BREAKFAST: Breakfast served by Rebecca. Love the pace that stays the same when there is one thing to do as when there are many. Never hurried - never rushed. Our clear glass plate turned upside. Our juice glass upside down. A paper napkin, small coffee cup and saucer. First comes the bread sliced like a fresh loaf. Then comes the thermos jugs of boiled water and milk. The large crystal brown sugar and teaspoons. We immediately give the coffee to Kaye and she laughs. Rebecca serves the Blue Band oleo and a plate of dark red jam. While we butter our bread, Rebecca brings a bowl of small bite-sized pieces of liver. Andre, Tom and I take some. Kaye encourages all to take a taste. Dutifully, all did. Then comes the omelette and tomato. I love ... read more

Today was the day that I realized that the girls school had been functioning with no curriculum and no books. Bweranyange was the brainchild of Pastor Jackson and supported by Bishop Bagonza, who initiated opening of the school three years ago. Currently, 120 girls attended but did not have the supplies to learn the material and meet the standards outlined in the Tanzanian curriculum. More about that later. Kaye awakens us each morning with a knock on the door and a pleasant calling of our names. I hadn't heard any wild animals for a couple of nights but we did tell George about our 'simba' the first night. Breakfast at 7:30, and picked up Vincent. I had planned the reflection time so asked the students to think of an attribute of God (trustworthy, kind, etc) that ... read more

Our St. Thomas team waited for the strategic meeting with the bishop that was to begin at 9:00. We got rolling about noon but were delayed again when the bishop escorted Kaye to the bank to exchange money. The bishop introduced the General Secretary, Erasto Kamihanda, as the new contact for our team. It was this first day employed by the ELCT. Dean Kakulima visited us at the hotel also. Eventually we had a meeting to outline the project goals. A fundamental plan had already been determined by the student engineers and the Engineering Student Advisor* at St. Thomas, however that advisor did not come on the trip. Running that plan past the bishop resulted in modified goals that enlarged the capacity of the pasteurizer and the group agreed to those goals. * It is important ... read more

I can hardly wait to get to Tanzania. The smells are so earthy. Dirt, compost, animals, vegetation. The sights are so contradictory. Women dressed so impeccably - a cow roaming the street. Rise and shine at 6:30am. Dressed, packed and ready to meet our driver. We arrived at the diocese at 7:30 and had breakfast. It was a beautiful place with a courtyard. I later learned that this is the Pope John Paul VI Memorial Hotel, a place that we would stay in the future. George Chobya, our driver arrived. He was friendly, kind and looked smart. He told us that he was 53 and that he had 7 children; 5 from his first marriage and 2 from his second. He was strong and adept at lifting our bags onto the top of the Land Rover ... read more

Headed to Africa today. Highlights included 1) Packed and repacked 3 times the backpack and the roly-poly suitcase named "Elvis" for all the rock and roll; (2) cleared out email and finished chores at home; (3) Steve took me to the airport around noon and we met up with all the others going; (4) Was asked to buy flashdrives for those in Karagwe so spent $170. out of pocket - gotta watch that; (5) Took off at 4:30 and sat next to a young man headed to London for a semester. He was worried about his auntie who had just had a brain aneurysm. (6) Landed Amsterdam in the early a.m. Take me to the Educate Tanzania website. http://educatetanzania.org... read more