Day 8-9 Waterfalls and Orphanage

Day 8--Siku Nane

We woke up at 5 this morning and took a bus to Moshi. After breakfast in Moshi city, we drove out to Marangu and walked up road through a jungle landscape to see the beautiful Marangu waterfalls. The trail to the falls led down slippery red dirt and large rocks through lush jungle to the most massive waterfall. It was way more amazing than I would have guessed--so picturesque and private. Little pink flowers, hanging vines, the sound of powerful rushing water. :)

On the way back through the village near the falls, I asked a little boy if I could take his picture. I said "cheza" intending to say smile, but smile is acutally "cheka" and cheza is dance. So he did this little shy boogie-twist move and it was absolutely the cutest thing I've ever seen. So I can't

say I regret that swahili mistake.

On the bus ride back to Arusha, we saw Kilimanjaro for the first time. The whole back of the bus (us tourists) screamed an excited "OH!" at the first sight of it, even though it was mostly obstructed by trees. Everyone in front probably thought "what? what happened?" Until they realized we were new tourists as we proceeded to take a million photos of it as we drove by. I watched throught the window the whole ride back. Africa is so beautiful in the hours before sunset.

Day 9--Siku Tisa

Today I taught a class of about 15 children around 7 years old. I absolutely loved it. The kids were hard to control. Even with Christian helping me, less than half the kids copied everything I wrote. (Granted not all of them had paper or pencils). I only made it through the upper and lowercase alphabet and the numbers one through 20. They also love my mini dry erase board (good idea mom). I taught them a camp Ohieyesa song today too and they loved it.

The most exciting part of the day for me though was that Gift, the little boy who sleeps outside and has the mark under his eye, was at school today. And he smiled back at me. He was wearing different clothes and I had to look twice to make sure it was really him. It made me so happy to see him singing and dancing the hokey pokey with all the other children. Jessica bought him a mattress and a blanket that she and the staff will take to him this week. I realize that the orphanage is nothing compared to a real school, but I can't help being so grateful that we can give them a few hours of fun and love each day.

Day 10--Siku Kumi

Not gonna lie, I could really go for a hot shower and some pizza right now. I did buy a mango for less than 60 cents american today though.

We took the kids to the lake today. We fit 70 people in a dalla dalla today. That's right. Seventy. A dalla dalla, by the way, is a van that is intended for about 16 people. The dalla dalla is the most common type of transportation here. It's not uncommon to climb on a dalla dalla to get a ride home and find chicken at your feet. My friend said there were 27 adults on the dalla dalla on her way to the market last Wednesday. Granted most of the 70 people were small children. But still. It was the most ridiculous thing ever. There were two people riding outside hanging on the back too.

Well I'm done writing for now, because it's time for our host families favorite dubbed soap opera. I have to know what's going to happen to the crazy jealous sick woman and the her husbands love affair with Aymar the island girl. Kwa heri.

Day 12--Siku Kumi na mbili

Today there was a new arrival at Faraja orphanage. She is about 12 years old and speaks only Maasai (no english or swahili). She was forced to marry an old man but ran away from her husband and somehow ended up with police and then here. She seemed quite happy to be at Faraja and I can't wait to get to know her better, she seems so sweet. I hope we can make her feel at home and that Faraja can find a place for her to stay.

(Moiva is the girl in the Detroit shirt, this picture was taken on her first day)

We also fed the kids today. Rice and beans that Jessica, the veteran volunteer, bought with money from the food fund (primarily funded by past volunteers). When every child had gotten a serving and a few had a small second helping, the children swarmed the cooking pot to scrape off whatever more they could. I would love to feed them more often, but with current funds they can only afford to feed them at the school about once a week. This is another reason the school day is only a few hours long in the morning--so that the children can go home to eat something in the afternoon.

I'm really excited about all the ideas the volunteers have and about all we hope to accomplish.

That's it for now. Write more later. (after Safari!)

Day 4 continued and more

Day 4 -- Siku Nne continued (exerpts from journal)

When we got back from the river the children swarmed us. It was exactly as I imagined it would be. There are about ten children trying to hold each of my hands. The boys especially love Christian and he's turned into a "human climbing frame" as they say at the volunteer house. They took me to the classroom where I wrote swahili and english names for the animals that I drew. The kids love to show you what they wrote. They are so "keen to learn" as another volunteer said. The children are beautiful, but dirty, and so love the attention.

That night we had a social night at the TVE volunteer house. There's a huge group of volunteers right now, about 30 that came when I did, plus maybe 20 ish veteran volunteers. It was really fun to get to know everyone a little better and I already love this trip.

Day 5 -- Siku Tano

I cried for the first time today.

This morning Faraja (the owner of the orphanage) took us to visit the homes of the children who have been sick. The houses were generally mud huts about the size of a large bathroom. It's so dark inside. A few children would follow us in and sit on our laps and more would huddle by the door. They looked so beautiful when the light hit the edge of their faces. "Seven children sleeping here" Faraja says pointing to the broken bed and the foam mattress. "They are no matha no fatha" Faraja says, the one woman in the corner watches over all these children. He feels their foreheads to see if the children are ill.

The worst was further up the hill. We sat on rocks under what you could barely call a shelter next to a dieing fire. The mother wecomed us but barely looked at us. Her expression makes me think she lives and existance and not a life. There was a boy who looked to be about 7 years old. His clothes were so dirty and worn. He had a wide slightly darker scar from a skin disease under his right eye. He stared past us into the distance the entire time we were there. That was the most striking thing--he was so unresponsive. When Faraja asked him questions he barely responded with a quiet "mm." He recently had malaria and before that cholera. "Psychology affected" Faraha often says when talking about the orphans. Clearly. This boy sleeps on a sheet of ratty foam on the ground under this mud and stick shelter with only two sides and a tin roof. My emotional reaction to all this didn't really hit me until I got back to my room this afternoon. Now as I write this, I wonder where they all are now. Can they sleep? Are they afraid? Did they have dinner? A part of me doesn't want to know. No wonder religion is so important here.
The boy's little sister is unforgettable too. About two years old, in her tiny green patterned cloth and bare feet. Looking back the day already seems so surreal. Some twins who had cholera previously tottered around in back of a shop. Their parents and grandparents died in a fire accident. Arsen apparently. A Masaai girl has malaria. She coughs and we say pole sana (so sorry[empathy sorry]). "asante, thank you" she says in a small voice and smiles. Beyond adorable. Her mother holds up medicine, thank goodness. And they will take her to the hospital if she's not better in a few days. I knew I would have days like this.

In the afternoon we visited a widow's project. It is a friday afternoon african acrobatics and traditional dance show. They sell food and drinks, have some small animals on display, sell crafts/souveniers and also offer small excursions to nearby national parks. 90% of the money made goes to the widows and the orphans. This was started, or at least helped along, by past TVE volunteers. It was actually mostly TVE volunteers in attendance. It's an optimistic idea too, which helped today. I can't keep my eyes open. Time to sleep.

Okay, sorry to leave on a sad note, but I only have 3 minutes left and I still have to send an email to my mom. I'll try to write more soon. Kwa Heri (good bye).