Home.

It is incredible how my scope always involves getting back to Tanzania. When I got on the plane to come back to America I couldn't believe it was happening. I felt my heart beat quickly and my mind seemed to try to catch up to my body - I honestly couldn't think of life if it wasn't in Moshi.

The night before I left I slept in my room alone. This was the most strange feeling. I had a hard time sleeping and i laid in bed trying to wrap my head around the idea of not sleeping in that bed the next night. I looked at the empty beds around me, at the items my former roommates had left and my bags sitting stoically in the corner and I felt my heart slowly begin to sink. This was really it.

I had gone to school and back to the orphanage earlier that day, and when i got there I painted and just sat and held the kids in my arms while wishing that they will be safe and taken care of, that they will be loved everyday, even if it is not by me. i had finished packing and felt the emptiness of the Home Base and tried to see everyone before I had to get in the car and go.

On the first plane I got to sit with Steven and Courtney for a little while, which really helped me stay put together and kept my mind occupied. Once i went back to my original seat far behind them, however, the tears started to flow. The flight consisted of me crying, feeling somewhat lost and sleeping. The rest of my flying experience involved me trying to say hi to a lot of people, speaking Swahili constantly and me trying to gravitate toward people who looked like they were from Africa because i wanted to be by someone who understood me (I really just wanted to turn around). And of course, all of this was met with awkward responses and strange looks.

When i finally arrived home I was anxious. I couldn't wait to give my mom a hug, but I was nervous to enter my house and not feel my grandma's presence there. When my mom came and hugged me I was a little bit overwhelmed, I was so happy to see her but also still a little bit lost. I still didn't understand that I was all the way back in Salt Lake City. We got to my house and I unpacked and doled out the presents I had for my family and for Casey and showed them a lot of the cool things I had brought back. I also just talked on and on about Africa - in SwaEnglish no less. When it reached 1:30 a.m. or so we decided to go to bed, but I was wide awake. The nine hour difference made me awake and ready to go out - it was nighttime in TZ. Instead of sleeping i decided to unpack and put things away. This indadvertedly led me to my closet - which upon seeing I began to cry. I immediately found a huge box and began to throw clothes into it. After a couple of hours of cleaning out my entire room of things i deemed wholly unnecessary I fell asleep on top of my bed.

The next few days were a blur of strange feelings while trying to adjust to life in America, a nine hour time difference and life without my grandma. I would love to say these things were smooth and easy, but for honesty's sake, they definitely weren't. My grandma's funeral was held two days after my return home, and i sang and read for my family in the ceremony. I am so glad that I was able to give honor and tribute to my family's rock - it was wonderful to be there and to think about what a beautiful person my grandma was.

Since her funeral I have grown a lot. I have been trying to reconcile my experience with my life here. While sometimes I still cry and have a moment (like crying at the grocery store and feeling very overwhelmed), I still find myself taking my experience and having it give life to my day to day motions. I have been able to express so much love and support for my mom during this time of grief for my family, to help those who need it without thinking twice, I love more fully and I think more deeply. I perceive everything much differently now - I feel as though I have a better understanding of what matters and I actually ACT on it.

I cannot thank everyone enough for the love and support I have been given. The amount of excitement and love I have received since being home is overwhelming. I think about how many things the people in Africa taught me and I know they gave me so much more than what I alone could offer them. They have changed my life and continue to do so. I know I will get back there because my heart is still there, growing and beating steadily. I cannot wait to be there again, to love those kids even more fully and to learn everyday how to be a more real and genuine human being. I hope that my future trips to TZ can also bring life and beauty to those around me - to my family and friends :).

Maisha marefu, daima upendo.

Mt. Kilimanjaro.

In trying to explain what this experience was like I have found that I just end up talking about the different days and then wanting to laugh about all of the funny moments on the mountain that no one I am talking to would understand. This ends up with me just saying, "it was amazing and life-changing, I cried when I saw the sign at the top, the surroundings were different everyday and it left me with so many funny and fantastic memories."

For the sake of posterity, I will try to elaborate.
It was life-changing: climbing gave me the ability to really think and be inside my own head for awhile. After having my grandma pass away and then facing the reality of having to leave Africa soon after the climb I had a lot to think about. I was given a chance to really reflect on my time in Africa, my kids, the women I helped teach, my co-volunteers and who I was in relation to the world I now understood.

I cried when I saw the sign at the top; After 5 days of climbing and thinking about the summit, and then 7 hours of climbing up to Stella in the night while it was freezing cold and then 45 minutes to Uhuru we made it to the summit!! The feeling I felt was a mixture of joy, relief and excitement. I looked back at Becca with tears welling in my eyes because after experiencing and living through so many things we had finally conquered the 4th tallest mountain in the world!

memories: I have found that while some things that happened on the mountain were just reality at the time, now they are precious and funny memories. I feel that everything that happened was so wonderful and i know that it was a once in a lifetime experience because I had Becca, Kayla and Rachel with me, and our guides and the way everything happened was something i can re-live in my memory for years to come. Everything about it was wonderful, even if it wasn't wonderful at the time (even the scary spiders and being absolutely freezing and having to pee every 5 seconds due to the diamox).

While on Kili I learned that I can do so many things if I just set my mind to them. I am not saying that I wasn't aware of this before, but I was definitely putting this into action while climbing. I remember on summit day I just relied on the image of Becca's feet ahead of me. If I just kept following her feet i would  be fine. Here I must note that I was a little bit out of it due to the altitude, so my thoughts were a little strange at times. I also remember telling myself that climbing was all mental - my body could do it, I just had to believe i could and I had come all that way, of course I could summit. And...I did :). I am so grateful for the people with me, for our guides and porters and our amazing cook David and for my family and friends for being so excited and supportive of my climbing experience.

When i think about Kili i feel so happy and full of life. It is another thing that pulls me immediately back to the true happiness I felt in Africa and my desire to be back there grows strong.

.getting ready for the rooftop/ Lake Chala.

Okay,

I won't pretend that I am completely prepared to climb mount Kilimanjaro. I also have to admit that along with sadness, the prospect of leaving Africa next week makes my heart palpitate a little too quickly. I am so nervous to return home. I know that I'll be the girl having the freak out in the grocery store and dreaming endlessly of my kids' hands in mine and their precious voices. I also know that there are so many things left to do before I go. Since I decided to "adopt" this new orphanage Bahati, I must start preparing ways to fundraise and support it while at home. I have to plan for school and rush, finish profiles and a proposal and try to get everything packed and ready to go! So, planning/exercising for the mountain has been pushed to the side a tid bit. 



On the other hand, however, I need to be home for a lot of reasons. I need to see my family, I need to physically be with them and give them the love that I was infused with while in Africa. I need to be the changed and hopeful for change me while in America, too. I need to see my grandma and give her a lot of good busus! I hear news about my friends and I know that seeing them will be wonderful. I have never been more of a fb stalker until now - I will repeatedly comb through albums to glean a much as I can out of them in a small effort to be closer. I will also return home knowing that I am coming back. I am currently set for next summer and I know I can get it done :), so it's not kwaheri, just tutaonana baadaye.

So...back to getting ready for Kili. See? I'm putting off even in my blog. I feel as though the experience will be both the hardest and one of the best things I've ever done. I am so happy that Becca, Rachel and Kayla are climbing with me. They are truly an amazing group of girls, and I am so blessed to have them with me! We will have a great time. I just feel that culminating my experience by being on the rooftop of Africa will be, for lack of a better word...incredible. So...we will see, eh? (If you're reading this Amanda, that "eh" is for you).

Anyway,

I never talked about Lake Chala in my posts!! I went to Lake Chala two weekends ago and it was truly one of the best weekends I've had in Africa (which is really saying something!).
Attendees: Chris, Erick, Paul, Katyann, Becca, Rachel, Dana, Kayla and myself!
Location: around 1 & 1/2 hour outside of Moshi, Lake Chala
Accomodation: a bad-a giant tent (don't worry, it was pink and teal and had little "windows")
Transportation: Erick's car
Food: Grocery store buys, food we ordered there.
Main Activities: Walking safaris, tembo trekking, swimming and canoeing in the lake, almost getting charged twice, going to Kenya, getting demolished by thorns, hanging out/getting steam rolled in the tent, sitting and singing by a fire pit.

I wish I could really just take everyone I know there so they can experience it for themselves, but I will try to give it justice here. The lake is surrounded by hiking area/cliffs and it is quite big. 1/3rd of it crosses into Kenya, but you can see the entire lake when you stand high on the cliffs. The area is also home to many elephants (which basically means I should move there).
When we first arrived we put our stuff into our tent and hurried to see the lake. The campsite has nice bathrooms, a kitchen, a bar and fire pit area, places for people to bring their own tents, a tented area and a dining area. The gardens are well taken care of, and it is very clean and nice! The bathrooms are all mzungu toilets and nice (actually warm) showers. The lakeside is a fifteen minute walk away from the campsite, however, they are currently building a new dining hall area on the lakeside. So, next year when I return it might be finished!
At the lakeside Chris and Paul tried to throw things into the water. Unfortunately, due to our height and the copious amounts of monkey-infested trees below they couldn't get their stones into the lake. We then went back to the campsite and got settled before we walked to the bar. While the sun was setting we sat outside and contemplated our food options. We listened to great music (Dave, Jack Johnson, Dispatch...a good shift from our usual African music!) and just spent time together and were...really...happy. It was like taking a good breath of fresh air. That night we ate a delicious meal and sat by the fire with our music. When we got back to the tent we had some fun times with Katyann steam-rolling Becca to the ground (you know, mature stuff) and then Chris, Katyann and I decided  to go tembo hunting. I borrowed Kayla's headlamp and we set off to find ourselves a tembo. Now, before you go judging me because it was pitch black and potentially dangerous - just remember  that elephants are the freaking best.
So, this adventure got exciting when I saw movement in the brush. We shone our lights and low and behold we saw a blink of red - an eye. After this Chris started walking in serious pursuit of our potential friend while Katyann and I tried to convince him otherwise. Then, we heard a freaky growl and a bunch of yelling in the distance that we could of sworn was yelling "Help me!". Needless to say, that scared us back to camp.

The next day we woke up for the sunrise - orange, big and bright over the Acacia trees and amidst the small clouds. It was truly incredible and it reminded me of the moon rise I saw on safari. There is nothing like the sun rising in Africa. After our nutella, bread and cereal breakfast we followed a guide off into the area by the campsite. He had a machete and a rock....pretty fitting for our non-english speaking guide eh? We began to walk and then before we knew it there were elephants!! There was a family in the distance and it was so incredible to actually BE there and see them outside of a safari car. Then, as we walked in the opposite direction we nearly ran into another big elephant!! It looked straight at us and flared its ears. This made us excited until our guide chucked a rock at it and yelled for us to run. Good thing he was there to recognize it was about to charge...otherwise I think we definitely would have stayed admiring its stature and beauty!

After this exhilarating experience we began our walk to the lake. This was not only long, it was thorny. I honestly have never seen that many thorns, burs and cacti in one area in my entire life. Our good old guide was walking at normal speed with his machete just hacking down things in his way and powering through the land that honestly seemed to resist human existence with every inch. The trees, the bushes and the grasses had thorns, the cacti seemed to enjoy their place either within or next to these thorn bushes and the burs seemed to have no problem with sticking to you and clinging for dear life. We had to stop multiple times for literal catch-ups. My headband was taken off by a thorn tree, as was Chris' hat. The worst of it ended on Kayla's pants, which we had to end up picking at for a significant amount of time after the lake visit ended. However, while walking through this difficult terrain we passed into Kenya. (Okay, it was illegally and we were only in Kenya for a minute). Because the lake crosses into Kenya the land surrounding it contains the border! We walked into Kenya for a moment and Paul got a chance to leave Tanzania!! It was so amazing to see his smile (during the entire weekend, but at this point in particular). He made the weekend so much of what it was :). When we got back into TZ we walked up a hill and you could physically see the border - it was kichizi! Once we got to the lakeside the area became rocky and cool and, believe it or not, thornless. It reminded me a lot of being close to Flathead Lake in Montana.

Once we got to the water we all stripped to our swimsuits and jumped on in!! The water was cool, and incredibly beautiful. It was both very blue and very clear. We swam to feel the sun on our faces and took some good pictures on a large tree/log that was in the water. We also ended up taking a canoe further out into the lake and I just sang while we rowed serenely out onto the water. The surrounding area looked so different from here, it was as though we were within a little natural fishbowl- we were inhabiting our own little spot of the world. After the canoeing we walked back - a walk that proved to be much easier than our trek earlier in the day. We finished the night power-less and sharing the camp with around 20 new people. We ate and hung out and ended up playing funny games in the tent.

The next day was unbelievable. We walked to a watering hole that the elephants of the area frequently use, and then we went out to a large crater. After the crater we began to walk again and we saw a whole herd of elephants! I nearly had a heart attack and we walked and got very close to them so that we could hear and see them throwing dust and also see their immense size. While there we heard a large elephant give out a trumpet - which sounded initially like a deep lion-like growl and then a horn-like sound. It was so loud and it gave us a start! We quickly went the opposite way and got to higher ground. From above we could see that our pack of elephants was actually a GIGANTIC herd of over 60!! We watched them for awhile until we saw four or five start walking and we followed their path from above. This landed us right above a mud/watering hole that contained ten or fifteen elephants throwing mud on their backs and stomping in it! We ended up watching the entire 60+ group (including teeny tiny mtotos and kubwa sana adults) walking in lines, throwing dust and mud bathing in turns. It was ...amazing! There isn't even a word for it. I said I could die then, I could just die happy. We sat and watched these elephants for a long time, until they all ran back away from us because some idiot honked his motorcycle horn at them and scared them away. Ugh, civilization haha. i still can't believe I witnessed that. I kissed my elephant necklace and held it out to the wind throughout the weekend, so that must have helped, right? Haha, just kidding, but truly it was a moment that will be ingrained in my mind forever.

After this elephant trek we went back to the campsite and got ready to go home. The ride home was really wonderful too. We listened to good music and I just sat and reflected on myself, on Africa and on the way fate as weaved its way into the facets of my life and created a masterpiece. More than ever I have felt that things happen for a reason. Each conversation I have been having, the people I am meeting, the things I have experienced and will continue to experience...they all were supposed to happen. We all just felt at peace and I could feel the love just flowing through the van...haha, but really.
 
Since then...

We danced onstage with the rappers at the Serengeti Fiesta!! (Yes me, totally crazy!) We had to say goodbyes to Tyler, Chris and Abby and I have had amazing connections with some of the new volunteers. I miss so many people now, and I am so grateful for the way they have shaped me it is getting overwhelming. While crying on the way to school this morning I thought, how is it that I am living this life? I truly can't believe it. I am so so blessed, and just because it happened that way. Anyway, it is quite late here in Moshi, and I have to get up and do a lot of work tomorrow (well, today)!!

Ninakupenda sana, amani kila siku na lala salama (or siku njema for those in the US).

Leo Huzuni.

This will be brief. Yesterday we took one of our students, Abdul, to the doctor. While we were at school he began to complain about a headache. When I went to him I felt his head and it was boiling hot. We ended up taking Abdul home to his uncle and then to Majengo clinic. Abdul’s mother died when he was 1 (six years ago) due to AIDS. He has been living with his uncle and other cousins since then. He lives in a small apartment area in one room and he often misses school due to illness. We took him to the clinic along with his uncle and Octavio. Here we ended up standing in many lines and waiting for around 2 hours (which is actually considered a short wait0 until things were settled. It turned out that Abdul had never been tested for HIV or brought to the doctor. He was tested and was also given things in order to check for TB and upper respiratory problems.

It ended up that he is positive for HIV and needed to return to the clinic the next day with spit samples for the lab to assess. Although I knew he was positive before, to hear the results while this tiny little boy was sitting next to me holding my hand was overwhelming. I cried when we heard, and we also heard the doctor yell at the uncle about Abdul’s distended tummy and lack of proper care. She told him that Abdul is very malnourished, he is sick continually and he is losing a chance at living a healthy life despite his HIV/AIDS diagnosis.

It is amazing how fragile life is, how things change and move so quickly and while we can walk around having lives that are relatively calm, there are so many people who are living fragile, inconsistent lives. The fact that my student has to live with an incurable illness and worries about food and warmth at night is heartbreaking. Anyway, it was a sad day. It was interesting to be face to face with AIDS in Africa. I hope that we can continue to instill hope and light into his life while we are here. Remember that beauty and love feed off of each other and live a life full of love. 

.iliyopita.

Some experiences in life lend themselves to life reflection and reassessment. I have had quite a few of these experiences since I arrived in Africa on May 5^th, but this one is markedly different.

         Becca had told me a little about the Upendo house and Sibo’s hope to provide both shelter and loving care in addition to education for children in need in the community. So when I went to the celebration for the finished Upendo house I thought I knew what I was heading to. Once we arrived, however, I quickly realized how unprepared I really was. We walked into the house and I saw a painting I had watched Oko paint a mere day before (when we went with Ramsey to Upendo), and I saw the chairs and table, the computer and the different rooms. I was awestruck, to say the least. I sat in the house the entire night with tears threatening to create salt trails down my cheeks.

         When we arrived Sibo showed us around while Madam Salma and Bibi placed candles around and began to prepare our dinner. Chelsea, Becca and I walked around in awe and with our hearts full of love. I wish I could accurately portray what an unbelievable experience this was, but I just can’t find the words that really portray what it felt like to be there, to be part of something so much bigger than myself and to see firsthand a movement that will tangibly change children’s’ lives. The seven children that were formerly living with bibi and the three Uru kids now had a home in which they could be shown copious amounts of love, be fed and taken care of and still be close to school so that they can learn and grow! I sat and contemplated what it would be like for the kids to live there, and tried to imagine the faces of the Uru kids as they entered their new home. Going from a mud and stick shack to a house with beds, a computer, food and other children is going to be a huge shift – but an amazing one!! This was a time I wish I could capture on film, as though my head was a video camera so that everyone could experience even just a piece of what I was feeling.

         Sibo showed us some of his older paintings and mixed media as well. They contained so many messages of hope and conveyed his deep passion for change. One was based around the Kilimanjaro marathon and it showed the different people and organizations that came together to help people and children in need. It was so beautiful to see the both a desire to assess the needs of the people and the ways that the needs were being addressed. I was very inspired by his recognition of the reality of broken homes and children in need that were living on the streets. It also made me reflect on my desire to help children and my love of art. I hope and plan to use my art to change lives and influence children in need. I would love to be a part of a Performing Arts school here in Moshi and to help orphans realize their talents and their dreams.

         Dinner was delicious, we had amazing company and beautiful times together. It was one of the moments that I felt completely overflowing with love. I have had life-changing moments that have affected my heart – surviving cancer, having my sister as a guide through growing up, talks with my mom and best friends, camps, living through so many things with Danielle, living a life full of music, dancing experiences, losing Paul, living despite feeling like I couldn’t, meeting Becca and others in Africa, and loving children and being able to work with them in many different capacities. This moment immediately made the list (even compared to other things I have experienced in Africa). I remember reflecting on other moments (such as the ones above) and thinking about what a beautiful life I have. I never wanted that evening to end, and it solidified my knowledge that I will never be able to fully leave Africa. I have been changed forever.

upendo kila siku. 

[kuwa mabadiliko unataka kuona katika ulimwengu]- Ghandi Africa status!

.let us love the world to peace.

So I know you all are aware of the fact that I am quite in love with Africa. I also hope you know how much I love my kids at my school. I truly would do anything to help them and I can’t imagine a day without seeing their smiling faces. It is the type of thing that makes you realize your heart has incredible depth and capacity to love. Coming to Africa has truly made me realize that I can love even more than I thought possible, that I am able to achieve things I saw as distant dreams and that it truly is possible to love the world to peace.

            Last week we took one of our students, Ramsey, to Upendo. Ramsey loves to draw and is a very talented artist. The most incredible thing about Ramsey is his passion for art and the way he lights up when he draws. He is also very smart, very polite and loves to learn! Becca and I talked and we organized for Ramsey to meet Sibo and go to Upendo and paint. This was one of the most rewarding days I’ve had here. I brought Ramsey back to CCS from school where we ate lunch and he got to spend time drawing and hanging out with the other volunteers. Everyone loved meeting him and complimented his art skills. We also had Amani come and stand by Ramsey because they look like they could be father and son haha. It was great to see Ramsey having a good time at home base and to be able to just spend time with him. Katyann and I took him over to Mzungu bar and got him a soda and while we were walking he said, “I am so happy”. This made my heart so happy to hear and Katyann and I were so excited to see Ramsey having an amazing day.

            When Sibo came to pick us up we showed him Ramsey’s drawings and he was thrilled to see a new budding artist. I couldn’t have been more excited to have the two meet each other. I knew that Sibo would love Ramsey and I loved that we could bridge the gaps between Faraja and Upendo. I loved that we could be a part the beginning of a connection between two different placements. It is so important to be able to connect the places we work and help Moshi become more integrated and a community that can grow together and support each other. Ramsey had an amazing time painting. He created a picture of his favorite animal – simba – in the grass with Kilimanjaro in the background. It was so beautiful!! Sibo helped him with the background and guided him in how to draw and paint his lion. Ramsey added grass and painted his name and “Afrika Animal” on the top of the painting. I have never seen a bigger smile on his adorable face. We took a lot of photos and I got teary, of course.

            After our painting adventure Becca and I met Amani and Susan and got ready to take Susan to the airport. I wish I could say goodbyes get a little easier just because I’ve gone through multiple, but that would be a complete lie. Saying goodbye to Susan was too hard. Her sweet spirit and beautiful heart really permeating everyone that she was with. It was so strange to feel her leave; I miss her everyday (along with the other people that have left). On the way home in the car the song “I’m Coming Home” came on and I just cried and cried!!

I can’t believe the days keep passing and I move along with them…closer to going home. However, I now have left a part of my heart in Africa, which means I am definitely coming back. I have been given a wonderful opportunity to head volunteerism and aide to a new orphanage here – which means I also have an opportunity to return here and create a tangible project in Moshi with orphans!! Though this is exciting news, this leaves a lot of work for me to do – the proposal for my school, the work with and for the orphanage and finishing the profiles for my kids – and I feel like I don’t have enough time! I do know that I will be able to get it done, however, and that this is definitely not my first and last time here.

I am so grateful for the love and support I have been given prior to and during this time in my life. My mom is my role model and my hero – if she had not given me a chance at life and provided copious amounts of opportunities for me I would not be here. I am fueled by her love and guidance even when she isn’t with me – so thank you mama for being you. My sister and grandma – both of you have shaped who I am and I am so thankful for your continual strength! My other friends and family back home – I am always in awe of how you continually change and grow and I love that we can remain close despite any distances. And my friends here in Africa- you all have shown me how to love in many different ways and how to face all kinds of circumstances. I feel so lucky to have met people with hearts that mirror mine in many ways and people who really understand where I am coming from. I know that together we can change the world and become ambassadors for those in need.  Last but certainly not least I would have to put my kids and the people of Africa – I cannot put words to this experience nor to the amount of times they have stolen my heart! Coming to Africa has proven to me that I will be serving children forever and that helping people in developing countries is going to be a part of my life permanently. It is as though I finally did the thing my heart was waiting for – that sounds oh so cheesy – but it is definitely the truth. Asante san asana Afrika, una iliyopita maisha yangu milele.

Upendo and amani. Ninakupenda sana. 

I felt like posting a poem.

Clouds at ground level.

We drive
small,
incongruent silence
through the evening’s
twilight hour.
I am fascinated by the shadows -
crunchy tan leaves
articulating the
wind’s shape,
voices echoing after-dinner
elation to
unseen listeners.

The awful thing is,
I haven’t found any
reason for asking.
I can’t seem to care about the colorful
how’s and why’s of your
unspokens.

When traveling through fog,
our light
merely brightens the
dense, grey-cold air
around us.
(Perhaps when we quiet the light,
we’ll finally see in the darkness)
You say sure,
we’re not lost,
without any reason

Over one billion people
understand English
and yet,
we find ourselves yearning for
reciprocal, unspoken
moments
the most.

Kaloleni/A catch up post.

This week has been quite fun and also, surprisingly, relaxed. Even though I have stayed up late (past one) during the week and of course was up late at La Liga on Friday – I have found myself feeling more relaxed. My kids are unbelievable, as usual. Everyday Glory and Angela make it even harder for me to think of leaving this place. I have to apologize because I haven’t been blogging lately. I have found it hard to commit myself to sitting down and really typing out a decent blog. I am so consumed with the everyday events and with trying to cherish my stay here.

            So, where to begin? I will start with my first trip out to Kaloleni. Kaloleni is an area out near a gigantic dump on the outskirts of town. The people that live out here have either been ostracized or forgotten about due to where they live. The community is literally a hedge away from a huge dump. The dump is just piles among piles of trash. Sibo found this community and had a desire to help the people here by starting a women’s group in hopes that educating the women will give them opportunities to get jobs and to then help their community economically. Sibo always amazes me – from UPAA to Uru to Kaloleni – he sees a need and immediately works to change it. I admire him very much and aspire to be like him. I want to work here and do something truly meaningful for the children. I hope that when I see what I want to do I will just do it and not be inhibited. So…that being said, Kaloleni is a great location for volunteer work and it brought me to tears the moment I saw it. The women here used to dig through the trash each day and bring back things for their families to eat and use. With Sibo’s help and the infusion of volunteers the women now have a chicken coop full of chickens and they receive education in English every other day. The classroom is a small square area where they lay tarp for carpet. It is open and has a ledge lining it where the women sit. There is a board that one would tack messages and it was painted with black paint that can be used as a chalkboard.

            My first day there we taught the women introductions and worked on singular and plural pronouns. We taught him/her, us, we, me…etc. The women here changed my life. They range in age from twenty something to seventy something and they are incredible. I don’t even have words for how amazing these women are. They are warm, loving, funny and they have a huge desire to learn. I immediately fell in love with them and decided to go once a week with Becca. I cannot explain how beautiful and wonderful this community is. The women love to learn, they love to laugh and joke and they are surrounded by impenetrable warmth. It’s so refreshing to be around people that don’t speak your language and be able to fully communicate and connect with them!! After teaching the women we walked to the chicken coop and then when Sibo arrived we stopped at the dump. The dump is just around a set of tall hedges. It is so massive and overwhelming. The moment I saw it I began to cry. Not only was it HUGE and next to Kaloleni, one of our women was digging through the trash (along with others who were standing on top of the hills of trash) to find food and other items. I couldn’t handle seeing this…it not only broke my heart but it really inspired me to keep helping these women. It made me want to do everything in my power to improve their lives.

            So…basically being anywhere that Sibo is affiliated with has really affected me and I admire him so much!! I want to be like him…to see a need and do what it takes to address it and take care of it. I also just do not want to go home. This is where I want to be!! I am going to start planning my next trip out here (hopefully for next summer). Sibo said that’s not soon enough, but I think it will be June because of school.

            So, after this first experience of Kaloleni I had a pretty normal weekend. Normal meaning we went out a lot and I cried a lot because people were leaving. The Friday before TaChyla and Amanda left we all went out and it was so amazing. I will never forget my nightly soulmate chats on TaChyla’s bed or my moyo to moyos with my Canadian Amanda. We all had an amazing bonding moment at La Liga this night because we all did the line dance together. This line dance originated in South Africa and it really is the most atrociously boring dance I’ve ever done. It is a diluted verson of the Electric Slide and the Africans LOVE IT. I truly do not understand it. It is so boring and no one ever does it all in the same direction and it literally lasts for a minimum of 10 minutes once it starts. The songs will run and run and continue and people will just keep doing the dance. Oh my goodness. It’s awful, but in a funny way. Afterall, TIA. So on this particular night all of my closest friends and all of our local friends were on the floor and we all did the line dance together and to be honest – it was just magical. The next day I cried a ton and we said goodbye to TaChyla and Amanda…I still miss them terribly to this very day.

            One weekend we went on a free coffee tour with Kira and her mom. This was amazing!! We went with Oscar (from Pristine) and we had quite an “organic” experience. The coffee tour begins with an explanation and of how coffee originated and how they began to make it. Then, you get to see a coffee plant and the beans on the vine. Next, you get to make the coffee by going through the process of de-shelling the beans, picking out the bad ones, roasting them over a fire and hand grinding them!! After this we drank our coffee and began to hike to the waterfall. The waterfall is unbelievable!! It is 80 meters high and the face of it is smooth rock. When we walked up to it we all lost our breath. It was truly unbelievable!! When you stand near the waterfall you get drenched in its spray due to the wind. We drank hot coffee at the base of the waterfall, took a million pictures and then began to walk back. The day was such a beautiful one and we saw a bunch of chameleon, yuka leaves and a banana slug while on our way back. I also got to talk to Kira’s mom which was really great. She is an amazing woman and she has been through some incredible experiences. I really hope to be adventures and fun like her as I get older and become a mom!

            My placement/school has been running well. Not too many hitches except that some new volunteers came and they had no interest in being with the kids or working with us. I won’t lie – I am very protective and possessive of my kids. I know I don’t own them or anything, but after 7 weeks with them I truly would do anything to help them out and each one of them has a place in my heart. So, when a set of volunteers came (volunteers that were actually PAID with our tax dollars to come and paid to go on two extravagant safaris) it was hard to have them be disinterested in the kids and their learning progress. I am very invested in helping the kids at my school and making sure they have individual profiles, test scores and ways to track their progress. This is something I have been working on since I arrived and I’m very passionate about it. So, I am very tied to them and like to keep them moving forward and the other volunteers were a little bit difficult to work with. Otherwise, things have been great!! My kids are fun, they all like to yell “Teacher Jennica” when we are walking or driving away and they will always say they miss me when I’m gone. J I am in love with them, truly. I can’t even BEGIN to imagine leaving them.

            Things went pretty smoothly the following week until Wednesday. On Wednesday Becca was walking to Kaloleni by herself and a few children accompanied her. Becca has walked to Kaloleni alone quite a few times and it has never been a problem. This time, however, there was a young man waiting a mere 100 feet (if that) outside of the town’s edge on the path. This guy said hi to Becca and she said hello back and went on her way. A moment later she felt a tug on her shoulder and then saw the same guy running away with her purse. He had cut the strap of her bag with a knife and stole it!! She chased him quite a way until he disappeared into a forested area and then she ran back as fast as she could to Kaloleni. The minute one of the women heard what happened the ENTIRE community went out looking for this guy. They searched and searched and after Becca came back to Home Base they found a way to trap the guy and then Becca had to go back out to meet him. This meeting consisted of a Sibo, Ibrahim and Daniel taking Becca and Chelsea out to where he was (in the CCS van, mind you) and then accosting the guy and throwing him in the van and taking him to the police station. The entire day was so crazy. There was a lot of yelling and confusion and Becca was caught in the middle of it. It was a really PFS day…so we made sure the take good care of Becca after that.

            Since then we have done a lot of wonderful things and spent a lot of time with wonderful people!! I have been really glad that I can talk to people at home and stay plugged in.  It is also really great to make local friends and connections. This facilitates coming back next year (or anytime) and aids in my hope to pursue continual work here. I have to write a separate post about Ramsey’s day at Upendo with Sibo, the Upendo House and my feelings as of late. Amani na Upendo. 

Uru

I haven’t written in awhile, so I decided to post the most important things. The first post I will write is about my visit to Uru. I went on Tuesday with Becca and Sibo to meet the family that Sibo works with in Uru. The family consists of a bibi and four children. One of the children, Bertha, is nine years old and is the size of a two-year-old. She is severely disabled and usually just lies in the bed all day. She was born a healthy baby, but was submerged in unclean water before her belly button had completely healed/closed. She then developed an infection in her abdominal area and so the doctors tried to remove it. They used a syringe and sucked it out of her back. Unfortunately, the also took out a lot of her cerebral spinal fluid as well which left her disabled. The other three children are 2, 6 and 10 years old and they were left with the bibi by their mother. She had arrived one night and told the bibi that she needed a place to stay because she had left her husband. Bibi agreed and in the morning the mother “went to go get breakfast” and she never returned. This family lived in a stick and mud room that they shared with a few cows. The room had no floor, they have no bathroom and it had fecal matter in it as well. Bertha was in the corner of the room where she laid on a plastic lid.

When I went on Tuesday, the mud was the most intense mud I have ever encountered. Sibo’s car could not drive up the hill into Uru because it was so muddy and steep. Uru is located quite a ways past Rau up the slope of Kilimanjaro. We trekked up the hill to bibi’s home behind a local man that was barefooted and carrying two heavy tubs in both hands. It was amazing- but then again, this is Africa. When we got there the kids were covered in mud and the house was messy with flies all around. Bertha was on the bed and we taught bibi how to put a diaper on her. Her legs were the size of a chair leg, and she didn’t have any muscles. It was really shocking to actually touch her little legs. She is very beautiful, but it is hard to be around her and see the reality of this family’s situation. We gave the kids pieces of chocolate and they sucked on them and didn’t chew them because they wanted to preserve them. They also ate them with their muddy fingers – thus getting both mud and chocolate in their mouths. They also were very quiet and spoke kidogo Kiswahili when we spoke to them.

After visiting them and spending time looking that the land and thinking of how to help them move forward we walked back down the mud-covered hill. The people from Uru were trekking back up the hill barefooted while Becca and I took somall and precarious steps. It was really incredible to see this family firsthand because it solidified my reasons for being here. It really changed my perspective and my life and it made me so passionate about coming back. It is amazing how sharing a moment in someone else’s life can drastically alter your own. I don’t know that they will ever know how profound my experience with them was, but I feel very blessed to have met them.

After we met them we went back to the Home Base and my head was full of ideas and things we can do to help that community. Luckily, Sibo was already on it. On Thursday after placement we brought two vans full of the other volunteers back up to bibi’s house and we got to work.  We dug the hole for the bathroom (it was 6 feet and needed to be 12), we tilled the soil so she could have a garden and we spent time with a lot of kids (the neighbor kids and the kids that live with bibi). I held the smallest boy for awhile and he fell asleep in my arms!! Sibo told me that it is sometimes believed that if a small child falls asleep in your arms or on your lap you would have good luck J. It was nice to hear that! It made me feel even closer to Africa. This day of work was really amazing because Sibo was so happy and Becca was really pleased too. After cleaning extensively, creating the garden space and digging the hole we all felt really pleased with our work. It was rewarding to do the work together and we took a picture with the family and some neighbors afterward. It is great to look at each of our faces and see the very pure joy on each of our faces.

I remember coming home and feeling so full of joy and so peaceful. It is so rewarding to know that what you are doing can really help someone and to know that together we were changing someone’s life. I know coming to Africa is about being here and doing what we can for these people. I can’t wait to come back and do more work in the rural communities. As always, I apologize for being late and I love Africa. Ninakupenda sana! 

The Nairobi Post (finally).

            This weekend could also be referred to as – “best weekend ever”, “I want to live in Kenya weekend”, or “way awesome even though I fell into a man hole” weekend. I want to start off this blog post by quickly talking about the previous couple of days before my Friday excursion to Nairobi, Kenya. 

Thursday I went to Magereza instead of Faraja for placement. I got to meet Kira and Rachel’s kids and I really loved playing with Mwantume, Prosper and Edwardi! They were my favorites. I also had a lot of fun singing songs and dancing with them in the morning! They have a lot of cute songs that I really want to teach my kids. Their facility is also very nice. They have a playground, a sand box with tires and a large open area for songs. Each age group has their own classroom with desks, individual chalkboards and painted walls. The students and teachers have their own bathrooms and there is a room in which the kids eat their porridge during break time. Although it was really fun to hang out with her kids and with her I spent the whole day missing my kids. I literally could not wait to see them again on Friday, which also happened to be an amazing day! I taught a lot on Friday, we had songs and my kids colored these awesome fish I made. I also received numerous busu and I had my kids tell me they missed me…so basically it made my life to go to placement on Friday. Have you ever felt like you were meant to be somewhere and simultaneously feel the happiest that you have ever felt? I felt like this on Friday. I knew that these kids were changing my life and that being with them is the best thing I’ve ever done. I really found that my biggest dream of helping people in impoverished places is very close to my heart. I was sitting watching my kids with one on my lap and a few sitting around as we worked on Math and I knew right then and there that this was where I want to be.

Anyway, I am going to get back onto my Nairobi post because I have a lot to say. I will start with the Dar Express. We got to the station at 12:45 because the bus was to leave at 1:30. We made sandwiches after getting back from placement and hurried to the station to buy our tickets so that we were assured seats on the bus. Well, thanks to good ol’ TFT we didn’t even board the bus until an hour and a half after the posted leaving time. Woohoo, thanks TZ – good thing we got snacks. We boarded quickly and had to find seats as they came. We ended up sitting near each other but next to other people we didn’t know. This was alright, though because we were close enough to talk to each other. We settled in for the supposed 8-hour bus ride and set off for Nairobi. We stopped in Arusha, and we watched a creepy movie about a Mayan tribe and their enemies and after only a few hours we made it to the border! Once there we had to get out and go through the departure gate. We went into the little building and had them check our passports and then we literally walked across the border into Kenya. We went into a small area of land that was no man’s land – owned by neither Kenya nor Tanzania and as we went through the gate into Kenya we passed a sign that said “ You are now entering Kenya”. We all had a little moment of excitement before walking into the Immigration office on the Kenyan side and getting our visas to enter the country. This was incredibly fast and painless. It also only took maybe five minutes – which I found fun to compare to my 1 & ½ week wait for my TZ visa. It is incredibly easy to get into other countries in Africa…so that’s way awesome. I plan to come back many times so hopefully I’ll get to visit a lot of countries!

After officially entering Kenya we got back on the bus and drove for another few hours until we got into Nairobi. Initially, I was amazed at the freeway system and the copious amount of streetlights (something that TZ does NOT have). However, as we really got into the heart of the city I found myself in awe of everything! There were actual streetlights with signals (i.e. red, green, walk) and there were skyscrapers! It was incredible. We hadn’t been able to get neither Becca nor Amanda’s phones to work…so we were concerned that we would be stuck on the street once we stopped. Once our bus dropped us off there was an adorable man with missing teeth holding a sign that said, “REBECCA” on it. We were so happy and relieved to see him we got even more excited about Kenya. We soon discovered that it took around 35 minutes to get to our hostel. There were cars everywhere and people walking around and going places in outfits that were actually really cute (above the knee and off the shoulder)! We also passed a shoe store, which made me feel nostalgic for DSW, and other awesome stores and clubs! I immediately felt so happy and excited to be in a big city I just wanted to do everything! We all talked about how we wished we could stay a week instead of 2 days, and we had only been in the city for fifteen minutes! As we drove out of the center of town we started to wonder where we were going. Eventually we reached a dirt road in the pitch black darkness and we all started getting nervous. Our driver said, “I know you’re scared, but I’m taking you to Bush House”. We all sat in silence until we pulled up to a gate and a sign that read “Bush House”. We drove down the driveway and someone unlocked the gate and then we were there! We all laughed about how nervous we had been and then got our stuff and went inside.

The entry to our hostel was a tiled floor with cute couches and plants. The next room was the reception area that held sliding glass doors to the living room, stairs to the rooms and a couple of doors that led to the kitchen area and outside. The living room area had salmon colored carpet, a chandelier, lots of comfortable seating and a television that had cable on it! It was totally interesting to watch television again – it felt really foreign and it made me think I should be doing more productive. We watched a little bit of a football game between Germany and Austria and then before long I decided I wanted to go to bed. Our room was upstairs and at the end of the hall. It contained four sets of bunk beds and we got to share it with a sixteen-year-old boy from Atlanta. His name is Cooper and he decided to go to Nairobi on a whim and began working with these other women living in the hostel. Their project is to build, furnish and stock a new library within a small community outside of the city center. The rest of our night concluded with us spraying our room for mosquitos and settling down for the night. I had a hard time sleeping because I felt weird without my bug net (haha yay, I am accustomed to a bug net now) and because I was so excited for our day on Saturday!

Saturday morning we woke up and the hostel had offered to serve us breakfast. We met some nice people from Mombasa that were attending a wedding in the city that afternoon. I had yummy tea, pancakes and wheat toast! It was so great to eat a yummy breakfast and the view of the garden and backyard was really nice. After breakfast our car picked us up and we drove to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage.

At the orphanage we learned about the orphan elephants and we were able to watch them play and we even got to pet one! The youngest elephant was 26 months old, and she had a little blanket on her back to keep her warm. She followed one of the men around and stuck her trunk through his arms or wrapped it around his leg and if he moved she followed. It was adorable!! The elephants were orphaned either due to the death of the mother, they were found stuck down wells or in tough situations or they had been the victims of poaching and the mothers had been poached. The center helps to take care of the elephants by providing them with care, food and places to sleep if they are not ready to survive in the wild. People can adopt an elephant for $50 a year and they can see the elephant going to bed and stay with it when they are in Kenya. I won’t lie…I am seriously considering adopting an elephant. Each of the elephants has a name, and you can pick your elephant by looking through their profiles J. So so cute!! I also got a really incredible soapstone elephant and we saw some warthogs and a rhino. The rhino had an injury, so it was kind of sad to see…but the park was really wonderful overall. Each purchase goes toward the orphanage directly and helps the elephants – so I felt that purchasing an elephant here was a good idea.

Next, we went to the giraffe center where we got to kiss the giraffes!! Here we were given a couple of handfuls of food pellets and we went up to a elevated balcony where the giraffes would come and eat food from your hand. If you put the food pellet in your mouth, the giraffe will eat it right out of your mouth! This is how you “kiss” the giraffe. Good thing their saliva is a natural antiseptic, huh? After kissing the giraffes we went down to the lower level and fed one from our hands. It craned its neck down to out from our hands! It was really fun. The giraffe center also has a kindergarten art contest and it supports the vitality of schools. There is an educational speech given in the center room of the feeding area, and there are a lot of factual posters and information about animals as well. The giraffe center is part of a giraffe conservatory that also contains the giraffe manor. Here you pay to live and the giraffe’s live outside your window! When I go back to Nairobi I definitely want to stay there!

After the giraffe center we went to the crocodile park. This was due to a suggestion from our driver and once we got there he helped to find us an amazing guide named David. David was unbelievable! He was incredibly intelligent and very funny. He knew facts about America that even I didn’t know (i.e. the order of the faces on Mount Rushmore, the tallest mountain in America, the mountains in Europe etc.). If you know the answers to these as well…mega props to you! At the park we saw the calm group of crocodiles, the more aggressive group (this group had a blind female, a 50 year old crocodile and a female missing half of her lower jaw) and some babies! We got to hold a baby female and we took some sweet pictures with her. We also got to hold a 50 lb. turtle and her baby! The guide had us put the turtle on our heads and then try to lift it above our heads! This was really difficult, but fun! While TaChyla was waiting to hold the turtle another woman cut in front of her and took the turtle instead. Luckily for TK, the once the turtle was above the other lady’s head, it started to pee on her head! It was so funny and we joked about it being karma – but we did feel bad for the lady and helped her out. After the turtle we saw a gigantic bird’s nest, and we walked to an area that contained a large lake that people could sail on. There was a map of Africa and as you looked around the lake each part of the lake had a sign that corresponded to a country in Africa. This was really cool – the signs also had the country’s shape cut out and things that pertained to the country nearby. We walked around Egypt and went to see an ostrich, a peacock and peahen and a reticulated giraffe! These were all very cute, and while we walked there we looked at the wall carvings that depicted tribal traditions – particularly for the Massai.

We also saw a carving of a woman that was different from the typical Massai woman. This woman had wide hips and a flat face. This was interesting to see because it us an idea of other African tribal people. After the carving area we walked to see a reticulated giraffe, a female ostrich and a peacock and a peahen. The male ostrich had died a few years earlier because someone had fed it a lollipop and it got stuck in the ostrich’s intestines. L Super sad. The giraffe was really cute, and the peacock was quite beautiful. The peacock is the national bird of India, so I was pretty excited haha.

After leaving David our awesome guide we went drove through the edge of Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa (I believe it is the largest slum in East Africa). I wish I could explain this experience more accurately, but there truly isn’t a way to put words to it. Before going into the slum you drive up a little hill and you can see most of it. I literally gasped when we got to this point because it looked like something out of a film. I was instantly reminded of “Slumdog Millionaire”. You see an unbelievable amount of shoddy roofs packed next to each other very closely. As we began to drive in our driver told us about the people living in the slums. The people here walk to the city to go to work everyday. This walk is no less than 18 kilometers a day. The slum was also burned down around five years ago, so none of the structures in the slum were more than 5 years old. There were long stretches of trash on the side of the road and so many people just milling around. I could not believe how big the slum was…we were only driving beside it and it was overwhelming. The smell was unbelievable – it was almost hard to breathe – and the place itself brought all of us to tears. It was hard to hear that there were rich people living within the slum that just took advantage of the poor (this includes drug lords) and when we exited the slum area there were unbelievably nice houses at the edge of it! These houses belong to wealthy government officials. Seeing this was …overwhelming. It really made me think a lot about my life at home, about the things I have been given just because I got lucky and the times I have been selfish. It also made me think a lot about problems that don’t get addressed. It doesn’t make sense to me that these people have nothing and no one helps them. People in their own country, their own people will hurt them, neglect them and take advantage of them. Thinking about it now still brings me to tears. Seeing that just reinforced my belief that this is where I am supposed to be and what I need to be doing. I know that my life will be dedicated to helping people internationally because I can’t just sit around knowing that there are people in Kibera who have nothing and no help. It was really good to experience Kibera with my friends…it really did change me.

After Kibera we went out to lunch at a restaurant named Savannah that was located near the city center. This restaurant was really awesome! It reminded me of home, and it had delicious food. I was starving so my crumbed chicken jalapeño wrap and fries was well appreciated. After this we decided to just walk around and explore the city. I loved doing this because it was like a big city at home – just in Africa. There were a ton of shops and a lot of great tall buildings and things to see. While walking we stopped in a shoe store (of course) where I found out that I am a size 3 here haha! We also stopped at a market and I got some great souvenirs. We had decided to go out to a club called Gypsy that night, and we wanted to stop at the bus station beforehand to buy our tickets for our ride home the next day. We had to hurry to get there before they closed, so we started booking it. Becca and Kira were ahead of Amanda, TaChyla and I and we reached a busy street with a lot of cars that were not obeying the traffic light. Becca and Kira hurried across the first stretch to a small island and then started to cross to the other sidewalk. I had barely reached the island when they began to cross again, so I did not look down at where I was stepping. Bad idea. There had been a manhole covered in cement, but a part of the cement had crumbled away near the corner. I had not looked down, so when I saw them going I immediately went to follow and before I knew it, my left leg had slipped through the crack and I had fallen. At the time I was watching my water bottle roll across the street and thought, “eff, I paid $2 for the giant waterbottle!”  I then quickly pulled my leg out of the manhole and looked down to find a HUGE scrape on my thigh. I ran across the street and stopped on the sidewalk. Even though my leg didn’t hurt, the whole experience was scary. I also apologized for falling (weird, I know) and asked if it was going to scar. By the time I had gotten to the sidewalk Becca was almost down the block, she ran back and saw my leg and quickly busted out her first aid kit. Some things to know about Becca are that she is very prepared and incredibly intelligent. She also keeps calm in any situation, and she is an amazing friend. Haha, yeah I love her if you couldn’t tell. She cleaned my cut with baby wipes from my bag and an alcohol pad (that killed). She then pulled out a pad – yes a female pad – from her little kit and stuck it on my bleeding leg! She used Band-Aids to stick it to my leg, and then I was ready to go! I got really lucky with the fall because the scrape is only a surface scrape – so it won’t scar and it heals quickly! The only downfall to the surface scrape is that it hurt really badly the first two days. I also received a bruise that was black as night on my inner thigh, and a bunch of other bruises around my leg. Though this experience sucked – I am pretty happy to say that if I were going to fall through a manhole I am glad it was in Kenya and I had a pad put on my leg on the sidewalk in Nairobi!! I wanted to tell everyone some outlandish and intense story about how my leg became scraped – but I couldn’t think of a believable one. The boys at CCS did tell me it looked badass and Kira told me I was gnarly when Becca cleaned it later and I just sang, “this really hurts” instead of crying haha.

After my leg incident our driver picked us up and we went to an area called Westland. Here is where Gypsy is located, but we had some time to kill before it was club-going time. We decided to go to a mall around the corner and it was 4 levels!! There were a lot of shops and there was also an Egyptian fair going on.  A lot of people from Egypt had set up stands and were selling all kinds of things! Tachyla and I bought some really beautiful necklaces and Becca got some pretzels (which she had been craving). After this Becca and I went upstairs and found a really nice bathroom where we cleaned my wound for around an hour. While we were doing this a lot of women came in and said they were so sorry and were really kind. An elderly woman came and said she would pray for me, which was very sweet! After we cleaned my wound we decided to go see the Hangover 2! It was only $5!! It was really funny and I also saw a preview for Harry Potter, which made me really excited. I want to go back to Nairobi to see it when it comes out!!

After our movie we went back to the hostel. Everyone there was very nice about my wound, and they all helped me by getting Neosporin and ice for my swollen leg. The next day we had to get up around 5 so that we could get to the bus stop in time for the 6:30 bus (which also happens to be the only one back to TZ). Well, we got up early and our hostel made us breakfast even though it was only 5 a.m.! We were at the bus station by 5:45, waiting for it to open at six. When we got in there was a sign that listed the train and the prices for the trip – to Moshi it was 1,500 Ksh (which is equivalent to around 15 USD) and to Dar Es Salaam it was 3,500 Ksh. The exchange rate in Kenya is 86 Ksh to $1 – so 1000 shillings is around 12 USD. Well…we were the first people in the station and when we asked to go to Moshi the woman told us to wait. She said there were six seats as well. Within five minutes of other people coming and buying tickets we had been told there were no seats for Moshi and a guy told us to go to another station. This required us to follow a grumpy dude through a creepy alley and into a new station where they said all of their buses were full. By this time we were all frustrated, but we were also determined to get home. We went back to the first station and said we had to get on the bus. Of course, they finally let us but we each had to pay 3,500 Ksh instead of 1,500. Fantastic, right? I can’t say I wasn’t surprised though – they know we have money and they put us in a position in which we relied on them…so they got to cheat us out of our money. So we ended up paying almost $40 to get home – but it was worth it because we got there.

I slept almost the entire ride home, and we ended up back in Moshi around 11:30 a.m. On our way back we found a tiny baby hedgehog that Becca named Nairobi. Very fitting. He was injured, so we brought him back to CCS and fed him some watermelon. I spent the rest of the day taking care of my leg and getting ready for school the next day. The new volunteers had gone on safari, so I got to hear a lot of good stories when they got back!! TaChyla and I also had a great heart to heart, in which time I deduced that she is my soulmate J. All in all, Kenya was an unbelievable experience and I cannot wait to go back!

Ninakupenda Afrika. Fanya Kweli . Until I write/post again!! 

subiri kidogo.

Today the group of new volunteers went on the Marangu hike. This meant that I had my little munchkins to myself today. It was a pretty fun day, minus the fact that I thought I had malaria and felt awful this morning!! I woke up with at least sixty bug bites this morning. A lot on my arms, some on my right leg, a bunch on my upper back and a few on my neck! It sucked so badly, I couldn’t believe it. Not to mention that I also hadn’t really eaten dinner last night and ate a small breakfast today – which led to me feeling weak. I think that my problem was that I ate too little the past couple of days, not malaria. I still had a mini scare this morning though what with waking up covered in bites and feeling light headed and nauseous. Never come to Africa and forget to lather yourself in deet. I must have received them all last evening when I wasn’t wearing a lot of bug spray! Ahhh. So awful.

            Despite feeling ill I went to placement and I was really affected by watching my kids today. It was a pretty average day except one of my littlest ones got really scared and ran to my side so I cuddled with him and comforted him for awhile today. One of the teachers hit his leg with a plastic ruler (which was really upsetting for me) and he got terrified of the sound and the pain and came running to me. I just took care of him until he calmed down and felt better. I also watched a lot of things that made me reflect on the difference between here and my home and the reality of the lives of children here. One thing that happened was that two cute girls in my class came to me and said, “mwalimu angalia!!” and as I turned I saw that they had a marble. This green orb became a treasured possession as these cute girls began to pass it to each other and roll it around on the step. Immediately after this one of my boys called for my attention and he had bunched a black plastic bag into a ball and was kicking it excitedly. Soon the ball fell apart and he was hitting the bag and making it bounce around. It is so beautiful how children are able to find joy in simple things and are also able to love life itself. These kids were playing with a marble and a plastic bag and they had the biggest and brightest smiles I have ever seen. I thought about kids at home who have balls and toys and jerseys and whatnot and I thought about the fragility of life and the necessity for joy. I know that these kids have very little, but what they do have is big. In many ways these people are so much more rich than I am…and I am so happy I can learn from them.

            We also took Kira to get her yellow fever shot for Kenya today. I am so glad she can come with us!! I am also unbelievably excited for Kenya…woohoo! I think I will love every moment. This is because it is Kenya and also because I am going with my favorite humans J. While waiting for Kira to get her shot I sat with one of our local volunteers Daniel and talked about his future aspirations. I was amazed by him and I realized that his dreams are so important for the world and so meaningful! As a twenty year old he has already begun to create a nutrition-based initiative for kids in Tanzania. He began by providing chickens for the kids at the juvenile detention center so that they could have a source of protein in the form of both eggs and the meat of the chickens. He now wants to start and NGO that will provide both education and healthy food to families in need in TZ. Super incredible, I know. J

The rest of the day was pretty normal. I basically hung out, did my laundry, watched some movies with the friends and we played with a hedgehog! I love Africa so much and I am so happy to be here. Now it is time to take some Benadryl, coat myself in anti-itch stuff and tuck in the net! Lala salama. (oh p.s. I am getting so much better at my Swahili! The fluency by August plan is in the works!)

"subiri kidogo" - 1. wait a moment. 2. a phrase I know all too well. 

Salama.

Okay, so I'm pretty sure I was born to do this. I basically cannot believe that I am here and living out this dream!! Today was a great day. The new volunteers came to placement today!! I had Katyann and Hannah with me and the kids sang them some songs and we worked on math today. After Math we had Kiswahili and then we played a lot of fun games for breaky time. (I thought saying breaky was appropriate since I'm becoming a Tanzanian). Games were fun, as always and I was so happy to hear that both Hannah and Katyann had an amazing time at placement. They are great girls and since Katyann is here for 8 weeks I'm positive we'll become tigga tight :).

Octavio and I made a weekly schedule today as well. This was exciting for him...he really wanted to make it so I was glad to help him out with it. He is such a great volunteer and a great friend - he is great with the kids, passionate about learning and excited about helping the volunteers from CCS! I also got a really cute dress from Unique!! Woohoo!

I decided to create individual profiles for each of my kids. This will consist of a standardized test that I give to the whole class and also tests that will assess each of the kids' individual skills in Math and English. I plan to create three separate tests that will challenge each level of understanding that exists in my classroom and then add a picture and a chart that is used to keep track of progress as well. These profiles will be really useful for the school and for the future volunteers at Faraja.

Last  but not least we went out for Corinne's last night tonight. :( She is such a loving and wonderufl person and friend, and I just can't believe she's leaving! Though I don't want to say goodbye to Corinne hanging out at Kool Bar was really fun! We brought a ton of the new volunteers with us and we all crammed into Mussa's car on the way there! The new volunteers all had a lot of fun and we were home by curfew - so no worries there. I loved having them there and even though we waited for our Africa theme song for a million years I got to jam to it 5 times when I got home...so it's okay.

Now I am about to lala salama so I can get up for placement tomorrow!! I will write more intelligent and in-depth things tomorrow. As always, I love Africa.

Juma tatu.

Today was my first (and probably only) day without a fellow volunteer. This was interesting and somewhat difficult. First, it was a Monday. Mondays seem to be the hardest days at our school. Perhaps it is because the kids have had a weekend without school or that they are more tired on Mondays, but I feel like we get at least four criers each and every Monday.  Today my favorite munchkin cried a few times – but some of it was about things she didn’t need to cry about, such as her book not coming soon enough and the boy next to her touching her haha. Oh well, she got over both of them very quickly.

            I forgot to talk about two parts of my weekend that were really great! One was that we went to a football (soccer, for you US friends) game on Friday. It was at Moshi Secondary School and it was between two teams that agreed to play a game. This agreement was really cool because they played for a man named Jumane who hasn’t been able to see a game in a long time. Jumane was a shut-in who had been in his house for a long time due to his illnesses and his fear of being stigmatized. He had become ostracized once he had become diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and he also developed other problems due to his lack of nourishment and his lifestyle. When he was first visited he could only sit up by himself. When we attended the game with him he could walk a little bit! He is a wonderful man, and it was great to give him joy and letting him watch his favorite sport. The game went well, and a couple of our friends – Leo and Amani – played in it as well!! We also attended the nearby Catholic Church on Sunday. It was really beautiful and very big! There were many pews and the windows were beautiful pastel colors! The kneelers were wooden, so kneeling during the service was painful, but still worth it. The singing was led by a choir of children that sat at the front of the church. There was a little voice that rose above the rest and it was so adorable! We sat near the back and only Becca and TaChyla went up for offering. I hope that next time I can participate in offering, if not communion as well. There were a lot of people at the church, and before we went in we waited outside for the other service to end and a lot of cute kids sat and stared at us. I feel like if I ever get stared at again it will feel normal after being a mzungu for 3 months. It was also wonderful so see everyone dressed up for church! With the bright colors it was really amazing J.

            After placement today mwalimu Jane and Octavio came back to CCS with me. On our way we picked up TaChyla from Majengo Clinic and I got to hear about her day working in the lab! Once I got back we hung out for a while and then lunchtime came!! We had a yummy lunch and because the teachers from each placement were with us we got to have soda! (haha even though I do not drink soda at home…since carbonated things are safe I drink it here. They are also crazy about Coke here, so it’s an easy and inexpensive choice on a hot day). We sometimes have Fanta as well, but it makes me sick because it’s so sweet. I think I will document my journey to and from placement tomorrow so that I can create a clearer picture of my morning drive for everyone.

            Today as Sam and I drove to placement he helped me practice some Swahili, which was a lot of fun. I really hope to be very proficient by the time I come home in August. I also have no doubt in my mind that I will be coming back here for a while – if not to build a new place for kids than to work here again and see all of my friends.

            We also decided to go the Women’s Education and Economic Center for Empowerment (WEECE) today. We had Paul drive us and once we passed the Secondary School and KCMC Hospital we decided to get out and just walk down the path that WEECE is off of. Amanda (my lovely Canadian) had been there before, so we figured we would just follow her. Unfortunately, she had only been there twice and all of the streets look the same. This led to us walking up and down the main road for thirty or so minutes and looking down every hedge or bush lined path. Finally we stopped once we got close to the end of the road and to KCMC and called Paul again. He had called Athmani and had found out the location of WEECE and had called us back to make sure we were okay. Once we called back and told him we were officially lost, he picked us up and drove us there. This was quite a funny experience because as we were sitting waiting for him a lot of taxi cars stopped and asked us if we wanted rides. We thought this was strange until we found out that we were standing at a unidentified bus stop. We also were laughing while looking around because the side of the road had a ditch and a tiny place to walk on the side closest to the shops and hedges. This little path was ridiculously rocky and uneven and TaChyla and I kept joking about how one of us would break an ankle. Luckily, we didn’t break an ankle and I found a cute fabric and I am getting a one-shoulder dress made! Amanda felt really bad about our wandering around adventure, but I had a lot of fun and it didn’t bother me at all.

            We then had a nice 30-minute walk back to the Home Base and it was quite beautiful. After we got back we ate dinner, I watched the rest of limitless and now I’m preparing for school tomorrow. I can’t wait to see my kids and have our new volunteers come and meet them! Woohoo! I hope tonight I sleep well and don’t need my earplugs because basically I Kira had to wake me up this morning because I slept through my alarm! Everyday I love Africa more and more…and I didn’t even think was possible. J I want to move here! Ninakupenda Africa. Tutaonana rafikis. 

Week Three. Safi Sana, Ninakupenda Afrika!!!

Okay, since I took a million years to finish my Safari experience I am going to try to put my past week (Monday through last night) into this one post. The end of this week officially marks the end of the daily scheduled program/routine. This also means that a few of my beloved volunteers are leaving, which really sucks. I will start off by saying that Monday was pretty ordinary. I went to placement and it was lovely, it was so fun to see my kids and this day my most favorite child Glory pulled me to her and said, “mwalimu, I love you” and kissed me on the cheek! The rush of love I felt at this moment was ridiculous! I seriously can’t think of anything better than just loving on kids who need it. Haha, so basically I just love my life. This was also the first day that we got to meet the new Tanzania Program Manager, Katie. She is so cute! It was really fun to get to know her and to be able to tell someone in person how we felt about our experience prior to arriving here and to really help her understand the reality of our situation. She is also very personable and fun to hang out with so I really enjoyed getting to know her.

In the evening we received a batiking lesson from Sam, the best Batik-maker I’ve ever met. He is ridiculously good at making Batik and he is also an incredibly generous and kind guy! I decided to make a really cute batik for my mom, but I will probably make another one because a splotch got on it L! The Batik process is interesting. It begins with a blank cloth. You sketch your design on the cloth in pencil and re-trace it a few times so that it is dark. Once you are finished with your drawing you take it to make the background. This is done by taking a sponge and a small amount of color and sweeping it over the back of the cloth. They use whatever colors you want (oranges, yellows, red and blues). They also use a paintbrush to create definition in the sky and they often leave a white circle to make the sunset. It is really incredible to watch them do this because it seems effortless. After they apply the background you go sit by burning coals and dry your batik. This takes awhile, but it was exciting because I had never done Batik before! After drying you go to the wax station. Here you have to brush hot wax over the pieces of the painting that you don’t want to become black. Basically you are outlining your forms and waxing your entire background. After this step you head back to the dye and apply the black ink with a paintbrush to everything that remains unwaxed. This is really fun because you finally are seeing your painting and the forms you created! It is important to have drawn your design dark and very carefully because the ink from the background is bright and you need to be able to see the penciled in areas in order to wax around them. After the black ink stage you return to the fire and dry again. After this stage you go back to the wax and brush the entire thing with wax so the batik is completely covered. Once the wax dries (in a few seconds) you go to a tarp and begin to scrub your painting. You crumple it up and scrub it together to get the wax off. This also causes you to get wax all over yourself, if you’re not careful J. After the wax removal stage you take your batik to be ironed. This was my favorite part of the process because as the iron sweeps over your painting the colors transform. They become bright and vibrant on your painting and it really comes to life! After this stage you finish your batik by applying the black ink to fix small spots or add small details. This part is fun because you can use your artistic skills to finish your painting. Then the finished product has to dry and then you have your batik! Woohoo!

Tuesday I went to placement and it was fun, as usual.  Joan and I taught them more words and they worked on arithmetic a lot this day. We also sang a bunch of songs and danced around the room, which was very fun for the kids. I have noticed that my kids tend to be very behaved in the classroom and it seems as though they feel that the classroom is a place of somber learning. I am hoping to break this mold by introducing excitement and fun into their learning environment. I hope I can show Mr. Masawe that learning can be really fun and rewarding for the kids, not just an environment where things are tied to a strict regime. Tuesday evening Richard taught us about traditional healing. I found some of this talk really wild because some of the customs and beliefs attached to traditional healing practices are quite strange. The mother peeing on the child before they are treated, or the pot surrounded by animal intestines and the concept of flying –all very intriguing stuff. I was exhausted during this talk, so I didn’t take a lot of notes. After this we went back to our room and Kira and I passed out and we missed Swahili because we were sleeping. Then we got up and we prepared for our Marangu hike the next day.

On Wednesday we got to sleep in a little bit, which as really nice. We left for our Marangu day around 8:30 (which in TZ time was closer to 9). We did the hike last, so our first stop was a blacksmith’s shop. This was cool because it was an authentic blacksmith shop where men were actually melting and shaping souvenirs and tools. We got to sit and try fanning the flame and I got a souvenir for Harry J. We also saw a really cute chameleon while we were there; we managed to snap a few pictures before the man wanted to charge us to take them. After the blacksmith’s shop we went into the village nearby and got to walk around a market. Here there were a lot of vegetables, the croc-like shoes that all of the kids wear and a stand selling cloth. The beans and fruits were arranged really beautifully. Unfortunately we were unable to take pictures because the people in the market do not like to be photographed. I managed to sneak one picture through a crack in the fabric stall…I will post it soon. It is mostly full of ndizis.

After wandering around the market we left and went to the site of a Chagga cave. At the cave we sat under a white gazebo and we were told the story of the Chagga and the caves. The Chagga people are known for their intelligence and creativity. Chagga own most of the businesses and shops here. Though they may be run or worked by people of other tribes, the Chagga tend to be the owners and main businessmen and women. The caves were used back before colonization against enemy tribes (mostly Massai) and if they needed to hide. Inside the cave you have to crawl after dropping down through the entryway. After crawling a little way you reach a spot where Chagga soldiers would be hiding in case you were an enemy. This was a large space off of the path in which two people could stand. In the past the men would be there with their weapons ready. After this spot you continue to crawl until you reach a large open space. This part of the cave was used as a kitchen, a living/sleeping area and a place to house cows. There is one more crawl space and then a small room attached to a chute-like path that was used as a garbage disposal area. The smaller room was a meeting area and a place for planning and hiding. One more path led us to the cave exit. Once out of the cave we were free to walk around and we saw a really cute turtle! We then left the caves and drove to a hotel called Kilimanjaro. This hotel was really posh – it resembled a nice hotel in the US and had beautiful gardens. We ate our box lunches here and it was fun to sit together and eat. After this we walked to the Chagga Live Museum where a man named Edwardi guided us. He was so happy to teach about Chagga culture and their customs. We got to go into a hut in where a cow was and it was surprisingly big! Edwardi explained the history of the homes and how they were used for housing animals as well as humans. Similar to the Massai, the Chagga had multiple wives and many children. The huts have grass and leaf roofs, which allow them to be breathable if there is a fire lit inside and to allow for air to move through during the day and night. During the tour we also got to see traditional beer making pots, corn sifters, cups, drums and other utensils used by the Chagga tribes.

After the Chagga tour we went on our hike to Marangu Falls. On our way to the hiking area we passed through a neighborhood. There was a service of some kidn going on and the people were singing a beautiful song. It contained amazing harmonies and amazing rhythm. I was captured by the music and wished I knew the song so I could have sung along with them! We also passed some colorful graves hidden in-between the large banana plants. This was an interesting sight to see, but it was also very cool to see the care they had given their deceased.

The hike to Marangu Falls began at a small thatched hut that covered some benches. The beginning of the trail opened up here and it consisted of many slippery “steps” leading to the waterfall site. There were fences made out of branches lining the stairs, but even so it we had to travel polepole in order to not slip. Near the end of the path one of our volunteers did slip and ended up in a V-shape halfway under the fence’s edge. Luckily, we had mom Becca with us to mend her back and make sure she was okay. At the end of the trail there was a ladder and then we were at the waterfall sight! When Rachel and I first arrived at the waterfall we couldn’t believe it. The sun was filtering through the trees right at the opening of the waterfall’s edge. It started to cloud up again within a few minutes and it became very picturesque. A few of us climbed onto a rock that was in the river and Kira, Becca and I got a really cute roomie picture in front of the waterfall. After the waterfall we came back home and had the best dinner I have ever eaten in TZ. Primo made amazing baked potatoes, grilled veggie skewers, pork, chicken, pasta salad and the best garlic bread in the world. I was in heaven. I could seriously eat that meal every night.

The next day placement was really fun! I took my guitar and taught them “this little light of mine” and they loved it! I gave each of them a chance to strum the guitar while I held the chords down and they loved it. We then sang the song and walked in a circle and they would come and strum my string while they passed. It was fun to share this with them because they all had huge smiles and bright faces! After placement we went to Mawenzi clinic. It was an interesting but difficult experience because the conditions in the clinic were very poor and it was hard to see the sick people lying in rooms that were set up like old WWI clinics. They also had mental instability wards and when we entered into one the left side was all barred shut and it contained the “unstable” patients, while the right side had patients that were stable and close to being released. This place was difficult to see and I was glad to leave the clinic soon after that. Thursday night we decided to go out to dinner at Union Café instead of going to the Shaky Shaky again. Ari, Becca, Kira, Laura, Hayley, Susan, Mark and I all ate here. Two things made this awesome: it was Hayley and Laura’s second to last night with us so it was fun to go out with them and the food was so good. I got a cheese pizza and shared some fries – yum yum yum!! After dinner we went back to the Home Base and I prepared myself for Joan’s last day at Faraja L!

Friday was a bittersweet but fun day. At school we sung and I played “This Little Light of Mine” again, and Joan had made play-dough the night before in a lot of colors and we took that for the kids to sculpt things during art time. I saw a lot of people and a lot of cars, which I found very interesting. I also saw plus signs and English letters, which was really cute. The kids loved mixing the colors and a lot of them wanted our help in making their creations. I made a cute giraffe – I took a picture of it J. It was really fun to sing again because the kids had remembered the song well and it was encouraging. Firday was also Casey's birthday!! Woohoo!! I am so grateful to have him in my life, and I was able to give him a few birthday surprises thanks to my amazing mom's help!! Friday evening we went out for Mark, Ari and Corrine’s last Friday night with us. We went to Glacier for a long time and then to La Liga. It was a blast! TaChyla came with us and I loved it – we all had fun talking and we danced the night away! I had so much fun I didn’t even realize how late it was before we left! Luckily we got to sleep in on Saturday. This was also the day we had to say goodbye to Joan, Manuela, Hayley and Laura. I really hated having to say goodbye to them…I didn’t realize how attached to them I had gotten until they were driving away! I don’t know if I can do very many more goodbyes from here.

Saturday was also the day that the new volunteers arrived. There are 26 of them, so our houses are totally full now! We got a new roommate – Erinn, and she is a 3-weeker and really nice! I really like all of them and I think we’ll all have a good time together. I also got 3 new girls at my placement! I hope we have a great time together. Having them will allow us to give the kids more individual attention. Katyann is here and I totally love her. I am so excited to work with her at my placement. She is also so excited to be here and to meet the kids; it is fun to be around someone so excited and passionate!! Though it is harder with more people in the house, I think it will be a good time. Plus a lot of them leave after 2 weeks – so we’ll have a little more breathing room. I hope I can adjust well to new volunteers coming and going….I just will be so sad when Kira leaves and I am pretty sure I won’t know how to live without Becca when we part ways! I love the people here, and as you all know by now I really don’t even want to leave! I plan to come back more than once and I hope to really make an influence in the lives of children here. I have already planned my future service-related trips – Thailand, Costa Rica, India and Morocco. Haha, nerdy I know. I can’t wait to just be in different places and loving tons of different kids. It just feels so right to be here and to be with the people here. I know there is a need everywhere, but fulfilling this dream continues to be the best thing I have ever done. Everyday I continue to grow and learn so many things about my place in the world around me and I am so grateful for my support system at home that allows me to do this without fear or trepidation. I am so blessed! I hope everyone at home is doing well, and I am so so proud of and happy for Casey for buying a house!! I know he has been looking forward to it for a long time so congratulations to him and I can’t wait to see it! J Well everyone, tutaonana! Salama! Ninakupenda Africa. 

Glory and I - she is the love of my life and I want to bring her home!!! 

My roomies and I at the Marangu waterfall!! love them.