Follow the Journey

Hello friends and family of the amazing Africa group, I just wanted to let you know that we’ve heard from the group that they are settled into their hotel in Morogoro, Tanzania.  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! Oren and Marisa said that the group are engaged, having a fun time,… Read More

Tutaonana Badaaye!  See you later in Kiswahili! Marissa, Oren and all six students have rendezvoused at the AMS airport and are on the flight to East 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 living vicariously through photos,… Read More

Marisa and Oren are in the air with 2 students.  The whole group will come together in Amsterdam for their final flight to Tanzania.  Go Team Africa! Sincerely, Carpe Diem HQ    … Read More

Hey East African explorers, We’re here at Carpe Diem headquarters in Portland this week getting ready for our fast-approaching semester.  Been doing some great street surfing today!  Looking forward to meeting all of you soon and adventuring to new places with open hearts and open minds.  Amazing experiences await and we can’t wait to share them with you. Marisa and Oren … Read More

Our last minute Free Travel was a complete success! We had an amazing four days at the Rhino Sanctuary. We all came together really well to work out the tight budget to be able to volunteer at such an incredible organization. We spent a lot of time going out on foot with the rangers to monitor the different groups of rhinos. We were able to get as close as ten… Read More

Hello to all of our friends and family! We have just arrived in Jinja, Uganda, back from our 5 day volunteering project at the Mawoito school. We successfully completed our project of painting a block of three classrooms. Today we were thanked by the teachers and students with a performance of local songs and dances and many speeches by school board members and the head master of the primary school.… Read More

Everyone who was able to participate would agree that our White Water Rafting Trip was an experience that we will never forget. From the moment we arrived at the rafting company’s office, we knew we would enjoy ourselves, as we were greeted by the friendly rafting guides and a hearty breakfast. Then, we traveled about an hour through the village to our start point on the Nile River–a place most… Read More

Greetings from Kampala! After a few unforeseen events, the group decided to spend some extra nights in Kigali, Rwanda. This extended stay, however uexpected, allowed us more time to explore the city. We were pleasantly surprised by Kigali’s immense cleanliness and modernity, which made us feel quite safe and welcome. We treated ourselves to coffee, Rwanda’s specialty, and even checked out the local arts scene. Now, after a long bus… Read More

Friends and Family, It has been quiet an adventure over the last few days trying to get to Uganda!  A few setbacks have required the group to temporarily return to Kigali, but they will be back on the road first thing tomorrow morning on a bus for Kampala. Because of the unanticipated circumstances, the itinerary over the next couple weeks will be adapted to meet the changing needs of the… Read More

So we know you weren’t expecting to hear from us for a few more days but we had the opportunity to post early so we thought we would update you!! We have been in the village with the Massai since Saturday. We are camping next to the primary school where we have spent a lot of time working. We are helping to build a road for cars to be able… Read More

Hello everyone! The group is now back in the town of Njombe after a successful weekend with our homestay families. Everyone enjoyed their time with the families- doing chores and playing with kids. On Sunday everyone got dressed up and went to church together, which was an experience I’m sure we will never be able to forget. The whole village was very welcoming and gave us gifts. Saying goodbye to… Read More

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The Carpe Diem Africa Group has spent the week volunteering at Mufindi Children’s Village.  The activities the group participated in were building a playground with materials we gathered from the area. We cut down some heavy trees and carried them approximately three hundred yards to the work site.  We volunteered at the care and treatment clinic that supports people living with HIV or AIDS.  It was about a four mile… Read More

About to be out of touch until around the 9th or 10th, hard to say for sure! Kiswahili lessons were so great and so helpful, we had some really amazing teachers. but we wrapped all that up on friday and will be heading to the orphanage tomorrow morning. Another long day of travels, but were all really looking forward to be getting out there!… Read More

Hi Everyone! We’ve been here just over a week now, so hard to believe. Feels like we’ve been here so much longer then that already, we’ve done so much moving around. We landed late in Dar es Salaam after a long delay in Amsterdam. The next day we drove to Morogoro to start orientation. We started with a scavenger hunt in the city, where we actually tried to do our… Read More

Mambo Vipi (Whats up?) Friends and Family, This is Drew Edwards over at HQ writing to let you all know that the group arrived safely in Iringa yesterday and are just starting their Kiswahili language classes. I heard from Lauren and Adam yesterday and they told me the group was doing AMAZING! Though they all attempted to post some blogs while on their scavenger hunt, for some reason the blog… Read More

Friends and Family, We apologize for some of the technical difficulties we’ve been experiencing with the website/blog. We’ve been intensively working on the issue, and now confident that it has been fixed. Latest update: We’ve heard from the leaders on the ground that the group has made it through Dar-es-Salaam and settled into Morogoro. They will be staying there for a couple days while they dive into their in-country orientation.… Read More

Friends and Family, The group has come together in Portland, and are excited to start making the journey to Africa! After picking up Emily and Jane in Amsterdam, they will continue on to Dar-E-Salam to begin their in-country orientation. Be sure to check back-in regularly for updates from the group as they create an adventure full of memories. with excitement, Nick Berger Interim E.Africa Program Director … Read More