Censorship

Just a quick word on this. My mom "suggested" I not use the "F" word as my 13 year old niece(who is awesome amazing and smart) is reading this blog. So first to address Meredith (my niece) I know you know the "f" word, but are insightful enough to look at my story as what it was intended ....to express that ALL of us no matter our ages have insecurtities when approaching new unfamiliar things. And Meredith will you please remind Gamma about her friend Mrs. Tobin who has a far worse mouth than me and always swore around us as kids...and tell her it made Mrs Tobin more relatable and I have many lessons learned from her?!! Thanks for telling her Meredith...also you may want to remind her that I was a teacher of kids your age for years and "get it"....it's nice to know at 13 that grownups aren't perfect and that we all need to make mistakes to grow....and tell her that if I had deleted the "f" word from my story I probably would have never gotten kicked out of the class in the first place. Thanks Meredith!!! Love you and miss you a lot hope your tennis is going great....
Ok...now that we have that bit of family business out of the way...yesterday I went to Arusha with my business associate Setty, we went for a few reasons which surprisingly we accomplished. Tumaini Center is a vocational center that is funded and supported by GAA...it is really their crowning glory thus far. They serve students 16 to 28 at this time. There are classes in several languages, life skills workshops, Bike mechanics, First Aid and Porter Training. Setty is going to be teaching the Porter training which is new this term. we encouraged Rift Cross to train some of the students/orphans that GAA supports as a way to come full cicle with our mission. This first group will join both Sam and my groups on the mountain this year. I personally think it will be very moving and powerful....as I have mentioned before there is a culture of bribery and abuse on the mountain for porters. they have been taken advantage of for years....Setty has been very outspoken (to the point of losing a few jobs) about porter treatment. I feel very lucky to be part of this change....Rift Cross/GAA is going to try to always use our students. It is exciting...so yesterday we finally locked down a "timetable" for these classes. We are also providing First Aid training for these porters....actually this class will be taught by Phillip who is part of Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance project. I think I also mentioned this group...they are based out of Boulder Colorado! I met with one of their founders yesterday and she is going to interview Rift Cross so we can partner officially with them and be labeled a "responsible travel partner". I have gotten a few emails asking about donating clothing and such to porters...perhaps we can be really clear with this for this year and i could send out sizes of our students. So if you are serious...let me know and i will send you emails.
Another thing we did yesterday was buy bikes...I bought bikes for Nell and Pearl and I...we could easily be riding to school...and it would be fun. Two of the bikes I bought have stickers from the DuPage Bike Shop...kinda ironic to be buying bikes in Africa from the county I grew up in. The bikes that are at Tumaini are shipped through GAA and working Bikes in Chicago...so if you are ever wondering where to donate bikes, that is the place...they are located on western ave. So now i am trying to teach Pearl....I am sure she will have it by the end of the week. There are no smooth surfaces so she'll learn to be a rugged rider right off the bat...she's excited! The person who runs the bike program at tumaini is a woman named Upendo...she is GREAT...she works with all males and runs them so well....it is great to see an African woman so empowered in this position. she also wants to go through the porter training program...I SO hope she comes with us...this would really make Rift cross a unique company and be a real selling point as few companies have ever employed women on the mountain!!
So all is well here....plugging along. Nell and Pearl and I are going to Kenya for a week soon. We are going to a place called Turtle Bay....probably the closest I'll ever come to the Disney experience....but they will LOVE it...they have cooking classes for kids...hmmm...perhaps i'll join!
Love to you all....thanks for the continued readership and comments...
peace,
Sarah