Wrapping up in Il'Kidinga

Greetings from Tanzania!

All is well in Il’Kidinga, and the students are preparing to leave for safari in two days. The classroom is nearly finished, complete with roof, floor, chalkboards and plastered walls. Tomorrow we will have our farewell ceremony at the school, which re-opened to over 1,000 students this morning. Needless to say, it was quite a distracting work day!

We had a fabulous weekend at a community center outside Magi ya Chai. After arriving in the morning, we commenced with an ngoma workshop (dancing, singing and drumming) and learned a traditional song and dance that is performed after a successful hunt. Everyone got their chance to “shake it” and we later performed the dance in front of an audience from the surrounding community.

By far, the highlight of the weekend was meeting and getting to know the founders of the community center, former members of the Black Panther Party who have been living in Tanzania for 40 years. They have dedicated their lives and opened up their home to service; they recently started an orphanage that now houses eighteen children from the surrounding villages who are bundles of joy and energy. We had a great discussion one night after watching the documentary “A Panther in Africa,” and the students asked incredibly articulate and thoughtful questions and got a real history lesson. They were even schooled in a little jazz history and Charlie “Bird” Parker’s sax music.

Sunday morning we hiked to the snake farm, home to many reptiles, including spitting cobras and green mambas (behind glass of course!), tortoises, crocodiles and chameleons. In the afternoon, we met with a group of Tanzanian youth for a forum on current issues facing Tanzania, the US and the world.

Hope all’s well in your part of the world. We’ll write again when we’re back from the porini (bush).

Cheers,

Francesca & Barrett

Hard work at the school and a trip to Mulala

Greetings from Tanzania!

All is well here in Il’Kidinga and it is hard to believe we have reached the halfway point of our trip. Since we last wrote, the construction on the school has made much progress and the roof has been raised! Today our fundis are putting up the corrugated roof and tomorrow we will begin to plaster the walls.

Over the weekend we took a fabulous trip to Mulala, a village about an hour up the other side of Mt. Meru. We visited the cultural tourism program run by Agape Women’s Group. The group began in 1992 with one cow from Heifer International and has now blossomed into a dairy business that makes 6 kinds of of cheese and butter. The students learned how to make gouda and mozzarella cheese, butter, kahawa (coffee) from start to finish, and some will come home with stories of their feats of cow milking!

Sunday morning we dressed in our finest and went to the Lutheran church with our neighbor Mama Penina. Although the service was in Swahili, the pastor was quite animated and entertaining. In typical Tanzanian style, there was much harmonious singing. The school board chairman was there and introduced the students and their volunteer work, and the students got up in front of the entire congregation and sang “Lean on Me.” After the service we filed outside to shake everyone’s hand while the children’s choir sang. Afterwards there was a small auction to raise money for the church – a bundle of grass for cow feed and a sheep that all the students thought was going to be "sacrificed"!

This week is sure to be busy while we finish up the project at the school, students complete their independent projects (which are some of the best and most interesting we’ve seen) and explore Arusha market with our Mamas. The students have been learning to cook Tanzanian food, singing Swahili songs, building drums and generally having a fabulous time.

Hope all is well at home.

Kwa heri,

Francesca & Barrett

Photos

The classroom project at the end of the first week of working on the floor.

Here the whole group together at last (after one delayed student arrived!) Pictured with Eliokim (left), the director of Il'Kidinga Cultural Tourism program who is incredibly knowledgeable and helpful and organizes the Masaai dancing troupe.

View of Arusha town from the heights of Il'Kidinga forest.

All of us (and half of Barrett!) up at the Il'Kidinga maporomoko ya magi (waterfall).

Habari za Marekani? How is America?

We are getting along well here after our first full week of village
life. The floor of the classroom we are constructing is nearly complete. Everyone is developing strong muscles from hauling buckets of water 150 yards up a hill in order to mix cement! The fundi (foreman) has been teaching us the art of pouring cement and creating a smooth floor. We are hoping to begin work on the roof by the end of this week! Also, we have been teaching English classes daily to the
local students.

This weekend we went for a hike to a beautiful waterfall at the base of Mt. Meru. It was approximately five miles roundtrip. The last portion of the hike was a steep downhill into a stream and then we walked a half mile upstream to a majestic viewpoint of the falls.

Afterwards, we went into Arusha town as a group. Everyone split into groups of 4 or 5 and spent a few hours exploring town and bargain hunting. For our evening meal, we went to Pepe's Pizza Place and enjoyed some Indian and Italian food. The evening culminated with ice cream and watching a local dance group take the stage with amazing acrobatics and fire tricks. Everyone was quite impressed by their
performance.

On Sunday, we traveled to another village similar to Kidinga called Bangata. Francesca's homestay family lives there and they welcomed us into their home for the afternoon. We all drank tea and coffee before taking a saunter through Baba Edna's (Father of Edna) farm. He grows coffee, bananas, maize, and cabbage. We spent time asking him questions and learning about local agricultural practices. They were extremely hospitable and would not let us leave without sharing some sodas and taking pictures together! Baba Edna told everyone they are welcome to stay with him anytime they are in Tanzania.

After departing Bangata, we went to Lake Duluti for a traditional Tanzanian meal for dinner. Our students were a bit apprehensive about eating Tanzanian food for the first time but it was a hit. Some people went for a row boat ride on the lake before dinner as well. All said, it was a busy weekend and everyone was happy to return to the worksite on Monday to continue working on our project.

All the best and siku njema (have a good day),

Barrett and Francesca

Photos from Il'Kidinga

Post-welcome ceremony at Il'Kidinga primary school. Students, Barrett & Francesca with some of the school teachers and school board members.

The outside of the classroom we are finishing.

Inside of the classroom on day one. The students are first filling and leveling the room with dirt before the floor can be finished.

Beautiful welcome message drawn by Il'Kidinga students.

Receiving roses at the welcome ceremony.

Habari Zenu?

Greetings from Il' Kidinga!

Yesterday was our first full day together in Tanzania. We had a group orientation in the morning followed by a welcome ceremony at the Kidinga Primary School. The local children greeted us with songs and a rose for each student. After short introductions from the village leaders, teachers, and, our students, we celebrated with snacks, sodas, and dancing to an eclectic compilation by a Tanzanian D.J..

The students are happy with the assortment of food prepared by our mamas. They are stepping up to the responsibilities of group living and doing chores. Our house is rather large by Tanzanian standards, but makes for a cozy living situation. They are learning to cope with no electricity and squat toilets. We have been spending evenings sitting under the stars, playing games, and getting to know each other.

Today, we had our first work day at the school where we are completing a classroom started by last year's Putney group. By the time our work is done here, we will have built a cement floor and completed the roof. We plan to install windows and plaster the walls as well. The students are in their first Swahili lesson as we write to you and are excited to teach English starting tomorrow.

Everyone sends their love and tells you hakuna matata (no worries).

Kwaheri (bye) for now,

Barrett and Francesca

The group has arrived

We've received word from the leaders that the group has arrived in Arusha.