7:51

apparently i enjoy journaling at 7:51 in the morning, as the past 2 entries have both (unintentionally) begun at 7:51.

2-19-09
7:51 am

highlights/notable mentions of the past few days:

-clubs with the kids. 3x/week, the kids meet after school for clubs. they have carpentry club, cooking club, acrobatics, sewing club, art club, choir, soccer, rugby, netball, drumming club, english club, journalism club, and probably some others i can't think of. on tuesday i went and helped with art club and choir. janaya (the volunteer coordinator... she's completely hysterical and a ton of fun) has decided to put me in charge of art club... basically i have some crayons, markers, 100 pipecleaners, a handful of popsicle sticks, and 500 random straws to work with. and i have to come up with arts and craft projects for the next 6 weeks. creative juices, please immediately begin flowing.

-the storage closet. we began organizing phs' "closet." think enormous room filled with crap. and lots of it. it is unreal what people have donated. used lipstick, ripped clothing, half used boxes of crayons, a 3000 page book on how to reprogram your computer circa 1995, etc. my favorite: a group of DU grad students came and volunteered. they brought a bag filled with really nice pens and good paper. they specified that it not be donated, but instead saved for when they returned so they could have better pens? typical.

-stiggy's. on tuesday morning, i got an email from my mom informing me i had been admitted to the university of queensland. that night, we went out to dinner at a place called stiggy's. stiggy is an australian man who currently owns 5 restaraunts in arusha (which is unheard of... he is the only one here who owns more than one). when he came to talk to our table, someone mentioned i had gotten into uq that morning. he looks at me and goes, "oh, my daughter goes there! where are you living?" i told him i had looked at a few places online but wasn't really sure yet. so, he whips out his cell phone and calls his daughter. "hi, yasmin. i have an american girl here who got into uq today and needs to know where to live." then he handed me his phone and walked away. at the end of our conversation, yasmin asked if i had facebook. so there i am sitting in a third world country on the phone talking to an australia who happens to be in arusha visiting about facebook. totally surreal. it continues to amaze me how small the world is. there's a girl who works here who's a st. olaf grad and who's headed to grad school at DU. there is also a boy on my trip who is a junior at du.

-amani center for street children. yesterday we drove to moshi, the town next to arusha. peace house foundation had chosen to support amani ("peace" in swahili) before peace house school had opened. it is essentially an orphanage that provides medical care, education, food and a place to sleep for the street children. STREET CHILDREN. when was the last time you heard that term in the US? some of these kids have lost their parents and others have chosen to run away from physical abuse, sexual abuse, and modern day slavery. perhaps the saddest are the children who run to the streets simply because their family can no longer afford to feed them. they have to leave home to survive. we met one child who had been abandoned on the street at the age of one and a half. he is mentally handicapped and most likely severely autistic. unfortunately, tanzania isn't quite as ADD-happy as america. at home, it seems like everyone has a "learning disability" and is on meds. here, they can't even diagnose and treat someone with debilitating autism. he cannot speak or understand when someone is talking to him. the stories are heartbreaking but the outcomes are usually happy. amani teaches the kids how to reintegrate into the community and how to survive once they are old enough. it is a truly amazing organization.

-on a lighter note, we met a guy at lunch who honestly must be 7 feet tall. he runs ultramarathons (100 miles) and get this-holds the world record for climbing kilimanjaro. 8 HOURS. if you were to climb kili right now, it would take you 5-9 days.



i still cannot believe i'm in africa. the stars, the mountains, the people and culture are all amazing. that being said, it is heartbreaking knowing you can only do so much. for every child you help, there are thousands more who need that help as well. one of the things we're consistently hearing about is lack of funding. when our economy at home takes a hit, so do these organizations. these organizations need money to help provide children with the opportunity to change their lives. there's just so much to do. it blows my mind how far we have to go.

ps-the internet here is suuuuuper slow, which means no skype dates or pictures until i'm back. but feel free to email me :)




i don't want to know, 'cause life is better off a mystery. so keep on coming with these lines on the road. keep me responsible, be it a light or heavy load. keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise and i'll walk with grace my feet and with faith my eyes. --caedmon's call