Welcome to Tanzania...

After an insanely busy few weeks of organising, packing up house, visiting family & saying my farewells, I finally made it onto the plane. [Thanks so much to everyone who made it to my various farewells, & sorry I missed the rest of you.] I arrived in Moshi, Tanzania, a week ago, although so much has been packed in to every single day that it feels much longer.

I travelled here with two Committee Assist directors, Mary  Mari, & along with three other ladies, Liz, Jenny & Chris. Saying goodbye to my beloved at the airport was just as sickeningly agonizing as I’d feared; as if a part of me has been amputated. Flights were uneventful, connections good. The Kenyan Airways plane was a little disconcerting, having non-functioning seat lights & audio-visual system, & signs of a silicon glue gun having been utilised on an admittedly non-essential looking interior wall attachment... nonetheless, the sum effect does cause one to wonder if these things are indicative of the level of maintenance in other more crucial areas.
On our final flight we had the pleasure of gazing at Mt Kilimanjaro from the left windows & Mt Meru from the right. On arrival we got a TIA (This is Africa) lesson straight up; our pickup thought we were arriving the next day. We frustrated the taxi drivers there no end, as we sat around for three hours waiting for our lift.

We dropped the girls off at their hotel, then... I got to drive! Yep, drive on Day 1! Mama Margaret had to pick up the bus from the garage, so I got to follow her back to the orphanage in the hatchback, thanking my lucky stars they drive on the left here too. Mama Margaret is delighted she won’t have to drive me everywhere.

The Kili Kids are gorgeous. Chris brought balloons with her, so on the “Aunties” first visit there was chaotic good fun, with children handing me balloons to tie, hitting me with balloons, rubbing them in my hair, and the littlies handing me saliva soggy ones to blow up. One little boy kept dragging me off to the bus to open the door as his balloon “mysteriously” kept getting in through the open window. Chris apparently has 200 more back at the hotel, so “Aunty Balloon” has ensured her ongoing popularity.

Whilst all the balloon-play was happening one little girl was playing with Aunty Jenny. Jenny sang “If you’re happy & you know it, clap your hands” with her. At the song’s conclusion the girl gazed at Jenny and called her Jesus. Jenny thought she’d mis-heard the tiny voice but when Mama Margaret queried her in Kiswahili, she responded by asking if Jenny was the risen God. Obviously the nickname is going to stick, amongst us wazungu at least.

I’ve moved house already. I hadn’t realized how far from town Kili Kids is, and how isolated I’d be as the only mzungu (foreigner) living there. So Saturday I moved to Hostel Hoff (yes, tribute to “the Hoff”), which is a hostel for volunteers, full of like-minded folks who speak my lingo (different accents not withstanding). I had the choice of a bed in a 6-bed share room, or a massive 3-bed permanent tent in the backyard all to myself. No prizes for guessing which I chose. Feels like I’m permanently on safari. I even have the luxury of light & power in my tent.

It seems my role is now going to encompass both Medical Co-ordinator  Volunteers Co-ordinator. On Tues (Day 2) I was at KCMC (Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre) with Mama Margaret & one of the kids. I was given a whirlwind tour, as next time I’ll have to return on my own. I spent the next two mornings sitting in the waiting room of Jaffery Charitable Medical Services, with two different kids. Afternoons have been crazy running around with the “Aunties” on various errands.

I’ve been trying out my limited Kiswahili, with varying degrees of success. The elderly seem particularly delighted to be greeted in the proper respectful form. On a day spent out at the orphanage construction site on Wednesday a few of us went for a stroll up the lane through lush crops, eating a couple of beans picked fresh as we went. After greeting one elderly mama, I asked how her work was going. The problem was I’d obviously spoken Kiswahili fluently enough that she assumed I’d understand her answer. Smiles all round as she then tried to convey her meaning by miming picking crops from the ground.

Saturday was a fun, if exhausting, day. We took the kids on a big excursion to the orphanage site at Malasita. They were extremely excited. Because the previous night’s rain we couldn’t drive all the way, so had to walk up the muddy road half-an-hour. After lunch the kids had a blast running through the buildings, finding which will be their bedrooms, dropping down through the floor holes which will become the toilets, playing with soccer balls and wheelbarrows, checking out the crops and creek, and poking sticks through wire at the poor goats tied up in their shed, unable to escape the cruel prodding.

Crazy bus ride there/back in the 12-seater bus, with 6 adults & 23 kids aboard. One of the boys sat on my lap & despite all the noise & bumps, went deeply to sleep there.

Sunday I had my first rest day, desperately needed. I had a morning nap then joined a few of the hostel folks for lunch in town. This was the first time I’d walked around town; it’s good to start to get my bearings a bit more. I’m not sure what the coming week holds, but it’s sure to be full-on.

BTW, internet is crappy, so unless I can find a better connection, photos will be few & far between, sorry folks.