We are back! Asante sana all!!

Hi Guys,

We are back in Toronto safe and sound after a crazy two and a half weeks. It was an incredible experience where we made friends, built schools, saw more elephants than one could imagine, and haggled prices on the streets of Moshi.

For those that are interested in this participating in future Rotary Sweat Equities feel free to contact Chris Snyder via: http://www.eccgroup.ca/contact.html or any of us who have been on a trip. We are going back to Tanzania in 2011 and there is also a Malawi trip currently being planned for Sept. 2010.

I think I'm going to leave this blog with picture. The significance was for the past two weeks we were painting, and building desks for these two classrooms. But as one could see there is a foundation that is being set for another two more classrooms. I would like to think that as though our time was brief there we made a small difference in this community. That just as we were inspired by the locals who poured their hearts into the future, that we also inspired them that the future has never been brighter.


Kilema 2010
- Andrew

Safari

Hi Guys,

We came back from the Safari and off we went to work today. We did some painting, brick making, desk making and even set the foundation for the next school!

Hope these Safari pictures will hold you over until the next post.

Kilema 2010
-Andrew

View from our lodge

Bird joining us for dinner

A baobab "Upside down" Tree The first of many elephants

Pictures!!!

Hi Guys,

Pretty tired day today with all the work. So it is a picture post!! Enjoy.

Locals helping us sand

Kilema Hospital

Top of the local mountain

Ariel view of the compound

Some flower.. no idea what it is

Morning hike up the mountain

And the view of Kilimanjaro

Kilema 2010
Andrew Yang

Wed Jan 20th

Today was a multi facet day. Started with painting our 'favourite' class room. The white paint is slowly starting to show white on the ceiling. The town volunteers showed up in force and helped out. We also started building the school desks - no Ikea kits, just raw lumber and hand saws. Unfortunately the saws needed sharpening so was a slow slog, but did manage to cut some 12+ planks which are used for the desk tops. Also Andrew and Caroline were running computer class for the school principals - have to remember that back to basics is real basic. They have created forms for their standard reports they 'just have to fill in'. The challenge is the people have very, very little computer skills. Time will tell how well this helps them in the days ahead after we leave.

The afternoon had more computer classes, starting the painting in the newest (still in construction) class room and Roger and Dave attending the Kilema Rotary club meeting. A very productive day on all fronts. Hard to believe we left the cold and snow of Canada a week ago.

Kilema 2010 - Barry

Hi Guys,

We had a busy day on Sunday. We started off the day at church at the kids service. It was literally a sea of kids and quite a sight to see. The Father even gave us a shout out to us thank us for helping build the school.

After that we headed over to the local Hotel for some much needed R & R. There we caught up. Had some cold drinks and found what was happening in Africa Magic. For those that don't know Africa Magic is an extremely popular soap opera. I think they have found a new viewer in me!

Off to the local DVD shop to find the season package.

View of the Church

Children at their Sunday Best

The refreshing pool

Kilema 2010

Andrew

Day 2

Hi Everybody,


Today we began to put the sweat in sweat equity. We began to paint one of the new schools and it was an incredible experience. We had more help than we had paint!!

The most incredible thing here is you realize that the saying that, "If all you have is a hammer every problem looks like a nail." is true. Well in Tanzania, a machette is used for just about everything! From sanding the concrete off of walls to prime them for painting, to creating rolling sticks.

After lunch we had some free time so it was decided to take a hike where the last king of Kilema was buried. The weather once again was not too hot or cold and had a of cloudy Kilimanjaro & we could even see Kenya. To then top off the night we have a movie night which was NSFN (Not Safe for Nuns) but gut wrenching funny. We are off to bed and Roger would like to annouce that unlike himself, his wife doesn't snore.

Us Hard at Work

Us at the top of the Mountain

Ciao!

Kilema 2010
-Andrew

Hi Guys,

This will be the first of many updates to the blog. We have arrive at Kilema and we are just getting settled in. The view is incredible and the weather is amazing. Not too cold and not too hot just perfect for us.

We have managed to take a tour of Kilema and looks like we may have found our future dinner!

More Updates to come!

Kilema 2010

Andrew Yang

Toronto Don Valley Rotaract