On Monday the 24th, we celebrated my 22nd birthday/two year anniversary with the orphans!
The middle picture of Tina and me holding the two boys is one of my favorite pictures ever. Tina is holding Mwita and I am holding Samsoni. They had terribly rough lives prior to coming to Tuleeni with their little brother and their mother, but not that they are with us, they have been growing up beautifully and have such bright futures ahead of them. I have always had a special bond with these two little rugrats, but they clicked just as well with Tina, and the four of us have really had a ball together over the past few weeks.
The top left picture is of Tina and I teaching about 40 children how to do the Gangnam Style dance. The birthday party was amazing-- all of our children and dozens of other children from the village came to celebrate with us. We made Pilau for dinner which is a Tanzanian dish, very similar to chicken fried rice/stir fry. My other best friend Erin sent me to Africa with tons of birthday decorations and supplies to use with the kids on my birthday. Tina brought balloons and decorations for us to use as well--- we filled a room with everything they gave me and the kids were stunned by the mass of color and decorations. After my party, Edward took Tina and me out to dinner for my birthday at a delicious restaurant called Ten2Ten. It was an incredible birthday!!!
Tina, Pendo and I went on a day trip to the Hot Springs this week! It is about an hour drive down the bumpiest road in the world.... and then in the middle of a desert, there are a handful of trees, and enclosed in the trees is this stunning spring with the clearest most beautiful water. There were tons of local children who were playing in the shallowest part of the water, for none of them knew how to swim, but their smiles were darling and their laughter filled the air. They were on a field trip with the Sisters from their church. I loved knowing that their church was able to supply them with an awesome opportunity like this. While Tina and I were thrilled to see them, it was a little awkward having these children around as well as the sisters there--- some of you may not know this, but in many parts of Africa, women and girls do not show their knees--- we wear long dresses, skirts and sometimes pants-- but not for swimming... they say it is okay to wear a bathing suit when you swim, which makes sense, but in the past when I have gone swimming in Tanzania, there are usually just tourists around... having the place filled with locals as Tina and I stripped down to our bikinis was BEYOND awkward, so we decided to at least keep our shirts on while swimming. At the hot springs, there is a giant rope swing attached to an extremely high tree. Tina and I decided to be adventurous and climb up to the top of the tree to jump into the water! The pictures above show us falling from a very very high tree, as well as the pictures of us with the local children! Pendo sat around and barked every time we jumped in the water, as if we were drowning.. however, she did not get in the water. There were too many people around and she was very overwhelmed. I am glad she came with us though!
On Wednesday afternoon, Tina and I took a long walk through Rau with Pendo and her dog Bella. After the walk, Edward picked me up at the orphanage and took me to go and meet the landlord of the house that I have been thinking about renting for the time I am here. I love living at the orphanage, but Pendo, Tina and I are all in a small room, and I was having a lot of trouble getting my work done with the children running around and Pendo barking all the time-- so Edward suggested that I look into moving into his old house which is literally a 4 minute walk from the orphanage. He took me to go see it and I fell in love with it. It is stunning-- 3 bed rooms, a living room, a study, a kitchen and dining room, 2 bathrooms, 2 showers, etc. They said I could move in on Sunday the 30th! So exciting.
On Wednesday night, Adam and Edward told Tina and me that they were taking us out of town for the night to a near by little place called Lake Chala. It was a 45 minute drive to the campsite that was filled with tents and beautiful straw huts-- it looked like a beach resort mixed with a campsite. The four of us had dinner by the lake next to a bonfire that they had made for us. We stayed up for hours looking at the stars, listening to music, chatting, and enjoying the cool breeze from the lake. When we woke up the next morning, we were greeted with a lovely breakfast next to the lake where we could watch the sunrise. When we first arrived there, it was dark, so we couldn't see all the scenery. We were amazed at the beauty of the area, and the clarity of the sky allowed us to see the small mountains/hills in the distance that Edward informed us was actually the border of Kenya. We had a wonderful time.
Edward and Adam went away on a Safari this weekend with a huge group of kids from CCS (Cross Cultural Solutions) and so Tina and I stayed home at the orphanage with the kids. We had a great time hanging around on Thursday and Friday, but then I got some very sad news on Saturday morning... When I was here two years ago with CCS, we had the most amazing staff-- not only at the base house, but our drivers, who would drive us to our volunteer placements everyday were these young guys who EVERYONE loved spending time with. My driver that summer was a man named Richard. Richard was the one who brought me to Tuleeni on my 20th birthday and introduced me to the children. On friday night, he was out in Moshi with some friends and was not feeling great. He told his friends he was going to go home and sleep and that hopefully he would feel better the next day. The next morning, Richard did not wake up, and had passed away in his sleep. They are running tests to find out the cause of death, but it seems to look like a natural yet tragic health complication that occurred while he was asleep. I was heartbroken when I heard the news, as was everyone who knew him. He was in his late 20's or very early 30's and had such a zest for life. He will always have a special place in my heart for he was one of the people who helped me to fall in love with Tanzania.
Miss you already Richard. Rest In Peace.
On Sunday afternoon after church, 20 of our children, Tina, and myself got dressed and headed to Zumba Land.
In the middle of the pictures below, there is another beautiful picture of Mwita, Samsoni, Tina and Me. I want to print this one out and put it in a frame next to the one of the four of us from my birthday!
When I took the kids there last year, the complex had not been completely finished, and the pool was not open yet. Last year, I put all the kids in cabs to get there, which was outrageous, espceically considering how close the park is to the orphanage. So this year, we decided to take our kids who are about 9 years old - 17 years old, and we walked there! It is a very scenic walk through the dirt back roads and trees. Mwita (7) and Samsoni (5) were the two youngest ones we brought with us that day. We wound up carrying them on our backs half the way because their legs were too short to walk fast and keep up with the rest of us. All the children decided that they wanted to swim at Zumba land instead of spending time on all the inflatable slides and bounce houses. Tina and I told them their wish was our command, and we proceeded to jump into the FREEZING cold swimming pool in our clothes that we would be walking home from the park in later that evening. There was a shallow end at the pool and the kids splashed around for about 2 hours. I have successfully taught little Hellen how to swim, and I am so proud of her. The rest of them are still learning. We had a wonderful time at the park, and left around 6pm to start walking home before it got too dark. Tina and I dropped our kids off at home, and then proceeded to our new house!!! I had dropped all our bags off at the new house earlier that morning while Tina was at church with the kids. We are all settled in already and having a great time here. Adam and Edward came over for dinner and a movie late on Sunday night to celebrate my new house--- even though they had been here millions of times together in the past, considering the house used to belong to Edward!
Here are just a few pictures of Tina and me with the kids from the week-- I love the picture in the top row, second from the left, of my sweet Lillian wearing an Alpha Phi shirt that I gave her.
On Monday, I took Tina on a coffee tour-- coffee is Tanzania's cash crop and one of their biggest exports, if not the biggest. We went out to my friend Oscar's house, where he and his family have one of the most beautiful all natural coffee plantations in the area. Many parts of Tanzania have started using pesticides and other chemicals to help speed up the coffee bean maturation process. Many farmers have also started using chemically engineered hybrid coffee plants that are not pure organic coffee like that of the farmers whose plantations have been around for decades. Oscar's plantation has been growing for 65 years and was started by his great grandfather. He walked Tina through the entire coffee making process, and showed her how he and his family make a living.
It has been an absolutely amazing week here in Tanzania and we are having the best time! I wish that Tina could stay here with me all year. I will miss her so much when she leaves. To all of you wonderful people who have donated to the "22 in 22" campaign, THANK YOU! We have raised a nice amount of money and still have 15 more days on the event ahead of us! Please share the event with your friends and encourage them to donate to help us build a beautiful new home for the Tuleeni Orphans.
xoxoxo
Love always,
Neema
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