Chris and Paula’s World

Settling In

So we have been here 1.5 weeks now. Rau village, just outside Moshi, Tanzania. Before you get to Africa, you read about the staggering number of people with AIDS, the number of orphans left behind from AIDS and the number of deaths and disabilities caused by Malaria. When you 1st get here, you are a bit overwhelmed by the sadness of it all. Then something happens. You realize that despite all the hardship caused by these two diseases along, and poverty in general, that Tanzanians make you feel at home (Karibu Sana is a Swahili phrase you will hear about 50 times / day - it means you are very welcome) and generally everyone is very happy. The kids especially make the difference. You cannot walk to the store (Deo’s Grocery) to get a coke without being mobbed by children all yelling greetings at you. At first you just thing it is because you are whitey, which is part of it, but actually it is part of the larger culture of greeting people and making sure they are alright. Even if you don’t know the language, it is no problem (hahuna matada!). At night time, when you have a chance to relfect on the day, you can become sad again as you think about the situations you saw that day, but you realize that if the people enduring can remain positive and happy about it, so can you and you can use that positive attitude to be resourceful and helpful to make situations better for people. I hope people can make sense of what I just said because I am not going to go back and rewrite it

Tomorrow I am off to Chawamaki. Hopefully all of the chicks did not die since last Friday, they have a disease that seems to have come from a dirty pen they were in. If they did die, it is back to the drawing board for that project. Perhaps we can buy some local chickens, the ones that walk around on the road here. They are more hearty than the mzungu chickens, the kind we have at home, but they don’t lay as many eggs. Man, it would have been a whole lot better if I had done some farming in the last 12 years instead of playing with computers! Also, the group should have sold a pig last Friday for about 115,000tsh (about $100CDN). This would have enabled them to purchase food for the rest of the 9 pigs that are there. Really when it comes down to it, this is just like fixing servers and networks. New problems every day, and you try to invest in infrastructure that works well so as to minimize your daily problems. But once again, these people are much closer to ‘the edge’, so I can’t just goof off on the Internet all day instead of doing my part

Tomorrow afternoon we are heading to Arusha to attend the International Criminal Tribunal on the Rwandan Genocide. They have been running these trials for several years now to try and prosecute those behind the truly disturbing killing of thousands of Tutsi’s in Rwanda in 1994. I have read a lot about this lately and am quite intrested to attend.

Many of the 38 volunteers currently here seem to have a communicable cold of some sort. Sore throat and general tiredness is about. Both Paula and I seem to have it today. The cooks out back (Kisoko and Primo - kudos to these guys, this is the best food we have eaten in quite some time) made us some great tea - Lemon, ginger, garlic, cinammon, honey, black tea and some magic. It is helping. I’m sure we will all be fine in a day or so.

This weekend we are off to the Kilimanjaro Lodge. A Lodge part way up the mountain. A bunch of us are heading up. A weekend of hiking and beer drinking hopefully.

This post is way to long as it is so I will end it hear. As I type this, the power keeps cutting in and out (UPSs are very popular in Tanzania!). Bed soon, but maybe some more tea 1st.

Good night all. I love you and miss you all.
XOXO

Today at Kilimehewa

Mambo!

First of all, I just wanted to say that all of the comments on Chris’ posting “I BLOG TOO” made us both laugh!

Today was a good day at school! We are having a test tomorrow so it was review day. The kids struggle with pronouns - Swahili is a much simpler language than English. There are fewer tenses and “he/her” doesn’t exist. We’ll see how it goes. There are parent/teacher meetings on Thursday as well as a community meeting all taking place at the school. Volunteers will be discussing the idea of making the informal school into a community school (I mentioned this in an earlier post) - it is decision time now. They will also be discussing the possiblility of the community providing vocational training, acknowledging that some of these kids will be better with their hands than academic pursuits. Cerebral malaria and menengitis have impacted a few kids in the class from early ages, and while they are good attenders at the school and try their hardest, their parents want to prepare them for jobs in the community. Everything seems to be a community decision versus the decision of individual families.

The volunteers who have been at Kilimehewa for the last eight weeks (Mariska and Laurel) are leaving on Saturday, so the new group will be on their own. They have done so much with the community and know so much that it is a little intimidating to think of them being gone. I’m sure all will work out, but the lack of continuity in volunteer placements has its impacts. The school will also have a good bye for them on Thursday — Thursday will obviously be busy!

We are going to talk to the community about bringing in a speaker to discuss sex health and HIV. Because these kids don’t attend a formal school, this hasn’t been on the curriculum. We are planning to also offer the class to the adults in the community. The adults are big supporters of the school. They are encouraged to come to two English classes a week in the afternoons and many make it out.

I visited a local orphanage yesterday afternoon. A few of us were there to play with the kids (about 20 of them between the ages of 3 and 10) for a few hours. I had a lot of fun! They are resourceful little kids! The toys that I saw were bottle caps, plastic bins that were used as drums (awesome drummers), and a skipping rope. They had a blast with these simple toys. There is a little boy there named Oskar, but his nickname is “Baba Kuku” or “Father Chicken” — he is the one in charge of looking after the chicken coop! Such a cutie. They have just had a water tap installed - to this point they have never had running water and the kids had to walk over 2 km to fetch water in all sorts of weather, every day. The volunteer who was just with them for 6 weeks fundraised and raised the money needed to install it. When I was there yesterday, several of the kids brought me out back to show me the water and they were all splashing each other out of a bucket that they had filled. It was really cute. They still don’t have electricity but I guess water is more important to them.

All in all the experience continues to be an emotional rollercoaster. A lot of good is happening in this community and I’m really happy to be here. We have decided to extend our stay to 6 weeks instead of 4 and we are both really excited about that.

Tomorrow after placement the whole group is going to Arusha to sit in on the Criminal Tribunal for the Rwandan Genocide. Should be really interesting.

The dinner bell just rang so I have to run!

Thanks for reading!

Paula
xoxo

I BLOG TOO!

OK,

THIS IS CHRIS.

I WRITE BLOG POSTINGS TOO.

In fact the last one was me. Quite often of late mine seem to be attributed to Paula. I guess it is because I don’t sign my name at the bottom. Mottie says it is because I write like a girl.

So, I am with Paula and blogging when I can as well. Paula thinks that nobody reads the blog anymore but I keep telling her that we will read it together on the rocking chairs when we get old.

Imagine the most screwed up project you have ever worked on…

You are sitting in a meeting, big decisions have to be made or the project is f**cked, nobody wants to take responsibility for anything in case they might look bad if it flops, half the people in the meeting are asleep or doing something completely unrelated to what needs to be done.

How many of these meetings have we all been to?

The part that makes it all different and pulls me towards it more than any employment ever has is that people’s lives are at stake and I have something to contibute that may help them a little.

Today we found out that the pigs, of which there are 9, only have 2 days of food left. Somehow, who knows how, we were led to believe that there was enough food to last until October or so. Crisis. Pigs don’t like to skip meals. If the pigs die, a lot of work and all the revenue (200,000 tsh for each fully matured pig turned to bacon - about $160) down the toilet. That $$ goes along way to improving the lives of these people.

These people are Chawamaki. Each of them live with HIV/AIDS. None of them have any $$ to speak of. They all get sick from time to time and require specialized medicine. They all have families. They are together for support and to try to come up with ideas and ways to generate income to help support themselves and their families. The group is officially 17, but only about 10 or so are active in the group right now. I am the resident Mazungu at the moment. I help them with ideas and things that I might know about. It sure is not pigs or farming, but I do know a few things. Today it was a cost/benefit analysis of selling one of the pigs early to pay for food to keep the rest alive until they are mature in December. Perhaps the easiest CBA I have ever done, but also perhaps the most important.

I think that is what volunteering is for me so far. Applying skills that I have previously used for what seems to be the silliest things (e.g., whether we replace a server this year or next), to projects that determine whether people eat next month.

It’s not all so serous. We drink beer at night at a ‘bar’ across the street called “Deo’s”. You pay your 80 cents for a standard African Lager and then have a seat in a lawn chair surrounded by mosquito nets on a dirt floor and drink and act silly with people from all over the world and from next door. Joseph the local drunk is passed out in the corner. We eat some of the best, freshest food I have ever had, prepared by some of the nicest people I have ever met. We play kick-ball (go Team A) in the school field.

We are all learning Swahili. Organized lessons as well as on-the-job training every day. Most of the people in our placements do not speak English, so we are all eager to try to bridge the gap by learning. The better we can communicate with the locals, the more affective we can be.

6 days here and I want to stay forever. I want their challenges to be my challenges. Thank goodness I have another 3 weeks to settle down!

Mzungus in Rau

I thought I would start by describing where we are. We are in a village called Rau, which is about a 40 minute walk from downtown Moshi. The first thing that strikes you about Rau is how green everything is. There is a lot of farming in the area - people grow much of what they eat and sell the rest at the local market. Rau is a series of maize fields cut by worn footpaths that take you where you need to go. There are bumpy and dusty dirt roads, and a few businesses scattered about - shops, banana stands, a bar, and several others. There are small homes with corrugated metal roofs, filled clotheslines, and (often) livestock in the yard near the house. In the wee hours of the morning, the dogs start barking, bushbabies make crazy sounds, and the roosters start cockadoodle-dooing… they seem to have no concept for time. The rainy season ended recently so the fields are lush green and smell alive. Everywhere there are children running out to greet the “Mzungus” (White people), by calling out “Mambo”, to which you respond “Poa”. When you pass by people older than you, you call out “Shikamoo”, to show respect - it literally means “I kiss your feet”… they respond by saying “Marahaba”. The CCS compound is a fair sized walled area with three “houses” of dorm rooms (4 to a room with a bathroom attached), and a central gathering and eating area that is basically a thatched roof with patio tables and chairs. The rooms are basic but comfortable. Clothes washing facilities are a hose and bucket on the lawn or a local lady that will wash all but underwear for a small charge. When clothes dry on the line, you must iron them before wearing them as mango flies are known to lay tiny eggs in damp clothing… ick. Things are fairly damp and cool here, but when the sun shines, it gets hot and muggy quickly. For the most part it has been overcast/sunny/overcast/sunny - the weather changes quickly. We got our first glimpse (from the ground) of Kilimanjaro today. It is usually covered in cloud. Great to see the snows of Kili from a distance.

It has been a good week, a bad week, a sad week, and any number of other descriptors. Two days into our placements I felt really overwhelmed by the sadness that you can’t avoid. Some of the placements, in particular the orphanage placements, just break your heart. We have visited two orphanages and you just want to find a way to fit them all in your backpack and take them with you. Hearing stories from other volunteers about their placements makes it pretty clear that there is a fine line between positive and negative, happy and sad in all of the jobs that we have.

I am lucky to be in a placement that feels very positive. When you see these kids and how eager they are to learn, it is inspiring. They voluntarily choose to attend and walk long distances to a school where their hard work will not be recognized formally. They will not be given credit for this education as it is an “informal school” meaning that they will have no access to secondary school or university. The volunteers that have been in the placement for approx 8 weeks now are working with the community to try to understand if it could be sustainable for the school to be given the status of community school. If the school is deemed a “Community School” it will remain free for children from very poor families, and their efforts will be recognized for entry into higher education. In order for it to change in status, the current one classroom would have to be expanded to three “rooms”, there would have to be toilets installed, and an accredited teacher/s would have to be hired. The volunteers are willing to go home and fundraise for the expenses of building the school, as well as go through the red tape, however unless the community is able to sustain paying a teacher in the years to come, the fundraising and effort would be useless. The annual cost for the teacher would be about $600 USD. Considering the reason that their children are in this school in the first place, this is a huge stumbling block. The community provides food (1 cup of porridge a day) to each student at the school, and maintains the garden and grounds around the school - they are supportive of the activities of the school but it still isn’t known if the “Community School” can happen or not. We take so much for granted. The adults of the community meet with the volunteers on Thursdays to discuss different ideas for the sustainment of the school, for income generation, and other matters. It is clear that they are worried for their kids, and their own futures. Many of them come to Kilimehewa from 4-6 Monday to Thursday for English lessons as well.

We went to a concert last night at “Juvie” - the Juvenile Detention Centre in Moshi. The CCS volunteers were fundraising money to buy new mattresses and plastic mattress covers for the centre. There is a big problem with bedbugs, scabies and lice, so the mattresses will do a lot to improve the health of the kids at the centre, as well as the staff. They were able to raise enough money to cover the cost of the mattresses ($450) and will continue to find ways to raise the rest. There are about 15 boys and one girl at the centre. The stories of why certain kids are there would blow your mind - small, petty, sad stories… it wouldn’t be legal to lock away a 9 year old in Canada for the “offences” that we have heard about. Anyhow, the concert was a series of dances, acrobatics, etc. set to Sean Paul, Michael Jackson and others. These kids have not had that much attention or praise in a very long time and they were glowing. It was awesome. See what I mean about happy/sad? It was great to see, but when you think below the surface, so sad.

That is the update for now. Nothing else to add, so for now I’ll say “Lala Fofofo” or “Sleep like a log”.

Kwaheri

Paula

CCS - so far so good!

Just an update on volunteering so far. We have been in orientation for most of the time, so we haven’t actually started our placements. I ended up asking for a change in assignment. I felt really strongly that I wanted to have a different experience from Chris’ here at CCS. We will be volunteering together two days a week at Moshi Disability Network, and then Chris will be with the womens’ AIDS group and I will be working in an “informal school” called Kilimeheywa. They way it was described to me is “a school where students go that are hungry, desperately hungry for education”. These are mostly teens 12-18 year olds who are orphans or who come from extremely poor families that can not afford the public government schools. Uniforms, book costs, lunches and other expenses total about $250USD yearly and these kids are not able to go to school because of this. The school is run by volunteers and was started 1 year ago with 4 kids and a volunteer teacher under a tree. The school now has 50 - 70 students, and is in a house that was bought and renovated by a former CCS volunteer who went home from her placement and fundraised a donation. They teach math, english, biology, geography and civics.

…. taking a long time to get postings out as about 30 people are sharing a PC. We are now done our first days at our placements. All went well and we’ll have to give more detail tomorrow. Most of the group is going on safari this weekend so we will hopefully have some time to spend on the computer to write more.

Hope all is well and we are missing you all at home a lot.

xoxo
Paula

411 on our CCS Volunteering Assignments

We are off to Moshi tomorrow morning, so today, after visiting the Zanzibar Museum and treading down to the hot and crazy Zanzibar outdoor market, where Paula purchased a heavy sack of Kangas, we spent some time in the Internet Cafe doing some homework so we don’t look like idiots when we arrive for our volunteering. We will anyway for sure, as will most of the others arriving I am sure. The 1st week or so is bound to be a serious uphill learning curve. Anyhow, as part of my homework, I thought I would put some the information in here. Perhaps this is a funner way for me to do it.

We have two placements. We work at our placements from 0730 (or 1:30 in Swahili time) until 12:30 (6:30 Swahili time) each day.

On Mondays and Wednesdays we will be working at Kikundi Cha Chawamaki. The best description about them can be found in a blog post by Ivan Martin, one of the former volunteers at the placement. It is worth reading. Here is some more background on them:

Kikundi Cha Chawamaki was established in 2006 and has been operating under the umbrella of Kiwodea Women’s Group. This group consists of seventeen (17) members; fifteen women and 2 men who have been brave enough to go public with their affliction with HIV. Chawamaki has formalized their organizational structure with a chairperson, a finance committee, a secretary, and a treasurer. They hold regular meetings where minutes are kept and recorded.

Chawamaki’s common plight of being marginalized and stigmatized inspired them to develop economic enterprises to support their endeavours to eventually provide outreach and shining examples to the many other HIV afflicted persons in their district. Also, the group is trying to set aside resources in a benevolent fund for the continuing support for children of members left behind as orphans.

Needs of Kikundi Cha Chawamaki:

The primary need was investment capital to:

Create an agricultural project to produce sufficient food to feed themselves and members of the extended family which numbered approximately 102 adults and children inclusive;
Create profitable enterprises to generate income to care for inactive members of the organization as well as to provide for children left behind as orphans;
Support their desire to engage in an outreach programme which would target other HIV/AIDS individuals in the community who are reluctant to publicly disclose their condition; and
Receive health and nutrition education.

On Tuesday, Thursday and Fridays we will be working at the Moshi Disabled Network. The Moshi Disabled Network (MDN-Pride) is a Kilimanjaro region NGO, owned and operated by local workers with disabilities and their advocates. The group runs a rehabilitation aids and small crafts workshop located within the municipal region of Moshi.

The primary aim of “MDN-Pride” is for the workers with disabilities and their families to learn to help themselves become more independent with activities of daily living. As well, the group educates family members and community members about the challenges faced by those living with physical challenges, to alleviate the stigma associated with having disabilities. The Hesperian Foundation lay health manuals serve as a guide for its members while they learn how to help themselves and their community (1).

The group meets in a temporary place on the property of an engineering shop. The group is currently trying to find a more permanent location, as the space has been donated to the group for just a year.

Background: Proposed and implemented in 2004-2005 by Dayna Lorraine Wolfe,M.D., an American specialist in Cross Cultural Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr Wolfe was selected to be a University of Minnesota Center for Human Rights Fellow for 2004. The fellowship project proposal goal was to facilitate community integration and development via improved mobility for women with disabilities.

There is a stigma in Tanzanian culture about people with disabilities, and many families hide children who may be physically disabled. The group provides outreach and services to about 20 disabled people in their homes in Rau Village. In light of these cultural attitudes, as well as the fact that there are no other organizations providing this type of support, it is likely to infer that there are more people in the Moshi area in need of these services.

The group has no professional teaching support, so teaching of skills will be provided by the disabled group members. However, there are 2 non-disabled volunteers who work 5 mornings a week, and one disabled member who works with them.

Business philosophy: Sustainable self-help and community integration for people with disabilities. This business welcomes assistance and friendship from any volunteer wishing to align with the workers in achieving its mission, but it is not dependent upon their presence for successful operations. The hope is that by empowering people with physical challenges, they will improve their social-economic condition as well as providing an example to other disabled people in the area. Meetings are held with the elders of the village, and the group holds talks in schools and health centers.

The members of the group make products such as rain sticks, paintings, arm cycles, clothes, embroidery, handbags, woodwork, mats, and shoes. The proceeds of the sales contribute to the purchase of sugar, rice and clothing to bring to the villages when the group does home visits. The group welcomes volunteers who can look for new markets for them to sell these products, and think of new products that can be made with local materials such as banana skins, beans and wood.

Homework done! Haha. Last night in Zanzibar. Time for a pina colada or two. Starting tomorrow it is “back to work” so-to-speak. Paula and I will be in seperate rooms!

Ciao for now.

Chris

Plastic Bags

We were just talking about the fact that we don’t take the opportunity to just jot down the random stuff, so here goes.

There is a huge problem in many of the places that we have travelled… plastic bags. In Morocco they called them “plastic birds”. There are areas that we have driven through where the ground is literally covered. I have wondered if it is a problem where people don’t have good option for dumping garbage and stray cats and dogs get into them… if it has something to do with poverty… if it is cultural… possibly something to do with hope?? In such gorgeous places, it really seems incredible to me that someone would choose to not collect them up and dispose of them. Is this a Western attitude? Not sure.

We were just chatting with a guy in the internet cafe about Rwanda. Apparently you can not get into the country with plastic bags (the kind you get at a supermarket) as they have been banned there! What an awesome idea! Makes great sense. We have now heard from many people about how quickly Rwanda has recovered from events in 1994. Plastic bags seem to be a small thing, but when you see the litter and mess that they make, and knowing what a problem they are for the planet, it is cool to think that a tiny African country has made such a progressive decision.

Thats all for now.

I’m in Africa!

Been in Africa for a while I spose, but I must say that Northern Africa seems like a whole ‘nother world compared to sub-Saharan. For a few days now we have been in Zanzibar, the wee little island off the coast of Tanzania. Coffee, spices, seafood, snorkelling, and blue blue ocean.

Like I expected, Africa is full of lush vegetation, bumpy roads, signs of poverty. The people are outstandingly friendly, but in cities, you can’t really go out at night safely, so we are told. Food is great so far, on the coast. Tonnes of seafood and spices galore. Internet access is not great, but who cares, I get enough of that at home

The energy here feels charged, all the time. I need to think about how to explain that more.

I stuck my finger in the ceiling fan yesterday, let me tell you it looks dandy right now. One of those nice blood blisters, like a mini plasma bag attached to my finger. Hopefully my finger nail wont fall off.

We have 6 more nights to fill up in Zanzibar, and I bet most of that will be playing in the sun and eating. Then we are off to Moshi (July 21st) for our CCS volunteering placements. Paula and I will both be working together at 2 different placements. One is with a Women’s AIDS group named Chawamaki and the other is with the Moshi Disabled Network. In both of these, we will be working with the groups to provide ways for members to become self sufficient. More coming on this, it is all new to us as well. I think all along we thought that we would be at different placements, but it turns out we can’t be seperated afterall I have to do some homework on AIDS and on Microfinancing before we get to Moshi though!

So, Africa is ruling so far. I think we both miss home like mad sometimes, but there will be plenty of time for home later. Rwanda is looking like our next stop after Tanzania, but we have a whole month to figure that out. Hopefully more time to post more and upload some of the photos we have in the coming weeks (2 rhinos humping!). Haha!

Jambo everyone!

Loving Zanzibar

It was a long trip getting here from Nairobi - thirteen hours on a bus to Dar Es Salaam (including an interesting border crossing), a night in a hostel, then a two hour fast ferry ride to Stone Town (ST). So far it was worth every km! We had few expectations of Stone Town - we had booked 3 nights and wondered if we should have headed straight for the beach. Again we were very pleasantly surprised! ST is a vibrant town with lots of fun things to keep you busy, while maintaining a healthy balance of “Hakuna Mutata”. It is an interesting old city with very narrow streets (easy to get lost in!), huge old trees, people taking it easy sitting on doorstops outside their homes and businesses who will almost always call out “Jambo” (hello) or “Karibu” (welcome), and Muslim women dressed in gorgeous bright skirts and scarves. Many of the colonial looking buildings seem to be fighting hard against decay. It is common to see chipping or fading paint, cracks in stucco, vines taking over walls, and buildings literally being propped up by poles and rope. Somehow the city manages to look really charming, and the decay fits it well. Lots of photo opportunities in such a place!

ST is a port city so there are many restaurants literally on the beach (eating dinner with toes in the beautiful white sand). One night we had drinks at Mercury’s (named for Frddie Mercury, born in Zanzibar) and watched two soccer games on the beach, a boys’ game and a mens’ game. It was fun watching the young boys diving into the ocean for the ball when it went out of bounds - usually about 8 or ten of them would dive in to retrieve the ball. All of this happening with a beautiful sunset, the Indian Ocean and bobbing boats as a backdrop.

We went on two day trips from Stone Town, a Spice Tour and a snorkelling trip around the local islands. The Spice Tour ($10USD) was a full day tour of spice plantations, following by a visit to a gorgeous beach. Easy to see why Zanzibar is called the Spice Island, we saw clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper trees, as well as vanilla, ginger, cardamom and others. We also sampled all of the local fruits and had a beautiful lunch of king fish curry with chiapati. The tour included a brief stop to view a slave cave, which was a natural underground cave where slaves were kept prior to being shipped off to foreign destinations - not a pleasant part of the island’s history. We were really happy that we got such good value, as we are seeing that $10USD doesn’t tend to get us very far generally!! The next day we met up with Misty and Dylan, two SAfricans that we met on our bus to Dar. They had invited us on a snorkelling day that they had organized. We visited several islands (including one that was literally just a sand bar of the coast… gorgeous), snorkelled and had a great lunch on a beach. We also visited Prison Island where an old prison had been converted (in the late 1800’s) to a quarantine area during a couple of plagues and the cholera epidemic. With Zanzibar being such a critical port during the spice trade, I guess it was a good idea! The island also has a Giant Tortoise sanctuary where we fed some big, old (one of them was approx 120 years old) turtles.

We are now in Kwenda, which is a beach in the North East of Zanzibar. It is idyllic here with white powder sand and the most gorgeous turquoise water. Dhows float just off the coast and it is common to see fishermen walking along the beach with their daily catches for sale to the hotels. Getting the meat out of a coconut we bought on the beach yesterday feels to be the most industrious task that I have undertaken in about a week. Yes, life is rough these days.

That is all to report for now. We will be heading back to ST for a couple of days and then on to Moshi for our volunteering project. We have our assignments and we are placed together (which neither of us expected) in two different community groups. We will be working with groups of people who are starting or running small businesses. In one group we will be working with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA) and in the other, people with disabilities. Our volunteer duties will include assisting in project planning, helping with micro finance loan apps., assisting with dealing with community stigmas (both groups are stigmatized in Tanzanian society), visiting families and people who are sick, assisting with budgeting and planning, etc. I am really looking forward to our time in Moshi with CCS… a little nervous at this point, however I can’t wait to get started.

Anyhow, that is all for now. Love getting emails from home, so keep ‘em coming please!!!

Paula