African Time

I have now been at the orphanage for almost a week, but before I talk about that, let me tell you about the things we did around Moshi on Tuesday.

Tuesday

We first went to the headquarters for the Northern Diocese for a briefing on BCC. BCC stands for Building a Caring Community. It's basically a daycare for special needs children. They take special needs kids during the day so that parents can work, go to the market, etc. They have 11 centers in different areas for people to use and the resources are actually very good. There was quite a bit of equipment that I recognized from touring special needs facilities in the US. They also have OT, PT, and speech therapists available for the children. This organization is not solely focused on day care, but on educating parents so that these children can receive better care at home as well. We were able to visit one of the centers and all of the kids were very well looked after and super happy to interact and play with us. 

After visiting BCC we went shopping in Moshi. Since I can go into Moshi at any point for the next four weeks, I did not buy anything. I did, however, get to go in the Willy Wonka elevator. Chad took Kristian and I on this elevator and it was a tad sketchy. The building we were in had 12 floors, but they called the first floor "ground floor." The elevator started on the "1st floor." Elevators are made for handicapped people, but here the handicapped people would have to walk up a flight of stairs to use the elevator. Also, the elevator only goes to "floor 8" simply ignoring the floors above. Now as to why the elevator is sketchy, if the previous explanation wasn't enough. The elevator was a square attached to half of a glass octagon. As soon as the elevator starts moving, elevator music comes on. Then while you're going up you look at the building across for, you. It looks about the same height that you'll be going, except the top two floors are completely unfinished. You suddenly wonder if the top of your building is finished and realize that you'll soon find out! Luckily, the building was finished and we returned to the "1st floor" safely. 

We next continued on to the Amani Home for Street Kids. They house over 80 children and have classroom facilities for those children. Street children are not orphans, but have left their homes for various reasons including divorce, abuse, poverty, and even peer pressure. The home has both male and female social workers who go and find street children in Moshi and Arusha. The ultimate goal of the home is to reunite children with their families if the situation is safe.

For lunch we went to a restaurant called Indoitaliano. Natalie and I split a "sausage pizza" which turned out to be a hot dog pizza. After lunch we went back to the hotel, packed, and loaded the buses. The entire group came to the orphanage to drop us off and say goodbye. A few tears were shed on both ends as we said goodbye and of course Sue shouted some motherly advice out the window as they drove away. Natalie and I went to our "suite" to unpack, came to dinner, and then returned to finish unpacking. It was a very long day.

The orphanage! 

I am now officially at the orphanage. It is a hard adjustment and I have been a little homesick. The hardest thing to adjust to is African time. Even when we were on the vision trip, we were basically still moving on American time. Ours days were structured and we went from one place to the next without a break. African time is a much slower pace. Things are done slowly with lots of time in between. If you say that something with happen at a certain time, it likely won't be for an hour after that. While it is a difficult adjustment to make, I am beginning to settle in. 

The orphanage is made up of four houses, plus a college, and a new dining hall (which is still in the process of being built). The college is for students studying child care so they do their field placement at the orphanage. One of the houses does not have any children in it, but contains living quarters for some of the sisters, the reception, offices, prayer rooms, and a few guest rooms where Anna and Raechel (the other volunteers) are staying. The house next to that is the baby house where children under the age of 1 and 1/2 live. The middle house is kids from around 1 and 1/2 to 2 and 1/2. The final house is kids from around 2 and 1/2 to age 5. There are a few rooms attached to the dining hall and that is where Natalie and I are staying. 

When you enter our "suite" there is first a little common room which we share with one of the sisters who lives in the building. After passing through that you'll see 5 doors. Three of those are bedrooms, one is the toilet, and one is the shower. One of the rooms is unoccupied and Natalie and I each have one of the others. Another adjustment to make is that the concept of "homey" does not really exist here. Tanzania is a lot less materialistic than the US so they just have less things in general. Where the US would have pictures hanging, they have a blank wall. Where the US would have carpeted floors, they have concrete. It takes a little getting used to, and I decided to decorate my room a little by putting a scarf over the nightstand, tying a different colored scarf over the back of my chair and putting up some birthday cards that were sent in my suitcase from home. 

In terms of orphanages, this place gets 5 stars. The kids are treated really well and the sisters and staff really do care for them. I have never seen happier children. As well as the sisters, stadf, nd college students caring for them, they all take care of each other and comfort each other if one of them is upset or falls over and gets hurt. Not all of the kids are orphans in the American sense of the word. Here that can mean that a child is missing one parent or that the parents simply can't care for the child. Many of the children have one or both parents living but the family is in a situation where they either can't care for their child or can't afford to care for their child. After these 5 years at the orphanage, a lot of the children actually have homes that they can return to. Some kids don't even stay until they age out. Very few of the children have to be adopted as even those without living parents are placed back with their extended families. The orphanage keeps very good contact with families so that they know the best place to put a child after the most expensive and time consuming years of care are over.

Wednesday

Natalie and I went into the middle house on Wednesday. We went to breakfast around 8:30 and then straight to the kids, they're so cute and so happy. They just want to play. I wish I could attach pictures of the kids, but unfortunately I can't until I get home. I got hit in the head with a tin can by the youngest girl Ester. She was only moved into this house 3 days ago to make room for a new baby named Johnson. I also got to feed Ester her milk before tea time which was fun.

After Natalie and I cam back from our tea, Kelvin (one of the little boys) peed all over a chair he was standing on and then he and Ester both slipped in it. After they were changed we helped feed them porridge for lunch. I fed Ester again and that was a treat. She loves to hold food in her mouth until she sneezes or coughs and then it goes EVERYWHERE. 

Later that afternoon, Natalie and I were picked up by a girl named Aimee. We met her at the hotel a week or so ago. She has been coming to Tanzania for about four years now and works with different students. She also started her own nonprofit organization. We went with her, two Cornell students, and some local school kids to a hotel called Protea to go swimming and get dinner. The pool was absolutely freezing, but dinner was good and the hotel had free wifi.

Thursday

Thursday morning I did not feel well so I slept until 10:30. I went to tea and then Bob Kasworm (the guy from Machame Hospital) came to see us. Anna's mom had emailed him that there wasn't much to do so he came to help us out. He told us he would take us to Moshi on Friday. 

After he left, Natalie and I returned to the middle house to help feed them lunch. I fed Ester quite quickly this time and moved on to Elisha. He was just being very difficult. He sat on top of the table and thought it was hilarious to scoot away as I tried to put the spoon in his mouth. He was still very cute though because when his lunch dripped on my skirt, he tried to wipe it off for me. After lunch all the kids were napping so Natalie and I retired to our rooms for a little bit. We returned outside when the oldest kids did and we brought bubbles. They loved it! They each got a turn at blowing the bubbles themselves and I began to learn their names. 

It got hot as we played outside so Natalie and I went to get water and when we got back we helped to dress the oldest kids after their baths. When we finished, Aimee was at the orphanage with volunteers from the hospital to show them around. We went with them to each house. It was my first time in the baby house so that was really cool. By the time they left, it was dinnertime. We had to eat in the dark because the sun went down already and the power had been out in the whole town all day. The power was off and on the rest of the night.

Friday

Friday means the end of a week! Even though we haven't been at the orphanage all week, it feels like an accomplishment. When I woke up early this morning to take a shower, the power was out again. That meant no hot water. Right when I was going to actually get in the shower the power came back, so I turned the heat on and waited another 10 minutes, only for the power to go back off. Luckily, there was enough hot water for my entire shower!

Natalie and I went to the baby house for the morning. There are 8 babies. The two girls are Shangwe and Angela. The boys are Moses, Elisha, Baraka, Ema (Emanuel), Fadhili, and Johnson. They're all so cute!! After they went down for their nap, I did some laundry. I poured the detergent on the clothes instead of into the water, so my clothes still have tide in them...oops. Also, our entire "suite" smelled like tide. Then we went to lunch. We kinda hung out for a while after lunch. All of the kids take naps after lunch so we get a break. We found a cool bug and named him George, but we lost him somewhere in the common room. 

As we were about to leave our suite to go meet Bob, Pastor Urio showed up with 3 German bishops. Bob picked us up around 3:30pm and drove us into Moshi. We could see Kilimanjaro out of the window almost the entire way into town. Anna and Raechel stayed at the Union Cafe with Bob once we got to Moshi, but Natalie and I journeyed out to to to the Nakumatt (supermarket) and to find wifi. At the Nakumatt I was very excited to find a bunch of inexpensive British foods (TZ was once colonized by the British). After the Nakumatt we went to "kicheko dot com" Internet cafe. I tried to upload a blog post then, but it didn't work. It felt strange to be sitting outside on a street in Moshi, Tanzania on the Internet on our apple products, but there you go!

Bob picked us up from the cafe to drive us back to Kalali. On the way back we stopped at the "highway supermarket" for Anna and Raechel to buy a case of water. It was very entertaining to watch as communications failed and they nearly walked away with a tank of propane. The mountain was still out and we headed back up towards its lower slopes. It's sheer size and majesty is overwhelming and I just stared at it.

Saturday

Natalie and I thought Saturday would be a relaxing day because we had nothing planned. We were very wrong! After breakfast we returned to our suite and found George in the common room. We decided to bring him downstairs because he was injured. He flew away! We didn't know he could fly so that was exciting!

When we got downstairs, two HUGE buses pulled into the orphanage full of 23 students and their chaperones from an international school in Germany. 23 is a lot of people and some of the kids get overwhelmed easily. A few of the kids hid behind me because they already knew me, which I thought was cute. The students brought a huge amount of donations for the orphanage. They stayed until about an hour before lunch and the whole time they were here, Natalie and I played with the kids outside and answered questions. 

After lunch, Natalie and I went for a walk. We walked down through an "orchard" of banana trees attached to the orphanage and came out by the Kalali Dairy Cooperative. We walked down a small hill and past Kalali town center where the market is held on Thursdays. Town center may be a bit deceiving as a description because it was just a bunch of empty wooden stands. Natalie and I found a path that cut straight down the hill we were walking down instead of looping around by the road. We were feeling adventurous so we decided to take the path. It was really steep and slippery and we both nearly fell a number of times. A guy was waiting at the bottom watching us and as we neared we could tell he was making sure we made it down okay. He pointed out a better path to take as we got closer and we thanked him when we reached the bottom safely. 

We walked a little farther down the road to a bridge over a river with some cows crossing it. Apparently, the diocese owns all of the land from the orphanage down to that river so then we turned around and began walking back up the road. About halfway up, we got really tired so we sat on the side of the road for a little bit. A guy on a motorcycle stopped to talk to us for a few minutes. When we walked farther up the hill a guy called Frederick stopped to talk to us. He told us a little about the history of Africa, and by a little, I mean a lot. He must have talked for 20 minutes as flies munched on my legs. 

When we returned to the orphanage there were more visitors! A German couple and a bus full of Nebraskans. We returned to the room for a few minutes and when we returned Stefano and Elisante, two of the older boys ran at me and gave me huge hugs. I sat on the steps with about six of the older kids and after a few minutes I heard "dada, ona!" which means "sister, look!" They all began showing me their jumping skills. 

Soon we saw Helga, a little girl from the middle house, all dressed up. It turns out she was going home! It was very sad to see her go. The staff in her house called her name as she was about to leave to say goodbye and she ran at then and jumped in their arms screaming. She obviously doesn't know her family very well and she cried as they took her away from the sisters. Even though she's going back to her family, it's sad to see her go with people she does not know very well. But the sisters definitely made sure she would be safe wherever she was going. 

I have more to say about Saturday, but I'll have to post it next weekend because we're leaving wifi soon! Until then... 

Bukoba

We spent the past few days in an area of Tanzania called Bukoba. It's a beautiful area on the shores of Lake Victoria. 

Saturday

We flew out on Saturday morning. We had to take two flights because the first plane was too big to land on the Bukoba airport. So we flew to Mwanza and then on to Bukoba. Our first flight out of Kilimanjaro (to Mwanza) was delayed so we ended up not even going into the Mwanza airport. They just checked our boarding passes on the Tarmac. The first flight was about an hour and the second was 30 minutes.

When we arrived in Bukoba there was a huge welcoming party...it wasn't for us. Apparently we had delayed the departure of the governor of Bukoba because of our original delayed flight. Whoops! Let me describe the Bukoba airport for you. When we got off the plane, we got on a bus and drove about 10 yards to the "arrivals lounge." To get into the arrivals lounge you walk up some steps into a rectangular room. If you take 15 more steps, you're out of the airport. The baggage claim was a truck driving to the bottom of those steps and 1 man taking all the cases 2 at a time into the "arrivals lounge." It was taking him so long that people began going around him and getting their own cases.

Outside the airport we met Smart, the man we were in Bukoba to see. We loaded into a bus and 3 cars and set out to the hotel. After settling our stuff into our rooms we drove to Smart's house where the two Johnson families were staying (both are close friends of his). After a light lunch we went to see the "Bruce Lane Johnson Library." This library is very significant to one of the Johnson families. Three of the Johnson's are Ron, his daughter Sue, and her son Aaron. Sue's husband, or Aaron's father, passed away a number of years ago (I believe it was 6 years). His name is Bruce Lane Johnson. I wish I could describe to you how incredible this family is, but my words can't do the story justice. 

After we visited the library, we went on to a goat farm, that currently has no goats. Smart started an organization called COSAD. I cannot remember what it stands for but it's basically to help improve communities in Bukoba and other places around Tanzania. They began a program called 1 woman, 1 goat in which they give women a goat and teach them how to use that goat to create a livelihood for themselves. Smart is currently trying to find goats, but there is a shortage and goats have to come from the Kilimanjaro region.

Next we went back to the hotel and Smart told us his story of how he came to the US. It is almost impossible to believe. I would never do the story justice if I tried to retell it. Smart is such a character and he jumped around and did all different voices as he told us. But basically he arrived in the US with $8. After being here for a few years he met Sue at a job interview and she hired him. When Sue's husband became ill, he helped her and her family with fundraisers. After Bruce passed away, Sue donated some money to COSAD. That money was used to build a library which they asked to name after Bruce.

Sunday

Sunday was my birthday! I turned kumi na tisa (19). I'm not gonna lie, it was rough. It was the first birthday I had without my parents. Anyways, we went to church in the morning, but this meeting was not translated so I didn't understand a single word. After church there was an auction, but it was shorter than the auction at the other church. The Sunday School teachers then took all of the children into a rectangular hut which serves as their classroom. They handed out the candy, pens, and balls that we brought. 

We went back to the hotel for a little while to change, then continued on to Smart's house. At Smart's house we sat for a little while and didn't really do much. After a while people began showing up for the "concert." The concert was basically a big house party with lots of singing. There were two singing groups. One group came from a boarding school in the Bukoba area. They were ages 16 to 20. The other group was the Imuka singers, which is Smart's choir. Both choirs were incredible! 

After the concert part, I began playing with some of the children that were there. They were all so cute. One boy, Justin, loves to dance and spin so we did a lot of that. Another little girl, Beta, liked to dance as well. She also liked to pick the straw off the floor and tickle people with it. After a little dancing, dinner was served. Natalie and I sat with the choir from the school. They asked us of we would go to drop them off at their school. We asked Chad, who told us to talk to Smart. Smart said we could go if we didn't get out of the car. We also made Aaron go with us. Smart had one of the elders from his church drive us. He made sure we knew that he did not drink at all! 

We somehow managed to squeeze 25 people into a 13 person van. The entire way to the school the students sang at the top of their lungs and helped teach us their songs. The boy sitting next to me translated the songs that were in Kiswahili for me. They were all so kind and full of excitement. It was definitely one of my favorite moments so far.

When we got to their school we had to get out of the car to let the students out. They told us to come and talk to their headmaster. Natalie and Aaron were already walking up the hill so I followed. The elder who drove us was also there talking to the headmaster. He told us that the kids knew their curfew was 6pm (it was 8). He said they would have to be punished. Aaron apologized for us all and said it was our fault and not to punish them because it was our fault. On the way home the elder said that the students probably wouldn't be punished. 

Monday

Natalie and I had the plan to get up and watch the sunrise. I felt really sick when I woke up, so I failed, but I saw it the day before. When I did get up, Natalie and I went down to Lake Victoria and got our feet wet. When we tried to leave for the airport, the bus we were taking decided to stop working. "He got sick" as Smart said. 

The airport was an interesting place. The first thing you did was walk through security. Then when they asked for our bags to be checked, they were on the other side of security. Eventually, we were all allowed to go into the departure lounge to wait while Chad figured it out. The entire building was made up of 3 rooms. The security and check in room which was split in half by the security gate, the departure lounge, and the "VIP lounge" (which was just a room with couches instead of benches). 

We flew back through Mwanza again but this time we had to go into the airport. On our second flight we saw Kilimanjaro out of the window! We went from the airport back to the hotel for a few hours. Natalie and I went to get food at the Green Bamboo (a restaurant connected to the hotel) with all of the Johnson's, because I hadn't eaten all day. A little while later we viewed some tanzanite, which is a rare precious gem only found in one place in Tanzania. 

Next we went to dinner at the Kilimakyaro Lodge. On the way there we saw Kilimanjaro out of the window if the bus!!! That was awesome! When we got to the hotel I was able to get FaceTime to work on my iPad and talk to some people at home, which was pretty cool.

Tuesday and beyond

Tuesday is the day that the rest of the group leaves and I am transported to the orphanage with Natalie, Anna, and Raechel. We will visit a couple local things in the morning, go out for lunch and then depart. I will update you all on that and the first few days at the orphanage when we get Internet again on Saturday. 

Lions and leopards and zebras, on my!

So the past 5 days were spent in a safari vehicle. We drove to the Ngorogoro Crater, around the crater, into the Serengeti, though the Crater, and back to Moshi. It was a lot of driving! We saw a lot of amazing things and stayed in some pretty cool places.

Monday

We left for Safari at approximately 9:30 Monday morning. We had eaten breakfast and been introduced to our three drivers: Kakasii, Momo, and Peter. I was in a car with Natalie, Melissa, Ron, Sue, and Jerry. Our driver was Momo. He is awesome. 

We first drove to Arusha, which is the third largest city in Tanzania. In order to get to Arusha from Moshi (the town we have been staying in), we had to drive on the trans-African road. This road extends from the Cape all the way up to Cairo. A clock tower in the middle of Arusha is the halfway point.

We stopped by a huge wood carving place. They sell all shapes and sizes of sculptures, bowls, etc. They were made of ebony, different stones, glass, and even recycled flip-flops. I managed to buy myself a ceramic mug! 

Right next to the carving place was the Cultural Heritage museum. I know I've said a lot of things are great (because they all really are), but this place was incredible. As the name suggests, all of the artwork in this museum is inspired by the different cultures of Africa. The building itself was a glass bowl. It was all set up in spirals. The different levels had different themes. For example, the first spiral was wildlife, another was soul, and so on. I've never been much of an art person, but this museum made me want to collect art. Of course the pieces that Natalie and I liked were upwards of $3000.

We then drove a few more miles to a restaurant called Tembo Club. In Kiswahili tembo means elephant. That being said, the restaurant was shaped like the head of an elephant, the trunk extending down from the roof and eventually sprouting water into a water feature.

After lunch we got back on the trans-African to drive to Mto wa Mbu, a Maasai market. Chad had told our group that driving to the lodge would be smooth sailing in terms of road conditions. However, the main road was under construction and we spent most of the journey on dirt and gravel roads. These roads used to be considered the trans-African roads (from 1950) until the new paved roads were built in 1988. So we got to go on the "real" version. 

On this part of the journey, while being jostled back and forth, up and down, Momo told us lots of facts about the area we were driving in and about Tanzania in general. He had an answer for every question. For example, the mountains we were driving through the Rift Valley Mountains, which start in the Jordan/Saudi Arabia area and extend down to Mozambique. Maasai (one of the main tribes that we have encountered thus far) live in the northern part of Tanzania and the southern part if Kenya. There are 125 tribes in Tanzania. The biggest and most widespread tribe is Sukuma. 

There is only once place in Tanzania where all 125 tribes can be found and that is Mtowambu, our next stop. We stopped to go to a Maasai market where Chad has a few friends (of course!). I bought a couple souvenirs that I had to barter the price for! The first thing I bought was slightly overpriced but I got Chad to help me barter for a second. He then gave me another souvenir (a carved giraffe) that he got a vendor to throw in with something else. Finally, I bartered my own price on a ring (a good price too). One vendor came up to Natalie and I and asked if we were from America. When we said yes he asked if we would like to buy some Obama fabric. We thought he was kidding, laughed and walked away. As we went to leave he started waving fabric. When he held it out we could see that it was, in fact, Obama fabric.

After the market we began driving to the Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge. The Lodge is located on the Rift Valley Ascarpment, about 17,000 km above sea level. It's basically a Small mountain. The road was long, extremely bumpy, and very hilly.  A couple times we thought the truck was going to start rolling back down the hill. But Momo is a great driver and never would have let it happen!

The Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge is insane. It was started 5 years ago. A couple from Holland had been doing different things in collaboration with other organizations to help out some of the poorer people in the area, but they felt like they weren't doing enough. They moved to Tanzania and opened this lodge. 50% of the money from the lodge goes to the children's home a little ways away that they also own. They have a farm and bakery to supply the lodge and the home with milk and bread. From the milk they also make their own yoghurt, cheese and butter. 

As I mentioned before, this lodge is 17,000 km above sea level. Around it are other mountains that help create the Rift Valley Mountains and (obviously) the valleys between them. That means that the views are incredible. We arrived just as the sun was setting. The rooms are tents, each one standing alone. There are porches with a roof made of banana leaves (I think). On that porch is a huge tent. Mine and Natalie's tent has a HUGE double bed inside. Each tent also has a working shower and western style toilet (as opposed to African style, a hole in the ground known as a Choo). The workers at this hotel refuse to let you carry your own luggage to your room and while you eat dinner they bring hot water bottles to your tent and put them in your bed for you. During dinner at the lodge we tried to arrange a marriage between Momo and Natalie, but Momo was only offering 15 cows to Natalie and she wouldn't take any less than 80. Also, neither sets of parents were these which is unacceptable.

After dinner we sat around in the main lodge (which is mainly open air, but has tent sides for at night when it's cold). There is a big fireplace and this was the first opportunity our group had to really just sit and talk. When we were ready to go back to our tents we had to wait for someone to escort us. The escort showed up after about 5 minutes... With a gun. He walked three sets of us back to our rooms. He dropped the others probably 20 feet from their tents. Since I was freaking out and our tent is the farthest away, he walked us all the way to our tent and even unzipped  it for us. He made sure I was inside before leaving. Asante sana! Thank you very much!

Tuesday

The first thing that Natalie and I tried to do was wake up for the sunrise. We didn't know what time it would rise so we guessed 6:50am. I didn't even get out if bed. We had missed it. We got packed and went to breakfast. After breakfast, Natalie and I got in Kakasii's car with Bryan, Nancy, Melissa, Sue and Chad. 

The aim of the day was to get to our next lodge on the other side of Ngorogoro Crater. On the way we first passed through the city of Karatu. We next went through the Ngorogoro entrance. As soon as we got through the gates, we saw a group of baboons and their babies. As we drove up the hill, Kakasii showed us and few area on the side of the road that elephants had scratched their tusks.

We stopped on the side of the road for a few minutes to look into the crater. The crater is approximately 12 and 1/2 miles across. In order to see it we went out onto a half finished viewing point. There was no barrier in the way. Simply some planks of wood built out over the side of the crater. After stopping we drove around the rim of the crater.

As we drove around the crater we saw Zebra! It was so exciting. We traveled a little farther into some grassland and saw an ostrich and a few giraffes! It's so editing seeing all of these animals for the first time. The next stop was lunch, which we ate overlooking the Oldupai Gorge. The guide there explained to us that we were looking at the different layers where Leakey found the first remains of homosapiens. I don't remember much more than that because I was more focused on the view than what the guide was saying...

Next we went to a Maasai village, also on our way around the crater. The Maasai began a welcome ceremony with singing and "dancing." Some of the women gave some of the girls in our group necklaces and took our hands to have us join in. Chad gave Kristian one of the Maasai male's clubs and he also joined the ceremony. The male "dancin"g involves a lot of jumping to the beat of the music. In Maasai culture, the higher a male can jump, the better wife he can get. The women's dancing mainly included shrugging shoulders in a particular way to get their necklaces to bounce. They tried to get us to sing with them, and we joined for a little while. 

After the welcome ceremony, we split into groups so that the Maasai could show us into their homes, which are very small. My group was me, Natalie, Ron, and Jerry. Our guide was named Emanuel. He has only one wife and one son, named Moses. Why do I say ONLY one wife? Well, Emanuel's father had 25 wives and 200 children. Emanuel said he learned from his father's "mistake" and that one wife was enough for him. Having multiple wives is very common in Maasai culture. Emanuel is currently in college in Arusha to become a doctor. He is studying to become a doctor so that he can help his tribe.

The main foods for the Maasai are milk, blood, and meat (although women are not allowed to have blood). The blood is usually mixed with milk, but they also may drink it straight from an animal they have killed. All of the houses in their village were built in community. It takes about 2 and 1/2 months to build all of the houses. Women do all of the work. They build houses, cook, and get water. Maasai men are "warriors." This means they guard the village at night from lions and other predators, predators that rarely attack. It used to mean that they fought other tribes, but tribes live peacefully now.

This Maasai village was made up of about 30-40 huts, but it was only two different families. Maasai only stay in one place for about 8-12 months. After that time they leave the huts they have built for others to use and move on with their cattle to find better grazing land. The Maasai culture has coming of age for both males and females. I did not learn about the females, but the males go into the brush away from the village for 3 months when they are about 12 or 13. They usually go in groups of 2-4. Back in the day, they boys were expected to kill a lion, but that is now illegal. 

After leaving the Maasai village we drove into a grassland area. Apparently in the area we were in, drivers don't usually go off the roads because they are afraid of getting lost however, Peter, Cacasii, and Momo are so great and know the area so well that they can go anywhere. We found the skull of something (I think it was a wildabeast) and saw a herd of ostriches. Soon we saw impala, thomsons, and grant gazelles. Soon after, we got super duper up close and personal with Mr. Giraffe. Then we arrived at Ndutu safari lodge which is on the edge of a grassland area.

We had a lot of time before dinner so we decided to go game driving. I was in Momo's car with Natalie, Corky, and Jerry. We very quickly saw a few warthogs (Pumba!). As we drove down a hill and past a small watering hole I happened to look to the left. "ELEPHANTS!" I yelled really loud. There were two male elephants at the watering hole. We were quite far away at first, but we drove closer and were able to get some close up shots. 

Next we drove out to the marshes where we saw another safari truck parked. We heard rumor from the people at the lodge that there were some lionesses chilling in the marshes and sure enough, there they were! There we 4 lionesses and 10 lion cubs. Because it was beginning to be evening, the lions had just woken up from their naps and the cubs were just beginning to play. We sat and watched them for about an hour. As we sat and watched the lions, the two elephants we saw before came into view behind the lions. They walked straight behind the lions and into view of our cameras! It was incredible. If we thought that was good enough, a fox showed up. While the lionesses didn't end up chasing the fox, we watched them prowl a little. 

We went back to the lodge and got ready for dinner. After dinner, Corky fixed the sizing settings on my camera so that I could take more pictures! When Natalie and I returned to our room, she went to shut the curtains and jumped back. I asked her what was wrong and she told me there was a huge spider and it was moving fast. Here's the thing, Natalie likes bugs. Spiders don't scare her. So for Natalie to get freaked out I knew there was a problem. She picked up a cup to trap it and then decided the cup wasn't big enough. Natalie went to get Aaron from the lodge to kill the spider for us (he was an Eagle Scout). Up to this point, Natalie had told me not to look at the spider. While she was gone I stood as far away from the curtains as I possibly could. And then the spider ran out from behind the curtain. I kid you not, this spider was the size of a soup spoon. Luckily Aaron was able to kill it for us. It took me a while to fall asleep though...

Wednesday

This was our official first day of Safari. The day we went into the Serengeti. Of course as we started out I played Circle of Life loud enough for the entire car to hear. Peter was our driver and the rest of the passengers were Natalie, Ron, Marilyn, Linda, Tom, and Sue. Even before we got into the Serengeti we saw flamingos (who are pink because of a bacteria they eat), marabusto storks (a meat eating bird), a secretary bird, a jackal downwind of some Thomson (meaning he may have been trying to pick off a little one), a lone hyena, and then two more hyenas (they need 10 or 15 to enable to hunt). 

Also before entering the Serengeti, we had a little car trouble. Peter tried to drive up a hill, but it had some ruts in it and we ended up sliding back and forth and not being able to get up this hill. Peter had been the first car, so Kakasii and Momo laughed at him and Cacasii decided to show him how it was done. Kakasii managed to get his tired stuck in the Rutland nearly flipped his car. The right front wheel was a couple feet off of the ground. The drivers decided it would be a good idea for everyone to get out of the vehicles so we got to watch them try to figure it out. They ended up having to try a rope to Kakasii's car and pull him out using another car. After getting the car unstuck, we still had to get up that hill. Luckily this time all cars made it without a problem. 

Soon we came to the entrance of the Serengeti. While the drivers checked us into the park, we climbed a giant hill. From the top of this hill all you could see in any direction was miles and miles of grassland. This is where Serengeti gets its name. Serengeti is Maasai for endless field. As soon as we got into the Serengeti we saw giraffes. Then we saw 2 male lions walking back in the direction we came from. They were quite far away and Peter told us that their pride was probably back where the hill we climbed was. A little while later we passed a rock that looked a lot like pride rock from the Lion King. Natalie and I were busy singing the Lion King soundtrack. All of a sudden Sue yelled "Stop!" Between the two rocks that looked like pride rock were two young male lions sleeping. On one of the rocks a little closer to us was a young female lion. According to Peter, these three lions were siblings. 

We soon saw a wildabeast crossing the road, some zebra and another female lion. We also saw a dead hyena in the street. Peter told us the hyena was probably killed by a safari car or some other truck. When I said that was sad he said, "yeah, it is sad. But as a driver you have to make the decision to swerve and maybe kill the 7 people in your car plus myself or to hit the hyena. I would have hit the hyena too." Soon we came across an area where there were 13 cars looking at a tree. In that tree was a female lion who was watching the herd of zebras passing by the tree. She was downwind of them so they did not know they were there. She was waiting for a straggler to pick off at the end of the herd. When the opportunity didn't not arise she turned her attention to the herd of thomsons on the other side of the road. She climbed down the tree and headed into the grass. After about 10 minutes she disappeared into the grass. Peter said it may take a few hours for her to decide to pounce so we left after about half an hour. 

Next we saw baby elephants and zebra, a cheetah (but it was very far away), a lion laying on a log, and a leopard in a tree. After lunch we went to a hippo pool where hundreds of hippos were lounging in this pool. It smelled really bad. A little ways away from the hippos was a crocodile lying on the bank of the pool. Soon we saw more zebra, a plane taking off on a dirt strip (in the Serengeti!), baby elephants, more lions, some warthogs, and hartbeast. 

When we stopped to leave the Serengeti so we could check out, we all had a look at Natalie's face. It was absolutely covered in dirt! After seeing her we all washed off our faces with baby wipes. Natalie and I stood up and sang all the way from the Serengeti to the hotel. Ron told us later it was the only time he has seen us act like teenagers. We asked if that was a good thing or a bad thing and he said "it just is the way it is." At dinner I was feeling really dizzy and I thought it was from hunger. After dinner I felt the same so I called it a night and went to sleep at 9:15pm. I thought I was catching something but luckily I felt great when I woke up the next morning. 

Thursday

This was the day to go into the Ngorogoro Crater. I was in Kakasii's car with Natalie, Kristian, Ron, Melissa, Chad. On our way to the entrance we saw a hyena den on the way. A few parents were milling around and then one of the cubs stuck his head out of the den to see what was going on. He stayed there for quite some time looking around and posing for pictures. There was fog everywhere as we descended into the crater we could only see fog. It was absolutely freezing. Chad said that the weather would get better as the sun burned through the fog. 

We soon saw more wildabeast and buffalo (getting us to 4 out of the big 5). Then we saw a hippo out of the water which is very unusual to see. Hippos overheat very easily so they spend most daytime hours in the water. The fact that hippos were out of water shows just how cold it was, especially by African standards. A little later we saw some hyenas that were stuck in between water and safari trucks. The baby hyenas were crying. It was a really annoying and sad sound. It sounded like they were screaming. In between the hyenas and lunch we say more hippos out of water, zebras, wildabeast, and one wildabeast came rig up to our car.

For lunch we stopped at one of the only places in Ngorogoro that you are allowed to get out of the car because of predators. Kakasii used the rope that tied our lunches together and tried to wrap it around Peter's neck. He didn't realize that Peter was holding a knife. A few minutes later when Chad was looking at Peter's knife, Kakasii came up behind him and tied Peter's arms to his sides. Peter did a quick donkey kick and his foot made contact with Cacasii's gut! About 20 yards from where about 40 safari cars were eating, a lion was just lounging in the grass. It's a good thing she wasn't hungry for lunch!

Next we saw some zebra going to a water hole, am elephant skull, a baby wildabeast nursing, and some birds in a nest. Chad also pointed out our lodge on top of a 2000 foot cliff. Next we saw 4 rhinos completing the big 5! The big 5 are rhinos, leopard, lions, elephants, and buffalo. The 4 rhinos were quite far away but 2 of them walked a little closer. We sat and watched the rhinos for about an hour, long enough for Chad and Ron to fall asleep! To get out of the crater we drove through an acacia forest which was pretty spectacular. 

About 500 feet from the entrance to our lodge was an elephant standing in the road. He was just chomping on some leaves. The lodge for that night was the Ngorogoro Wildlife Lodge. It looks over the edge of the crater and each room is set up to have a great view. The lobby is all carved wood and mirror mosaics and hanging for the ceiling are hundreds of glass balls in rows. The lobby also had a huge balcony with fixed binoculars to look into the crater. Dinner was the best food I had in a while. While the lodge was incredible, it was also freezing. Chad said that the entire day was the coldest he has ever seen it. Natalie went to the front desk to ask for extra blanket which made a huge difference.

Friday

Friday morning we left the lodge around 8:45am. It was pretty much driving all day. Peter's car became the youth car. it was me, Natalie, Aaron, Kristian, Raechel, and Anna. We stopped at a T-shirt shack in the morning for souvenirs and Peter helped us hand out candy to some kids. It was still freezing and it soon began to rain. There was a lot of traffic in Arusha and we ended up getting to Kakasii's house about 2 hours late. We did still get to meet his wife Brenda and three of his kids. His son Godson is 21 and his other two, Ellie and Max are twins that are almost 2. Kakasii handed me Ellie early on and she was scared of the amount of people in the house so she clung to me for the rest of the time we were there. 

Next we went to lunch at Arumeru River Lodge. After lunch we drove the rest of the way back to Moshi. At this point came the unfortunate time that we had to bid farewell to our wonderful drivers. It was sad. Peter and Kaksii both promised to visit us at the orphanage so we'll see what happens.  We had about an hour to chill at the hotel and then we went to dinner at El Rancho. 

Next week

Tomorrow morning we fly to Bukoba by Lake Victoria. We will return on Monday afternoon. Tuesday is the day that Natalie, Raechel, Anna and I head to the orphanage and the rest of the group return to the US. I'll update again when we return from Bukoba!

The Most Amazing Woman in Tanzania

Her name is Sister Elistaha Mlay. She has been headmistress at the Agape Lutheran Junior Seminary since 2004, but she just returned from 2 years off to get her advanced degree. She has done so much for the school such as establishing internet, increasing capacity, and making truly meaningful connections with her students. She also established a system for pumping water so the students did not have to go down the hill to get their own water. After her two year hiatus, things are falling apart a little (the internet has failed and the reserve water tank is leaking). However, Sister Mlay had only been back for one day when we visited and she already has plans for fixing these problems.Sister Mlay knows that her "heart is with the kids." In her words: "I loved it from my hear [...] to sit with them and listen to their problems. It was a blessing."

To truly understand the wonder that is Sister Mlay, I must tell you a story about a girl named Gloria Joseph. This story begins at a rural town's funeral.This funeral was for the father of Gloria Joseph, who had just passed away from AIDS. Her mother had also died some time before. This death left Gloria and her three siblings orphaned. Two special people happened to be at this funeral, the bishop of the Northern Diocese and (you guessed it) Sister Mlay. They decided if they could only do one thing to help this family it was to take Gloria (who had just finished primary school) and bring her to Agape.

Gloria had a slaw start because her education had not been the best up to this point because of the poor background she came from. Sister Mlay sat with her each and every day and continued to teach her. Sister Mlay was Gloria's tutor and mentor. After 4 years at Agape, Gloria received second division on the national exam (very good!). However, Gloria did not have enough money to finish her next two years at Agape at the advanced level. Sister Mlay saw something special in Gloria and believed that she could do it. So, Sister Mlay asked Chad (the leader of my current trip) to help out. He paid for Gloria's final two years at Agape. Gloria finished first in her class.

Sister Mlay encouraged Gloria to apply to college, but Gloria did not have enough money. Sister Mlay gave Gloria the only 500,000 Tshillings she had and said, "see what happens." Gloria went off to college with only that money.

A little while later, Sister Mlay was in Nebraska. She met a woman who had visited Agape in Tanzania a few years earlier. While she was there, Gloria had washed the woman's hands and apparently left quite an impression. The woman asked Sister Mlay how Gloria was. Sister Mlay told her honestly that she was having a lot of trouble paying her fees to go to college. The woman told Sister Mlay that she would pay for her schooling.

Gloria graduated from college a year or so ago and decided it was time to get married because she had finished all of her schooling. However, the woman who paid for her college said, "what about a Master's?" Gloria is currently working on her Master's Degree.

This is only one story. Sister Mlay loves what she does. She said: As long as I'm needed, I know I'm serving God. I'm not doing my will, but His."

So, uh... I'm in Africa (it's casual)

I haven’t had a chance to write anything yet because we’ve been so busy! I’m going to use this post as an overview of my first few days. This will probably be a quite lengthy post because we’ve done a lot already!

Traveling

I left New York on Wednesday night and arrived in Amsterdam at 6:40am local time (or 12:40am New York time). My flight was smooth and we actually landed early because of a huge tailwind. It took me a while to connect with the group because I had never met them before. However, I saw a guy walking around in a Minnesota shirt and assumed it was Chad. I was correct. Our whole group clicked almost instantly. Everyone is really nice. We arrived in Kilimanjaro Airport around 7:30pm local time (12:30pm New York time). 

My first thought when I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac was, “I’m in Africa.” That sounds like such a simple thing to be thinking, but it was surreal. We were met outside of the airport by Sister Melissa (one of the nuns from the Northern Diocese here in Tanzania), Pastor Urio, Nelson (a good friend of Chad’s and a safari coordinator), Oscar (our wonderful driver), and Natalie. Natalie and I had quite the reunion! We were also welcomed by a group of 11 Maasai and their pastor. Maasai is a local tribe in the Kilimanjaro region. They greeted us with song and dance.

Friday

The next day we went into Moshi, the town we’re staying in, to exchange our money. $200 dollars gets you about 325,600 Tshillings. We were quickly swarmed by local vendors who spoke to use in Kiswahili. We responded as well as we could. All of the people here are super nice and welcoming.

Our next stop was Agape Lutheran Junior Seminary, run by the ELCT Northern Dicese. It’s a boarding school that services 500 students with only 29 staff. Level 1 students begin at ages 12-13 and complete 4 years. They must then take a national test. Passing allows them to return for Level 2, which lasts 2 years. Tuition is 1.3 million Tshillings or just under $1000. They just welcomed back their headmaster, Sister Elistaha Mlay (click her name to learn more about her). She is the most wonderful woman I have ever met. 

We then went to Midlands Lodge in Mamba Village for lunch. This area is inhabited by the Moshi clan. All the food in our 3 course meal was grown locally. As we left Mama Moshi (the woman who runs the lodge) told me “Karibu tena,” meaning “you are welcome again.”

The next stop of the day was Kikoro Primary School in that same village. We had to walk down a dirt road (on a steep hill) for about 30 minutes. During that walk we came across a puddle of water. Since the road was dirt and now it was wet dirt, or mud, I slipped. I was just being my usual clumsy self and ended up sitting in a puddle of mud. Oh well, Tanzania is now part of me and vice versa.

The students of Kikoro Primary School were supposed to be on vacation, but when they heard we were coming they all put on their uniforms and came to greet us. We were able to give them 3 soccer balls and a football. When they saw us walking down the road they swarmed around us. After a few minutes they gathered around us and sang a couple of songs including the Tanzanian national anthem. 

Next was the house of one of Pastor Chad’s good friends. His name is Stephen Massawe. He began building his home before he was married so he could prove that he could provide for his future wife. It worked because his wife Hikaeli (that’s my best guess on the spelling until I see her again!) is as beautiful in spirit as she is in person. Her name means “thank you God” and everyone is thankful for Hikaeli. We went behind his house to some caves that were build 100s of years ago. They are holes dug in the ground that then open up into rooms (I know this because Natalie and I went in them!). They can house up to 200 people and were originally used as homes. More recently they were used to house women and children during the Civil War.

Finally, we went to dinner at El Rancho, which is actually an Indian Restaurant. I drank my first Tanzanian beer and Natalie spilled her Savannah Dry. 

Saturday

The first place we went was Ushirika wa Neema, a convent. They have 10 acres for community living and 30 acres for farming. Also located here is a Montessori training school and one classroom. Their Montessori education is only for Kindergarten (age 2 and 1/2). They say that the only way to raise children in the Christian faith is to give them a foundation. Sophia Urio (Pastor Urio’s wife) has been the principal of this training school since it began in 1992. Students take a 2 year course. The first three months of the second year are the student’s field placement. The teachers make all the material that we would buy at education warehouse in the training school. These teachers put so much time and effort into making sure that these children have a way to learn. It is a real testament to education. 

Pastor Urio has been with the convent since it began in 1980. They started with only 10 sisters. Their philosophy is “what service can I render” not what will benefit me. The convent is completely self-sustained through the farm and school that they do not have to wait for donors. Soon they will begin construction on a hostel for women who go to different universities in the area. 

Next we went to Machame Lutheran Hospital. Located there is a nursing school. We saw their classrooms and dorms and the current construction for a dining hall. The nursing school has only been open since 2010, but has already had one of the highest success rates in the country. Their first class graduated last year and 90% passed their national exams. The hospital itself is very different from a US hospital. The hallways are outside and the rooms are dirty. However, the hospital has a high success rate. The hospital is largely run by Bob Kasworm, who is originally from Nebraska.

Bob took us to his latest project after we toured the hospital. It’s a program called Houses for Health. They build small, 2-room houses without electricity or running water for patients whose poverty exacerbates their condition. It may not seem like much, but these homes make a huge difference in the lives of these people. We visited a lady called Jennifer who had a house built through this program. She was so grateful for the program and excited to show visitors around her home. We also visited a potential family. They have not yet been approved for a house to be built, but we have word that it will most likely happen. This house would be for a 17-year old boy and his family. Prosper has extreme epilepsy and a developmental disorder that is most likely cerebral palsy. It was absolutely heart breaking to see the condition of his “home” (if you could even call it that) and to see him sitting in the dirt. 

We stopped by the Protea Hotel Aishi Machame on the way to dinner for drinks. It is a beautiful facility. We had dinner at the 10 2 10 Restaurant (pizza, believe it or not). Our group came together and raised the money there and then to build 2 houses with the Houses for Health program. It costs $4000 to build one house (if anyone wants to donate to this wonderful program I can provide more information, let me know!). 

Sunday

We went to Nkwesho Parish for church. The entire parish was so welcoming. When we arrived the children began singing “Welcome, welcome, how do you do? Happy to see you, happy to see you” over and over. It was precious. They served us tea before the service, even though we were running late. Despite the fact that these people barely have anything, they gave everyone in our 20 person group a bag of coffee to show their appreciation for us being there. They also cooked us an entire goat for lunch!  

The Tanzanian people are truly wonderful. I have not met a single person that I do not like. They are all so happy to meet us and speak to us in broken English and even worse Kiswahili. I’m so excited for everything that has happened so far. On Saturday night, Chad asked us if we had to leave tomorrow, would the trip have been worth it. The unanimous answer was yes. 

Tonight we went to Kilimakyaro Lodge for dinner. It is up on the mountain so we got to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. Stephen and Hikaeli came with us with their two children, Trajeil and Fides. Trajeil (boy) is 2 and 1/2 and Fides is 9 months old. They were the cutest things. Trajeil was very shy at first, but I made it my mission to make him my rafiki (friend). Mission accomplished! Fides was very calm all the time, but it was difficult to make her smile. After a lot of playing and messing around, we finally got it!

Next week!

Tomorrow morning we leave for Safari and I will not have internet for a few days. We will be visiting the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. We will also be staying in tents! I’ll update you all when we get back! Thanks for reading this whole thing, I know it was long.

One week left!

It's the final countdown! 

Cue the cheesy music (it makes the preparation 300 times more fun!). There are only 8 days left until I board the plane to Amsterdam. The trip has come up so quickly! Natalie is already in Tanzania working hard at the orphanage and I have been able to speak to her on the phone twice. She has told me that the nuns are keeping her very well fed and that the children are being as adorable as possible, all of which I am looking forward to. However, I am not looking forward to the bugs that she described!

I've spent a good chunk of time reading the Traveler's Guide that Chad sent out for the two week trip. Looking at the history of Tanzania, the geographical features, how to interact with local people, and what to pack. There is so much information that I need to know because the culture there is so different. I need to make sure I'm prepared to interact with people and that I have what I need with me.

Packing...

It's amazing how many things you need to remember to bring. There's medications, certificates of vaccination, plane tickets, passports, money, cameras, adapters, as well as appropriate clothes, shoes, etc, etc. The list goes on and on. Now I just have to figure out how to get everything I need into my suitcase. I have been shopping for and borrowing everything I need to bring and I'm close to having everything I need! We just have to take a few quick trips to Kohl's, a travel store, and the bank.

Language...

Also included in the Traveler's Guide is a list of some of the words and phrases that I will have to use while away. The phrase "asante sana" that Rafiki famously follows with "a squashed banana" in The Lion King actually is the Swahili phrase for "thank you very much." Because I'll be in such a thankful community I'll be using that phrase many many times. I hope I remember not to say "a squashed banana" afterwards!

Let it continue...

Tonight I went to a Bible Study with my parents and there was a man from Zambia there. He prayed for me to see what God has for me and for protection for me and the group. While quite a few people have been praying that for me since I decided to go, it felt so much realer coming from someone who has lived in the culture that I'm going to. Today, it sunk in that I only have one week left before leaving. While I am super nervous to go, I am also so excited to see what's in store for me. As my mom said today, each hug or small piece of attention that I will be giving to the children I will be working with can have a huge impact on their lives. I am excited to help make a difference in their lives. In 8 days I will be in the air on my way to Amsterdam, and then on my way to Kilimanjaro. It really is the final countdown.

Also check out Natalie's blog for the trip here.

And Pastor Chad's blog for the trip here.