By Overseas Educators Mike and Ellen After a cancelled flight and a special bonus night in a posh hotel (courtesy of KLM airlines), the mighty Kifaru group has finally dispersed to their respective homes. It’s been a fantastic semester and you’ve been a wonderful group. We wish you all joyful reunions with your loved ones at home. We miss you already. Remember Swahili school. Remember Tula. Remember Mkati and the… Read More

By Emily Rosberg We left Stone Town bright and early on December 1st to make it to Matemwe to start scubaing! We split our group in half; some of us did the logistical training while the rest of us spent eight-ish hours learning scuba skills in the pool. On the second day, we switched and our excitement built to actually get into the ocean to dive! We had two scuba… Read More

By Lia and Cami After taking a ferry from Dar Es Salaam, we arrived in Stone Town, Zanzibar. The blue beaches, white sand, and labyrinth alleyways immediately drew us in. We had a Sunday to explore the town, getting ice cream and buying more souvenirs at the local shops. We also took a boat to Prison Island where we got to snorkel and see tortoise up to 147 years old!… Read More

By Hadley Hobbs We never thought we’d actually get this far in the trip but here we are…finished with our trek! After finishing up at SNEC we transferred to Lake Bunyonyi to spend one night at Edirisa’s Lodge before heading out. It was pouring down rain and the road was too muddy to drive so we ended up taking a very wet boat ride across the lake. LD’s yellow umbrella… Read More

By Siena and Emily Squatty When we first saw it we held our poop for days, But then we became accustomed to its natural ways. There’s no toilet paper so we drip dry when we piss, It’s really upsetting if we poop and we miss. We’re no longer scared when we see just a hole, But we are always excited when we see a bowl. Fran’s Traveling Hair Salon,… Read More

By Brad and LD AKA: The Gentlemen of Kifaru On Sunday, November 5th, 2017, the world was changed forever. While at the Special Needs Education Center in Kabale, Uganda, we went to church. We thought it would be normal, but when they started to auction off goods to the community at the end of the service, our lives took a turn for the legendary. As teenage boys, we really wanted… Read More

By Lily Hue This week started at Mufindi Children’s Village where we continued working on the projects we started the week before. Our days were long but full of rewarding and purposeful work that left us tired but content at the end of the day. We all got a chance to work in the garden, hoeing and weeding the vegetable garden that makes up a large portion of the children’s… Read More

By Siena and LD Bonjour and hello! When we stepped off the plane in Kigali, we quickly learned that in addition to Kenrwandan, two of the other national languages in Rwanda are English and French! We noticed many other differences between Tanzania and Rwanda on our drive from the airport to the Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel which we would be staying in for the next four nights. We were impressed… Read More

By Deborah and Siena Hello! After a short, two-hour bus ride, we made it to the Rwanda/Uganda border. For many of us, it was the first time going through immigration outside of an airport. We spent the past few days at S.N.E.C. (Special Needs Education Center)! Our projects were to re-paint the inside of their dining hall and to do art/games with the students in the classroom. Aside from our… Read More

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By Darby and Cami We arrived in Iringa on the 17th to the craziness of the bus park where our attention was immediately pulled in all different directions. A few kilos to the Alizeti (meaning “sunflower”) Hostel we walked and promptly dropped our bags, enjoying the company of the resident kittens before a group dinner at the BBQ Hut. Iringa is a “mountain town” as described to us by a… Read More

By Hadley Hobbs… Read More

By Deborah and Brad Greetings! We spent our last week camping at Ohana Amani, a holistic living education center outside of Njombe town, in Southwest Tanzania. At the center, we learned all about holistic styles of living, farm-to-table foods, how to maintain a garden, self-love, reflection, and other general life skills like cooking, yoga, and fire making! We worked with some locals to help clear a fire break for their… Read More

By Hadley Hobbs Hike day to the dams with some of the children (watoto) from Mudindi. Working in the garden. Back in the beginning of the trip when we went to the rocky garden. Snack time back at Swahili school.… Read More

By Lia and Hadley Just two weeks ago, we arrived at Mufindi Children’s Village not knowing what to expect and maybe a little apprehensive about what was to come. Now we find ourselves reflecting on an amazing adventure. During our first week, our days started at 4:45 am to help our house mamas get kids ready for school and eat breakfast with them. From there, the group split into two… Read More

Being silly with the teachers. Socializing during our lunch break.… Read More

By Emily and Frances Dear family and friends, Mambo and hello!! We have just completed our six days of KiSwahili School at Junior Lutheran Seminary in Morogoro, Tanzania. The past six days have been full of laughs, learning, and bonding with our host families. Besides learning, we have been eating well, and even took a free day to hike the Uluguru Mountains. The hike was beautiful and we took the… Read More

First day of Swahili lessons. Saying farewell to our gracious host, Mama Pierina. Hangin’ under a Baobab tree.… Read More

By Emily and Lia After over 24 hours of traveling, we arrived safely in Africa! It’s REALLY hot here—sunny and beautiful every day! The bugs aren’t bad and it cools down quite a bit at night (it gets dark around 7 pm) and the stars are AMAZING!! So far we’ve had a lot of logistical stuff! We’re enjoying our time here, but are really excited to jump in and start… Read More

By Frances McClain Hi—Frances here! Unfortunately, I can’t share any photos because I only have a film camera with me, but I’m sure many will come soon considering all of our other group members brought digital cameras with them. This is somewhat of a blogging test run—it’s only been four days, so there’s not a whole lot to report yet! Tanzania is beautiful and I love the town we’re in.… Read More