Day 4

Today we visited a small orphanage with about 40 kids. We drove up a dirt road and the orphanage was at the end. The compound was about 50' by 50' and had brick wall all around and a gate to enter. It was mostly all open with an outdoor room for the kitchen and some brick rooms where the children would sleep. They were so excited to see the Cross Cultural Solution (CCS) vans coming. They ran along the side of the vans yelling 'Teacha Teacha' ('Teacher Teacher') When we got there we started pulling out balloons, bubble blowers, frizebees and the kids were so excited. There was balloons and bubbles going everywhere. All of a sudden there would  be a child or multiple children holding your hand saying Teacha Teacha play. There was a table where some of us sat down and drew pictures with the kids. I drew some pictures with the kids then I drew a map of the world and showed them where they were and where I lived. We would try talking in Swahili but the older kids (oldest around 13) would respond in English. The older kids knew more Swahili then we thought. There was a young women from Bermuda there who volunteered with CCS in 2006 and ever since she comes back every year for 2 weeks to volunteer at this orphanage. There are some amazing stories here. One of the volunteers is a nurse in her mid 20s and quit her job to come here to volunteer for 12 weeks with the hope of getting a job with Doctors Without Borders when she is done. It is such a special group of people. Everybody had such an amazing experience with the kids. It was hard not to step back every now and then and watch all the kids who from our world had nothing...only the old, dirty clothes that they had on but yet they were soooooo happy. Everyone of them were smiling and having fun. It was also interesting and pleasing to see how good they were at sharing and helping each other. Kids around 10 years old were helping the younger kids with balloons, drawing etc. The boys that were older, around 12-13 were collecting wood to fuel the fire that was cooking their lunches...they were also the ones that tidied up the yard after the kids.
In the afternoon 2 other volunteers, Nate (U.S. Lilly) and Mezan (Lebanon), and I went for a run. We met Amani who runs a woman's shelter in Moshi and he took us on a running tour. We ran through mainly dirt roads and small villages where he grew up and then through Moshi University. When we ran through the villages everybody was smiling and saying hello. Needless to say we STOOD OUT big time. Kids would come running up to us and run along side with big smiles. We would say hello and exchange names with a fist bump which they loved. :-) We ended up running 22km. What an amazing way to see Africa. Some parts of the run we were in what felt like the heart of Africa. What an amazing experience...it is like this whole other world that we see on TV but I don't know if we fully appreciate that it is out there or exists and is not this fictional program on TV. I will never forget this and still wonder how it will change me...for the better.

Day 3

Today was a day full of experiences. We visited a small village where blacksmiths were making tools by placing metal in a fire and then beating it with a hammer to shape it. I saw some kids watching around a building do I played peek-a-boo with them...they started smiling. I took out my camera and asked them in Swahili if I could take their picture...they smiled and were all for it. I let them take pictures with the camera and they thought it was very funny. One of the other volunteers had a digital camera that also printed Polaroids. She took one of the 2 kids (brother and sister). She gave the pic to their older brother who was going to present it to the mother and father as a gift.
We visited a local tribe where we learned about their culture and history and then ventured into caves and tunnels which were made 50 years ago. They performed a tribal dance and we all joined in. At one point they asked the leader of our group...well I was appointed leader and became chief of our group and dances with the chief of their tribe in the middle of the circle of volunteers and the native tribesmen and women. Very cool experience.
We toured a market...not exactly what we would think of as a market. There were some small buildings but most of the things were placed all over the ground.
We finished the day by hiking down a very steep canyon to a BEAUTIFUL waterfalls. A group of us got in the water and had a swim. The water was actually very cold as it came from the melting ice of Mt. Kilimanjero.
We ended the day with a delicious BBQ outside. The food here has been amazing. Some of the best food I have ever had.
Tomorrow we are visiting an orphange.
J

Day 2

Today was an orientation day. We had a session where we learned some Swahili, learned a catchy Tanzanian song, sessions learning about the Tanzanian culture, and they had a minature scavenger hunt for us. My group's task was to leave the base, walk down a trail along this beautiful river and find some local people and ask them in Swahili what the name of the river was. As we walked along the river there was a village on the other side...there was a lady washing her clothes in the river and several villagers...as soon as they saw the 3 of us they started waving and shouting "Mambo" which means "How's it going?" so we yelled "Poa" which means "all is well" The people here are so friendly. Once we got to the river there was a teenage boy talking to people in the "dalladalla" which is a small van used as public transport. As we had made our way down to the bridge we had come up with what we thought was the perfect question "Jina mto ni nini?" As we spoke it the boy turned to the vehicle and started speaking in Swahili...then the people on the bus talked to each other...we thought we messed up the question. Turns out we had the perfect sentence....they were asking each other for the name of the river. Mission accomplished.
In the afternoon we met the people from our placement. 4 of us will be working at a school with 100 kids aged 2-6. Should be a lot of fun.
Before supper 3 of us walked about 3km to the market...I was suprised to see that you could buy pop, ice cream, cookies, soap, etc there. A few buildings down we stopped at a bar for a beverage and practiced our Swahili. On the way there and back we passed many people and would say hello in Swahili. The kids were just getting out of school. They would smile and say hello. A few even fist bumped me...others said Good E-ven-ing! I would say Good Afternoon and they would get it right away. Everyone is so friendly and happy. It never ceases to amaze me how people with so little can be so happy having so little...really makes you think about what matters.
When we got back to homebase a little girl about 3 came running out onto the dirt road all smiles. It was Brenda...the cute little girl we had been playing with the day before. She high fived me again :-)
Tomorrow is a holiday here so we have an educational tour, going to visit some waterfalls, etc. Sounds like a great day.
-J

Day 1

Today's highlight...the homebase for CCS is on the other side of a dirt road from what looks to be mud huts/a small village. I brought a football and soccer ball with me...in the afternoon we had 3 hours of free time so myself and several of the volunteers took the balls outside the gate onto the road. Within minutes curious kids were coming over and shortly after that we had a game of soccer going. We showed them how to throw a football and played soccer for hours. There was the cutest little girl who kept smiling and trying to get our attention...she would sneak up behind and try to touch me and then run of giggling. One of the little boys kept holding my hand and wanting me to play with him.
At one point I got my Swahili-English dictionary and a few of us and the kids were trying to help us learn Swahili.
Finally, out came the cameras and the kids were facinated with taking photos of anything and everything.
It was one of those days that when you think about it, a smile comes on your face.
-J

Is This Really Happening?

I am at the airport lounge staring at my boarding passes...one for Montreal, one for Amsterdam? and one for Kilimanjero??? Is this really happening? Seems so surreal. I am going to do my best to keep you updated on this experience. Will depend a lot on the technology we have available. Stay tuned! :-)