6 - Graduation Day!

Saturday, October 7, 2017

     It was an early start today because we thought we'd have a lot of decorating and setting up to do.  We were going to leave at 6:30 am to go to the school.  Russ and Mary1 thought it was 7:00 so we didn't leave until about then.  (Africa time again!)  It would be our last daylight trip on the bumpy roads because we'll get back late tonight. I took a lot of pictures and videos of the views on the way-the red clay dirt, the mud brick houses, the stick fences.  I wanted to be able to remember everything.  The cattle path alongside the road (like our bike paths), the basket ladies carrying anything and everything, the men digging a ditch for fiber optic cable, the different kinds of trees, will forever be etched in my mind's eye.

Cattle path and the red clay dirt

Fences of sticks made from dried sunflower stalks

      When we got to the school, the tents and speaker system had all been set up overnight.  They were putting the final touches on the decorating.  They did use the balloons and streamers we brought but their color scheme was the national colors: green, yellow, and blue.  We had red and white decorations.  Oh well, we meant well.  They had girls as greeters who would carry bags for people at the entrance to the school.  They had parking areas set up with parking attendants.  They were all prepared. Music was blaring so loud we couldn't stay near it for long.  We got all of our bags of gifts out of the office and put them in the Rover to bring them closer to the action.  We put up the picture boards Deb2 had spent hours making in the science lab.  We didn't know where to put the cake Russ and Mary1 had bought so we put it in the science lab, too.  Later we were told to remove it because there was not supposed to be any food or drink in the lab - too many dangerous chemicals.  I don't know where the cake went then.

The DJ and the chairs we sat in.

The graduation cake

     The Form 4 girls (the graduates) were getting dressed in their traditional Maasai gowns and jewelry.  They had traditional beaded headdresses to wear with them but they chose to put on the white graduation caps we had brought for them and they looked so gorgeous.  The white against their black hair and skin was striking.  We wandered around for awhile with nothing to do but greet people.   Mary, a Maasai woman from Kwala, where the primary school was, had some jewelry she was selling.  Most of us bought something from her.  I bought a bracelet.  We sat on the steps of the science lab because it was shady.  All the chairs were down in the loud ceremony location and we didn't want to sit with music blaring in our ears.  

     We found out the dignitaries coming would be the Regional Commissioner, Amina Masenza and the District Commissioner, Asia, who we had met the night before.  The Regional Commissioner could be compared to a cabinet position in our country.  She reports directly to the president.  The ceremony was supposed to start around 10:00 but the RC and DC were to be called when everything was ready and then they would come from Iringa, an hour and a half away.  Finally about 11:30 they came in a procession of about 10 white vehicles.  The girls were all lined up along the path leading to the science lab.  Out of the vehicles came all kinds of military people, security guards and police with huge guns, helmets and face masks.  One was positioned by the bathroom the RC would use.  The rest around the perimeter.

The graduates lined up along the road

     They all went into the science lab.  We had finally sat down in the ceremony area trying to stay out of the limelight.  We were ordered to join them in the lab.  Two of the girls were demonstrating a science experiment.  When they were done, one of he ladies asked what practical use could this be in real life.  The girl gave an appropriate answer and got a high five congratulations.  We were standing shoulder to shoulder with all these military people (and their body odor) so we felt quite honored (and a little intimidated).  Then we moved on to tour the dormitories.  We stayed outside because we'd seen them before.  When the RC came out, she shook each of our hands and welcomed us.

Science experiment demonstration

      Then it was on to the graduation ceremony itself.  It was about noon then.  We were supposed to sit in the chairs right behind the dignitaries but all their entourage filled the chairs there, so we took the front row on the left.  We had the small wooden chairs they use in the classrooms.  They sank in the sand as we sat on them, so we had to keep readjusting and moving them. Everyone was introduced, including us.  We each had to give a short speech.  Mary read the poem she gave each girl in their gift bags.  Then the girls did some dancing as entertainment.  The grads did a sort of "dollar dance" where people came up and danced by them and gave them money.  They tucked it into the beautiful belts and kept right on dancing.  Then the speeches began. We had someone interpreting for us. The head mistress spoke, I think just welcoming everyone.  Asia, the DC, gave a very supportive speech.   Deb1 gave a very long, very personal and very moving speech about her history and the history of the school, pleading for more help from everyone for the Massai girls.  Then the RC spoke.  She promised support and wanted the school to do even more such as adding Form 5 and 6, building better dorms so the girls didn't have to go outside to the bathroom (a danger to them of kidnapping).  The actual handing out of certificates and awards was very quick.  Each girl curtsied with each handshake. Four hours later (and very tired butts) it was over.

Asia, the District Commissioner

Amina, the Regional Commissioner

Deb Pangerl, the founder of Namnyaki School

The graduates dancing

     The RC led the way out and motioned for us to follow right after her.  We went to one of the classrooms and a meal of rice, beef, chicken, peas, cabbage, some green stuff was served by a catering company with big huge pots.  We sat at the same table as the RC and DC and also a representative of US Aid.  They are all very kind and personable.  I couldn't eat the beef and used Deb's trick of hiding it in my napkin.  They served the cake Russ and Mary bought for dessert afterwards in small bites with toothpicks.  They had ordered a chocolate cake, but it wasn't very chocolate.  It was kind of dry and gingery tasting, but the frosting was good.  Russ and Mary had spent a lot for it were very disappointed.

DC, RC, and Edward at lunch

      Then we went outside.  Many of the girls were having little mini parties with their families,  They had brought little cakes with them.Those were cut into little pieces and fed to people who were important to them.  I got a couple of pieces from some of the girls.  The people who were sponsors of specific girls got gifts from the families.

Eating graduation cake

     Then we somehow got the teachers gathered to give them their quilts.  Not all of them were there and Edward said to give the rest to the security guards.  Later on, one of the teachers asked for one and Deb2 decided to give her one for one of the girls who probably wouldn't graduate.  The security guards also got cologne from Marlene and loved it.

Maasai guards getting their cologne

     We got most of the girls together next to get their quilts and gift bags.  Each one had their picture taken and then a group photo with the mountain in the background.

Girls, quilts, and gifts

      Meanwhile all the tents had been taken down.  The speakers and DJ moved into the Form 1 classroom (so nicely cleaned).  The loud music began again.  We didn't want to have our ears blasted again and we were too tired to dance, so we decided to say our goodbyes and go back to our hotel. We had our last supper at Sai Villa and they only charged us for our drinks!  Deb1 and Edward joined us later.  Edward is such a fascinating person.  The story of how he came to be involved with the school is almost divine intervention.  Deb1 had been ready to give up a couple of years ago.  Edward was at the UN serving on a committee to bring indigent tribes into the mainstream.  He was invited to come see the school.  He had heard some things about mismanagement beforehand.  He saw what was going on and decided he could not do nothing because then he was supporting the very thing his committee was battling.  He came to work for the school and saved it! 

5 - Not so fun day

Friday, October 6

     Today we had mentally planned to help set up and decorate for the graduation at the school.  That is not what we did at all.  We had breakfast and got going by 8:30.  We stopped at the market again to buy some waste baskets for the school, hoping that they could learn to put their trash in the baskets instead of just chucking things out the window.  And we did buy baskets...from a tiny store that had about a million baskets stacked, piled, hanging everywhere.  We bought a few as souvenirs and gifts, too.  Michael, our driver, helped translate and negotiate prices.  We got a few other things and then headed off to the school.  We are getting to know the road and landmarks pretty well.  We always start (or end) our trip going down (or up) a great big hill in Iringa.  Lots of speed bumps whether you're going up or down on that hill.  One unusual thing we saw this morning was a coffin being carried by a motorcycle.  (Probably bought at one of the coffin stores we passed each day.)

Coffin store in Iringa

     When we got to the school, we were dismayed to see the classrooms were all a mess again.  They had held class and just moved everything around any way they wanted. As is turned out, all the desks were going to be moved off to the sides for graduation day anyway, but we didn't know that.  We had wanted everything to look like neat,clean classrooms.  Our American values just weren't the same as the African ones. We had put hand sanitizer and air fresheners in the bathrooms and those were missing.  They were eventually found, someone had put them away so they wouldn't get stolen.  We put them away again until tomorrow, graduation day.  We started straightening up things again when Erik, the second master, told us to stop.  He rang the bell to summon all the girls.  Deb1 first lectured the girls & then Edward scolded them.  They were sent to clean up their classrooms.  I'm proud to say that my Form 1 girls had already done their classroom before the lectures.

Girls being lectured by the administration

     Deb1, Edward, and Erik then had a long meeting with all of the teachers. We learned later that they were disappointed in the state of the school in general and thought the teachers should have more vested interest in how the school was cared for.  Each teacher supposedly had an area that they were in charge of and those things had not been taken care of for a long time.  The teachers were all sent to write up an individual "plan of action".  The rest of the afternoon they had to individually present their plan to the administration.  The rest of us felt like they probably resented us Americans coming in and stirring things up for them.
     While all that was going on, we were going through all the quilts that we had brought with.  There was one for each graduating girl and each teacher.  They had been vacuum packed to get them to fit in the cargo bags, so we unpacked them and fluffed them up a bit.  We separated them into piles for students and some for staff.  Then we re-rolled them and tied them with ribbon ready to give tomorrow.  We added some cards to the girls' gift bags.  Mary1 and Russ had been spending their time taking individual photos of each girl with their name written on a whiteboard to identify them.  That took most of the day for them.  Marlene went and helped them finish up and they discovered it went much faster with three people - one to write the name, one to tell them where to stand, and one to take the picture.

Getting quilts ready

     When they were done with pictures they were supposed to go into one of the classrooms and write thank you letters to their sponsors.  Mary1 came and got us to help them with the letters.  Form 2 girls were working on theirs when we started helping.  I started going around helping individual girls.  Deb2 came in and immediately went into "teacher mode".  She started writing examples on the board.  She had the help of Tula, a student, to translate.  We learned later that Tula's mother had been an English teacher and had died a few months ago. She did an excellent job helping to translate.  Form 2 girls got their letters done and went to lunch.  Form 3 girls were supposed to come and do theirs after lunch.  Only 3 of them came.  Erik had to summon them with the bell again.  They were just being silly and trying to copy other's letters.  They got chewed out by Deb2 and Erik.  Then they settled down and got them written, but they weren't near as good as Form 2's.

Helping girls write thank you letters

     After that we really didn't know what to do.  The tent and chairs weren't there yet so we couldn't do any setup or decoration of the graduation tent.  We were told not to pick up any trash on the grounds - that the girls would do that.  We were asked to go and inspect the dorms (by the girls) so we did.  I didn't think they were as clean as the first day we were there.  We didn't know what else to do and we were getting a little hungry, so we went and sat in our Rovers and ate some of our snacks for lunch.  Then Erik came and told us our meal was ready.  We were served spaghetti noodles and a vegetable sauce.  We noticed the drivers and staff had just rice and beans.  That is also probably what the girls would have.  The cooks prepared all their food in an outdoor "kitchen" over charcoal or wood fires. The girls had one dish each that they washed out when they were done and kept in the dorms.  They ate with their fingers, no silverware.  Staff used one spoon, maybe.
     After that we just sat around waiting for Deb1 to be done with her meetings.  The sun was going down and we were taking pictures of some of the neighbor kids when Deb1 told us all to go home in one of the vehicles and she and Edward would leave later.  Just then a bus pulled up and on top of it was the tent and many heavy metal pieces. The bus also brought some of the families of the graduates who had come from far off villages.  If they hadn't come today, they wouldn't have gotten here in time for the graduation.  We watched some happy reunions.  The girls carried all the tent parts to "Deb Hall" and then we left.

Bus with the tents and families for graduation

      It was a dark ride home.  We all tried to sleep but not much luck.  Too bumpy.  Back at the hotel it was very crowded and security guards were on duty because we had dignitaries there.  We weren't exactly sure who, but we thought they might be there for the graduation.  We had hoped that the Vice President might come.  She is a woman and would have been a good role model for the girls.  We wouldn't know until tomorrow exactly who was coming.  Secrecy and security were the word.
    We were hungry for supper and the only table left was outside on the patio.  It was pretty chilly by then, but we ordered.  Soon everyone in the dining room left so we could move inside. The waiters had so much trouble remembering who ordered what, that they started marking their slips with our room name.  Deb2 and I were in the hippo room so we were Hippo 1 and Hippo 2.  Mary and Marlene were in the cheetah (or "chewy" as they called it) room.  They were Chewy 1 and and 2.  We called ourselves that whenever we ordered at that hotel from then on.
      Deb1 and Edward finally got back and said we had  missed all the fun.  Big lights had been brought in and they had set up the tents.  Speakers and music were setup.  The girls were dancing and all dyed their hair shiny black.  Mothers and friends had brought fancy clothes for them to wear tomorrow.  Then the District Commissioner, Asia (pronounced A-see-yah) Juma Abdallah joined us at our table.  We were told she was a Muslim and Muslim's don't drink so we were hiding all our wine and beer bottles.  Then she ordered some wine for herself, so we felt a little more at ease.  She told us how important our support for the school was and how important the school is for the girls.  She is 100% in support of the school.  She was a very friendly and personable lady.  A nice ending to a long day.

Sunset at the school

4- Cleaning day at the school

Thursday, October 5, 2017

     We didn't have to get up so early, but Deb and I woke up before we needed to. We had a leisurely breakfast - included with our room.  Omelets, fruit, yogurt and tea for me.  Then we packed into the Rovers again (2 full sized ones now).  We went to a "mall" area in Iringa to buy some cleaning supplies.  Bought mops, brooms, squeegees, floor cleaner, window cleaner, scrapers and rags.  Then back to the hotel to pick up Russ and Mary who had gone to get water and a graduation cake.  Then off to the school  We had to stop at one point and fix something under the hood. It didn't take too long. Michael, our driver, had been a mechanic with the company before becoming a driver.  With all our shopping and stopping we didn't get to the school until 1:45.  (We were hoping to get there by 1.  Africa time again.)  We had also picked up Steve and the 2 cargo bags of quilts much to Deb2's relief.

All set for cleaning day!

     We were each given a group of girls and a location to clean.  I was in charge of the Form 1 classroom.  (The school is divided into classes Form 1 through Form 4, sort of like our freshmen through seniors.)  Lucky me, this classroom didn't have any window panes in its windows to clean.  The Form 1 girls don't know much English yet, but I managed to communicate that we should move everything to one side of the room, so we could sweep and wash one side at a time.  They were sweeping with their little bundle of sticks and I showed them how to use the broom and the mop. One used the mop (and eventually it broke) and another used old sweaters to wash the floor.  Then we did the other side and then put all the desks and chairs back neatly.  We washed the chalkboard off, too.  I test washed part of the wall, but it didn't seem to do much good, so we didn't bother.  I noticed while we were cleaning, that if there was some trash or a broken piece of chair, the girls would just toss it out the back windows.  We were done before all the other classrooms, so went outside and starting picking up trash.  Then I went and helped move desks back in the other classrooms.  Finished that and went to the science lab, that was pretty much done except for scraping paint off windows.  The teachers and security guards were helping with that because they were tall enough to reach.  We went outside and picked up more trash.  There was lots of it.

Washing the floor of the Form 1 classroom.

Clean and neat classroom!

     In the middle of all that, Eric got a phone call the the District Commissioner and the Regional Commissioner were coming for a quick visit.  The girls all ran and got dressed in their full uniforms with red sweaters, shoes and socks.  We all lined up along the road to welcome the visitors.  We Americans interspersed between the girls so we wouldn't be so obvious. (We had no good clothes to change into either.)  While we were waiting, we practiced a couple of easy songs that we could sing along with. To kill time, we started taking pictures and selfies and then the girls wanted to see all the pictures.  They wanted to take the selfies themselves.  Lots of fingers and hands and selfies taken.  But more wonderful bonding with the girls.  Meanwhile the dignitaries never came.

Taking selfies

     Back to work and we had all the girls pick up trash.  They got quite a bit, but there was still so much more.  They were really starting to take pride in their school (we thought).  We had to leave early today and left at 4:30.  Someone said it was because the drivers didn't want to drive in the dark and some said it was because Deb1 had to get or make an important phone call.  Whatever the reason, we drove the 1 1/2 hours back to the hotel in the daylight this time.  We had Michael as a driver this time and he was much better than Danny had been.  We had supper back at the hotel.  We started sharing our highs and lows for the day.  We'd go around the table and share what each of us felt our high point and low point of the day was.  After supper, we met in our room because it was the biggest and helped Mary roll up her graduation gift poem and got them put in the girls' gift bags.  We also got all the special sponsor gifts put in the correct bags.  We had each packed a box of wine in our suitcase so we had a little minibar with all our boxes of wine and a grand old time!

Gift bags

Minibar

3 - Flight to Iringa and first visit to school

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

     We woke up at 3:30 this morning to catch a 7:00 am flight Iringa.  Deb1 had ordered us breakfasts to go last night from the hotel.  We got all packed up and loaded into two taxis.  Lots of traffic this morning-people going to work.  Lots of buses.  We stopped at the bus station to drop off Steve and the 2 cargo bags of quilts.  He will take the bus with them and meet us in Iringa.
     Our airplane was very small!  12 people and we were full.  It was a 1 1/2 hour flight.  The landscape was interesting, changing from urban sprawl to lush green to red clay to very dry and then mountains.  The Iringa airport was very small.  We were greeted by Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs.  He was at the airport to fly to Dar.  He heard about our group coming to the school and heard about the school.  He praised us for all we'd done and said keep doing it.  Our work with the school was needed and very much appreciated.

Our small plane for the flight to Iringa

     Our taxis were not there yet.  Edward called them and found out they thought we were coming tomorrow.  We waited about an hour.  The first one was very small and we wondered how all our luggage would fit.  He tied the cargo bags on top.  Then the second rover came and it was much larger.  They put all the rest of the luggage in the back seat of that one.  We all fit in both vehicles surprisingly.  We drove to our hotel, Sai Villa.  We noticed the beautiful purple trees in this area and were told there were jacaranda trees.  We checked into our rooms.  Deb and I have a big room but it's not by the other rooms so we thought we might switch.  There were no other rooms available that day.  We met a couple of the teachers who rode with us back to the school.  One of them presented a list of science equipment they needed for the girls to take their national exams.  Deb1 saw the total needed and immediately said we didn't have that kind of money and we would need to look at the list more carefully.

Purple jacaranda tree

     After quickly freshening up, we drove to the Namnyaki Secondary School for Girls.  It was an hour and a half drive.  The first half was an interesting drive through the town and the countryside.  There were many speed bumps along the way, their method of dealing with speeders rather than having police everywhere.  The last half of the drive was on very bumpy roads.  We thought we were going to tip over a couple of times. We went higher and higher into the mountains and finally we were there. The school is in a beautiful setting underneath the gorgeous Mt. Selebus.  Deb1 told us that when she first saw this location, it was like the hand of God was reaching down from the mountain.  She just had to build a school here. The Maasai girls were lined up on both sides of the road.  They sang and clapped as we walked up the road.  It moved me to tears to be so honored.    We met the head mistress, Rose, and had a short talk in her office.  Then we went on a tour of the classroom buildings and the science lab.  It's amazing how they can do so much with so little.

Lined up on the road to welcome us.

Mt. Selebus overlooks the school grounds.

Classroom buildings

In the science lab.

      We were then invited to "Deb Hall", a little outdoor area for large groups.  They had tables set up at the front for us to sit at.  They introduced all the staff to us.  Then we each had to introduce ourselves and say a few things while Edward translated.  The girls had many songs and dances they performed for us.  The girls had written many of the songs themselves. They have no music teacher or formal music education but were amazing in their harmonies and choreography.  After the program, the bursar, Samaka, had made a meal for us - rice, cabbage, potatoes and a meat stew.  I didn't eat the meat but put the broth on my potatoes. 

Performance of song and dance by the girls

    The highlight of our day came after the meal when we went to see the dormitories. They had them all neat and cleaned up for us.  Each girl had a locked trunk for any valuables and one suitcase for their things.  A sheet, a pillow, and one blanket made up their bedding.   When we came outside, Deb1 asked if we could do the "marching" dance with them.  That led to about an hour of dancing, singing and drumming. Mary2 did a drum off with a Maasai girl.  It was so much fun even though we were so bad at the dancing.  It was a good bonding time with the girls.

The dormitoties

Drum off 

     We loaded up in the vans, tired but hearts filled from the day.  It was even scarier riding back on those bumpy roads in the dark.  When we got back to the hotel, I fell getting out of the Rover.  Scraped up my knee, but nothing was broken.  Everybody acted like I was dying and so considerate.  I just felt like a clumsy old lady.  We all had dinner together at the hotel.  I had pizza again but it was very big.  I shared with Eric, the second head master, who came in later.  He had never had pizza before.  Mary1 bought me a small bottle of wine because she felt so sorry for me falling.  I felt better!
     When Deb1 joined us, she told us the science teacher had been fired today.  We hadn't thought much of him when we met him.  Thought he was kind of arrogant.  There were some other troubles that Deb1 didn't want to tell us about.  Went to bed tired after sending Bob an email  We had wifi at this hotel, too.

Dinner at Sai Villa with Edward, Deb1, Eric, and Russ

2 - First day in Dar

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017

My roommate for the trip was Deb2 (Schultz).  We woke up about 7. Neither of us are late sleepers, so we were very compatible that way.  We showered (ours was hot, while others were cold) and got things organized after a long day of travel and late night arrival.  Deb had spilled water on her phone on the flight, so we tried to dry it out and see if it would work, but it didn't.  We went to find some breakfast (included in our hotel cost) and found the Terrace Restaurant. There was a nice buffet of fruit, yogurt, breads, and we could order eggs any style.  They even had Danish pastries - yum! Mary1, Russ, Edward, and Deb 1 eventually joined us.  Mary2 and Marlene chose to sleep in and missed breakfast.  

Breakfast at Slipway

    After breakfast we decided to find an electronics store and see if they could fix Deb’s phone. Edward would drive us in the school van.  Discovered that the van had a flat tire.  Our first African unplanned event.  Deb 1 warned us to always expect the unexpected.  Edward quickly called some guys over and they got the spare tire put on.  Meanwhile we admired the beautiful painting under the overhangs of the hotel.  Now we were off on two missions - repair the tire and the phone.  We drove through some rough looking streets and Edward took us to a spot where he dropped off the tire to get fixed. Right next door was an electronics store.  They had to call their expert and we drove to a different location to meet him.  Drove there and were told the phone had been shocked and was toast.  Deb will just do without until she gets home.  She still has her tablet at least.  We just took in the urban African culture from the safety of the van while waiting.  Went back to the first place and got the repaired tire put back on - with all of us still in the van! By the time we were done with that we were all hungry so went back to the hotel for lunch.  

Flat tire on the school van.

Paintings on the Slipway Hotel

  We had lunch at The Waterfront restaurant (part of the hotel). I had Hawaiian pizza. Marlene had prawns that were huge and gross, but she loved them.  Russell and Mary1 eventually joined us. They had not gone on the tire-phone expedition with us but had walked around the area by the hotel. We all put some money in a “kitty” to pay for joint purchases like water.  We had already bought some water at the “supermarket” right next to the hotel.  We also would be paying for all of Edward’s meals on our trip.  

    We were going to take naps after lunch but we needed to reorganize the cargo bags with all the school supplies. Edward thought we should send two of the cargo bags by bus with his friend Steve in case the airline said they were too heavy or didn't have room. We put everything but the quilts in two bags.  The quilts would take the 8 hour bus trip.  This gave Deb2 a major panic attack but Edward assured her they would get there ok.  We also presented Edward with our gifts for him - a backpack with his name on it, shirts, shoes, a tie, and my contribution, a SD handkerchief.  Too pumped up to nap, we went to the Terrace bar and everybody but me had a Kilimanjaro beer.  We tore out individual pages of some coloring books to give to the school.  On our way out of the bar, we noticed a beautiful sunset happening. We went out by the pool to take some pictures.  While out there we made 6:30 dinner reservations.

Edward gets some gifts.

Tanzanian sunset

    We got back there at 6:30 for supper after going back to our rooms to freshen up.  The rest eventually got there and we ordered.  It took so long to get our food that Edward finally complained to the manager.  The manager promised it would be just 5 minutes more and it did come about that soon, 2 plates at a time.  I had peanut butter chicken and glazed carrots that were so delicious.  We experienced “Africa time” because it took until after 10:00 to finish and pay.  Then they asked for a bigger tip and Deb1 complained about the poor service again. Got back to our rooms and quickly packed up and got ready for bed.  This time we used our mosquito netting.  Took me a long time to go to sleep and we had to get up early to catch a 7am flight.

1- The beginning

Background to this trip

Back in 2008, my friend, Deb Schultz, asked if I would help sponsor a Maasai girl in Tanzania trying to attend a school for girls.  In the Maasai culture, girls are usually sold at an early age to be wives for the men.  If they could go to school, they could change that way of life and become something more than a wife and mother at the age of 12.  I agreed and started sponsoring a girl along with some other friends.  The first couple of girls we sponsored disappeared, we assume were taken off to be a bride somewhere in the bush.  Over the years, I stopped sponsoring a specific girl and just donated money to the Image Project Tanzania. Deb Pangerl, a Minnesota woman whose vision started this project, wanted to create a school that would keep girls safe and see them complete their education and improve their economic situtation.  She started by creating a primary school and then created a secondary school.  There were many problems over the years and many girls disappeared, but finally this year the first class of 24 girls was going to graduate. She invited Deb Schultz to go with her for the graduation ceremony in October 2017.  Deb S. agreed and when 2 of our other friends heard about it, said they wanted to go, too.  Three other people were also going to go with on the trip.  In August, one of them had to back out and Deb S needed a roommate to take her place.  Knowing I had been a supporter for many years, she invited me to go along.  I had to decide quickly because I needed to get my passport renewed and apply for a visa to Tanzania.  With the support of my husband, my boss, and my co-workers, I found myself on the trip of a lifetime with 3 of my good friends and 3 other Americans.

The flight to Tanzania
Sunday and Monday, October 1-2, 2017

My husband, Bob, drove me as far as Blue Earth, MN to meet up with Mary Goheen, who was also going on the trip to Africa.  Her husband, Bob, offered to drive us to the airport. They had been judging in Iowas the day before.  The weather was rainy, but traffic wasn't bad considering 35W was closed past hwy 62 and there was a Twins game, a Vikings game and a marathon going on in Minneapolis that day.  We met Deb Schultz and Marlene Swearingen, along with Deb Pangerl, Mary Bach, and Russ Duehr (our travel mates) at Rock Bottom Cafe.  We had lunch and took our first malaria pills together there. Then we moved to a coffee shop closer to our departure gate.  Every table there had an iPad to order, pay, and be entertained by.  Very modern and lots of charging stations.   A traveler's dream.

Killing time at the Mpls. airport

     We boarded a completely full flight for Amerstdam.  Flew 3607 miles with a snack, a dinner, and a breakfast served on the flight.  I sat next to Deb Pangerl (from now on referred to as Deb 1 and Deb Shultz was Deb 2.  Mary Bach was Mary 1 and Mary Goheen was Mary 2.)  Got to know her a little bit on that flight.  I didn't sleep and watched 3 movies.  We lost half a day flying over the ocean and spent a few hours in the Amsterdam airport.  We boarded another very full flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with a brief stop at Mt. Kilimanjaro.  (It was dark, so we didn't see anything there.)  It was another long sleepless flight for me, 8 hours, plus another 45 minute hop within Tanzania.  I sat next to a Dutch couple.  He taught Tanzanian farmers how to grow and market avocadoes.  I think he was the agent doing the selling (and of course making money).  Deb 2 sat next to a sneezing, unhealthy,, seat hogging "bush man".  She got moved for our short hop, but had to suffer through the long flight.  Once we made it to Dar, we made it through the passport and visa checks ok, but the cargo bags of gifts and supplies for graduation raised a red flag for customs.  They wanted a letter from the school asking for all the things we brought.  Edward, the "director" of the school (for lack of a better term for his position) had the letter, but he had to go back to his car to get it.  We waited about an hour out in front of the airport, with all the taxi drivers hoping that they would get our business. While waiting, Edward helped us exchange $400 each for Tanzanian schillings.  It was a big stack of bills, mostly 10,000 schillings each.  Finally got okayed through customs and Edward had the school van and one taxi ready to take us to our hotel.  Got all our luggage and the cargo bags loaded in and drove the half hour to our hotel, Slipway Hotel.  It was about midnight local time and we were very tired.  Edward helped us pay the taxi driver and added in a tip.  We had no idea how much we were paying.  We got settled into our rooms and got the air conditioner working - felt good.  We were so tired.  We just tried to find stuff and get to bed quickly.  I had a few minutes of panic when I thought my power adapter didn't work, but I just hadn't slid it in all the way.  Finally got to bed about 1:00 am.  Much needed sleep!

Loading luggage in Dar es Salaam