Last preparations for our time in Moshi!

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Hi All!

Sorry it's been a while, this last week has been one of change in KiliKids and planning for the weeks ahead.

There are 11 children at Kili Kids who go to school during the day that I had never met before until this week. Because it is now officially their summer holiday and Christmas holiday 11 more children have come back to Kili Kids which mean there are now 3 classes instead of two. This might not sound like too much of a challenge considering there are two of us teaching but there are 8 different levels the kids are at so they are all learning from a different book and all asking me different questions at once - ah! It is also more difficult as there is only one teaching room in the premises which means the noise levels sky rocketed and the kid's concentration during class plummeted. I found this really difficult to cope with at the beginning of the week but as the kids grew more and more used to everyone being around the excitement has died down a bit and a little more order has just about been restored.

This has also been an exciting week as I have learned that a massive 565 pounds has been raised at home which is absolutely amazing! I want to thank everyone soooooo much for their generosity and you can imagine what is little to us in England is massive to the people over here so the money will go very very far! I haven't got an exact breakdown at the minute as I am still in the process of buying things and sorting stuff out but I can give you a rough idea now. I have bought most of the kids christmas presents but still have a few more to go. I was thinking of buying them all some clothes but when enquiring about that aparently they have loads of donated clothes stored and what they really need is shoes. So i'm going to buy them all a pair of shoes and wrap them up for them to open before I leave. I have also got a few communal presents like a small kite kit and a football and pump. I also want to get the staff who work tremendously hard there some chocolates or something. I am also taking the kids on a day out to a small local waterfall on wednesday so they can have a little swim and I will buy them some lunch to take with us. I have also invested in 2 blackboards for the school as they are desperately in need of them as they have only 1 pretty disheveled one. The money that is left over I was thinking we could spend on sending 14 children through school next year - but this depends on what we have left which I will send to mum over the weekend and publish in my blog next week. But really massive massive thank you to everyone.

Whenever it gets to me writing this travel blog I always seem to forget what I've actually done the previous week as everything whizzes by so quickly! The Hostel is emptying out pretty rapidly now as everybody is either venturing home for christmas or going somewhere else. We have a few friends who are staying near us in Zanzibar so will no doubt meet up with them at some point. We went to this place called Memorial market again to find some shoes for the kids, and like the time before it was absolutely mad. Especially in the blistering heat, it is every man for themselves in the battle for a good bargain. Unfortunately half way through our shop Alice came over all whoozy and felt quite sick so we jumped in a cab and went home. She is absolutely fine and dandy now but this is the reason I need to make the mad journey to the market again tomorrow!

On wednesday there were 2 new swedish cousins who came to visit KiliKids as they were looking for a project to continue with throughout January and February. I think people are generally quite overwhelmed by the chaotic nature of KiliKids when they first arrive so I don't know if they will be making a hasty return in January or not but I sincerely hope so as when I leave there will only be one teacher and although she does a fantastic job it is way too much for her to handle on her own. What I also found with people coming to visit is how protective I feel towards the kids. If I feel like anyone will treat them with anything less than adoration I feel a bit sad to leave them - I know they will be just fine I'm just being silly!

We had a massive drama this week. Kili Kids has this big minibus vehicle that they use when they want to transport the kids anywhere but during the week Margeret's (the manager of kilikids) brother Frank was driving it somewhere and knocked a woman down and killed her. This woman was a friend of Margerets and has now left her two children orphaned. Frank ran straight away and hasn't been found and Margeret now thinks he's probably in a different country hiding. Margeret has now taken these two kids into the orphanage but has a lot of paper work to get through before they arrive - I will probably be gone. So this has caused massive upset for the staff and kids of kili kids as they have lost an uncle and margeret a brother and a friend. What I thought was quite interesting though is when I asked what sentence Frank might get if he came back they said a maximum of 3-6months! I couldn't beleive it was such a short time considering they'll send you down for 5 years for homosexuality over here! This is yet another insight into the weird system they have in place over here and what they consider to be big or small crimes.

I think this is all I have time for folks today. 'Oh no' I here you cry, 'we want more!' I know I know you'll just have to wait for next week! I am so excited for this last week, as aparently I'm getting a party on friday :-) all for me yay... I hope there is chocolate involved. I have a feeling I might have to supply this. Also shall let you know how the waterfall visit goes on wednesday and my final weekend in Moshi, it's so sad :-(

Hope every body is well and healthy, and please just drop me an email or anything if you have any suggestions etc.

Lots of Love xxxxxxxxxx
Kweheri!

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