Our week started off with one of the most amazing dinners we’ve had so far in Africa! We had fried beans, avocados, rice, chapatis, salad and amazing blend of tomatoes and onions, all thanks to Upendo, our amazing cook! Before this wonderful dinner, we trekked 3 miles to Protea, the house that we stayed at; the trek consisted of up and down hills. As we walked, we greeted the people and surprised them with our new word, “camuene,” which means “Welcome, Hello, How are you” in Kihehe, their local language. As you can see, these words have multiple meanings, which is actually a good thing because it makes it easier for us. 😉 After dinner we had the night to relax and get ready for what was ahead of us. The following day was orientation. Jenny walked through what the following days were going to look likeand we walked through their beautiful garden. It was filled with all sorts of vegetables; there we met Baba Tina. Baba Tina works in the garden everyday. He was DeeDee and Savannah’s home-stay dad. He and his wife Mama Tina are both incredible people.
I believe it is safe to say that most of us (if not everyone) went to bed that night wondering what our week was going to be like. During orientation we split up into three groups. The first group (DeeDee, Colin and I) hiked early in the morning to the CTCenter. We walked out the door at 6:00 A.M. and arrived at the CTCenter at around 8:35 A.M. It was a long walk, but very enjoyable. We walked up intense hills, so intense that DeeDee suggested for one us to take the lead and tie a rope around the others so we could be pulled up the hill; too bad we had no rope with us. On our way there we constantly joked and shared stories.
Group Three (Talia, Kevin and Skyler) started their week off teaching the kids at the Montosory Kindergarten with learning activities. And after a three and a half hour “nap” (free time) they spent the afternoon with the babies from the orphanage. They played with them and fed and bathed them. While group one and three enjoyed their long walk and the kids, group two (Breezy, Savannah, and Alvin) taught English at the primary school with Yusto. Throughout the week every group got to experience this because we had rotations. After we were done with our rotations, we “Farmed-to-table”. We picked our own lettuce that we were using to prepare our lunch later that day. This was our last lunch together as a group. At five P.M,. our home-stay Babas came and we met them for the first time. This was day one of our home-stays. Everyone was put into pairs except for Skyler and I. Sky’s home-stay Baba and my Baba are brothers, so we technically got two families, lucky us, eh!
For dinner that night, we had the Traditional Tanzania dish, ugali, rice, beans, and greens. The following morning I was up by 5:45 A.M. and prayed with my family at 6 A.M. After our prayer, we had chipotis and tea for breakfast. That morning, Avy came to visit and joined us for breakfast. With out tummies satisfied, we headed to Omary’s where Skyler was staying. We didn’t get to plant trees that day because we went to a funeral. That was an incredible experience! The following day, Luka, Omary, Sky and I went to the lumber factory and saw how they make long, rectangular logs. Sky was attacked by Siafus (large biting ants). There were ants all over her body, in her clothes and shoes! I was only bit by one, but it hurt! I can’t imagine being bit by hundreds! Yikes! Oh, but wait, it gets better: the next day, she fell and got stuck in cow dung! Her right leg was deep in dung (up to her knee). Omary had to lift her out of there! Oh, poor sky! But, like the trooper she is, she washed up and came right back outside to plant trees with me! This was our last day with our families; later that afternoon, we headed to Geoff and Jenny’s house to celebrate our time there. We had a feast! Before dinner we sang, introduced our families, mingled, and all our students that we shadowed came and had dinner with us!
This is a week to remember; the incredible memories we all created together and the people we worked with will forever be in our hearts! Thank you for every moment created and for the beautiful experiences.
Best,
Mackenzie M-N
