Blogs from Arusha, North, Tanzania, Africa - page 15

Dear all i have not been updating th blog due to internet connection issues. Still in Arusha, working hard in different projects whch are progressing slowly but surely. We started free english tution for the children of Shangarai thanks to the help of several volunteers. We have 2 groups, advanced and beginners with an average of 25 children in each, we had to stop allowing more children to come cuase we do not have teachers nor facilities. I am in charge of the beginners group; it was heartbreaking seeing that primary school kids do not even know the alphabet so we had to start with that, Children are taught to learn by heart but then they can not even recognise a letter or a vowel when you asked them, they are trying very hard so they ... read more

We stayed at the Meserani Snake park, just west of Arusha. In the morning, we looked at the snakes, crocs and birds of prey that the snake park had in captivity. Then we visited the Maasai cultural museum to hear about how the Maasai are keeping their culture alive. There was a model home and also life size depictions of various scenes from Maasai lilfe. This was narrated by a Maasai man, who answered many questions from our group.   The off to Mto aw Mbu. On the way, we had an opportunity for a more authentic look at Maasai life by visiting a Maasai village. The ladies and children were ready for us, with a wonderful singing welcome. The women put a necklace on Richard and he joined them for a little fun. Small children ... read more

I am so sorry for the delay in this weeks post, things here have been very hectic, what with me planning a kidnapping and all. To be honest, every time I sat down to write about my first few days at the orphanage, I was at a loss for words and had no idea how to convey how I felt, or what I saw, and do it justice all at the same time. So bear with me while I try. Monday was my first day at Camp Moses. I took my daladala there, and walked up my dirt path, and came to the property with a dozen little children roaming around. They all sort of looked at me, and then back at what they were doing. After I put my stuff away, I went back outside ... read more

This will be somewhat fractured because we are posting in a hurry: Geckos was waiting fro us at the hotel and we left Nairobi with twenty tourists, a guide(Malinga), driver (hungery man) and cook(Peter). First stop, a save on size grocery store for bottled water and nibbles. Then we hit the highway south for Tanzina. Suburban Nairobi is a endless series of homes in poverty  condition, dirt roads with ruts, cars with hood up, and garbage everywhere. Men sitting around vacantly where Richard would have been busy cleaning up. Eventually we left Nairobi behind and entered vert dry savanna with colorful Maasai herdsmen tending sheep, goats and cattle. Isolated fields suddenly produced a family walking on a dirt trail, or a ten year old boy minding a hundred goats. These boys waved as we passed and ... read more

I've gotten poor at journaling in the last weeks. I feel like I'm writing a lot more about my thoughts than the day to day happenings. But, the days are pretty standard. We are still teaching three days a week at musa and the kids seem to really like it. However, unfortunately Katie has gone home and I have a new teaching partner helping Frank and I. I don't like him as much as Katie, but oh well! The big news, this past weekend went to Zanzibar. Zanizibar is this little island off the coast of Tanzania that is a pretty common destination for European vacations. Because the volunteers always use the same hotel, they give us a really good discount. The hotel is gorgeous, and the sand is unlike anything I've ever felt. When it's ... read more