Last Blog - Greetings from Zanzibar

As Fred and I are relaxing in Zanzibar, the rest of you should be almost stateside.  We hope you had a seamless trip home.  Attached are a few final photographs of our last day at Orkeeswa School.  Fred and I concur that Hugh wins the "highest jumper award" for would be Maasai warriors.

Our best to you all,
Cindy and Fred Beams

Last Day Final Good bye

Last Blog

Tanzania Blog #12

         Today’s experiences were some that we will remember for the rest of our lives. After a two hour drive from Monduli to Manyara we were exposed to elephants, wildebeests, hippopotamuses, zebras and many other animals that dazzled us with their bright colors and exotic behaviors. The baboons bountifully bellowed through the bushels of berries with their buddies and bewildered us with their bodacious booties. With our knowledgeable safari guides navigating, we drove through the Manyara jungle with the tops off our vans and our excited eyes curiously surveying the majestic scenery that surrounded us. Lake Manyara was divine. It spread miles across the picturesque landscape that could be observed from our lunch pit stop area. It was nice to have a sandwich for once—even just butter and tomato on a roll. Although we will be leaving lifelong friends we are excited to see our friends and family and sleep in our own beds.

-Ellie Dolan, Tyler Phalen, and Hugh Cecil

This Monday brought more work on the basketball court and more cement, though luckily we had the assistance of a mixer. The court is looking excellent and it is really coming together. Work is a little behind because of a lack of rocks this weekend but there were so many people here at the school today that we were able to make up! Tomorrow is our last day at the school and everyone is sad that we have to leave Wednesday. We are going to leave many friends behind some of whom we may not see for years! As our trip comes to a close we keep thinking how lucky we have been in our leaders and our fellow group members. It’s going to be weird to not go to Orkeeswa everyday but we can’t wait to come home and see our families!

-Trevor Fry

Last Blog

Tanzania Blog #12

         Today’s experiences were some that we will remember for the rest of our lives. After a two hour drive from Monduli to Manyara we were exposed to elephants, wildebeests, hippopotamuses, zebras and many other animals that dazzled us with their bright colors and exotic behaviors. The baboons bountifully bellowed through the bushels of berries with their buddies and bewildered us with their bodacious booties. With our knowledgeable safari guides navigating, we drove through the Manyara jungle with the tops off our vans and our excited eyes curiously surveying the majestic scenery that surrounded us. Lake Manyara was divine. It spread miles across the picturesque landscape that could be observed from our lunch pit stop area. It was nice to have a sandwich for once—even just butter and tomato on a roll. Although we will be leaving lifelong friends we are excited to see our friends and family and sleep in our own beds.

-Ellie Dolan, Tyler Phalen, and Hugh Cecil

This Monday brought more work on the basketball court and more cement, though luckily we had the assistance of a mixer. The court is looking excellent and it is really coming together. Work is a little behind because of a lack of rocks this weekend but there were so many people here at the school today that we were able to make up! Tomorrow is our last day at the school and everyone is sad that we have to leave Wednesday. We are going to leave many friends behind some of whom we may not see for years! As our trip comes to a close we keep thinking how lucky we have been in our leaders and our fellow group members. It’s going to be weird to not go to Orkeeswa everyday but we can’t wait to come home and see our families!

-Trevor Fry

As we are nearing the end of our trip we are excited with the anticipated return home to the comfort of our normal routine summer lives.  This feeling, however, is coupled by another of nostalgia as we reflect back upon our amazing time in such an awe inspiring country.  By now most of us have fortunately almost fully recovered from array of post homestay afflictions, and are working on the construction site in full force.  We have completed the trench digging and dirt moving, laid down a cinderblock grid and have begun filling each unit with rocks, creating, in effect, a mosaic.  This mosaic of rocks will provide the base of the foundation on which the cement will be poured to achieve our final product.  From the Orkeeswa football pitch, one can see a beautiful panoramic view of limitless wilderness; the dirt pitch is encompassed by forested mountains which unfold into untold square miles of savannah.  Even this distant taste of the Africa that we grow up to see on TV excites us for our safari tomorrow to Lake Manyara together with the second formers of the Orkeeswa school, which definitely promises to be an amazing experience for both groups of students, over and out.

Johann

Near Completion

Another beautiful day up at Orkeeswa School. Work is moving well and we are close to finishing the preparations before we finally pour concrete. The group definitely seems to have emerged from a slight mid-trip malaise; spirits are high and GI tracts are improving. Everyone is eagerly waiting for this afternoon when we will have the chance to buy some jewelry from the local Maasai women’s group. This is a terrific way for us to get some gifts for friends and family while also directly helping a group that is so closely related to the school.

-Sarah M.

Many of the girls carried rocks, both large and small, on their heads among the Maasai women. The interesting sight was caught by Cindy’s great photography on what she dubbed “International Women’s Day.” Overall, the day was filled with laborious work as well as entertainment and excitement as usual! We look forward to finishing with the rocks and progressing towards a finished product.

-Emma 

Relaxing Day

         We had another day of moving dirt today, but now the basketball court is level. Tomorrow we are going to put a layer of rocks on the court so the rebar and concrete can be put on. In the afternoon we met with two MIT students who are visiting to talk about a project they are going to work on with the Maasai in the area. After their talk we played games with Orkeeswa students for the rest of the afternoon.  After a few days of people being sick and tired everyone is feeling much better now, but Ms. Mongan is still very sick and spent the day in the clinic outside of Monduli. Everyone who has gone to the clinic has had the luxury of using an actual toilet and everyone who has not gone is very envious of them (including me!). Many people have taken to going to the small grocery store in town and many of us are now making a point of everyday after work going there and drinking a Coke and watching life go by. Hope everyone back home is well and we all look forward to seeing our families!

Side note: Team Tanzania wishes Lorayne a happy birthday. Especially her daughter Sarah! We would also like to wish Simon C.M. a happy belated 16^th birthday!

-Trevor

Night Time Electricity!!!!!

As the second week approached, we all started to feel exhausted from the hard work we had been doing and the visits to the bomas this past weekend. Everyone has been feeling run down these past couple of days and almost half of us have shown signs of sickness. At the work site we put in all of our effort but it can be hard to perform our best work when we are tired and sore. It is around this time of the trip where it can be easy to let our feelings of sickness and emotions of missing home take over our job at Orkeeswa and we can lose sight of the importance of why we are here. However, we are constantly reminding ourselves and each other of these things and talk them over when necessary. We know the work we are doing is hard, and we know we can get tired and cranky. We also know, though, that the outcome of this work will be the greatest reward in itself and the difference we will make in the school is enough motivation to move one more bucket of dirt. Between the many card games we play whenever we get the chance or the brief Swahili lessons from Matt, getting through tough times will be no problem and we look forward to getting closer to the product of our hard work.

Madeleine and Gia

Fabulous Home Stays

Tanzania Blog #7

After a weekend at the boma everyone was definitely exhausted, but nevertheless we all headed out at 8:00 for breakfast followed with another hard day of work. We were happy to see that over the weekend fundis (hired workers) had completed lying down the rest of the cement and cinderblocks. We were left to move the dirt that wouldn’t support the court well and replaced it with suitable dirt. Hi Mommy. Meanwhile, a couple of student made a trip to the local clinic where they used regular toilets for the first time in quite a while. We were all grateful when lunch time rolled around and we were all able to take a well-deserved break and get out of the sun. After lunch we returned to the worksite to continue leveling out dirt and coated in dirt we made our way back to the hotel to decompress and get some needed rest.

Ellie & Austin

Internet Problems. Electricity on and Off!!!!!

Tanzania Blog #6

On Friday we worked on the site laying down hand mixed cement in the trenches that we had been digging for the past couple days.  After the work day was over the guys and girls split into groups of three to begin our homestays with Orkeeswa students.  We walked with the students to their bomas, the journey’s ranging from half an hour to two hours.  We then lived the life of an Orkeeswa student for two nights and one day.  At night, time was spent conversing with the family over a typical dinner of rice and beans.  We then went to sleep very early in very close quarters, some sleeping three to one twin bed.  During the day, the girls fetched water and firewood while the boys worked on the shamba, or farm, and herded the family’s livestock.  The next day we walked into Monduli village and took our hosts out to lunch with a few of their friends.  After lunch we were taken to the market where most of the boys bought traditional Maasai garb and bush knives.  We then returned to the Flamingo Hotel extremely grateful for our bucket showers and beds.  We look forward to working on the basketball site the rest of the week and towards the upcoming safari on Saturday.

Johann and Olivia

Slow but Steady Progress

Today, after waking up and going to breakfast, we headed out to Orkeeswa to start work on the court. We continued yesterday’s trench digging, making several more trenches and making others deeper. We stopped for a break during which we asked the Orkeeswa kids about their culture, especially the Massai tribe. Lunch, then more work and playing basketball, soccer, or volleyball, and then we headed back to the guest house. Looking forward to going back tomorrow!

Austin

During lunch, we played “hand games” with some of the Orkeeswa girls—Flora and Ellie. We showed them how to play “miss mary mack” and “concentration” and they showed us their equivalents. We tried to teach each other what to say while playing but we both messed up a lot. Eventually we all figured it out and could play pretty well. Also during lunch we finally got people to dance! Yesterday, dance time was pretty low-key but today we had a lot of people up and having a good time. Isiah, Mussa and Monongo were definitely the best Orkeeswa dancers but Hugh represented our group pretty well. Tom and Ellie found a pet rock who was given many names including Rocky, Stewart, and Rufus—I think they concluded with Rufus. He certainly became a part of our team Tanzania family. It is great to see that the Orkeeswa students are all warming up to us and us to them. Everyone’s having a good time.

Ash and Tyler

Dancing with the Orkeeswa Stars

Blogs are Slow. Electricity is sporadic.

Tanzania Blog #3

Today we went to the Orekeeswa School to begin our first day of work. Our task is to build a basketball court for our new-found friends. We are going to hopefully finish the court before we depart in three weeks. We dug trenches around the court using pickaxes, hoes, and shovels. The trenches had to be three feet deep and two feet wide, side note: three feet feels much deeper when the sun is beating down on you and coated in dust. Working alongside the Orkeeswa students allowed us to develop friendships that we had started the day before. We found common ground when none of us were happy to go back to work after lunch. After the day’s work Groton and Orkeeswa students joined for a dance party on the lawn DJed by our very own Matt Westman. From there we played volleyball and basketball next to the incomplete court. We look forward to playing basketball soon on an even concrete surface.

-Sarah Black and Hugh ‘Hyu’ Cecil

Tanzania Blog #2

Today for July forth the Tanzania crew visited our Orkeeswa friends at their school. There we were thoroughly impressed not only by the physical school but the pride that the students share for it. Therefore it was no surprise that the time we spent there was more than we bargained for. While there we interacted in broken Swahili with our new friends, talking about subjects such as school subject, everyday school commute and chores, and of course the slaughtering of goats. After the tour, and traumatic sight of a slaughtered goat, we then enjoyed each other’s company and got to know the Orkeeswa students a lot better. For lunch, we had a mix goat meat (the same meat from the goat before), rice, and potatoes. It was a time shared by all to really get to know the students who we were building not only a basketball court, but also strong relationships as well. We then were guided by students through the villages nearby where we were able to look upon some of their homes. The sight was beautiful and the large fields of crops, stretching across acres and acres, took our breaths away.

-       Emma and Thomas

All Is Well

Tanzania Blog Post #1 – Written Sunday, July 3, 2011

We were awoken from our first night in the hotel flamingo by multiple roosters at five in morning.  From the hotel we went to the restaurant Saracao for breakfast and met up with a couple of students from the Orkeeswa school and were given the opportunity to ask questions and reflect upon the differences of our two cultures.  After lunch we set out and were given a tour around Monduli by the Orkeeswa students.

Johann

After an exhausting couple days of travel, we were greeted by a few Orkeeswa students at the airport for another long drive to The Flamingo. It certainly was no problem falling asleep for a wonderful night sleep. The tour this afternoon around Monduli and the market was an amazing sight—I’m sure the first of many.

Olivia

After a successful night of sleep, despite a rooster and a singing man outside our window at early hours of the morning, it has been an exciting first day in Monduli. Walking around with two Orkeeswa students was a great way to see and understand the different parts of town. It’s been an eventful few days and I’m thrilled to be here experience and learn about this new culture with a great group of kids.

Madeleine

It was a pretty long airplane ride and after about 36 hours traveling, we were pumped to arrive in Tanzania. We were greeted by some Orkeeswa students and made our long travel to the hotel. We got to have a tour around the market with a few Orkeeswa girls and I made some new friends. It was awesome and I can’t wait to start working on the school.

Ihu

After the day of travel and a good night’s sleep, we went to breakfast where we met three Orkeeswa students who told us some of the things about the town and the school. Afterwards, we had some group orientation before heading to lunch. We were greeted by several students, who greeted us and then jumped out of their seats to greet the adults who were here last year, most of all Mr. Beams. After lunch we were split into groups of two and then led around the town by two Orkeeswa students. With the day drawing to a close, I’m really excited to start work tomorrow and to continue building relationships with the students I met today.

Austin

        

         After many hours of travelling we have finally arrived in Tanzania! We spent the day doing introductions, getting used to the town and taking a walk around the market in Monduli. It’s really beautiful here and you can see mountains and the plains from where our town is! Tomorrow we head out for the school and I can’t wait! I’ve already made friends with students and spent some time with some village children! A great start to what’s going to be a great trip!

Trevor

        

         Today we were introduced to Monduli after arriving late yesterday night in Tanzania.  Some of the children who go to the Orkeeswa school led us around the town and taught us about their culture, language, and community.  They were so friendly and inviting and showed me how to address the different people we encountered.  The most surprising thing that happened to me was that one of the girls I was with suddenly reached down and took my hand.  At first I thought she wanted to take me somewhere or show me something but instead we stayed like that for the rest of the walk.  I am so excited to keep learning about the Masai and everything else here.

Charlotte

         It is such fun to see the faces of our kids as they take in the new sights, sounds, and smells of Tanzania for the first time.  The timing of our arrival to Monduli worked beautifully: after arriving fairly late last night (11:00ish), we slept in this morning, had a 9:30 breakfast, and after a late lunch met up with a bunch of Orkeeswa students to walk around town.  Sunday is the big weekly market day here – so spread out on the ground in a big public square were piles of local foods (bananas, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, avocadoes) and all kinds of clothes, fabric, kitchenwares, some handmade Maasai beaded jewelry, sandals, etc. – a real feast for the eyes.  We are excited about heading up to Orkeeswa  tomorrow morning – about a 5-mile car ride up into the hills.  What a wonderful group of young people we have on this trip this year.  Thank you, fellow parents, for sharing your terrific children with us. – Peter Fry