My two flights were pleasant and fairly uneventful. Flying over the Rocky Mountains was gorgeous, there was a beautiful sunrise as we flew into Amsterdam, and about an hour away from the Kilimanjaro airport there was a vibrant sunset. At the Amsterdam airport I was given the wrong gate so walked at least an extra mile, only to return close to where I started, but that large carry on tote bag sure was heavy! After a 10 1/2 hour flight, I needed the exercise, so the walk wasnt an entire waste. The flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro was another 8 1/2 hours. Grace and Frank, two Tanzanian employees of Make A Difference - Helping End Poverty Through Education, met me at the airport, helped with an immigration challenge, and then drove me to the MAD guest house where Pina, the house manager, had food waiting for me. She joined me in eating as we caught up since we last saw each other nearly a year ago. Grace, Frank, and Pina have taken great care of me! Saturday Grace showed me the bus system, walked with me to town, reminded me of where the office is, took me to the open market to buy food for today when Pina is off work, and showed me a local restaurant that was recommended if I wanted to eat out a meal or two today instead of preparing my own food. In the end I chose the later. After lunch at the guest house we stopped by the school that Maria attends. It was the first time I had met this super smart, quiet, tiny girl who was accepted into this school that only accepts the brightest children. I appreciate that its always the goal of MAD to put children into the best schools possible. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Royal School, which is the private school where 16 of the 22 MAD children attend. It’s a boarding school and also a day school, with about 500 children total. It was a joy to see the MAD children again and to deliver the 52# suitcase of books to the library. Last time I saw the library it was only a shell. Now its a large, beautiful room with lots of sunlight, tables, and shelves that are slowly being populated. It is a valuable project that will be a resource for the whole community. Its hot here... even more so than when I was here last February. It was supposed to reach 97 F today and Im sure it was the same yesterday. I chose a nice, quiet day today to catch up on emails and hang around the house. Tomorrow will be an office day and I expect it to be a busy week. Enjoy some of the pictures. From l to r - Mt. Kilimanjaro with Christmas Trees while waiting for bus Library book shelf at Royal School. There are 5 or 6 shelves. The books I brought hardly make a dent in just one shelf. Kids checking out the books My bedroom at the guest house. Love elephants and this picture in my bedroom.
Posted on: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 18:53:16 +0000
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