6 days in Africa

Only 6 days in Africa, but so much has transpired it seems like a month!

On the 4 hour drive from Arusha, we passed through bush country and home of the Maasai tribe, had wild baboons crossing the road with their young clinging to their underside, and saw giraffes as we passed Lake Manyara. My driver taught me how to count to ten in Swahili, but now that I’m here it appears he taught me how to count in Mbulu instead. Once we turned off the main road, it was another 45 minutes down a long, BUMPY, and red dusty road to Rift Valley Children’s Village.

The natural beauty of this place is amazing. We are on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater, and nestled between the Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks, famous with safaris. The days are hot and the nights are cool. And the sunsets and sunrises are to die for. Which I’ve certainly been seeing the sun rise!

Not that any day is typical here, but they all start by 6am, if not earlier, by some catastrophe or another. Kids are up at 6:15, get dressed (in hopefully their own clothes), breakfast at 6:30 (some can have this, others cannot), backpack check, and a short walk to school at 6:45. We (volunteers) eat breakfast at 7:30 and get a break until 9, when I teach English/Computer and Confidence class to local village teenagers with another volunteer for 2 hours. Confidence may be the hardest of all three, but hopefully an inevitable result of the first two. Take Standard 2 kids (once you find their hiding spots) to school at 11:30, pick up Standard 1 after you peel them off the playground, then lunch and nap time, After nap, it’s tutor and play time for the afternoon, chores (not a favorite), bath (that either), put on CLEAN clothes, egg and bread snack, movie, then dinner at 6:30. Have you ever tried to keep calm with 11 kids around the table, all with something important to say (particularly if it gets someone else in trouble)? Whew. Then it’s pajamas, brush teeth WITH toothpaste, story time, hugs and kisses, good night.

Alexi, 8 years, and I tutor together. We worked on math today in the “library”, a room with the books and extensive movie collection. However, Mole found us and wanted to practice math too. Mole is our little moral police, as he likes to ask if things are good or bad, and will go through a book asking about each object. Now, seriously are those characters in Dr. Seuss good or bad? He had me stumped on a few. Then Ishmael wanted a story, and Coleta couldn’t be left out of that fun! It is certainly never dull here.

Right now, the orphanage holds 41 very adorable and equally precocious children, from the age of 2 to 17 years.. Despite the size and number,this place is structured without the feeling of institution, There are 4 houses of children, each with 2 native Tanzanian “Mama”s who cook and clean. There are 10 of us volunteers right now, and we have a variety of duties. Some teach kindergarten and some teach English at the local school. Now that word is getting out that there is a nurse here, there are random villagers coming up to see me with various ailments. And with 41 of our own kids, there is plenty of business for me. Band-aids and Tums are my cure-all. And amazingly enough, they DO cure all!

I have a few stories to share, but will do that next time. THIS chic has a 9:30 bedtime!