboratively and innovating digitally as one FedEx. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 500,000 employees to remain focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. FedEx is committed to connecting people and possibilities around the world responsibly and resourcefully, with a goal to achieve carbon-neutral operations by 2040. To learn more, please visit fedex.com/about.

More from FedEx Corporation

Join today and get the latest delivered to your inbox