IF THE SHOE FITS...

Here are some more photos from the "new shoe" project... I'm sizing feet for proper fit.  We made more than $1000 over night!!!! Thank you all so much for your generosity.

We're trying to raise money to buy the kids at Glorious Orphanage shoes. Here are pictures that I personally took of the some of the kids' shoes. My friend/volunteer Katie Carey is still in Tanzania and has access to the paypal account. Please donate even if just a dollar. Below is the link to donate.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=LYLCGRQ6MZP94

A DAY IN THE LIFE AT GLORIOUS

I get to Glorious about 9 am, walk past and greet Mary, the cook who has already started cooking the porridge for the student’s morning snack.

Mary

I walk into the baby classroom where the kids all yell at once “Good morning teacher, welcome teacher, how are you?”  I say, “Thank you and good morning” and then sit behind the teacher’s desk in the back of the classroom to start writing the date and day in each assignment book for 45 kids and write the assignment for ten babies (3-4 yrs.).  Ester is at the black board teaching math or English and Anna is helping me write in the assignment books.

Ester

Anna

assignment book

When Ester is finished, I pass out the assigment books Anna and I have prepared - which I'm getting better at, although it was really hard at first because most of the kids have names like Esau, Michael (which is pronounced Me-Kah), Isaya, Dorkas, Deotitus, Bariki...  After the assignment books are handed to the correct student, I try and scrounge for enough pencils for the students. I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up buying pencils every week, which is fine.

The students write their assignments in their book from the chalk board and I help them if they need it.  I love this part!! They’re all great kids, even thought they can get really rowdy and, when they do, the teachers let them be until they need to say something to everyone, which is different from back home.  When I help them with assignments they LOVE the attention and do their very best.  Sometimes I have a student that can't do something, I do my best to help them and when they get it right I show them how proud I am by exaggeration… “Nzuri, Deotitus! Good!”  and high five her - she continues her work in a proud manner.  I love encouraging them and applauding them, they need it and soak it up.

Ester

While I'm helping the kids, Ester and Anna are preparing the next assignment book the same way Anna and I did - day and dates for the next subject, Math or English, which ever hasn't been done yet.  I erase the black board and write the assignment there.  Half the board is for the older kids 5-6 yrs. and the other half is for the babies 3-4 yrs

I go over the assignment with them out loud - they repeat after me.  If its math we say 1+10=11 and then I call on a student and they have to say it out loud and solve the equation themselves and if they can't, I help them.  We pass out their assignment books again and I help whoever needs it.  If they have homework it's usually the same assignment they just finished, so they write it down and put it in their backpacks. 

Now, in comes the porridge. I help pass out 1 cup per kid and they wait until everyone has a cup and they yell all together '’Thank you Lord (Lord is drawn out) for this food, amen, welcome teacher!” While they drink the porridge I go correct the day’s assignments.

My first week there a kid threw up outside the door of the classroom and I went in and told Ester, she looked at me like 'why are you telling me this', so I walked away and when I did a kid dropped his cup of porridge and it went all over the floor and a bit on me. I told Ester about this and she gave me the same look and no reaction... This is when I told myself, 'let go Talia, let it go!'   I've had this conversation with myself MANY time now!!

After they are done and all the cups are thrown into the bucket, the kids join the 12 older kids from the bigger classes and run out for play time.  It's pretty hot out 85 F+ and they all wear a sweater w/ a collared shirt underneath so most of the time they sit in the shade under a big fruit tree, sitting on old bean and rice bags so they’re not on dirt.  They play around, and I sit with them playing patty cake, tickling them (which they LOVE!) allowing them to play with my hair and watch the girls tear banana leaves into little strips, spit on them and stick them to their head for fake long hair (the girls all have shaved head too or, occasionally, braids along their head.)

Alice invites us volunteers into a room for a snack which can be anything from fried egg whites, milk & cookies, meat poppers or white bread with egg fried in the center, and a pop - Pepsi, Sprite or Fanta.  We sit and snack for a while and then go out to help dish up lunch for each kid. This is their main meal for the day, by the way. The meal consists of Ugali - corn flour boiled into a stiff porridge - with cabbage and carrot stew, rice and beans, or plain rice, or perhaps Ugali with beans or beans and corn. The corn is different from what we're used to. It's more like the corn they use to make Corn Nuts - those spicy flavored corn snacks you buy at gas stations in the US - it has a great thick texture that I quite like.

Alice

ugali with meat & veggies

The kids say the same prayer as they do for porridge and then we all eat.  

After lunch, around 2 o’clock, we tell the kids goodbye and most run off right away, although some stay behind to walk wit us hand in hand.  I really like this part of the day, walking with 1-2 kids, trying to communicate or just smiling at one another. 

We say goodbye and I'm back on the Dolla Dolla treking home. 

-Talia

PRAYER

WORDS TO LIVE BY

THANKSGIVING HALF A WORLD AWAY

I started out my day with breakfast- fried dough (doughnuts without the sugar) and a hard boiled egg. There were leftovers so I grabbed three doughnuts, went to my room and picked up my nine 50 Tanzanian Shilling coins (3 ½ cents U.S. each) which I’ve been saving from day one for Thanksgiving. I headed out the door at 8 am, took my first Dolla Dolla to town, got off and walked to the next D.D. stop. On my way I gave each beggar a doughnut and three 50 Shilling coins saying, “Happy Thanksgiving” even though they had no idea what I just said. It worked out perfectly, I had three doughnuts and three sets of coins and I ran into 3 beggars. I got teary-eyed each time I said, “Happy Thanksgiving” but it felt so good to start off my holiday giving this way.

The day before I took the $100 bill Acorn Learning Center raised in their bikeathon back home down to the Exchange Bureau, exchanged it for 147,000 Shillings and bought crayons for all the kids to share, made copies of a peacock from a coloring book, bought pencils for everyone (which are in high demand at Glorious), three rulers, four pencil sharpeners, three colors of pens for us teachers and chalk.

These items are all very needed here at Glorious! My first day teaching I couldn’t start teaching the lesson because there was no chalk to write with until a student ran and found some. The kids never had enough pencils and their sharpener went missing my second day teaching.

We write the day and date by hand in 50 student’s assignment books every day (which takes a while) and they insist on using a ruler which we share between the three of us. We correct each assignment with a red pen and never seem to have one. The supplies are bare minimum!

The kids had no crayons for coloring and I thought they should have a little color in their lives. I had the baby class color the peacocks however they wanted. I joined in and made my peacock into a turkey for a little holiday spirit. The older class had to follow the color by number instructions which turned out to be a good assignment for them because they had to read the color in English and find the right crayon. It turned out beautifully! The teachers said it was a great assignment and said they need more papers like this again. I was simply proud.

After school I went to Alice who, with her husband, owns, runs and lives at Glorious. I told her I wanted to buy food for two student’s families for Thanksgiving. She told me which two families were in most need and after school we went to a little shop to buy food. Katie, a new volunteer from Boston wanted to join in on the Thanksgiving gift as well so, together, we chose four families to buy food for; Jackline, family of five, Neema family of five, Angellah family of 7 and Wazir , a family of ten.

For each family we bought:

5 kilograms of rice

5 kilograms of beans

5 kilograms of maize flour

½ liter of cooking oil

1 package of laundry soap bars

4 packages of salt

10 eggs

This food is enough to feed all four families for almost a week. Katie and I each paid 42,000 Shillings (about $30.00 U.S.) Thank you Acorn!! I’m so proud of you and thanks to your help we got so much food for each of the families who are really in need.

I cannot tell you how proud I was in these moments, thinking about the families. At first we started with rice and beans, and then added more items until we ran out of choices at the store. Alice helped us carry the HEAVY bags of food, taking them to two families at a time. We walked quite a ways to the house of the first family – Jackline’s. We weaved through many houses, beautiful jungle and came across a bridge that was made from sticks, very far apart, and with an 8 foot drop below us. Alice made it across fine with a heavy bag in her hand and one on her head. A woman and her son came up and the lady took my 10 kilo bag of beans , grabbed my arm, helped me across, turned around and left… it was fun and I was so thankful to this happy, laughing lady. It was a moment I don’t ever want to forget!

Once we got to Jackline’s house, we said hello and asked if Jackline was feeling better because she’d missed school that day. Her belly was protruding and she had a tear in her eye, but she was smiling at us, yet a little shy because two of her teachers were all of a sudden in her house. They invited us inside and Alice displayed the food out on their table for us to take a photo. Kate and I felt a little uncomfortable about that. We took a picture of the food and one of the family, but didn’t want to do that with the other families. We just wanted to meet them and tell them that today was Thanksgiving at home and we share food with family back home but today we wanted to share with them. They thanked us many times and then insisted on carrying the food for the next family so we wouldn’t have to.

I was so proud; I had a permanent grin on my face the whole evening! When you think of others you get so much back and I cried many times from all the happiness I felt. I never felt more proud of myself and of my students back home at Acorn!

We dropped off all of the food at the rest of the houses then took the Dolla Dolla home. The whole time I was soaking in the feelings and I felt so fulfilled and peaceful.

This was my most favorite Thanksgiving ever! I was never stressed about anything, I didn’t miss home and this is what Thanksgiving should be about… giving and sharing with people in need. It changed my life forever!

We at home have absolutely no need for stress. We are so taken care of and have EVERYTHING we need to live and more. There is a freedom back in the states that is lost and trampled on. We have never gone days and days without food or water, never had to deal with major illnesses without a doctor or live in a world without any luxuries like showers, TV, a stove, A HOUSE, toilet paper, crayons for our kids or soap to wash our clothes. Instead we worry about showering every day, buying the biggest TV (one for the bedroom, one for the kid’s room) the fluffiest toilet paper, the biggest house we can afford, the nicest scent in our laundry soap…

A life with luxuries is nice, but what about thinking of those with very little every now and then. There is something we aren’t getting in a world of wants that is in abundance in a life with little and a life of giving.

Thank you Acorn for your contribution to a very great Thanksgiving… together we’ve filled the lives of many and fed the bellies of many too! Asante Sana!!

Talia

www.volunteerhq.org

www.gloriousorphanage.com/sponsor-a-child

WHAT KEEPS ME GOING

Belinda, one of my students at Glorious, has a hard time during the day.  She's always quiet, does her work and then just sits at her desk.

Last week she wet herself at her desk and the other kids were pulling her up and out of her desk, trying to force her out of the row, all while she's crying out loud.

Lene, another volunteer took her out and changed her outfit.  Afterwards she didn't want to do any work so she sat, embarrassed, with us at "teachers desk”.

Today, I was standing outside of the bathrooms and noticed Belinda hanging on the door doing the “pee pee dance”.  I continued doing what I was doing, looked back again and saw she was now going to pee.  I saw the boy’s bathroom open so I went over and tried to take her to the boys bathroom. She wouldn't let go of the door so I tried taking her hand from the doorknob and when I did it opened really quickly and I saw two girls holding the door closed on purpose.  I told them to go play, and Belinda ran in to use the bathroom.

Later I sat next to her on the ground while all the other kids were playing. I was talking to another student next to me when two boys started fighting with each other, standing over Belinda.  One of the boys knocked the other over and he fell right on top of her.  She had absolutely no reaction, not even a whimper- just trampled and smothered.  I grabbed her right away and pulled her onto my lap and asked her if she was alright.  She had no reply, so I held her close and with my softest, most caring voice said, “B-e-l-i-n-d-a”, and she smiled shyly and I hugged her again.  She sat on my lap playing little games of counting our fingers in English and caring for one another.

This reminded me of my mother and how well she taught me to care.  I swear it was her nurturing voice that came out of me when I spoke, humming out of my past to help in my present.  It made me feel so grateful to have the mother I do and that I still receive that care today.  Many of these kids I share my days with have lost that or never had it in the first place.

Moments like these are what keeps me going here in Arusha Tanzania...  Even though it feels like I've been moved to another planet at times, when I care and share love with another person, we both feel right at home.

MUCH LOVE!

Talia

MASAI TRIBE

So, I have to admit taking this photo of the Masai woman and her baby is a dream come true for me.  I spent a lot of time as a little girl looking at National Geographic, and every so often I'd see a photo like this and wish that some day I'd see someone, in person, with that rich culture.  I looked over my photos and saw this and was so giddy… I couldn't believe I'd just taken it.

The photo was taken two hours West of Arusha in a Masai village where the chief (big guy with the  cowboy hat) has 12 wives.  I was to greet him by bending down and letting him touch the top of my head while he said “habaree"? (how are you?), “N'zuree, asante sana” (good, thank you very much), “Karibu” (welcome).  

After the greeting one of the chief's many sons took us up to where many women were slaughtering a cow while we watched.  It was interesting to watch them essentially getting dinner ready, step one, kill the cow, step 2, butcher it with the family etc...

We walked on to see the inside of a Masai house, the one in the photo is for the volunteer to stay in, when they have one.  It's a simple round structure made of sticks standing upright in a circular shape, plastered together with mud, manure and water.  Masai don't have 'things' inside or even outside their houses just a bed made of sticks and fibers and a little stool for sitting and a couple of wraps for clothing.

This was NOT a museum where they teach about their culture, this is their village where they live. There was no explanation for anything, just a tour of their homes.

We walked down to an area with more huts and they brought out a piece of fire wood straight from the fire, broke it up and put the hot coals into a pan and pulled out a thin piece of wire metal in the shape of a circle - for a Masai tribal marking.  Zackie, our guard at the house, is Masai and has one tribal circle on each cheek, two large ear piercings at the top of each ear and separated lower teeth (the woman in the photo with the baby has separated teeth too), this was all done when he was a 'kidogo ytoto' (little kid).

I decided to get one.  Yes, it's a tribal marking for the Masai people and, no I'm not Masai, but I saw it as an honor to be invited to share in a tribal tradition in Africa where I may never be again, invited into their village by the chief... I'll remember this for the rest of my life, so I wasn't going to turn this opportunity down.  I held out my arm to the chief's son and watched him burn a circle into my flesh.  I was a little scared to watch myself be burned and to hold still while it was burning, but it didn't hurt!  It was an amazing feeling being 

surrounded by Masai while getting it done.

Right after being branded I walked away looking at it and a bunch of kids in the village saw me and ran up, I showed them my marking and a boy grabbed my hand right away and made a sound like 'ewwwhh' and started blowing on it, he must have known how it felt. 

As he blew on my fresh wound I looked up and saw a boy about 7 years old, walking naked, stop, put his hands down to his penis, pee on them, stop peeing as if turning off a faucet to save water, wash his hands just as I do at the sink, put his hands back to pee on them again and wash his face... this all happened in a matter of seconds. Sorry, no photo!


I got stuck for a while taking photos and showing the kids their pictures and saw a kid walking with bloody ribs from the cow (photo).  Behind him up the hill a group of Masai men were doing their dance , they sound so amazing together. I LOVED the sounds they were making!!

After the dance we went to the van to get our gifts... visitors are asked to bring gifts like school supplies for the kids, sugar, rice and cooking oil for everyone else as a thank you.  Then we said goodbye and thank you to the chief the same way we said hello, and we were off.

I loved everything about this trip to the Masai village!  It's so refreshing to meet people who live of, off and on the land and they’re happy people!

They do use some modern items; the son who took us around had a cell phone that sounded odd going off under his shawls.  I'm not giving him crap for having a cell phone, it was just surprising.  They only wear tire shoes, sandals made of old tires, another point for the Masai! Taking care of themselves and mother earth as much as possible!

Feel free to research Masai, Tanzania Africa. Many Masai have integrated themselves into the modern world, some fitting in so well, you wouldn't know they're Masai, and some continue to wear the Masai style of dress while living in the city.

Talia