Drought

A bit more on the drought.. The worst areas of the drought are in Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Dujibouti (says BBC World News). Here in Tanzania, the power is being rationed significantly because most of the power comes from a large dam. Basically, we have power every other day and I wouldn't be surprised if we soon only have power in the late evening hours each day. This isn't too much of a problem for many people since so much of the population lives without electricity. But the power ration is still significant and I heard from a local Tanzanian that they haven't had to ration the power like this since 1994. I also have noticed a decrease in the quantity and quality of the vegetables that we usually buy in the village. I know, too, that so many livestock are dying. My Maasai friend told me a month ago (and its gotten worse since than) that his mom who lives in northern TZ lost 12 of 15 livestock. The Maasai rely heavily on their livestock. I sure do hope it rains soon! On a happier note, I had some drinks and dinner last night with people from about 10 different countries. It was great!

This is a view from my favorite hotel in Moshi Town. I took this picture this morning. Notice the snow on Mt. Kilimanjaro.. more snow than I've ever seen on its peak. I saw some dark clouds over it yesterday afternoon, so more precipitation than normal which is good. The tall building on the right is a somewhat expensive hotel and the other buildings are random stores and housing structures.  

drought = no electricity = cold can of baked beans. The kitchen table at the house we live in at the college. Actually, the baked beans tasted quite good and its not so bad with our kerosene lamp and candle. So no worries.. hamna shida. 

a few weeks ago i had an amazing week with Jane Goodall.. chats over coffee, attending her talks and being introduced with her on stage, kissing her famous Mr. H.. overall Jane is an excellent speaker and story teller as well as an incredibly generous and guniunely honest person. so a picture of jane and i! 

two exciting fieldtrips

putting up pictures this morning was fun. i hope you enjoy them! i'm heading back up to the the village sometime later today. this involves waiting until the bus is full for 10-40 mins, a 15 min. bus, then a 30 min. walk. i don't have much planned for this week, but last week the other volunteer and i did some awesome projects. on mon. we took 45 primary students (ages 13-15) to a nearby wildlife college, which i've been told is the best wildlife college in the country. they loved it! they learned a lot about wildlife and wandered through a museum type room with stuffed heads on the wall. they also saw computers and internet, many possibly for the first time. then on thurs. we took 57 students (ages 14-20) to a local hospital for an HIV/AIDS discussion with 31 patients. this trip also went incredibly well. we split everyone up into five groups so that about 10-12 students chatted with 3-4 patients. they all seemed to discuss the disease openly and comfortably. also, my Roots & Shoots coordinator (a local Tanzanian) and the patients are interested in making this an ongoing project. both fieldtrips were a success!

me in the kitchen of my little guest house at Folk Development College. we cook with a hot plate. there's no running water, but it doesn't much matter anyways, as the sink (behind me) has several holes in it.  

Moshi Town

Hey guys! This is the first time I've used this so I hope you enjoy it. I'm in Moshi town right now, taking a break from life in the village and enjoying the simple luxuries in life.. clean water, good food, shower, internet, and possibly even a tv with movies. We seem to come to town atleast 2-3 nights per week. And I admit, I always look forward to coming here, because its true, that life is just so much easier in town. Though I am really starting to appreciate the way of life in the village as well.