June 17- Jambo

Hey everyone,
  Tanzania is amazing as usual :) I definitely want to come back here someday.. hopefully soon!
Today is somewhat easy going. We had placements but our nursery was closed for holiday so
mom and I went to the clinic with four other volunteers, two of which are going home this
weekend. It was definitely an eye opening experience. At first I was nervous because it was
so dirty there.. it felt like being at a hospital 100 years ago.. We first "cleaned" the clinic. We
actually had gloves to clean with these dirty rags that you put into pretty much black water.
So we mainly spread the dirt around haha.. After patients started showing up we got to weigh
babies. You put the baby in a diaper looking sling and hook it on to the scale haha its pretty
ghetto. Then me and another volunteer who is a nursing student gave vaccinations. They
actually had quite a supply of vaccinations: measles, tdap, polio, tb, hep.. I mostly gave
measles to babies. Oh they were so cute.. it was sad because most of them cried. It was
a neat experience though. Since it's the weekend we have lots of free time. Sunday we plan
 on going on a hike with the whole group so the safari is planned for next weekend! I
absolutely love my kids at the nursery school. There are four classes so me and mom split and
I take the youngest and the oldest classes. So ages 2-3 and 6-7. The classes are large and
the kids definitely need individual attention. They are at such different levels its crazy. I got
to teach numbers and counting to the youngest class.. haha I went in and she said you
teach today. It went well.. we counted on the board and practiced sorting bottle caps. I'm
already so attached to them.. it will be sad to leave. Holy cow.. they are crazy at free time
though.. we play lots of games but it ends up getting pretty violent! The kids fight over
holding my hand so it gets pretty intense.. They are fascinated with my hair, watch,
camera.. haha it's hard to take pictures because they get very crazy! We're going to
watch a futbol match today that the cadets are playing against some locals! Let's see
something interesting is that cars don't wait for pedestrians.. haha you have to look out
for cars or they may not stop. There are a few mzungu (foreigner) restaurants in town.
We had pizza last night and it was pretty tasty. The best thing i've eaten here.. that's
hard because it's all been very good. The fruit is 10 times better than the states. I like the
potatoes and the juice is yummy.. but pretty much everything to be honest. I could write
so much more but my time is up! love you all!!!!!!!! thanks for the emails :)
love, erika

Erika's oldest class

June 17

Hi everyone. We're still alive and well. It is just very hard to communicate. I have tried calling several times and can't get a line out. Maybe I will have to try at 3 in the morning again-haha. This computer is very slow and there is always a line to use it. Lunch is going on right now so I will just have their leftovers or can fix a peanutbutter sandwich but i didn't want you to worry.

The nursery school work is really fun. Every morning first thing they sing the cutest songs with actions and the kids love it and just shout at the top of their lungs. We will for sure take some movies. the teachers teach the same thing every day. It is just total repetition-point at the numbers or letters and repeat, then do your work in your notebook etc. no creativity. I get to start teaching next week. I am nervous but excited. But today Erika and I went to a clinic for our placement because Bridge Nursery School was closed. It was going back to the 1920s or something. They don't have modern equipment and of course no computers. The pharmacy is a box of medicine, etc. but the nurses spoke english and were very nice. I listened to a couple of pregnant bellies and held some ones hand while they got a shot and Erika gave 2 babies shots.

Our electricity has been out last night and today so no blow dryer or lights or fan or hot water.... it is incredible how these people live. Most children only have 2 or 3 sets of clothes-a school uniform-if they can afford to go to school , play clothes and Sunday clothes if they're religious. Some of the cadets work at a nursery school at a prison- for the guards children. So when they are dropping off and picking up we drive through the prison grounds and we can see the prisoners (the ones who are almost about to be released) out in the fields working on caring for the grounds in their orange jumpsuits.

We are having a good but challenging and humbling experience. Well i'm going to go see if there is any lunch left for me. Love you all.

Singing in the morning

Erika with some of "her kids"

June 13

Things here are still wonderful! We start our placements tomorrow so i'll write more about that then. Today we just had many many lessons on policies and Kiswahili! It's sorta coming along.. We also
did a challenge where we had to go into the village and buy items at a shop. the shop was basically in someone's house. The kids are adorable! We say mambo and they say poa back. We also give them bones which is said nipetano. Then at lunch we got to meet our placement partners who explained to us what we'll be doing. The main teacher Mary and her husband Marco came to talk to mom and I. They definitely knew what they were talking about. I'm excited to meet my kids! I'm a little nervous because they have corporal punishment so i don't know how we'll handle that. After lunch me and one of my roomates Dana joined the cadets in their workout... brutal. haha itwas good for me and i finished that! Maybe i'll come back ripped.. wanting to join the army! Anyways mom wants to type a few lines so talk to you later! love you and missing you! say hi to everyone :)  -Erika

To make you feel better about our safety the Sargeant bought us a telephone today to use for safe taxis and to make reservations for our safari etc. You might get a random text also but we are sharing it with others so don't expect too much. We are also sharing this computer with 24 others so that is why I'm not being very correct in my typing and this keyboard is very different. Sorry! I guess erika explained everything already but just know we are being well taken care of and we miss you and love you tons. Once I am able to get to an internet cafe hopefully we can spend more time and explain more.

Kwaheri, Erika and Mom

Our home away from home--not too shabby!

Our bedroom we share with 2 other girls-Dana and Jenn

Erika under her mosquito net

The neighbor's store where we bought some raw sugar

TANZANIA!

We're alive! Everything is going great! Yesterday we were picked up at the airport by John our driver.
He drove us to the home base where we met Fulgence Msaki, Mama Fatuma, Lilian, and other staff.
Everyone was so welcoming and kind. We unpacked, rested, and met some previous volunteers who
were already here. The cadets arrived and we ate dinner after. The food is really good, definitely
 different but not that much. We got to meet everyone and just hang out. Everyone is great! This
morning we had breakfast and had a house tour and town tour. I love everything about this place.
The town is a little crazy... because of all the haggling. Ok.. pretty crazy! Other than that it is great
and the cadets are very protective so it's great. The kids are my absolute favorite. Anywhere we go
they smile and wave at us. I can't wait to meet my kids in our placement! No language problem yet..
we've learned the basics for haggling and what not but it hasn't been too much of an issue. I just
cannot describe the feeling here! It is absolutely gorgeous and the people are amazing. I could live
here haha. Erika.. not mom. Last night was interesting... many sounds and creaking. Last night a
coconut feel on the roof.. which sounded like a gunshot! I saw a pretty big spider.. not bad and a
hedgehog. We drank coconut milk for the first time.. it was alright. The juice is soo yummy here..
fresh fruit constantly! So last night we heard dogs howling and fighting and many unknown animal
sounds.. it will take getting used to. The house and rooms are very nice! I don't know what else to
say but that I'm loving it! Love you all and miss you!
Love, mom & erika

Thursday, June 9

We enjoyed our flight to DC because we were able to make friends with the young man who sat by us named John Flanagan. He was on his way home to his sisters wedding. He was a returned missionary who has been going to BYU and Virginia College in Provo. It's cool how you can feel a bond so quickly with another member of the church. Erika is so good with people and talked to him most of the flight and they played cards. John was kind and had lots of great questions. I'm sure he learned many of these skills on his mission. He helped pass the 4 hours quickly.

We arrived in DC around 11:30 PM but couldn't locate our hotel shuttle in time. They only shuttle until midnight.  We saw it pass and tried to run down to it with our 50 pound suitcases but it left too quickly so we ended up hiring a cab. We are now at the Fairfield Inn. I fell asleep pretty fast but awoke very early and my mind wouldn't turn off - this happens quite often lately in anticipation of this adventure.

Our flight takes off today at noon so we can relax for a little before our long flight to the other side of the world. Our next stop is Ethiopia and we found out at the airport that our  plane will also land in Kenya before we get to Tanzania. It will be a very long day.

Duane has always taken such good care of us and been our protector and guide on trips. This is a new experience and it's good for us to learn how to figure things out on our own. We may not be as smooth as he is but I know we will be fine and will get to where we need to be. I thought I would have to take complete charge but Erika is helping and showing her maturity and ability also. I am so grateful for this opportunity to have this experience together.

-Mom

AFRICAN MUSIC

I think you will enjoy this popular African song which is sung in Swahili-the official language in Kenya and Tanzania. It gets me totally excited for this cultural experience whenever I listen to it. I bet you can't help singing along just like I have to...

The translation is:
Hello, Hello sir.  How are you?  Very fine.  Foreigners, you're welcome.  In our Kenya there is no problem. (Repeated several times)     Kenya is a beautiful country. A wonderful country. A peaceful country. Everybody is welcome. In our country there is no problem.  There is no problem. (till end)

OUR VOLUNTEER PLACEMENT

Yay! Erika and I finally found out where we will be volunteering. We will be working at Bridge Nursery School in Moshi for children ages 3-5. We will help teach them English, basic math, games and songs. We are so excited to finally know where we will be! Now we need to gather some ideas for this age group so we will be prepared to do some fun activities with them.

BRIDGE NURSERY SCHOOL