It's been a crazy month. We had our ward festival and ward sports league final in our village. Both went off with out a hitch. My mom was able to get Chicago lighthouse for the Blind to send two Parkins Braillers to Ilembula primary. Read the story on the Chicago light house site here. The school was ecstatic when I told them two braillers are on the way. They go for about $1000 here in Tanzania. I left village August 17th. It was sad to say goodbye to the CAG members but I know they have the skills and motivation to keep the program going. After I left village I went on a short safari to Ruaha national park. I'm so glad I made time for it because it was one of the best experiences I've had in Tanzania. I stayed at Hilltop lodge and I highly recommend it. I saw all kinds of animals and the guide I had was very knowledgeable about the wildlife. I even got to see 6 lions eat a dead zebra. Check out the link to the safari pictures below. After safari I had to go back to Iringa for a debrief with SPW staff. It was just as unbearable as the training in February. SPW Tanzania has some serious managerial issues. I was happy to leave and never have to deal with them again. Then I went to Arusha for a few days and volunteered at an orphanage called Peace Matunda. It was great to see Arusha and the orphanage is absolutely wonderful. It was started by a young couple who live in the village. It is now managed by international volunteers who found the orphanage through an organization like SPW. The volunteers are great and the kids are leaps and bounds above the other village children when it comes to English. They have an excellent program going there and it was so nice to be in a hopeful environment when so much of what I've seen here has been negative. A reporter at The Daily Herald has been reading my blog (thanks Mike Kessler!). She contacted me to do an interview about my experience here. It was really difficult to answer some of the questions. Nothing about this experience has been simple so it was hard to be concise and get my point across. You can read the article here. I start my journey home tomorrow. To be honest I'm very happy to leave. This has been an amazing experience and I've learned so much but I'm ready to come home. Thank you to everyone who read the blog and sent messages. See you soon!
Love, Amanda
Safari pics album one
Safari pics album two
Safari pics album three
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About Me
- Amanda
- I'm voluteering for 8 months in Iringa, Tanzania with an organization called Student Partnership Worldwide. I'll teach health classes and HIV/AIDS prevention to children and adolecents. This blog was created to help share my experience in Tanzania with friends and family.
1 comment:
Amanda, I can't wait to see you! I hope that you can transition well back into life here, but I know it will be hard. Hopefully you've decided to be in Chicago still, and I hope I can help with that transition. Call when you're back!
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