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emotion, altitude, heat, conversations= tired travelers

1/27/2015

4 Comments

 
So, we are sorting hats and hot wheels and clothes to take to the orphanage before we get dinner.  There are rules, you know. 
It is hot!  humidity low, fortunately, but walking up and down the hill is a sweaty experience.
Haldor and Earla met with all the sponsored kids in form 1, 3 and 4 yesterday.  Form 2 will be next. and then Fredy, our amazing teacher brought Tobias to meet us.  He is 20, wants to be in Form 1, lived with his grandmother in Babati, 3 hours south of here, and was dropped off at Ngateu by an acquaintance.  ( Ngateu has become a school that is known to be good.) He had no place to live, no food, no one to turn to so showed up at Fredy's office in tears.  Earla, Haldor and I  said we'll cover his hostel, food and entrance fees - breaking our rule - made yesterday - of no more sponsored students until we have more sponsors. And Tobias fought back tears, not too successfully, and left to join the Form 1 class.

School board meeting tomorrow - with only a few of the members.  I asked for the chairman, Mtui and Rose Mkara - and Grace.  i want to discuss the ideas that came out of our meeting last August.

Solar people are working every day!  Today they worked on batteries - roof stuff is up.  Security is an issue to discuss with the school board.

Our hearts soar - with the wonderful students we meet every day and our hearts ache for all those who do not get this opportunity of education.  And Mr. Mosha's chickens are healthy and well, the students are being fed, the teachers are wonderful!! and we are making a difference.

p.s. the dogs still bark and fight in the night, the pigs squeal at dinnertime, the roosters crow about 5, the doves coo all the time,days are long and lovely and we love being here.

Mary
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Lunch at Jacklin's Home

1/27/2015

2 Comments

 
It was a wonderful day. Jacklin and Helen are expert cooks and hostesses. Helen took Jacklin under her wing as an intern and continues as mentor and friend. The 7 ft tall Nicholaus is also an attorney. We had a lively conversation about TZ politics. Great fun.

For those that don't know about Jackline,
she was in form 3 at Enaboishu Secondary School in 2005.  She asked me if I could sponsor her.  This relationship continued through Form 4 at the same school to Forms 5-6 at Morogor Junior Seminary, followed by the University of Dar es Salam, and the Tanzanian School of Law.  Jackline is now an Advocate at the most prestigious firm in Arusha TZ.  She is the one with the robe and a white bib who can talk directly to the judge.

In 2005 I said "yes" and I could not have made a better decision.

Kristina
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Hurry up and Wait

1/25/2015

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Saturday morning - Mtui better get here soon or we'll be late to Monduli and we'll be in trouble.  ( Jean Wahlstrom told us to be there by by 9:30, which was the direction she'd been given)  So we drove FAST to Monduli, parked the vehicle in a place , from which, we could
 easily leave.  We did know that Tanzania celebrations tended to be long.
We made name tags, greeted friends and then were told to get out of this area since the former president, Mwini, would be coming soon.
Law abiding citizens that we are, we trooped down to the "hall" - tent covered areas with chairs. ( with backs!) We were moved to the "invited guests area and there we sat - until 11:30!!!  I was able to greet Kwayu and our former favorite driver, Urio, and Neema Ndooki and other friends.  And then we waited.
The event, the 50th anniversary of Operation Bootstrap and the 20th anniversary of the Masai Girls School, included 5 or 6 speeches - some translated into English, some in Swahili - all about 45 minutes long. After approximately 4 hours of standing up and sitting down, we felt  we had paid enough respect to  the student, graduates and honored guests.
After a trip to the choo, we regrouped, found our vehicle and headed for food.
We did have an amazing time, greeting girls and discovering  what amazing women they have become.

Let's continue to support the students at Ngateu!!!    Mary


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20th anniversary of the Masai Lutheran Girls Secondary School

1/24/2015

1 Comment

 
It was a long day of ceremony and recognition.  A wonderful day.  So many girls were recognized for finishing school and becoming doctors, advocates, nurses, teachers, and more. 

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Chemistry Lab Before and After

1/24/2015

2 Comments

 
I am constantly caught in a state of amazement here.  Time seems suspended between the times I've been to Arusha so when I come the reality of what I see catches me off guard.  Today, on our way to the 20th anniversary of the Massai Lutheran Girls Secondary School, Mary was talking about test scores and how Ngateu's scores were higher.this year.  I was searching my head and wondered where this Ngateu school was that it was in the top, above the girls school.  then I suddenly realized that it was not a new school but the actual school we've been working on for years. My brain had burped and for a moment forgot how Ngateu is no longer on the bottom but it is on the top!  Who would have dreamed 9 years ago that we could say these things and they would be true? 

Here are two pictures to help you see the before and after pictures of the schools.  Please apply the difference of these pictures of the science lab to how different the test scores are and you may begin to understand how I got lost in time.
Science Lab 2010
Science Lab 2015
2 Comments

Walking to school

1/23/2015

1 Comment

 
One of the best memories from a trip to Tanzania is the daily life encountered on the road to school.  Road is a relative term which in this case is a dirt road with rocks, ruts and speeding motorcycles and an occasional cart manually pulled. 
There are fields of corn and beans which were invaded by three goats who had escaped from their enclosure and were having a great picnic at the expense of a farmer.
There are lots of children running out from their small homes and calling out "How are you?  Good Morning! " 
Mangy dogs are present, cows and goats are grazing in the fields. 
The clothes lines are hung with colorful fabric and children's wear.
Women are walking with stalks of bananas or water buckets on their heads.
The people have smiles on their faces and exchange greetings. The children are generally wearing what we would call ragged clothing and they are beautiful!!
I invite all of you to come with us and make your own memories.  Earla

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1 Comment

January 22nd, 2015

1/22/2015

3 Comments

 
Good Friday Morning (for many of you it is still Thursday night).  Yesterday we had a full day at the school.  Taking student pictures, distributing calendars and other stuff to staff.  Seeing so many old friends and students.  Elieshu, a former Ngateu student, now married with a 5 month old on her hip also owns and runs Shalam Nursery School with 31 students.  She speaks English to them and they will all be prepared for acceptance at a government grade school. 

The solar panels arrived and are being assembled on the roof as I type.  Kate was busy indexing books in the library, Thanks to Read4Tanzania, a Toronto Canada group who are now supplying books for he school.
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3 Comments

And Earla wore pajamas

1/21/2015

7 Comments

 
Imagine five travelers arriving at Sea-Tac, exhausted from the Seahawk win, breezing thru check-in, breezing thru security, only to arrive at the gate and learn that the flight to San Francisco is one-half hour late.  This means that you have one-half hour to make your connection to Dulles Airport!  Kristina is told her carry-on luggage is too big and must be checked.  She quickly takes out the bare necessities and others(except Earla) put some of their carry-on items in the checked luggage.  We take off 41 minutes late and therefore have a real problem now!  Upon landing we sprint to the gate for our connection only to find the door closed!  The good news was that our checked luggage did not make the Dulles flight either'
It is now 10:45 and we work with United to rebook and get vouchers for lodging and food.  We arrived at the Crowne Plaza, Burlingame at 12:30 for a 3 and 1/2 nap before returning to the airport to fly to Newark to connect with a flight to Amsterdam and then a KLM flight to Kilimanjaro!
When we check-in Earla receives a suite which she uses for 3 and 1/2 hours.  She gets to wear pajamas because she still has all her carry-on items intact!!  She also has clean socks and a toothbrush!
We arrived tired but not too battered and all our luggage had arrived safely. 









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