Everything continues to go well. This has been my first official week at Amani. It turns out that the nurse at Amani will be taking a class over the next 6 weeks, so I’ll be helping out in the health clinic until school starts back (and then I'll probably still help once I start teaching). Hopefully I’ll be able to remember some of my old lifeguarding first aid techniques!

I also moved to another place that is closer to Amani. It is pretty much the same as where I lived before, but there is free wireless internet here. Can you believe it? It's actually not working right now, but once it gets fixed I should be a lot better about keeping in touch. Oh, and there's a pretty good view too...


Since my blog is called “Riding the Daladala,” I thought it might be nice for me to explain to everyone exactly what daladalas are. You really need to ride one for the full experience but I will try my best…

Daladalas are these little vans that provide local transportation in Tanzania. I’ll be using them to get back and forth from work each day. As far as I know, the daladalas are privately owned, so there is no official schedule that they follow. Luckily, they are all over the place, so if you go to a place where the daladalas stop (or if you are just walking along the road), it is usually no trouble to catch one. They are generally run by one driver and two conductors, and they cost very little to ride (my ride costs about 15 cents). Each daladala travels to and from different areas around town. Sometimes the name of the destination is written on the front of the daladala, but you can also tell where the daladala is going because one of the conductors is hanging out the side yelling the name of the destination (I find one that has a conductor yelling “Milisita Bomasanya”). So now that you have some daladala background information, here are some of my favorite parts…

#1 Many daladalas have names written on the front of them. They are named things like "Praise God," "Grace of God," and "Thank You Jesus." As you can see, there's a bit of a theme, although there are some random ones thrown in there too, like "Mr. 32."

#2 It is very important to see inside the daladala before you decide to ride it. Even though the conductor may be trying to convince you that it is just about to leave, you must remember that it won’t actually leave until it is full. Even if the driver is honking the horn and revving his engine and even if they turn like they are about to get back on the road, chances are they will stop again to wait for more people.

#3 “Full” is a very relative term. In America, we might conclude that a daladala would be “full” when all of the seats are filled. We would be very wrong. The daldadala conductors are not satisfied until all of the available space inside the vehicle is filled, including every bit of standing room. By the time we leave, there are usually 20-25 people in the daladala, and you are usually touching about 5 of them and holding someone’s baby or bag of dead fish. Often there is no room left for the conductors and they just hang out the side.

#4 The inside of the daladalas are usually quite plain, but if you are lucky, you might get a daladala that has its own picture hanging inside. Just in case you want to admire what you are riding in, I guess.

#5 Along the way, people just yell out to the conductor where to stop. For example, when I’m getting close to my destination, I say “Shusha Margareza” which means “Stop at Magareza.” (Actually it means “Stop at the Prison.” My stop is close to the prison, so that’s what is called. Yikes.)

So that’s the daladala. I really love them, bag of dead fish and all. I think they are an ingenious method of transportation and a generally good way to get around. In fact, sometimes I joke with the children that when I grow up, I want to be a daladala conductor. I wonder if I would have much business in Tennessee…

Love to all!

I made it! On Monday/Tuesday, I flew from Detroit to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. Everything went smoothly, although to use the words of the airport workers at Kilimanjaro, my luggage was “abandoned” in Amsterdam. Kind of a mean thing to do to luggage if you ask me, but luckily they brought it here this morning. ☺

Kathleen, who coordinates volunteers at Amani, and the Amani driver, Leonard, picked me up at the aiport and drove me to the place I’ll be staying. It’s a hotel that you can pay for by the month (kind of like Extended Stay Tanzania I guess). I share a little cottage with a girl from Canada. We each have our own room and bathroom, and we share a common area/kitchen. Here are some pictures:





As you can see, it’s simple, but it’s plenty.

Yesterday morning I went into town. I went grocery shopping at the market and spent about $15 for groceries that will last me probably about 2 weeks. I’ll be making my own breakfast and dinner, and I’ll eat lunch at Amani on weekdays. I also visited the pharmacy to stock up on some medication in case I get sick. You don’t need a prescription for medicine here, just the money to pay for it, so I was able to get an antibiotic and medicine in case I get malaria.

After shopping, I headed to Amani to see the kids and staff. The kids are on holiday from school now, and many of them are away visiting extended family and friends (which Amani facilitates to help them keep ties with people in their home villages). Because of this, there are only about 40 children living at Amani right now, and many of them are newcomers. I did see some familiar faces, though, and it was great to meet the new kids too. It always amazes me to see the transformation of kids once they arrive at Amani. From day to day, month to month, and year to year, their growth on so many levels is easy to see. It is always especially amazing to see kids who were new a few years ago helping and welcoming kids who are new now.

From the moment I stepped off the plane a few days ago until now, I have been reminded so much of what a special place this is. The land, the people, and the language are truly beautiful, and I am blessed to be surrounded by it all. Love to everyone!

Hellooooo blogging world! I never thought I would have a blog (and my UT instructional technology professor probably never did either after my first attempt in class), but here I am. As many of you probably know, on June 21st I’ll be leaving to spend a year in Moshi, Tanzania. I’ll be volunteering as an English/Computer teacher at the Amani Children’s Home (www.amanikids.org), the same place I worked during shorter summer trips in college. During some of my visits to Tanzania in the past, I tried to keep people updated through email, but I always felt weird about filling up people’s inboxes. So this seems like a better option. Hopefully I’ll be able to update this with pictures and stories to keep you posted on my life there. And feel free to ask any questions!

Sometimes I wonder what I’m doing (yes, Mom and Dad, I have actually thought about this). I have left a job at an amazing school where I get to work with incredible people doing something I am really passionate about. I’ve moved out of my apartment where I live with my best friends, and I’m going to be saying goodbye to my family.

But even as I’m thinking how, in many ways, this doesn’t make sense, deep down I know. This is the right next step for me. Being in Tanzania in the past, even for just a couple of months at a time, has influenced me more than I ever would have imagined. A big part of that came from my experiences at Amani, and I'm excited I'll get to be back there again.

The Amani Children’s Home (where I’ll be working) is a home for children who, for a variety of reasons, such as poverty, disease, and abuse, have left home to live on the streets. As one can imagine, life on the streets is very difficult and full of danger, especially for children. Amani rescues these children from the streets and provides them with food, shelter, education, medical care, and a loving environment in addition to arranging a way for them to live in a family environment when possible. It is truly an amazing place full of even more amazing children and staff who have impacted my life in so many ways. They are beautiful, inside and out, and they are such a big part of why I want to go back.

From 2005 to 2008, I had the privilege of spending my summers at Amani, watching both children and the home itself grow.

From this:


to this:


From this:


to this:


And from this:


to this:


Isn't it amazing?

The first year I visited Tanzania I went with my cousin Angela, and on our last day at Amani we had a little party. Towards the end, we were asked to say a few words to the children (which I’m sure was pretty funny as we tried to express our love using the Swahili words we knew at the time, which mostly consisted of the names of animals). After our "speeches", one of the children raised his hand and asked a question I could understand, even in Swahili. And it’s the question they have asked on my last day of each visit since then.

"When will you be returning?"

Not if I was returning. When. It is as if they knew I'd be back. And, in my heart, I probably knew too. Although I'll miss everyone, I am so very thankful to have this opportunity. I'll let you know when I arrive!