{you had me at mambo}

Lake Chala!

This weekend we had a nice little get away! Lucy, Sarka, Matt, Sarah, M’Liss, Cami, Frederick, Ben and I. Ben is the only one that isn’t from our Hostel and he’s from Britain working at one of the schools out here. He’s been here for 7 months and still has 2 left! So long!

Anyway, Lake Chala. To get there, 10 of us (including our driver) crammed into a 7 person van and drove an hour and a half away on dirt roads to get to the Lake. It was a pretty crazy drive. The drivers here and maniacs. I honestly wont be surprised the day I get hit by a car, I can’t believe it hasn’t happened yet. We slid all over the road, and I concluded it was better to just not watch where we were going. Besides, I was squished between Ben and Frederick in the back, so if anything really happened at least I had some padding right?

When we got there we hung out, had lunch, and then hiked down to the lake. The hike was through tons of the green green brush and trees along this dirt path just wide enough, with rocks you have to climb down, and steep drop offs on the edge. The water at the bottom was so warm and blue! Its was gorgeous! Oh and there were these two little canoes at the bottom made out of wood that looked like it was patched together and they were half sunken. While we were swimming some local came and just hoped in, bucketed the water out, and paddled away in it. I hope he didn’t drown in it.

That night we had an awesome BBQ (bbq’d goat, fried rice with potato and steak mixed in, and chips (fries, but better!)) and played games like smirt, and the worst-case scenario survival game and such. The next morning we went hiking and I literally felt like I was searching through the jungle. We didn’t really follow a trail and were constantly getting cut up by brush (the trees here have needles sticking out every centimeter of the branches, creating quite the death trap). Plus, we were all covered in mud because of the rain the night before. However, we made it to this tree which is the epitome of an African tree. As if that wasn’t cool enough it had these natural grooves in it making it easy to climb and look out over the whole Savannah. So pretty! Afterwards we packed up camp and made the treacherous drive back home again, with even worse roads because of the heavy rain, but luckily we made it.

            I am loving it here. Although the week days can become very routine with classes nothing beats the feeling of satisfaction and excitement when one of my kids begins to catch on, especially my little Bonny. He’s doing so well with his colors and numbers and I’m so proud of him! Not to mention I love playing soccer with them. Today, we taught them Down By the Banks and they loved it. Sometimes I wonder if they think of us as the funny mzungu’s (white people) that don’t know how to talk. No matter, I love each of them and am so grateful for each experience I have here. Not to mention, when the weekend rolls around, there is always something fun going on whether it be going to the circus in Arusha, hiking to the waterfalls, the hot springs, or just swimming at the nearest hotel.  As you can probably tell, I’m enjoying my trip here tremendously. Thanks to my parents for helping me make it happen and encouraging me all the way along.

p.s. A special thanks to all of you who made donations! The kids love all of the soccer balls I got them, the books, medical supplies, and especially the candy. 

{jambo}

So I haven’t written in a while and I’m sorry. I am loving my new home here in Africa. I am staying at the Hostel Hoff and have made loads and loads of friends. The people here are from all over and are the greatest people!

My current project is Hope Village for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children. Mama Cecilia is about 30 years old and has created a miracle for these children. She has always felt a calling to help those less fortunate and proclaims that she loves this new family of her own. She started Hope Village about two months ago now, and came to Hostel Hoff looking for volunteers to help teach her five children learn English, as well as give them one on one quality time.

Meet Juma. Juma is the oldest of the group and is about 7 years old…and he acts just his age. He is constantly running around causing trouble and has a hard time paying attention, yet he’s bright deep down inside. He’s able to write his ABC’s most of the time and loves to be held and is a great soccer player. I’m currently teaching him to hit it off his head which he thinks is awesome.

Say Hello to Shamimu. I swear this girl will be a model someday in that she is absolutely gorgeous. She’s the most timid of the group but her wild side is definitely coming out. I’m slowly but surely getting her to open up to me which is easy with a little bit of love. Most of these kids came from abusive homes where their parents either hit them, gave them alcohol or neglected to care for them correctly which breaks my heart because they have each claimed a part of my heart and I love them each so much.

 

Jessica. Jessica reminds me a little bit of my best friend Terra. She is a stubborn child who loves to do things her way. ;) She’s brilliant though, which is another thing her and Terra have in common. She knows her numbers 1-10, and is always willing to speak up. She loves physical affection such as being held or hugged. I love holding each of the kids on my lap and am slowly teaching each of them, “I love you.” Something they don’t hear enough.

Bonny. Now this little boy would be coming home with me in a split second if only it were that easy. Bonny has a laugh that will steal your heart away with all the ease in the world. If he gets nervous, or doesn’t understand us, which is quite often, he just laughs, rolling his head forward. However, he’s not the brightest of the group. He has a hard time paying attention and somehow always ends up on his head, literally. I’m continually telling him “Kaa chini” meaning to sit down! Every once and a while though, Bonny will yell out the right answer when no one else knows it and it just about blows us away. It’s the best feeling in the world when you see them catching on and grasping the concept.

 

Anitha, pronounced Anita. Most beautiful and brilliant 3 year old you’ll ever meet. Anitha knows 1-10, and is learning her ABC’s and colors in her second language. What child in America could ever do that? She is also one of my favorites because of her laugh, and her little spurts of singing. She loves singing for us, and will often stand in front of you or sit on your lap and talk and talk and talk in Swahili resulting in zero understanding, but complete love. I love her to death and know she’ll go far. She’s a very concentrated thinker and wants to get the answer right each time. She wont ever make a decision unless she’s certain she’s right. What a great trait huh? We could all learn from that I’m sure.

This is my new family out here and I love them to death. Sure they take a whole lot of patience and effort, but I’m excited to see them each day. The hour long walk to get there is definitely worth it. Mama Cecilia is always so grateful for our help and pleads with us often not to give up on her children and keep trying to teach them. She is such an incredible women and has sacrificed so much for these children and loves them so much.  I’m grateful to be able to help.

Other than working at Hope Village I spend a lot of time swimming, traveling around this area of Tanzania to places like Arusha, Lake Chala, and Moshi, as well as talking with people at the hostel, reading, watching the few movies we have, shopping at the craft and art markets, and sleeping. Sleeping sleeping sleeping.

Each day I am here I am reminded of how grateful I am to live where I live, and to be blessed with all that I have. I’m thankful for paved roads, for air condition, for warm showers, for carpet! Oh how I miss carpet, for cleanliness, for hospitals, for owning more than two pairs of clothes, for my truck that runs, and most of all for my family and friends! These are each things that are either non-existent here, or very rare. We take for granted everything we have back at home. Next time you’re upset because you’re stuck in traffic, remember that you are sitting in a running car with air conditioning on a paved road. Next time you can’t sleep well at night, be grateful for the bed your sleeping on, for the blankets you have, and for the roof over your head. It truly is incredible the things we take for granted each day.

{mambo}

So I’ve only been here for four days and I’m already in love. I love Moshi, the language (Swahili)….most of the people… The people in the Hostel are great! They are from everywhere! We’ve got people from Sweden, England, the UK and America mostly. I feel as if I’m going to get home and not know how to talk. Do I speak with an English accent, an American accent, a Sweedish accent, or a Tanzanian accent? Each day it seems like new people arrive, and someone else leaves. It should steady out here though in about a week and we’ll have a group of us that are all staying here for a while.

The Hostel Hoff is great. The walls are all made out of cement and the windows are covered in bars but are always open to let in a breeze. The power goes off regularly for hours which is a bit unfortunate, but no problem. When it does we walk around with candles stuck in glass coke bottles. (They reuse all of their bottles here and so we can’t very well buy a soda or anything even because we don’t know how well they’ve been cleaned). There are lizards that climb all over the walls which freaked me out at first, but I’ve come to learn it’s a lot better than spiders, which the lizards eat. Another fun addition to the Hostel has been our cat Ashley (the name M’Liss and I decided on for it). Ashley does a wonderful job at destroying any lizard that tries to walk in the door. Our other family member is Paul, a cute little dog that loves lying around basking in the sunlight. All of the dogs here are the same breed which I find weird. They differ in color a bit but that is all. Back in America we have labs, and golden retrievers, and dalmatations and such. But here, its just one little dog who slightly resembles a Lab, but barely.

 

Its taken a few days to figure out what we are doing exactly but I think that we have gotten it figured out. We’ve been visiting Tuleeni for the past few days and care planning to keep going there on the weekends. During the week, however, we will be working at a very new orphanage! It was a bit of a miracle really because we have really wanted to work in an orphanage but for a few days there we were going to have to end up working for a school teaching, which we didn’t really want to do (to teach in a school you need to know quite a bit of Swahili which we don’t)….but anyway. A few days ago a lady came to talk to Amanda at the Hostel saying that she just set up a new orphanage and are trying to get everything set up and she really needs volunteers so we volunteered in a second. It’s about a 30 minute taxi drive out of town and so we’re quite excited to be able to help her start setting things up, take care of the kids, play with them, and teach them a bit of English.

 

Anyway, time is running short so I must run. But hopefully I’ll be able to write soon!