Forever In Our Hearts...

It has taken me some time to come back to this blog and finish telling you all the story of my trip to Tanzania. I returned home just a few weeks ago, full of unexplainable emotion. The trip was absolutely amazing; beautiful, eye-opening, inspiring, formative, and heart-breaking. My fellow volunteers and I experienced many ups and downs together, one of which will forever be imprinted in our minds and our hearts.

As some of you know, and many of you don't, there was a terribly tragic accident that happened on September 12th. Seven of our friends and fellow volunteers left the home base that afternoon, with great excitement and anticipation for a weekend safari. Unfortunately, none of them made it to safari. On the way to their campsite on Friday evening, they were all involved in a horrible car accident. Six of my friends were hospitalized, and one, Elizabeth, did not make it.

It wasn't until Saturday morning that the rest of us were informed of this tragedy. We were woken by our program manager, Mama Grace and the program director, Moses Polepole. Together, hand-in-hand, we sat around our living room as they told us what had happened. We were shocked, full of disbelief and most of all, heartache. Even as I write this now, it is hard for me to understand and accept what we were told that day. Our fellow-volunteer and friend, Elizabeth will never ever be forgotten.

Our six friends who thankfully did make it home to us (Lindsay, Laura, Liz, Marci, Chiara and Naomi) are stronger than I could ever imagine to be. When they returned home that unforgettable Saturday, we all embraced them with hugs and comfort. We will forever be bounded together by this, and we will forever remember our dear friend, Elizabeth... who was taken away from us all too soon.

Please take a moment to think of and pray for Elizabeth and for all of her family and friends. She touched so many lives in such a short time. We miss you and love you, Elizabeth.

Click the following link to read more about Elizabeth's life:
Remembering Elizabeth

One More :)

OK, now I really have to go! This is my first grade class... waving hello to all of you!

Finally... A Picture!

Hello Friends!

Well, I know you are all anxious to see some pics from my trip. Believe me, I am anxious to show them all to you (all 2,000 of them!), but it has been nearly impossible for me to get any up here! This picture alone has taken about 35 minutes to load :-P.

This is a picture taken at school a few weeks ago. I'll add more once I get home! My time is up now at the internet cafe. I'll write more this weekend when I get some down time.

How friendly the locals are

News from Jack -
Hey guys,

Last night we had dinner at one of Allison's local friend's house. It was a lot of fun. We walked into his house and they had all the food prepared on the floor and we all ate sitting on the floor. We then walked down to a "bar" which is a bunch of plastic lawn furniture on the side of a dirt road with a woman behind bars who serves beer as well as other household items (toilet paper, cigarettes, candies etc.). We just sat out and talked for a while. It was the first time that I got really cold in Africa.

Today our school had exams so we spent the morning at a local orphanage. It was a lot of fun just playing with the kids who are very sweet. The guy who runs the orphanage seems to be making a lot of progress with these kids. He has them do farm work and "self-reliance training" so that when they go back to the villages they have sustainable skills.

It was really cool...and really dirty :-P

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Hi.. me again :)

Let me just clarify that we had a FEAST at my friend, Mussa's house last night! He had invited us over a few days ago, and when we arrived they (Mussa and about 10 of his friends) had everything ready, all laid out in the living room like a huge delicious picnic. They had obviously prepared for hours, and I thought it was really sweet all the prep that went into our little dinner-party.

Visit to a New Orphanage
Today I had a great time at the orphanage. When we first got there, our driver Cyppy said, "OK That's it..." and pointed to a run-down shack that was supposedly an orphanage that houses 20+ kids... I thought in my head, "is he serious?" Luckily, first impressions can be very deceiving. While the place was a little more run down than the other orphanage I had been to, I actually think the kids are taken care of much better. The main guy in charge (Mr. Mambo) was very nice, and clearly cares about helping these kids. The kids were very sweet, eager to play, but not quite as needy and quick to attach as at the other orphanage we had gone to. Aside from a few games, for most of the morning I sat on a couch with the kids and read with them. Some of the older children are very good at reading in English! Much better than I could do with reading Swahili ;).
OK I've got to run because Libby and Jack are waiting outside for me...

Love you guys so much!! Write back!!!

Love, Allison

Africa from Jack's perspective!

As before, because of computer issues in Moshi, I have posted, with Allison's okay, some excerpts from Allison's emails. This time I am sending along some of her fiance Jack's observations.

Upon arrival - One word to describe Africa = craziness

Allison is Angelina Jolie at her school and the kids absolutely ADORE her as do the teachers. In fact when we graded their exams, the parts that the children did well on were the parts that Allison and Libby taught.

The people here are all super nice but I am not sure that I will get used to the casual soldiers walking around with AK 47's. But everyone else is incredibly nice to us gringos (Muzungu's).

This is truly an incredible experience for Allison. And I am so amazed and impressed at the way she handles herself. She has completely integrated herself into the local culture and you all should be proud of how well she is doing. Maybe a little too well bc I am not sure if this one will be coming home any time soon ;-)

So on Friday at school Allison and Libby had the great idea to take individual photos of each child and then hand them out to the kids. It was awesome. The teacher called their names and everyone clapped for them like an award...oh, and Allison's mom had sent pencils to me which we gave to them also. Allison also had the idea to do some arts and crafts and have them trace their hands and write some things on it. It was a lot of fun for everyone and I got some great pictures of the children. We'll get them on the blog when I get back to the US.

At break time Allison brought a soccer ball she had purchased and I played with the kids. Well, they kicked the ball around and I followed it and tried not to step on anyone :-)

Let me just say again how amazing it is that Allison is doing all this work. I could not imagine doing this in this environment and she is absolutely flourishing. I am merely helping out for eight days at the school but she is the one who is here for an extended period of time and who wants to stay. She is the one making the difference...I'm just grabbing superwoman's coattails :-P You all should truly be proud of her and all that she's done.

Time off to explore - Allison and I spent this weekend at the base of Kilimanjaro. It was awesome. We relaxed on Friday and had a nice dinner overlooking the mountain peak as well as our monkey-infested bordering trees :-) Saturday we did a 6 hour hike up and down Kilimanjaro. It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of beautiful rainforest.

We were exhausted after the hike. The altitude is really hard to deal with and we got as high as 2575meters so it was difficult to breath but we made it. Today we walked around the hotel which had beautiful gardens, then came back to Moshi and are currently walking around downtown, being very local :-).

The hotel I stay in is $25 USD/night. It's fine, nothing posh about it, but the funny thing is that there are little lizards that live in our bathroom. There are lizards everywhere but for some reason they hang out in my bathroom a lot. We named the big one Lizzy.

Allison who I knew to be the one to take 45 minute showers, only eat the good cheese, and spend a lot of time looking around the store Anthropologie had left this world and we are left with the hippie, head-wrap-wearing, hakuna-matata Allison-in-Africa. I got some great pics that I will send to you all once I am back in America. I showed one to Allison at the school and she said, "oh my god, I look like such a hippie"...you would have been proud, Susan.


Back to work - So, lots to tell...

Last night we had dinner at our teacher's house. (Insert from Mom - do you notice the word "our" teacher?) Needless to say we were apprehensive about it since we thought it might be awkward, coupled with the fact that we don't speak swahili. We met after school and walked to her house (apartment). It was nice and actually a lot of fun. We watched some so-called "football" game on tv while Rhoda (teacher) prepared the food. We ate "Casava" which is like a root or a potato. Let me try and paint the picture for you: it looks like pineapple/potato served in a white/clear sauce. Not exactly the most appetising appearance...BUT, it really wasn't too bad. In fact, I had two helpings both to be polite and bc it was yummy. It was incredibly filling which is probably why it is an African staple: cheap way to get full for a long time. We also drank "milk-tea" which is another staple of Africa along with "bites" which are homemade plain donuts...that I LOVE :-)

Today at school the kids were kind of crazy. The swahili-speaking teachers left us alone with the kids which makes it close to impossible to discipline them. But we were able to play some games including an english-numbers game where we showed them a number and they had to say it in English and then their team would get a point. At one point Allison and her co-Munzungu (swahili for Gringo) teacher, Libby were outside disciplining one student (yes, they got that bad that we had to throw one student out of the classroom) and I was left alone in front of the class. I wasn't quit certain how I got myself into this position! I am suppose to be on vacation! Allison said at one point she heard me yell "if you don't sit down, we're not going to play the game!" Now keep in mind these kids do not speak English well enough to understand that...but I figured that they would get what I meant by my tone and they did...sort of.

We then had lunch at Allison's homebase and they made these yummy vege-balls and noodles. The food here is really good. After lunch I played a little soccer with some of the local volunteers. That might have been the highlight of my trip :-)

Courtesy to our host - Live Chicken! We have dinner tonight at a local's house...we jokingly said that we should bring a chicken as a dinner-present (where am I that this is acceptable??!!).

Note from Allison - Gotta run now... but let me just clarify - when Jack said we might bring a chicken he was talking about a LIVE chicken. When you go to someones home, it is polite to bring something that they can use... such as sugar, flour, rice, etc. Last night we brought sugar and rice to Rhoda's house. People also bring things such as Chickens...you see people walking down the street holding chickens all the time... so I thought it might be fun!

Lots more to see in Africa - The schools have tests on Thursday so Allison and I are thinking about doing a day-safari in the Arusha national park with her friend Jafari (safari with Jafari :-)

The lizards are still all over my room. At least there are no mosquitoes (that I am aware of) Not gonna lie, I will not miss the lizards, spiders, bed nets, bug spray, and mosquitoes...oh and the dust, lack of hot water and "showers." Ok, western lens has been removed....just had to vent for two seconds.

Mambo!!

Well, the internet at the home base is no longer working, which makes it much harder for me to post to my blog. So, to all of my friends - my apologies for my lack of contact.

I have so much to report, I don't even know where to begin. Jack (my fiance) decided to come visit me here, and arrived last Tuesday night. I decided to bring him to my school on Wednesday, just to introduce him ... but I should have known better - they gave him a lesson plan, and want him to come back to help everyday! It is great having him there, though. The boys hang all over him, and love playing with him at break time. A group of boys from the 3rd grade noticed Jack around the school yard, and actually went to the principal's office and asked if Jack could teach in their class!

Last week Libby and I decided to start bringing our cameras to school. We hoped to somehow capture the beauty that we see everyday so that we could share it with you all back home. After realizing how excited the kids get with pictures, we decided it might be fun to take class pics. We took individual pics of every child (200+), as well as class pics of the entire class with teachers. We then brought our memory cards to a photo shop in town and got all of the pictures printed. On Friday we had a little ceremony where we called each child's name and they came in front of the class and got a new pencil and their picture. The kids were so excited... every time we called a name, the entire class erupted in screams and clapping. It was slightly out of control, but a lot of fun and we could tell the kids really loved their pictures. And a little side note here... Thank you mom for sending 500 sharpened pencils! If only you could have seen their faces :-).

I know you are all dying to see some pictures. I have been trying to get some on the computer, but the comps are incredibly slow and I've had a few complications with my camera/memory card. I will try to get our class pics on the computer this week.

A Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend Jack and I stayed in a nice hotel in Machame, which is near the base of Kilimanjaro. Not only did our hotel have HOT water, but it had a beautiful view overlooking the peak of Kili and was surrounded in monkey-infested trees. On Saturday we did a 6 hour hike up and down Kilimanjaro. The entire hike to the peak takes 5-7 days, but we were able to do more than one day of the climb in our one day excursion. It was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of beautiful rain forest... as well as BLUE monkeys!

Well my time is running out at the internet cafe. I will be in touch! Miss you all so much. Xoxox

Can't believe I am half way through!

I realized that this weekend will mark my half way point on this adventure. So far it has been a series of ups and downs. It seems so long ago that I was sitting in Kennedy Airport with my parents, frustrated over the delayed plane and the knowledge that I would miss my connection in Amsterdam. At that point, I wasn't even sure I still wanted to do this and if there had been an opening to get out of it - I might have taken it. But there wasn't and I am so thankful.

This trip is so much more than I ever could have imagined. I am truly right in the middle of this fascinating world. We go to the villages, are welcomed into peoples homes, we teach in the schools, live in the village, go out with the locals... Seriously, I know I sound like an advertisement right now, but a volunteer type visit is the way to travel. I can't imagine traveling to a country like this in any other way. I feel like I am getting so much more than I would as a tourist. I so wish everyone of you reading this blog could come here and see and experience what I have seen and experienced. You would be amazed.

Although the food at our home is terrific, last night a small group of us went to "IndoItaliano," which is Indian and Italian food (weird combo, but you see a lot of Indian/Italian restaurants around here). Anyway, it was AMAZING. As good as the food is at the home base, this was different... it was ITALIAN... it was LASAGNA! I ate my entire lasagna... in fact, I'm going back tomorrow night. It was soooo delicious, and the food is so cheap (5,000 shillings for my lasagna which is less than $5).

I am also very excited right now because my fiance, Jack is coming to Tanzania next week for a short visit before he goes back to grad-school. I am going to try to bring Jack to my placement. As there is only one male teacher in the school, I think they would welcome him as they did us. He is trying to bring some sports equipment with him and I can only imagine the excitement if he shows up with some soccer balls and baseball balls and bats. Those of you who know Jack know what a crazy athlete he is and I know he will have a grand time with the kids in the school.

This week I also began going to Upendo Orphanage in the afternoons, which has been another very intense experience. After what I have heard about orphanages around Africa, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the facilities. I think the emotion with this visit is similar to the emotion anyone would feel visiting an orphanage. And it is so hard to leave at the end of our visit, knowing that these children won't be leaving. Our first visit there (for only 2 hours) ended in about 30 children crowding around our van, some crying hysterically that we were leaving. The fact that in just two hours they can attach to complete stangers broke my heart. It breaks my heart that as I'm typing this, they are sleeping alone in their beds, lined up 20+ in a room. I plan to continue my afternoon visits to the orphanage throughout my stay, and will write more about it later.

Yesterday, I was able to sit in on an afternoon of the Rwanda genocide trials at the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) in Arusha. I don't have much more time on the comp to explain, but let me tell you, even though I may be a bit of a law geek, I wasn't prepared to really understand the atrocities that are the subject of this trial.

Ok, I just crawled out of bed to grab a bit of time on the computer, but I'm going to go back and get a good night's sleep. I am actually getting used to sleeping under a mosquito net and after the tarantula that was found INSIDE the house, I have even more of an appreciation for it. Since my days start at 6:30 and are nonstop, sleep is always welcome. I must say, teaching is exhausting! That's another bit of awareness I've accumulated on this trip.