Home Again, Home Again

To say that it is good to be back is an understatement. The second I stepped outside the airplane and smelled the air, something resettled and I felt instantly back at home again. I was a bit nervous that I would not be as excited this time around, or I wouldn't get the same high, but these fears were misplaced. I have had a fantastic few days and things are getting exciting.

We have been really jetlagged and have done our best thinking during the 3am to 6am hours before we nap before breakfast. We are staying at a great hotel in the middle of Moshi town. We a block from the bus station and the mosque, both epicenters of noise and people. Our room has a great balcony behind a shield of trees which is a perfect people watching perch. I have spent many hours so far just watching people go by on their daily business.

Today (Monday) we went to Watoto Rau which is a nursery school in Rau village. There were 53 kids between the ages of 2 and 5. It was a bit crazy, to say the least. We helped out with the lesson (there is one teacher, a local CCS volunteer) and had some great play time. The kids are just so full of joy and are an inspiration, for sure. We had the nine kids who didn't have uniforms fitted for them so that they would have them.

Our original intention was to help out with the Upendo orphanage, but at this point in time it looks like we are switching gears to just funding primary school in general. Over the next week, we are going to try to put together a way to find, pick, and fund local kids to go to primary school. This still works with starting small and sustainable. Our hope is to fund their school fees, their uniforms, and to find a way to provide them with tutoring on the weekends. We will be focusing on the Majengo neighborhood, which is the area that both Meghan and I worked in last year and one of the poorest in Moshi. Things and objectives change quickly, so keep up with the blog to see where what we are up to next!

Tomorrow we meet with another past CCS volunteer who has her own group in town that does similar work. She will hopefully provide valuable information and point us in a general direction. The locals have also been very helpful, as they are entirely community oriented and understand every child to be their own.

This is such exciting and important work. I feel like the luckiest person in the whole world to be here. Thanks for keeping posted!