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Africa » Tanzania » North » Moshi
November 16th 2008

Published: November 16th 2008

Jambo All!
I am now moving onto my second blog entry of my trip so far. I will endevour to carry on doing weekly ones however this may change considering its taken my about a year just to log onto this website. Anyway I will start with the wedding as I don't think I went into much detail the last time.

What Alice and I failed to realise about the wedding is that we were essentially bridesmaids. When Sophia insisted that everyone was wearing the same outfit what she really meant was the close friend and family - and us the token muzungos. Everyone was so excited to have us there shaking our hands and staring at us with wide-eyed faces with big grins. The church bit was quite traditional much like an english wedding but things started to get alot stranger when we left the church. I say church it was more like a large concrete building with a cross on the front with a few plastic chairs inside. So when we left to go the after party we were flung onto the back of an opentopped pickup-truck type thing with our fellow bridemaids. As if by magic as soon as we stepped into the vehicle the heavens opened - it rained like it had never rained before - it was great! Its the ritual to drive round the roundabout a couple of times before going onto your destination so it was great we were all singing and dancing in the back of this truck in the pouring rain with confused locals watching from a far. Once we got to the party place is was a nice gazebo covered area with music and a few chairs and then food which was great - lots of rice, Ugali ( a maizey type of food - essentially a pure carbohydrate) and sauces. We then had to dance up this aisle with a communal present and great the bride and groom whom we had never met!

The next day about 12 of us along with the Masai's went to a traditional Masai village. We took a private daladala to the village which was very secluded from all the other nearby towns. The village consisted of a series of huts made out of mud and cow feaces with a few cows and goats dotted around. The family welcomed us into their homes which were tiny inside and showed us around which was lovely. I am going to try and upload the photos today but if I run out of time I will definately do it tomorrow. After showing us round the Masai's showed us their traditional dance - the one with alot of jumping. It was amazing, they could get soooo high off the ground so that was very entertaining.

So now I think I will tell you a little bit about my project. Like i've said before its an orphanage and a school and it has around 25 kids in it. The building is a small bungalow house with a sitting room, classroom, kitchin and small dorms where the kids stay. The thing I love about it is the intimacy of it all. As its not such a large project it means I can get the know the kids individually and maked it easier for me to make a bigger impact. I have 4 children in my class - Evance, Neema, Laurent and Amina - all rascals but all equally as cute! I generally teach them english in the morning and after oogie (a porrige type thing) I try and do a few more fun games so they're not completely bored! What I've found with alot of people who are teaching and staying at the Hostel have been playing lots of games with their children which is great but whats good about my project is that it really does set up the kids for life. They are so intelligent and with the right resources I'm sure could get really far so I am trying really hard to reach a good balance of fun and good quality learning. Some of the children have had absolutely shocking backgrounds and sometimes makes me wonder what drives them to smile and play. For example some children have been raped since the agte of 5. One girl saw her own mother murdered in front of here eyes. Once little boy was found hidden in a cupboard and one little girl whose mother was a witch doctor was forced to dig up the graves of dead people - this is the kind of life I am talking about. These are the types of stories which are real and I see them everyday. I feel incredibly privalidged to be in their lives - even if for a short time - and make them feel as loved and important as possible. But anyway, putting all sad stories aside I'm having a great time with them. The other day a boy from another class put his foot through the window accidentally but luckily the nurses who comes in everyday was there to bandage him etc but they do run riot alot of the time.

One evening this week there was a sex and the city night at this local bar called the watering hole. So we went there on thursday and drank cosmopolitans while watching a few episodes on the big screen - so its not all work work work! Oooo Mum (sorry little personal note) I finished the book a few days ago - amazing! Yesterday we had a nice relaxing day of swimming in this posh hotel nearby which was nice but tomorrow back to lovely lovely chaos.
We have booked to go to Zanzibar on the 23rd of December through to the 5th of January, staying in a place called Kendwa which is apparently where the full moon parties are - result! Also cousin James is around so perhaps Christmas with a little slice of home is due. Then onto Zambia on the train. But of course I shall update you before then.

My fingers are just about aching now which leads my to saying goodbye for now. I hope everyone at home is well and happy - I would love to hear from you guys too when you get the chance.
Lots of love from Moshi town - Kweheri (goodbye)

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