School ends so the traveling begins

The kids just love playing with my hair.

This place is full of staggering contradictions, which are very difficult to describe.  Some days are filled with so much love and gratitude for the children I teach, I think my heart will burst with joy.  Other days are overshadowed by feelings of frustration and loneliness, when I just want to curl up in a ball and go back to America where things make sense.  Sometimes I revel in the simple freedom of this place, never looking at a clock or trying to keep up in the constant rat race, living moment to moment.  Other times it drives me crazy to never have a schedule and to live on ‘African time” where nothing happens when it's supposed to. 

I showed The Lion King on our last day.. they loved it!

The most beautiful pink flower bush by our house.

Every day I am amazed at the incredible beauty of Tanzania, the rolling hills and green mountains in every direction, trees of every species and flowers in every color, bright blue skies and the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen.  And yet, I am saddened that the beauty is set in the background of such poverty, houses made of sticks and mud, streets filled with reeking garbage and waste, starving children in tattered rags.  Then there are moments when I envy the people here, their generosity and hospitality, their willingness to share whatever little they have with others, and their complete faith in God who they trust will never fail them.  I have never met people who are more content and satisfied with their lives, though they are poor in material wealth they are rich in all things spiritual.  But then the next moment I feel deep despair for my neighbors, that they have limited opportunities for education, must walk miles to retrieve water from a hole in the ground, and aren’t able to obtain good and proper health care when sick.  I have thoughts of “Why me?  Why am I so blessed with every convenience and resource I could ever need or want when they can’t even obtain the basic necessities of life?”  When I walk through this village I am overcome with equal amounts of joy and sadness, faith and hopelessness.  This entire trip has and continues to be a roller coaster of extreme emotions, but no matter how uncomfortable or difficult it may be, I am grateful to God for every minute of my life here.

My standard 3 boys playing football (soccer) against the local school.

We scored a goal!!

The biggest obstacle I have had to face so far happened a few weeks ago when many of my students’ parents failed to pay school fees.  Our school costs 450,000 tsh a year, or about $280, which pays for the teachers’ salaries, supplies, and two meals a day.  Because we are non-profit, every cent we make is put back into the school and usually we spend more than we take in.  Now $280 doesn’t sound like much to us, I spend that much on food shopping in a month back home, but it’s an astronomical amount to the majority of villagers here.  Most of them live on less than $2 a day so this is a huge struggle for them.  The government schools are much cheaper but, as I’ve already described, the condition of the government schools here in Tanzania is awful- not enough teachers, not enough supplies, not enough classrooms.. the other school nearby has two teachers for upwards of 500 children. You can imagine how much learning is going on there.  So parents are put in the impossible position of either sending their kids to a good school or continue providing for their families.  But since our school cannot function without school fees, when parents don’t pay we have to send the children home.   This was the most difficult thing I have done here.  To take twenty of my kids out of class and tell them they had to go home, even though it isn’t their fault their parents can’t pay.. the looks on their faces broke my heart. When they started crying, I barely held myself together.  I just felt so angry that I was put in that position.  That the system is so broken here, these beautiful and incredibly smart children have to miss out on their only chance for a decent education when they did nothing wrong.

My groupies :)

Last day of school stickers.

It just doesn't seem fair.  In America, even if you are the poorest of poor, you can still get a good education for free.  In Tanzania, only 1% of children actually finish school and make it to college, there are just too many hurdles that get in the way.  Somehow though, most of our student's parents eventually come up with the money, they borrow or get another job, they are desperate to keep their kids in school.  But a few came to me and said they simply could not afford to pay, or they would not be able to buy food for their families.. so what could I do?  I agreed to help, I just couldn’t keep my students out of school.  Sometimes I just feel so helpless here, like no matter what I do I’ll never be able to do enough. People will still die from preventable diseases and kids will still go without food and education.  I try to stay positive and focus on the fact that we are making a difference for the 100 children at St. Mary’s and THEY will be able to make a bigger difference here than I ever could.  So that is the motivating force that keeps me moving forward!

End of school dance party.

Playing their first game of pinata.. with water balloons.

On a more positive note, we gave our end of the year tests and the students did great! 

 Our average English and Math scores for every class was between an 85-88% which is incredible.  I just have to brag on these kids for a minute, the average scores in every other school I know of is a 30-40% and that is considered passing.  But because we raised the bar so high and made a 70% the passing grade, these kids have worked hard and now have the highest test scores of any other school around here!  We even found out that two of our students who left to go to other schools in bigger towns became number one in their classes. So we are definitely doing something right here!  The last day of school our students sang and danced for the School of Nursing graduation, they were the only ones who performed in English and everyone was super impressed.  They were seriously so cute and confident, they amaze me every day.  I’m going to miss them now that school is over…. But I am also thankful for a six week break!  Teaching is exhausting.

Performing at the SONAB graduation.

Me and Ima, my little Massai warrior.

Another exciting thing that happened this week,  one of my students, Ima, who is a Massai, invited me and four of my other students to a wedding celebration in Ifunde, where the Massai tribe live.  We had to walk really  far through the literal African bush through the rain to get there, but it was worth it.  I am amazed by the Massai tribe, they have kept their cultural customs for hundreds of years now and don’t see any need to conform to society.  They dress in patterned linens that wrap around their bodies, the women wear the most beautiful extravagant jewelry from their stretched earlobes, and the men carry walking sticks with machetes hung on their waists. 

They hardly use any technology, with the exception of the occasional cell phone, and their houses are made of mud and manure.  They live far away from everyone else, with lots of land to herd their cows and raise their many children.  There are no shops, no electricity, no machines, and no direct access to water. I got to go inside Ima’s house and as I looked around, I couldn’t fathom living that way, and choosing to do so. But I guess I am just a spoiled American brat.  We had a great time though, listened to some local music and saw some dancing (the Massai men like to jump high with their sticks), played with a few babies.  It was one of those very surreal moments when I was like “Am I dreaming I am in National Geographic right now?”.  I just tried to soak it all in, because I know these experiences only happen once in a lifetime.

Ima and his family in Ifunde.

Well in a couple days, me and Scott are leaving for our around the world vacation!  About time too, we are both getting pretty burnt out- the heat and mosquitoes are unbearable and we are constantly running out of water and electricity.  We leave for Paris on Wednesday and will spend four days there (so look for my selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower), then we will head to London for two weeks (for a British Christmas to rival that of Harry Potter’s), and then a week in Bangkok (to celebrate an exciting New Years Eve that will hopefully not end up like the Hangover..).  Although I love Berega, a few weeks of normal food and Western comforts could be just what I need to rejuvenate my spirit so I can return to Africa in January refreshed and ready to work. 

That’s all for now, please consider donating to my page or the Hands4Afridca website to help us build a new school!!  And prayers are appreciated for safe travels.. Happy Holidays!

All of St. Mary's school!