Whew...just took a big sigh of relief. Our lives have been very full of visitors ( so glad they were here) the porter project...kids school stuff. I feel like I just took the first big relaxed breath in a while. Ahhhh....it's hot sunny, Nell leaves for Safari on Thursday....class field trip ( have you ever?) she has even complained "how many safari's do I have to go on??" Poor thing uh?...Pearl is going to seed farm and sugar plantation. Mama is reading a few books brought to her by the visitors...all is well. One thing I realized through my recent correspondence with the outside world is....it's almost Xmas?! You'd never know here, which is weird in and of itself...no billboards, store decorations, fat WHITE Santa's....just life as usual....chickens, rabbits...and people going about the daily task of surviving. Helps keep it all very real. I have told people recently that I imagine myself in the fetal postion in the toothpaste aisle of Walgreens...Shawna told me she saw decorations in the Amsterdam airpost in Nov??? Hope I can cope...
I am going skiing while home which will help on a lot of fronts...staying outdoors...exercising ( gotta climb that "damn mountain") and being a bit removed from it all. Looking so forward to seeing my family...and all "the cousins" bet they have all grown so much....we've been really really removed. But please bear with us upon reentry....hope it is smooth!!
Love to you all
Peace,
Sarah
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
other 3 made it to crater rim!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just found out the other 3 kids made it to the crater rim....in the eyes of the National Park they too made it!!!
This means all 26 will walk away with a certificate of accomplishment!!!
Can't wait for Sunday when I get to see them all come down and be presented with their certificates!
WOOHOO!
This means all 26 will walk away with a certificate of accomplishment!!!
Can't wait for Sunday when I get to see them all come down and be presented with their certificates!
WOOHOO!
23 of 26 made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just got a call from the peak....23 of 26 kids in the porter training project have made it. Really amazing results and a lot of credit needs to go to their guides....obviously good choices were made and everyone was well looked after. This also speaks to the mental strength of these kids...
Just imagine them up there jumping laughing crying!!!!! So cool.
Just imagine them up there jumping laughing crying!!!!! So cool.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
More than half way!
The porter project kids are more than half way up at this point. I have received texts from both Robby and Setty....all is well no one has even a headache!!!! This is like a miracle crew heading up....the guides said they are super insprired toget the whole crew up....they have never had other Tanzanians as "client" and feel the awesomeness of this expereince. My sense from their texts is that everyone is getting more determined as the days go on....they'll need it in dark on their final push to teh summit. Keep these kids in your thougths tomorrow as they attempt the summit. I am going to do a background interview on each of them when they come down and add it to this blog. 85% are orphans....the rest are "vulnerable" in some way.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
We are indulgent parents
I am having such an eye opening experience this week. Setty (my business partner and dear friend) is guiding the porter training group up the mountain. I have his 3 children...Carrie 8, Counselor 4, and Prince 2. They are such happy self-reliant sweet kids I am really just blown away. Last night before going to sleep, Carrie asked me what time she needed to get up ( keep in mind she is doing this in English which is her second language)...I said 6. At 6 this morning i found her ironing her school uniform and noticed a bottle of polish for her shoes next to her. As I tried to get Nell and Pearl up...she got her sister and brother up and dressed...my girls were whining a bit and resisting and those kids were just going through the necessary motions of getting the day started. How does this happen? I know Setty and Winnie well....they are quiet motivated and calm people...there is no threatening in their parenting syles...
It is amazing. Part of it I think is the culture...kids aren't seen complaining and whining...they don't have the choices of oodles of "stuff"....they don't have more clothes and toys than they need...so they actually take care of what they have. Setty's kids are by no means impoverished...they go to good schools live in a nice house and are very well fed. I so hope this week will open my girls eyes a bit....perhaps give them some sort of grounding for when they go home and are bombarded with manicures and Wii....I think their time here will show them the importance of not indulging our every whim....life's beauty is found in the simple things...each other, love, family...I think knowing this will make them more satisfied content adults.
Just my musings for the day....we are lucky to be here and that we can all be exposed to this and realize what is important. Thanks
Sarah
It is amazing. Part of it I think is the culture...kids aren't seen complaining and whining...they don't have the choices of oodles of "stuff"....they don't have more clothes and toys than they need...so they actually take care of what they have. Setty's kids are by no means impoverished...they go to good schools live in a nice house and are very well fed. I so hope this week will open my girls eyes a bit....perhaps give them some sort of grounding for when they go home and are bombarded with manicures and Wii....I think their time here will show them the importance of not indulging our every whim....life's beauty is found in the simple things...each other, love, family...I think knowing this will make them more satisfied content adults.
Just my musings for the day....we are lucky to be here and that we can all be exposed to this and realize what is important. Thanks
Sarah
Happy Belated thanksgiving
Lots to be thankful for this week in Tanzania. So much has happened since last I blogged. Thanks to Elena for filling in....and thanks for coming and sharing an amazing Thanksgiving at the Masaai camp, collecting water on our heads, sleeping in tents, listening to the chant of Masaai warriors at night. To have you be so open and appreciative of the experience made me again remember how much I love it here, thanks for sharing that with us!
The Ambassador of the US to Tanzania visited Tumaini Center last week....wow....we are now featured on the webpage...and the Porter Project is mentioned!!! Check it out...
The biggest miracle is that we got the kids off yesterday....I cried as the bus pulled away (lots of happy tears here) I just really can't believe they all had warm coats, gloves, boots....and the general excitement from them. Now we will see how it goes. Luckily today the mountain is super clear as they do their longest hike until the summit...I am resting well knowing they have great food and amazing guidance. I have Setty's kids....so that brings my brood to 5. So funny trying to care for kids with my limited Swahili....they are so sweet and the littlest Prince ventured into my bed last night and snuggled up. He's two and just a little sweety...he was perfectly content as long as he had some skin to skin contact...trying to get the 5 of them to 3 different schools each day will be a feat in and of itself. Pretty funny to watch the kids at Carrie's school oogle the Mzungu dropping her off in a car! She is 8 and so incredibly responsible and mature as are all kids here. she showered and got her brother and sister into their pj's last night...then i looked in their room and the beds were made? UH???? I am hoping their example will rub off on my kids....kids are amazingly quiet here too...no whining.
So I just found out from two different people that we got grants for the Porter Project...I will be able to collect some of the gear we need (still boots and sleeping bags!!!!!) and bring them back...plus we have tons of people coming so if anyone is so inclined, check your closets! Shawna collected about half of what we needed for this whole initial group pretty great! So a few of us should be able to hopefully match her efforts! Let me know...I will be back in the States on the 21rst of Dec. and we will be there until the 12th of Jan. I'll post my number but think my US cell should be turned back on for the month.
Love to all of you...more when I am not being mother to all!!!
Peace,
Sarah
The Ambassador of the US to Tanzania visited Tumaini Center last week....wow....we are now featured on the webpage...and the Porter Project is mentioned!!! Check it out...
The biggest miracle is that we got the kids off yesterday....I cried as the bus pulled away (lots of happy tears here) I just really can't believe they all had warm coats, gloves, boots....and the general excitement from them. Now we will see how it goes. Luckily today the mountain is super clear as they do their longest hike until the summit...I am resting well knowing they have great food and amazing guidance. I have Setty's kids....so that brings my brood to 5. So funny trying to care for kids with my limited Swahili....they are so sweet and the littlest Prince ventured into my bed last night and snuggled up. He's two and just a little sweety...he was perfectly content as long as he had some skin to skin contact...trying to get the 5 of them to 3 different schools each day will be a feat in and of itself. Pretty funny to watch the kids at Carrie's school oogle the Mzungu dropping her off in a car! She is 8 and so incredibly responsible and mature as are all kids here. she showered and got her brother and sister into their pj's last night...then i looked in their room and the beds were made? UH???? I am hoping their example will rub off on my kids....kids are amazingly quiet here too...no whining.
So I just found out from two different people that we got grants for the Porter Project...I will be able to collect some of the gear we need (still boots and sleeping bags!!!!!) and bring them back...plus we have tons of people coming so if anyone is so inclined, check your closets! Shawna collected about half of what we needed for this whole initial group pretty great! So a few of us should be able to hopefully match her efforts! Let me know...I will be back in the States on the 21rst of Dec. and we will be there until the 12th of Jan. I'll post my number but think my US cell should be turned back on for the month.
Love to all of you...more when I am not being mother to all!!!
Peace,
Sarah
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Old McDonald Had a Shamba
This is Elena again. Shawna and Elle left on Saturday, and we miss them already! Hopefully they are recovering ok from the jet lag. Jake, Aleks and I are all still hurting from our trip over. I think Jake is pretty much there – he slept through the night until 6a. Aleks isn’t too far behind, with a 4:15a wake-up time today. And then there is me: 2:20a every night since we’ve been here. And I have found it pretty much impossible to get back to sleep – but that is probably due in large part to all the Tanzanian nocturnal noises! It’s funny how I can sleep straight through the sirens, car alarms and drunken street brawls back home….
Crickets – The ones outside aren’t so much of a problem. They actually make nice woodsy background noise – don’t they even make cds of that for city folk? The crickets inside the bedroom, on the other hand, are really hard to take. I finally cracked on the second night around 4:30a and went on a little hunt. The little sucker was hiding until the flooring. I got him.
Wild dogs – There must be a pack of at least 10 dogs in the ‘hood. And it sounds like they hang out right under our window. They barked for at least 2 hours straight in the middle of the night last night, interrupted only by intermittent fighting that sounded so violent that I half-expected to find a carcass or two in the yard or just outside the gate this morning.
Rooster – One of the neighbor’s has a rooster that must be suffering from jet lag too or something, because he starts cock-a-doodle-dooing around 3a – a good 3 hours before sunrise. And Mappy (the gardener) surprised the girls with two new pets today – another chicken and a rooster (bringing the fowl count in the Wood-Prince household up to 6)!!! I told Sarah not to be too surprised if the rooster mysteriously disappears….
Goat – A couple of neighbors have a goat or two. They produce the occasional “maaa”, and are actually quite cute.
Owls – Luckily these guys make most of their noise during the day (weird - aren't they nocturnal??). And the hooting is actually somewhat soothing….
Lizards – These are blissfully silent creatures! They are all over the place. And as Nell has found out on multiple occasions, they do bite. But then again I would too if I were them! In two separate and unrelated incidents, Nell has rendered a lizard tail-less (sorry, Hope). She says that it’s okay, because their tails are supposed to come off so they can escape predators. Hummmm….
[I actually wrote this Sunday or Monday, but because of power outages and the internet being down, we are just now posting it. I can appreciate why it takes so long to get stuff done here!]
Crickets – The ones outside aren’t so much of a problem. They actually make nice woodsy background noise – don’t they even make cds of that for city folk? The crickets inside the bedroom, on the other hand, are really hard to take. I finally cracked on the second night around 4:30a and went on a little hunt. The little sucker was hiding until the flooring. I got him.
Wild dogs – There must be a pack of at least 10 dogs in the ‘hood. And it sounds like they hang out right under our window. They barked for at least 2 hours straight in the middle of the night last night, interrupted only by intermittent fighting that sounded so violent that I half-expected to find a carcass or two in the yard or just outside the gate this morning.
Rooster – One of the neighbor’s has a rooster that must be suffering from jet lag too or something, because he starts cock-a-doodle-dooing around 3a – a good 3 hours before sunrise. And Mappy (the gardener) surprised the girls with two new pets today – another chicken and a rooster (bringing the fowl count in the Wood-Prince household up to 6)!!! I told Sarah not to be too surprised if the rooster mysteriously disappears….
Goat – A couple of neighbors have a goat or two. They produce the occasional “maaa”, and are actually quite cute.
Owls – Luckily these guys make most of their noise during the day (weird - aren't they nocturnal??). And the hooting is actually somewhat soothing….
Lizards – These are blissfully silent creatures! They are all over the place. And as Nell has found out on multiple occasions, they do bite. But then again I would too if I were them! In two separate and unrelated incidents, Nell has rendered a lizard tail-less (sorry, Hope). She says that it’s okay, because their tails are supposed to come off so they can escape predators. Hummmm….
[I actually wrote this Sunday or Monday, but because of power outages and the internet being down, we are just now posting it. I can appreciate why it takes so long to get stuff done here!]
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