LKT

Hello to all! We've had a VERY eventful past few days after returning from Moshi. Wednesday and Thursday afternoons were packed full of bonding time with our beloved girls at the orphanage, and on Wednesday evening Tom and I actually bopped over to Popetlal Secondary School to check out what we heard was a pretty vibrant Ultimate Frisbee culture here in Tanga, and we weren't disappointed! Such good fun just chilling with the locals and internationals who came out to play, and I even went again last night! Thursday and Friday mornings we volunteered at Burhani Primary School, a new private school that has only 50 students. We organized and catalogued the small library there, and taught the kids basic computer skills. The Toledo International Youth Orchestra had donated two violins to the school, and even ... read more

What a day!!! Yesterday was a full day of festivities for Tanga's Rotary Club. First was the opening of a new footbridge for a school whose students were crossing a 50-foot ravine on a bridge made of wood and rope...incredible...then to the opening of the two new classrooms and a teachers' workroom at Majenga School, which was unbelievably powerful. The building is BEAUTIFUL! I can't wait to put up pictures of this new school area - it's crazy to see this shiny new building next to the old buildings (which, until now, were crammed with up to 170 students per classroom...granted, these kids are small, but to be packed in to a room like sardines in the blazing African summer heat is outrageous!!). A full ceremony unfolded...Tom and I even had seats of honor in the ... read more

Mambo! We have finally arrived. We attempted to blog last night, and, in fact, had a full page written after an hour on what quite possibly was the slowest Internet connection since Reagan was in office when the connection decided to black out. And so we will only paraphrase our last few moments in Dubai... The highlight of our Saturday certainly was the surprise visit to the Rashid Government Hospital, where I discovered I am the proud carrier of a throat full of Tonsilitus! No worries, though - the nice doctor there prescribed medications and I've been taking them for a few days now and am feeling much better. And luckily the entire excursion only cost 335 Dhs (less than $100!). But the cultural experience was what really struck us: truly a delta of every racial ... read more

Tom and I are getting SO excited - we'll try to update this blog a few times a week while we're gone so all our beloved friends and supporters who have made this dream FINALLY become a reality can travel along with us :)... read more