This shot was taken by Jenny on Grant’s camera during home-based care visits to the sick and vulnerable. During our time visiting each home we encountered sadness, joy, hope, and inspiration mixed in clouds of empathy as we say in Kiswahili “Pole”
Our group has had it’s fair share of health struggles here lately, but all in a matter of perspective after these home based care visits as the majority… Read More
Hello friends and family- Katie here! This morning, our group had to say goodbye to all of our friends that we made in Mufindi.
Before arriving at Igoda Childrens Village (Orphanage+), our group talked about the “single story”. The idea of a “single story” is that it is the stereotypical view or idea of something. So, our single story for an orphanage was that it would be a sad place,… Read More
Mambo friends and family! After a busy three days in the city of Morogoro, we traveled into the Southern Highlands to the River Valley campsite. As our bus drove through Nikumi National Park, we had our first glimpses of African wildlife, including elephants, giraffes, monkeys, and zebras. As the bus ride continued, we wove our way through beautiful mountains until we reached our campsite. This past week, we spent our… Read More
Three full days us traveling got us all from Portland to JFK to Johannesburg to Dar es Salaam and finally to Morogoro where we had our first chance to rest and take in the beauty of Africa. We learned a lot in Morogoro, and most of that came from our leaders, but on our last day, they paired us up and sent us off into the city to explore. It… Read More
Habari zenu (How are y’all) Kifaru blog followers!
This picture is from the Rock Garden during the heart of orientation outside Morogoro. An amazing spot! A few highlights to note would be mostly everyone in the group being going super adventurous on food from fish eyes to Ox liver…and everything in between.
Today everyone successfully navigated the city of Morogoro practicing their Swahili buying local produce, Kangas(sarongs), and snacks to… Read More
Hujambo everyone! we are currently at an internet cafe outside of the market. we just had an intresting bargining experience trying to buy kangas (sarrong like pieces of fabric) They initally started out with offering us the price of 40,00 which is close to our whole budget for the day. that was way too high. we spent about 15 minutes writing down different prices and eventually walked away with nothing.… Read More
Hello friends and family of the amazing Kifaru group,
I just wanted to let you know that we’ve heard from the group that they are settled into their hotel in Dar es Salaam for the night. They are a little tired from a long days of travel, but are otherwise feeling good and about to go to sleep for the night! Gwen and Grant said that the group are engaged,… Read More
Tutaonana Badaaye! See you later in Kiswahili!
Gwen, Grant, and all 7 students have rendezvoused at the JFK airport and are on the flight to East Africa via Johannesberg, South Africa!
The group was all smiles and laughter as they left and I do not doubt those positive feelings will carry through out the rest of their journey together. We wish them all the best and are looking forward to… Read More
Mambo GC Gals!!
These past three months have been held together by each of your strengths, synergy, support and laughs which created the depth to be embraced by a cultures beauty and rhythm that East Africa has to share!
We are so proud of the presence you brought to every community you met. You all are officially booked through the new year for entertaining purposes (thank you ukulele). As well,… Read More
Hello Parents and followers of Carpe Diem East Africa blog,
We just received word from Marisa and Oren that the students have departed Tanzania for their long journey back home. This marks the end of this program, but not the end to the growth, friendships, and knowledge gained during these past 3 months. We (including Oren and Marisa) wish the best for all participants and hope that everyone will continue… Read More
Only a few more days left until home time. The trip has been nothing but amazing and we will all be sad to leave but everyone is exited to get back as well. The past week in Zanzibar has been great. Our first day in Zanzibar we dove right in with some cultural activities such as visiting the Anglican church and slave chambers. The next few days were spent exploring… Read More
Hello All,
So in Zanzibar YAY! But some belated updates are much needed. Apologies for being behind.
The group’s last service project was completed April 16-21, Soft Power. Soft power works to improve government schools in the Jinja area. The group spent a week staying at one such school. We lived communally in one of the classrooms. We were blessed to have a lovely cook named Betty and supervisor named… Read More
So after leaving SNEC we were back in Kabale for the night. In the morning we got up bright and early to drive to lake bunyoni to begin our trek! Our first day was mainly canoeing (in dugout canoes!) from island to island in the beatiful and massive Lake Bunyoni. We also hiked across many of the islands and even had the opportunity to visit with a woman named Mamma… Read More
After arriving in Kabale, we dove into Edirisa without knowing what to expect. We bought our groceries for the week and then split into two. Group 1 (Oren, Sophie, Rachel, Victoria) went to volunteer at the Special Needs Education Center while group A (Marisa, Ellen, Rachael, Giselle) volunteered with nursery school children in Buchinda. Both groups spent their time painting murals, making masks, cooking their own food, and especially playing… Read More
We arrived in Kigali, Rwanda on Thursday to begin our stay here for only 3 nights! Our time in Rwanda has been filled with sadness, but also hope, determination, and of course some fun. Throughout our time here we visited the genocide memorial museum which gave us great insight into the horrific period of 1994. We also visited Nyamata church, this is a church where thousands and thousands of Rwandans… Read More
Apologies for the lack of blog updates we have been having some internet issues. Almost two weeks ago now we arrived in Mufindi after multiple long yet enjoyable bus rides to start our week working at the children’s village. To begin with we were divided into three groups with each group alternating between working in daycare, kindergarten and the sowing school during the week. On Saturday, we had the surprisingly… Read More
This week we spent some time with Ohana Amani at their farm and learned a lot about sustainablility in Africa, but most importantly we had our homestays! For the last four days we were set up with families in the small village of Kanani in the southern highlands of Tanzania. We had the opportunity to really connect with our families and see how the average Tanzanian lives. It was also … Read More
Mambo friends and famiy!
This week we traveled by bus from the hot and sunny Morogoro to the beautiful mountain city of Iringa. There we began our daily language classes at Rivervalley Campsite with our amazing teacher, Kiobiya. In just 5 days and 20 hours we all have a pretty decent working knowledge of Kiswahili and we have all been very excited to try out our new skills. During the… Read More
Habari!
The group’s days in Morogoro had us engaged with locals and brushing up on our bargaining skills. We definitely got a taste of the local cuisine when dining out and exploring what the town has to offer. There are so many friendly people here and most if not all are excited to get to know us, even snapping a few pictures with them. Our Kiswahili is definitely improving as… Read More
