Friday, August 30th, 2013- Saturday, August 31st, 2013 On the road again… Today we were on the road again from Iringa back to Dar Saleem airport. We stopped at an arts and crafts store on the way. I bought a lion painting, salad spoons and a jewellery box. Renata bought some jewellery. The whole Tancan 2013 team cleared out the store in one sweep. Then we were back on the road again to Dar Saleem airport. We may have missed our flight if we did not take a secret route to the airport to bypass the rush hour traffic. We were able to make our flight with time to spare. The plane ride home was fairly uneventful. From DarSaleem we headed to Zurich, from Zurich to Newark and from Newark to Buffalo and then the greyhound ... read more

Tuesday August 27th- Wednesday, August 28th, 2013 Ruaha National Park Safari…. Its Safari time! The Tancan 2013 group took two safari vehicles to Ruaha National Park. Seven of us traveled with tour guide Eddie while the rest of the group traveled with tour guide Jacintha. We saw numerous elephants, giraffe, zebras, impala and kudus and learned about their mating habits and way of life. The safari vehicles went up and down through the bush as we searched for hidden animals. At one point the other group’s vehicle got stuck while searching for a leopard. We missed spotting the leopard that time but later on in the day we came across it lying under a tree. It was not keen on getting its picture taken and slowly walked away. I felt like a paparazzi, taking pictures and ... read more

Sunday August 25th, 2013 Mass, school blessing, sponsor child visits and Canada vs. Tanzania basketball game…… Today was officially our last day in Mbangamao. At mass, we were greeted by the bishop and the priests in the region (Father Varghese, Father Matthew, Father Pachai, Father Simon). The church was decorated with streamers, for the bishops welcome. It looked very festive. After the mass which was spoken in Swahili, the bishop, members of the congregation, and the Canadian team headed back to the school where the bishop gave a blessing on the newly built De Paul Secondary School library and computer lab. The computer lab will not only provide educational resources to De Paul Secondary school students but also the government students in the community. It is a great tool to provide students with the education they ... read more

Friday August 23rd, 2013 Mpepai …. Clinic Day 4: Today, the entire Tancan team journeyed to the village of Mpepai to provide a medical clinic for the surrounding community. Out of all the villages around Mbangamao, Mpepai had the largest community. They had their own parish, with Father Simon and Father Pachai as their parish priests. The clinic took place at the local school. The clinic had a late start (T.I.A: This is Africa). We did not start HIV briefing and testing until late afternoon. In the meantime, Renata, Susan and I were practicing pricking each others fingers. A nurse showed us how to get the most blood out while pricking the fingers. You need to use your finger nail as a tourniquet and dig your nail in the finger while you ... read more

Wednesday, August 21st, 2013 Elderly Clinic day …… Clinic Day 2: Today was the elderly clinic day. Since there was limited HIV testing today, Martha and I ran an exercise clinic for the elderly. We explained the importance of exercise and stretching. We then performed a variety of stretches with the elderly to help with their circulation and aches and pains. It was a lot of fun seeing their happy faces, and them trying to mimic our stretches. Afterwards, we gave them advil to help with their chronic aches and pains. Today was a slow clinic day. Not a lot of elderly in the community came to the clinic (I guess they did not get the memo). I spent most of my time enjoying the company of the student volunteers at the clinic and ... read more