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

----------------------------------------------------


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.

Thanks for the Small things...that really aren't so small.

Last night it rained (first time since I've been here) and it was SO MUDDY TODAY. After our muddy trek to school, we realized that our 2nd grade teacher decided not to show up. Just as the kids were beginning to go a bit crazy (running around the classroom, hitting each other, screaming), two angels sent from above (or from Moshi Primary - 7th grade class - Rachel and Lillian) came in for an hour and helped Libby and I to translate our lesson, and control the kids. At one point one of the 7th grade girls who was helping us started to hit the kids with a stick. I explained to her that that was not OK. She understood and stopped, which felt good. It's just so sad... she grew up thinking that it is OK to use this type of punishment, because that is what was done to her. So she continues it... that's how these things continue.

Anyway, I have no idea how these girls knew to show up at our classroom, but they SAVED us today. The kids are really well behaved when the teachers are there, but when it is just the foreigners with the limited Swahili (aka me and Libby), they know they can have a little more fun(I suppose this is payback for the way we behaved whenever we had a substitute teacher!). This class was a bit intense but went well, given the circumstances today.

1st grade was calm compared to 2nd grade. And remember the girl I told you about? The one who was having difficulties and was placed in the rear of the class. Well I've been working with her a lot, and today she actually kept up with the rest of the class!!! This was a big deal. We wrote out our numbers, 1-25 (one, two, three, etc.)... we've done it before, and usually she doesn't get past 10, but today she made it to 25!! She was SO THRILLED and was hugging her book and laughing and smiling endlessly. I know it may not sound like much but if each of you could have seen her face :).

Well, I should get going. One quick note - This morning as I was getting ready for school I noticed a big lizard climbing up the wall next to my bed. As I continued packing my bag, not even flinching, I realized I'm starting to get the hang of this whole Africa thing ;-)

A Collection of Experiences

All of the following pieces of this entry are taken from Allison’s various emails. Cut and pasted, they give you some idea of the things she is seeing and doing. She asked that we enter them here and she will try to write more herself soon. By the way, she can receive emails at Allison.dinoia@gmail.com if you have any questions for her.


Safari – Spending the weekend on a safari to the Ngorongoro Crater (if you can, google it and see how magnificent it is) Just saw two lions and a lioness. Earlier we watched cheetahs prey on zebra. The cheetahs are sooo patient, we watched them for 30 min and they still didn't attack. (That's actually a good thing because I am not sure I am ready for nature's reality.) We earlier stopped to make a pit stop (don’t ask, but lets just say, flushing and washing your hands afterwards were not part of this adventure!) and monkeys actually appeared out of nowhere and tried to climb in our car. Seriously... It was like the safari park at Great Adventure!! Hehe. We camped out for two nights and the sounds and stars were amazing. Its such a huge world. When I get back, I will send pictures.


Life at School – I have gotten several emails asking if there is anything you guys can send to me. Its so sweet that you ask and we are all allowed to receive care packages, but they say that it is difficult - they take a few weeks to get here and we are taxed on what is inside the package. It doesn't make much sense to me, but that’s what our program directors told us. I don't need anything for myself (aside from hot showers, great cup of coffee and fresh tap water :-), but I could use a ton of stuff for my kids. It's challenging to come up with creative lesson plans when they literally have NO MATERIALS to work with (not even paper, crayons, pencils, etc.)! We have been making up our own worksheets and making photo copies in town, which has been working well... but tough when you have 100+ students/day. Gosh are these classes big. Three to four kids will squeeze into a two-child bench just to be closer to the front. They even need to share pencils to get their work done. I know I say this all the time, but they are all sooo eager to learn.

I will start taking pics of my students maybe later this week or next week, but the people here are very sensitive to photographs. Also, the kids are a bit intense and crazy and I don't have much control over them... just bringing a pencil or a crayon makes them go crazy, not sure if I could keep them under control if I started taking pics! I will certainly get some before I come home though :-)

As for a visual, the school is kind of what you would imagine or see pics of a basic school in Africa... think minimally... cement buildings, no electricity so there are holes in the side of the walls that provide for lighting, and the children sit on wood benches.

Not really third world - they have Backstreet Boys!!!
I totally forgot to tell you guys- they LOVE the Backstreet Boys here. The other day I was walking home from school and this local hangout was blasting it. Then yesterday I was talking to our safari guide and asked him what type of music he likes, and BSB was one of the few groups he mentioned. He said people love BSB here haha. I really do belong here!!

The food - Today was such a good day. I gotta be quick but ill try to write again later. I'm packing right now for Zanzibar. We have lunch at 1 and were leaving at 1:15 so I gotta shovel the food in. Have I told you guys how good the food is here? Literally, a FEAST for every meal. The other night we had BBQ... those of you who are meat eaters would have been in heaven. I am not certain what animals we were eating though. I hope it wasnt the tarantula from our bathroom or the hedgehogs from the back yard!

Things they need - I spoke with the principal of my school today. Ill have to explain more details when I get to a computer, but basically if anyone is looking to help there is a ton we can do. She showed me one unfinished project where there is no sidewalk, just a dirt path right outside the classroom (happens to be my grade 2 room). Today it rained, and since it was muddy outside all of the kids had to take their shoes off. So now half the kids are wet and cold and barefoot in class all day. (Yes, it does get cold in Africa – its winter here – not really cold like we are use to, but cool none the less) Anyway, to finish this project is only like 200 usd... They also need a fence (to keep intruders away, and children in) but that is more expensive. She is preparing a cost summary for me for a few of the projects so I can spread the word back home if anyone wants to help.

Aside from structural problems, out of 520 students ... 301 of them are orphans. That is over 50 percent of the students. It’s just hard to comprehend. And to sponsor a child (pay school fees for a uniform, lunch, etc.) is only $26 a year.... I thought I heard her wrong, but she said 26500 shillings which means about 26 bucks. I want to sponsor them all!

Not All Wonderful - One difficult part of the teaching is the use of corporal punishment on the students. I have witnessed several events of teachers hitting children with sticks and it breaks my heart. So unheard of in the US, apparently it is not unusual here. It’s clear that in order for these children to break away from poverty they will need an education but there is so little available to them – as simple as paper, books and pencils - and at times, it is even a bit frightening. I wish I could do more. The days I see this are hard and I find myself feeling like such an outsider, far away from home.

Ok I gotta finish packing so I don't miss lunch ;).

Wonderful Days Also - and many of them at that - Oh my and I’ll write back later and tell you about today. We did arts and crafts projects with the kids and they were SO HAPPY. We took pics afterwards, and every time the flash went off they erupted in screams... Then they rushed the cameraman (aka me). :)

Teacher, Teacher!

As we turned the bend and saw the school in sight, Libby and I suddenly saw a parade of school children charging for us. "Oh my God, are they running to us?" Sure enough, 10 seconds later we were bombarded by what seemed like a million smiling faces, eager to hold our hands and lead us to school. One little girl tugged on my hand and said, "Teacher, Teacher... Will you really be back every day to teach us?"

We were lead to the main school yard, where all the children meet every morning to sing and march. The principal had Libby and I stand in front of the entire school, and the children sang a welcome song for us ("Welcome! Welcome! How are you today? Nice to see you, Happy to meet you. Welcome! Welcome! How are you today?").The teachers were all so grateful that we would be here for 6 weeks. Some of them even kissed my hands as they thanked me. It almost brought tears to my eyes.

We worked with some teachers to set up a schedule, and will be teaching English lessons to standard 1 and 2 every day. I've never really taught before, so I was a bit nervous, but I followed some good advice - Confidence leads to Competence, not the other way around. This proved to be true. Our lessons today were very successful. All of the children are SO eager to learn. At one point, we split the class into groups and were going around to each group to have conversations with them in English. I noticed one little boy who was especially eager - after I came to his group, he jumped over his bench to join the next group that I was going to.

Oh, and in the beginning and end of each lesson, we always sing a song. I'll admit, this might be my favorite part of the lesson :). Grade 1 didn't know the hokey pokey, so Libby and I taught it to them, and they loved it. The teacher participated with us and kept saying, "Please, mama ... can you sing it again?" After class, and without our involvement, the entire class formed into a circle in the playground and then called us over to sing it with them again. It was so sweet.

Well I need to make some copies of lessons for tomorrow before dinner, so I better get going. I hope you are all doing well, and I will write again soon!!

Love, Allison

Day one teaching!

Hi again! I only have two minutes on the comp (because we have Swahili lessons), but I saw it was empty (which is very rare) and decided to jump on for a quick hello.

I had my first day at my placement today at Moshi Primary School. It was INTENSE... I might need to stress that again... INTENSE.

After getting dropped off by our van, we walked about 10-15 min down a rocky dirt path to the school. Children ran up to us and fought to hold our hands on the way there. They just walked beside us, staring up at us with big beautiful smiles the entire way.

We met the principal of the school who was a very nice woman, and brought us to our class. I am teaching standard 1 (7 yr olds) and standard 2 (8 yr olds) with another volunteer (Libby), which is helpful. The teachers were very friendly, but, unfortunately, expected us to come in today with lesson plans and materials! They thought we were actual teachers, and when we tried to explain to them we were not, they wondered if we are not teachers in America, why did we come here to teach? The question does make a lot of sense! We didn't do much teaching today, just introduced ourselves to the class, and had each child introduce themselves to us ("Hi my name is___. I am __ yrs old"). We also did fun songs (they LOVE the hokey pokey and head, shoulders knees and toes). Their English is very limited, and compared to speaking with other volunteers (working at different primary schools) our kids are a little behind for their age.

We sang and danced with the kids at recess and they were ADORABLE! All hanging all over me, kissing my hands, putting their hands through my hair. They are so curious about our culture, as am I about theirs. I can't wait to learn more.

Shoot, I have SOO much more to write but we have Swahili lessons now and God knows I can't afford to miss those. I'm going to try to get to an internet cafe this evening to research lesson plans and might have some more time to write a little more.

Stay tuned.... I'll write more later.

LOVE YOU ALL! And love my kids... I can already tell it is going to be so hard to say goodbye to their beautiful smiling faces. They are truly amazing children.


Love, Allison


PS - Sorry this is so sloppy.... I just have so much to tell you and no time at all!!!

Notes from Africa - I am really here

Hi!

I have limited time on the comp because many fellow volunteers are waiting, but I just wanted to say hello and let you all know that after a tough trip getting here, I am alive.

My flight from New York was delayed, which caused me to miss my connection in Amsterdam and I had to spend night there by myself. But I arrived safely last night in Kilimanjaro and met my CCS host at the airport who took me to the house. I was welcomed by the other volunteers, and much of my nervousness went away.

Today we had orientation in the morning and then went to a village in the afternoon. It was really cool. We first had to meet the chief of the village (Rau) to introduce ourselves and ask permission to walk around his village. Then we all walked around for hours, meeting people, going into their homes, and playing with little children the entire way. I was telling another volunteer that I've never felt so out of place, but also have never felt so welcomed. I know people say this a lot, but it's true... in American standards, the people here have so little, but will really give you everything they have. The culture here is so different from home... people are very helpful and eager to meet you. For instance, some volunteers were trying to find a store yesterday, and asked a local for directions... he then got off his bike and walked them the entire way to the store.

The children are adorable... so beautiful and pure. They are so happy just to hold your hand and walk beside you. Some of the children are very good w/ English and at one point these three girls came running up to me asking me a million questions (what is my name? Where am I from? What is my favorite food? etc. etc.). The village was so large, but everyone knows each other and there are kids running around and smiling everywhere.

Tomorrow I start my placement in Moshi Primary School. I'm pretty sure I'll be teaching standard 1 (7 yrs) or standard 2 (8 yrs). I hear the school I'm going to is not very well equipped, no electricity and barely any teachers... the previous volunteers said to be prepared to be totally on your own with the kids. Since I don’t speak much Swahili I don’t know how this will go, but we shall see! I'm learning the basics that I'm told will be useful as I'm teaching (Acha Kelele- stop making noise, sikilizeni - everyone listen, Hpana - no).

Oh and I'm going on safari this weekend! About 20 of us from the group are going. We camp out both nights, go to a Masai village as well as the Ngorongoro crater and Lake Manyara... it sounds awesome. Check it out online. The scenery and the animals are suppose to be amazing. Hopefully I'll have time to get some pics up on here next week.


I'll write again as soon as I can.


Allison

Leaving tomorrow

As I'm sitting in my mom's living room at 1am the morning of my flight, surrounded in every imaginable thing I might need on this trip, I can't help but take a quick break from packing to say one thing to you all: Thank you.

I am overflowing with excitement and eagerness, and I'll admit I am more nervous than I can put into words, but more than anything I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to do something like this. The only reason that this is possible is because of all of the tremendous support from my wonderful group of friends and family. You all have no idea how much this means to me.

As I head off to bed, I am thinking of something my CCS program manager said to me yesterday. She simply stated, "It's hard to explain, but when you go to Africa it will take a piece of your heart .... and you'll never get it back."

I'll keep you posted.

My Volunteer Placement!

I guess it's real! I received my assignment today and found out that I will be working in a local primary school in Moshi, Tanzania. The school is for children aged 5-14, yet I don't know what ages I will be working with. While all teaching is done in Swahili, English is among the subjects taught and I was told I'll be teaching english, math, reading and writing. Teaching is a bit out of my comfort zone (the language barrier doesn't help!), but that’s what part of this trip is all about. Now I need to get my bags packed, take my malaria medicine and start memorizing my Swahili. It seems like I have waited forever for this moment and now it's coming so fast. Only 8 days till I depart.

Charity Auction

I want to thank my brother, Chris who is generously raising funds for my trip by auctioning off two of his art prints. He has an incredible collection of art prints, and I know that these prints mean a lot to him. Below is information on these prints and links to his auctions. Thank you, Chris!

Chris' Auction #1

Chris' Auction #2

This is a matching set of prints from renowned artist Shepard Fairey. Fairey is the founder of Obey Giant and is one of the best known and most influential street artists in the world today. He has had shows at major galleries around the world and has recently expanded on his fame with the artwork he has created in support of Barack Obama. Like many modern artists he creates original pieces of work that sell in galleries and then creates a limited amount of screen printed copies that he sells to the general public.

Less than a month to go!

Hujambo, rafikiyo! (Hello, my friend)

Well, in less than one month I will be beginning my time in Tanzania. I am filled with excitement, curiosity, eagerness ... and a little bit of healthy nervousness :). The past few weeks have been pretty intense which is why I haven’t added to this blog for a while. I graduated from Drexel University, received an incredible number of shots and prescriptions to keep me healthy while in Africa (I don’t think I totally understood this aspect of volunteering - Polio, Yellowfever, Hep. A, Typhoid and Malaria?) and packed up my stuff and moved cross-country to northern California to be with my fiance, Jack. I am taking this month to get settled into my new home, search for a job for when I get back home, continue my fundraising and hopefully learn a little more Swahili.

I do have a very exciting update to share - Thanks to so many friends, family, corporations and fundraisers, I have successfully raised my entire program fee - $3776!! I could never have imagined the level of support and encouragement that I would receive from you all - Asante (thank you), it really means the world to me.

I am still working hard to raise additional funds through the "ChipIn" (paypal) link on this page. These funds will help to cover my airfare, immunizations, visa and entrance fees to Tanzania. I was amazed to discover that the immunizations and prescriptions are not covered by insurance, and my immunizations alone cost nearly $500!

Thank you again for the support - Let the final countdown begin! 23 days till departure :-).

Family Fundraiser

This past Monday my family and I held a fundraiser in my home town of Cranbury, NJ. We set up a lemonade/brownie stand on Main Street during the town's annual Memorial Day Parade. My family was incredibly kind to do just about all of the prep-work and run the lemonade stand with me all day. Thanks to a great friend from school, we got the idea to give the lemonade and brownies away for free, but explain my cause and ask for a donation in return. This idea proved to be successful - we ended up raising $400 in donations! I plan on using this money to help pay my airfare to Tanzania.

Aside from the financial success of the fundraiser, it really meant a lot to me to have my family so involved in helping me pursue this dream. My 4-year old nephew even made a poster for the fundraiser!

Half way there!

I'm happy to report that I have almost reached the 50% mark in my fundraising! Thank you to all of my friends, family, and teachers who have shown such tremendous support over the past few weeks. I still have $2051 to go, but I now understand just how willing and eager people are to help out.

When I first decided to do this volunteer trip, I admit the one part that I was unsure of was the fundraising. Soliciting donations from my friends just feels a bit awkward. But I was also amazed at what it costs to travel to these countries in need, and work in their villages and schools. The $3776 that I have to raise is just the program fee. I still need to get myself there! My parents have graciously agreed to help with the airfare, but that still left a large amount that I needed to raise. A few weeks into my fundraising efforts though, and I have truly been heartened by the donations and kind words of encouragement and support from so many of my family and friends. It is hard to explain how it feels, but seeing so many people donate and show their belief in me gives me a new found sense of confidence and empowerment. You guys are the best :).

Thank You, Drexel!

What a great day! This past Friday I received the Harold J. Budd Award from Drexel University's LeBow College of Business. This award is given annually by the legal studies department of LeBow to a student who exhibits a commitment to academics as well as humanitarian causes. The ceremony was even more meaningful because the award was presented to me by Dean Tsetsekos as well as one of my favorite professors, Professor Sher. I was also pleased that both of my parents were able to attend.

While I am honored to have received this award, it is also exciting because there is a cash award with it that I can now contribute to my fundraising efforts. I still have a long way to go, but this $500 will be a huge help!

Asante sana, Drexel!
(Asante sana means thank you very much in Swahili.)

Hujambo!

Hujambo, friends!

Well, it’s finally going to happen! I am going to Africa.

After researching a number of volunteer organizations, I am excited to report that I will be volunteering with Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS), a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, one of the leading organizations in the field of international volunteerism. CCS was founded on the values of shared humanity, respect and integrity. As they say in their literature, CCS has a vision of a world where people value cultures different from their own, are aware of global issues, and are empowered to effect positive change. I have the same vision and I knew this would be a great fit.

Therefore, several weeks ago, I began the formal application process with CCS. I now know that I will be working in Moshi, Tanzania most likely in an orphanage or school, assisting with the care of young children orphaned by aids. It was the pervasive impacts of this disease throughout the African continent that first elicited my desire to help in Africa in some way. And now I am going to get to do it.

For those of you who don’t know, Tanzania is located in East Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique. Tanzania is a coastal country situated just south of the equator, best known for Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa. The official language is Swahili, so I have some serious studying to do if I expect to communicate while I'm there. Like other African countries, the aids epidemic is devastating in Tanzania with over 1.6 Million people affected. Without boring you with statistics, just understanding that the median age in Tanzania is less than 18 years old (as compared to 36 years in the United States) clearly shows the devastating impact this disease has had on the population. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, dependent for a large part on sustenance farming but is also blessed with beautiful natural features and what we would consider exotic wildlife. I can’t wait.

One key aspect of the CCS program is that each of us are expected to fundraise to help cover program and volunteer costs. Along with finishing up my last semester here at Drexel, I now have that challenge ahead of me. According to CCS, the fee that I am expected to raise is part of my contribution to international volunteerism. I have been asked by family and friends to explain why I need to pay to volunteer. In reality, I have discovered that volunteering in a developing country is very expensive. Just the cost of transportation to get there is significant. The policy of CCS is to ask its volunteers to assist in securing the necessary funds, thereby expanding the potential reach of the program. The money that I am asked to raise covers operating costs of the program, including recruiting as well as preparing, sending, training, and supporting me during my time in Africa.

Today I will begin soliciting the help of my family and friends in my fundraising efforts. I will also look to corporate sponsorship, scholarships through my University, and various fundraising events. I don't have much time, I better get busy!

As I go through this preparation and while in Africa, I plan on using this blog as a journal of this experience. I imagine I will discover a great deal about the world and the role, however small, each of us can play in making it a better place to live. I welcome your questions and comments and will try to answer them as I move forward.

By the way, humjambo is Swahili for “how are you”? Along with Hakuna matata (“there are no worries”), which we all learned from the Lion King, these are the only two phrases of Swahili that I know so far. Stay tuned and we will both learn more.