Sunday 11.1.2009

It has been a while since I have posted an update, but don't let that fool you into thinking the project has gone quiet. It has been an eventful year since leaving Tanzania.

Living has far surpassed any and all expectations and hopes that I had. He has made regular weekend visits to Majengo to check up on the children and families, and this week he is out talking with the schools to get attendance records, grades, and information for enrollment in 2010. Unfortunately, with the upcoming wedding, I will not be able to head back to Moshi until next summer. It is with complete trust that I will hand over next years school payments to Living to take care of. I would be nowhere without his help.

Not all the news has been positive, however. Earlier this summer Living had updated me that one of the children was ill. He went to Majengo to meed the child and hopped from hospital to hospital to see a doctor. I woke up one morning only to read an email that the diagnosis was HIV. I got back into bed and cried for a little while. I care about these kids like I would my own, and this was terrible news.
I stayed in bed for a while until I was ready to restart my day, hoping it would be better the second time around. I did a little research and found that Tanzania has a program to provide free HIV meds to anyone who needs them, provided they can get to a clinic and wait endless hours to be seen. But again, Living has been amazing. He makes sure all is taken care of, and that this child goes to see the doctor every month. He also took it upon himself to see that all the other children were tested, and reported back with nothing but good news.

I am still waiting to hear back on the children's records from this past year. I have no doubt that they have all done an excellent job.

So, now that things are settling in to a fine rhythm, I am happy to say it's time for all of this to be disrupted.
The blog is moving.
To where? Well, The Majengo Project's very own website!

There I will be able to provide updates and pictures, answer questions, manage donations, and set up a place for fund-raising events. Check it out and feel free to send me questions, input, and other ideas.

http://www.themajengoproject.com

<3

3.3.2009 - An update

From Moshi Trip 2009

I have finally heard back from living and here's what he had to say:
He has already been to visit the families for the past two weekends, and brought the sweaters (that I forgot) to all of the children, and the receipt for Hamisi's payment to Njoro.

Ramadani was not able to buy shoes for the children with the money that I gave him. After buying all of the uniforms there was only enough money to buy one more pair of shoes, leaving two of the kids without, so none were bought. Ramadani left the remaining 13,000 TSH (about 10 dollars) with Living. I am now trying to find a way to turn money for one pair of shoes into enough money to buy three pairs of shoes. Not so sure how that's going to work out.

Also, on a more depressing note, all of the food that I bought for the Ramadani family has run out. The quantity I bought should have lasted quite a bit longer with more appropriate portion sizes. Maybe that is something I will include in the nutrition lessons next year. As for now...well, I'm sure I'll find a solution to this. They did mention that they loved adding peanut butter to their porrige every morning before school. Weird, huh?

All of the kids are really excited about school, and Abedi is doing especially well (which is always good to hear).


I guess I didn't expect all of the updates to be perfect all of the time, but I think this one has put me back in my place about the way things work in Tanzania. I should have bought the shoes myself. I don't mind learning as I go, but I really hope for the kids' sake that I learn quickly!

Photo post!

I'm home, and adjusting to the time slowly. I have been sitting in my bed since I got home from work this afternoon, but have managed to not only upload photos from the trip, but to do my taxes as well!

My photos are at http://picasaweb.google.com/meghannicolle

The current album has only my photos. I will upload more as I get them from Chelsea and Jennifer. We did the "community camera" thing a few of the days, so I will have more photos shortly.

I have no idea what day and time it is

I'm sitting in Schipol Airport waiting for my flight to board. Yesterday was a long day, and today is going to be even longer.

We stopped by the families homes to say goodbye and check in on them one last time. The kids were all so happy to see us, and that always feels good. Abeidi had told his grandmother he wanted to come home and live with me, and Saumu said she wasn't going anywhere all morning because her wazungu were coming to visit. It was really cute. I told Abeidi if he studied really hard and did well in school he could come visit when he was older. Maybe that's some motivation (though I don't really think he needs much).

Fatuma had brewed up another thermos of her delicious tea and had it waiting for us. It was another scorching hot day, and even hotter in her house. After one cup of tea I was sweating buckets, but she insisted on serving more, and how could I say no?! I had intended to get more photos with the kids before we left, but couldn't bear the thought of taking photos when I was drenched in sweat. I actually looked forward to going outside to the 90 degree weather to cool down.

Over at Hamisi's house it was really nice to see that he had a pair of black shoes for school. It's part of the uniform, but I didn't have a chance to buy them myself, nor was I up for the challenge of the market. I handed his mother a 10,000 tsh note to buy a pair of shoes and the rest to go towards beans. It was a big leap of faith to hand out money like that, and it was great to see that she had kept her word and bought shoes so quickly. Having parents show such enthusiasm is what will keep this project alive.

Living is going to be checking on the children 2-4 times a month, and will be sending updates regularly. I really hope that over the next year this project takes off, and everyone does well. So far it's off to a great start and I couldn't be happier.

ANyway, my battery is dying and I don't have a place to plug my computer in here. I'll be back off and on throughout the year with updates as I receive them.
I want to thank everyone for their contributions and support throughout the last few months, and for the shared enthusiasm. It wasn't just me that made this happen. Thank you.

Sunday 2.15.09

I am exhausted.

We have our last home visits this afternoon and I'm headed home this evening. I may be overly excited about consistent electricity, internet, hot showers, and not having my feet stained brown with dirt.

It has been a fantastic trip, but with all the rushing around I am ready to stop. I think I will sleep the entire 32 hours of travel.

I'll update Monday or Tuesday with more photos and all of that good stuff.

Saturday 2.14.09

Yesterday morning I passed on the opportunity to go to the juvenile detention center with Thelma, Jennifer, and Chelsea. I needed sleep, and took advantage of having to quiet alone time. While she was there Jennifer went to visit a boy named Issu. He has been released from Juvie, but stays there because he has nowhere else to go. He is currently taking computer classes nearby, but has run out of money to pay for them. Jennifer and I pooled a bit of our money this afternoon, and paid the 400,000tsh he needs to be able to finish school. I feel really good about it. Jennifer said she noticed the change in his confidence in just the last year, and he is also taking what he learns in the classroom back to Juvie, and teaches all of the boys there. I'm all for paying it back, and he's done a good job. Hopefully we will continue to receive updates on him.
In the evening we were sitting in our hotel dining room, and invited our neighbor, Alethea, to join us for dinner so that she wasn't eating alone. She works with an HIV/AIDS awareness organization (www.mildmay.org) based out of the UK, but funded by the US. She comes here to teach HIV/AIDS workers, and to organize testing centers and information. It was really great to be able to talk with her so in depth. It really got me thinking about things I want to do for next year. With the families I have this year I would really like to do basic health education information, as well as offering them HIV/AIDS testing and awareness classes. I will hopefully be in touch with her over the next year to arrange all of this, and to make sure that in the event someone does test positive they will receive the appropriate counseling and information.

Today was really fun. We stopped over at Tuleeni for their valentines day party. There was dancing (ok, not so much dancing on my part), food, and a lot of really cute kids. The girls put on a Miss Tuleeni pageant that was totally cute. They had a soda drinking contest, and an apple bobbing contest. For prizes the kids received school work books and math kits. Doesn't sound so exciting, but they were really happy to have them. It was another totally fun but exhausting day. I am excited for our last home visits tomorrow, but am looking forward to being back in my apartment. However, I am not looking forward to the bag of garbage that I forgot to take out before I left. I'm wishing I had maybe left a couple of windows open :/

Friday 2.13.09

I don't think it is possible to have a bad day here.
Yesterday morning's meeting with Naseem went really well. She is building a new nursery school right behind Jiendeleze in Majengo. Hopefully by next year it will be up and running, which only means great things for my students. She runs the nursery school in the morning, but in the evenings and weekends she does extra tutoring sessions for primary and secondary students. She also will be providing English classes for the primary students. I talked to her about the project I was working on, and she was really excited. Hopefully by next year I will be able to enroll my sponsored students into her classes for English.
We had a good walk around Majengo, and I have come to the conclusion that I will never be able to find my own way through the alleys and foot-paths. Even if I know the language myself, I will always need someone to help me with directions.
After heading back to Step-Up (Naseem's current school) I hitched a ride back into town with Athumani, the driver from CCS. Luckily for me we stopped by Jiendeleze to pick up the volunteer, and for the first time since being here I was able to see a lot of my students from last year. They have all grown up a lot. I don't know if they remember me, but I remember them, and that's enough for now.
Driving away from the school we passed Asia on the road, the girl that I was really worried about last year. She didn't see me sitting in the van, but I saw her standing there with a few friends, and she had an amazingly huge smile on her face. All I wanted to do was scream to Athumani to stop the van and let me out so I could hug her. It was a slow motion movie in my head. If I had stopped, I would have had a long walk back home through a not so great part of town, and I was not willing to do that. I had to take her smile as a sign that she was doing ok. I fought back the tears, swallowed the lump that was growing in my throat, and promised that next year I would make the time to find her. Next year she might even be ready for primary school. Now as I type this, I am really wishing I had gotten out of the van.
I made it back to the hotel in time to get ready to head to Upendo with the girls and Isack. Walking into that orphanage was like walking into a palace compared to Tuleeni. They obviously have a lot of outside help, and I am glad I got to see that first hand. I feel like our money would have slipped by unnoticed there. We wouldn't have made the same impact as we have sponsoring the children in Majengo. However, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy my time with the children.
I spent quite a bit of time attached to Godlizen (Gody), playing on the swings and running around the playground. After about an hour or so of play, it was bath time. I didn't know where I was going so I set him down on the ground and had him lead the way. He grabbed my hand and took me into the boys room, where we stripped him down to nothing. Just like any little boy would, he began jumping up and down and dancing around glad to be out of his clothing. He grabbed my hand and took me into the "bath room" where we were greeted by about 15 other naked little boys. They were all giggling and running around waiting eagerly for their baths.
After bath time the sisters rub the kids down with some really delicious smelling baby lotion and dress the kids in clean clothes. Gody and I sat in a chair and he let me hold him for a long time. It was quiet and calm and he was happy to be there. I was happy to be there. It was really hard to put him down and say goodbye. I think I will definitely be checking in on him next year.

This week is winding down, and all of our work has been completed. I am ready to head home. I think if I had a lot more time here, I wouldn't be quite as ready to leave. I have too much time to sit around and wait, but not enough time to find more families and do more work. It's a little frustrating. Next year should be easier.

We are heading to Tuleeni tomorrow for their Valentine's Day party, and will likely spend much of the afternoon with the kids. I'm really excited to have a day to let loose. Sunday we will be returning to Majengo in the afternoon to drop off the sweaters for the kids, and say goodbye to the families. I expect Sunday will not be such an easy day.