7/23/09
So it's been almost three weeks since I've been back in the United States and I still think about Africa every day. Whether it's the bunches of facebook pictures my fellow travelers are posting, my attempts at starting my scrapbook, my slow initiations at raising money/awareness for Mama Sarah, or conversations I have with friends about my incredible journey...Africa is not easily leaving my mind.
Although I am not going to lie and say I am not enjoying falling back into the routine of all the material comforts and luxuries of my life here in San Diego... I do want to use this journal to serve as a reminder of what I have learned from this trip, what I hope will stay with me forever. As the dust settles from the trip, I have had the opportunity to have many great conversations with many great people about my journey. Many of the conversations have detailed the amazing feats of nature we witnessed on our two safaris (and trust me I will never forget that either!), but the ones that seem to be sticking with me are those about the people I've met and the "type" of trip I went on. Something I have realized over the past three weeks is that NOT ONE person in my life this time around (as opposed to when I did a similar trip to Ecuador in 2007) said "You're PAYING to VOLUNTEER?"...and I have to say I am so thankful for this small token that further illustrates what amazing and wonderful people I surround myself with these days. I am truly blessed to have the support and love from each and every family and friend needed to undertake journeys like this one. I am so lucky to have brothers who have similar values to my own and who undertook this trip with infinitely open hearts and minds. I love that upon my return multiple people have told me they would like to take a similar trip in the future.
As far as the people I met and the culture I experienced, I have had some great instances of self-reflection as well as wonderful conversations focusing primarily on acceptance, spirituality, religion and love. I am blessed to have friends that can help me see different angles of situations: "maybe faith is faith, and maybe it's always good no matter how it begins". I am blessed to have friends that "just don't get it" either: "we never have to agree with spending the equivalent of food for a small country on something that is going to be put in the ground...no matter how famous the person was". I am blessed to have friends that stand up for the acceptance of all people: "ALL means you don't get to pick between race, religion or sexual orientation...it means ALL". I am blessed to have friends that ask tough questions and open my heart to multiple possibilities: "maybe we aren't supposed to know the WHY behind disparity, maybe we are just supposed to do our small part to change what we can of it".
Amani,
Valerie
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
A Fine Farewell
7/5/09
We officially left Africa yesterday evening :-( Right now we are on the flight back from Amsterdam to Newark…we are going on 24 hours of traveling with about 10 still left to go! I can’t believe the whole month is already over and all three of us agree that it went way to fast. The last couple days in Moshi were fun and sad at the same time….we were so sorry to say goodbye, but we were excited we all felt better to enjoy the end of the trip. Friday was our last day of placement and our school as well as Matt’s had some special events planned to surprise us. Matt’s school got him some Tanzanian fabric which they wrapped him in during a little goodbye ceremony with the teacher and all the kids. At our school they surprised us with cookies and juice (which by the way we weren’t supposed to drink since we didn’t know if it came from a jug or if it was just straight water with mix…but really how can you say no?)….so amid our eyes looking at each other saying, “well if we get an intestinal parasite we know how” we enjoyed our cookies and juice…and I am happy to report that all of us are feeling just fine. Then they surprised us even more with a small wood carving of an animal…Stephen got an elephant (which prompted me getting an awesome video of all the kids singing that crazy elefant elefant song) and I got antelope. The teacher I worked with also bought me a beautiful conga that says “Your pleasure if my pleasure” or something to that effect in Swahili. It was such a nice ceremony, all us girls got teary-eyed. Then they let us play all day and just enjoy the kids….we brought a fun art project so we helped them all make little shaker instruments out of toilet paper rolls we had been saving, beans, and markers…it went over so well except some of the older kids decided to take the beans out of theirs….thus destroying the instrument…luckily many of the kids guarded their instruments so tightly so they could take them home, to the point of making me hold them when they went to the bathroom and tucking them inside their shirts when playing duck, duck, goose :-) Then it was time to say goodbye….man I’m going to miss those kids! In addition to it being hard to say goodbye to the kids and teachers, it made me so sad to think we wouldn’t be back there working with Catherine and Lauren next week…I honestly have no idea how everything with the placement mess at the beginning worked out so perfectly to put us together! Just amazing luck I guess!
Friday night most people in the house had left for weekend trips so the nine of us that were around decided to get a hotel in town for the night so we didn’t have to worry about the 11pm curfew….it was a fun last night in Tanzania which included the bartender playing “Born in the U.S.A.” for us when it turned midnight of the 4th of July :-) Saturday, we succeeded in spending every last cent of our tsh on souvenirs and gifts…I even ran out at the end when I was buying some earrings so I traded my watch for two sets of earrings haha! I know, I know but I was going to leave it in Tanzania anyway so I figured it was a good deal :-)
Overall, the trip was a perfect balance of giving back to our “brothers and sisters” that weren’t born with the same blessings as the three of us while at the same time having a blast with amazing new friends that I hope will stay a part of our lives in the future! We can’t thank our parents enough for giving us the opportunity to go on this amazing adventure of a lifetime and providing the chance to learn just how well the three of us really do get along :-) This is definitely a month none of us will ever forget!
Amani,
Valerie
We officially left Africa yesterday evening :-( Right now we are on the flight back from Amsterdam to Newark…we are going on 24 hours of traveling with about 10 still left to go! I can’t believe the whole month is already over and all three of us agree that it went way to fast. The last couple days in Moshi were fun and sad at the same time….we were so sorry to say goodbye, but we were excited we all felt better to enjoy the end of the trip. Friday was our last day of placement and our school as well as Matt’s had some special events planned to surprise us. Matt’s school got him some Tanzanian fabric which they wrapped him in during a little goodbye ceremony with the teacher and all the kids. At our school they surprised us with cookies and juice (which by the way we weren’t supposed to drink since we didn’t know if it came from a jug or if it was just straight water with mix…but really how can you say no?)….so amid our eyes looking at each other saying, “well if we get an intestinal parasite we know how” we enjoyed our cookies and juice…and I am happy to report that all of us are feeling just fine. Then they surprised us even more with a small wood carving of an animal…Stephen got an elephant (which prompted me getting an awesome video of all the kids singing that crazy elefant elefant song) and I got antelope. The teacher I worked with also bought me a beautiful conga that says “Your pleasure if my pleasure” or something to that effect in Swahili. It was such a nice ceremony, all us girls got teary-eyed. Then they let us play all day and just enjoy the kids….we brought a fun art project so we helped them all make little shaker instruments out of toilet paper rolls we had been saving, beans, and markers…it went over so well except some of the older kids decided to take the beans out of theirs….thus destroying the instrument…luckily many of the kids guarded their instruments so tightly so they could take them home, to the point of making me hold them when they went to the bathroom and tucking them inside their shirts when playing duck, duck, goose :-) Then it was time to say goodbye….man I’m going to miss those kids! In addition to it being hard to say goodbye to the kids and teachers, it made me so sad to think we wouldn’t be back there working with Catherine and Lauren next week…I honestly have no idea how everything with the placement mess at the beginning worked out so perfectly to put us together! Just amazing luck I guess!
Friday night most people in the house had left for weekend trips so the nine of us that were around decided to get a hotel in town for the night so we didn’t have to worry about the 11pm curfew….it was a fun last night in Tanzania which included the bartender playing “Born in the U.S.A.” for us when it turned midnight of the 4th of July :-) Saturday, we succeeded in spending every last cent of our tsh on souvenirs and gifts…I even ran out at the end when I was buying some earrings so I traded my watch for two sets of earrings haha! I know, I know but I was going to leave it in Tanzania anyway so I figured it was a good deal :-)
Overall, the trip was a perfect balance of giving back to our “brothers and sisters” that weren’t born with the same blessings as the three of us while at the same time having a blast with amazing new friends that I hope will stay a part of our lives in the future! We can’t thank our parents enough for giving us the opportunity to go on this amazing adventure of a lifetime and providing the chance to learn just how well the three of us really do get along :-) This is definitely a month none of us will ever forget!
Amani,
Valerie
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Smiles
7/2/09
Smiles are the best gift in the entire world. Seriously, smiles are universal no matter what language you speak…whether it’s the smile of a child when you make a funny face, the smile of the older person when you provide them with their only meal of the day, or a smile through tears as you say goodbye to a new friend. Today, I was lucky enough to experience each one of those smiles.
Stephen, Lauren, Ann and I went back to Mama Sarah’s today for the last time before our family has to leave. Stephen and I were able to some of Matt, Stephen and my clothes along with some shoes and the sheets we brought for the safari. I have known this entire time that Mama Sarah is an angel to these group members, but today more than ever before I saw exactly how much she really puts them before herself. We were going on two home visits today so we brought food for the group member at each house….we also had a chance to meet the only orphan in the group who is infected by HIV (luckily the hospitals here are equipped with medicine so when a woman with HIV gives birth they can prevent the spread to the child, so only 1 of the 20 orphans is infected). His caretaker was gone to the forest for work so from the impression we gathered he was just kind of fending for himself so Mama Sarah asked if we could get some food for him as well, which of course we were happy to do. So by this point we have bought food for three members as well as some oranges for the “healthier” members attending the group. Mama Sarah went along with us on all the errands without complaint….we then asked her how she was feeling and she said, “Fine but kind of dizzy”. I asked if she was dizzy from taking the medicine without food and as she looked down at her feet she admitted, “yes, we don’t have any food right now”. What!?! How many of us could say that we ever in our lives have fed people not of relation to us when we ourselves were going hungry…none of us….and I am pretty sure none of us ever will. We were so thankful we thought to ask so we could make sure she and her family had food also. At the end of the visit I took pictures with the members so when I get back you all can see their faces. Also, I may enlist my mom (don’t worry mom if you aren’t feeling up to it this week) to help us start a webpage for Mama Sarah’s group. I will have a copy of their mission statement and what they hope to do to self-sustain themselves (i.e. get on their feet and stop relying on others for outside money) as well as the group members and their overall goals. So needless to say, telling Mama Sarah goodbye today was so hard and I will never ever forget the four visits I have had to this amazing group.
Amani,
Valerie
Smiles are the best gift in the entire world. Seriously, smiles are universal no matter what language you speak…whether it’s the smile of a child when you make a funny face, the smile of the older person when you provide them with their only meal of the day, or a smile through tears as you say goodbye to a new friend. Today, I was lucky enough to experience each one of those smiles.
Stephen, Lauren, Ann and I went back to Mama Sarah’s today for the last time before our family has to leave. Stephen and I were able to some of Matt, Stephen and my clothes along with some shoes and the sheets we brought for the safari. I have known this entire time that Mama Sarah is an angel to these group members, but today more than ever before I saw exactly how much she really puts them before herself. We were going on two home visits today so we brought food for the group member at each house….we also had a chance to meet the only orphan in the group who is infected by HIV (luckily the hospitals here are equipped with medicine so when a woman with HIV gives birth they can prevent the spread to the child, so only 1 of the 20 orphans is infected). His caretaker was gone to the forest for work so from the impression we gathered he was just kind of fending for himself so Mama Sarah asked if we could get some food for him as well, which of course we were happy to do. So by this point we have bought food for three members as well as some oranges for the “healthier” members attending the group. Mama Sarah went along with us on all the errands without complaint….we then asked her how she was feeling and she said, “Fine but kind of dizzy”. I asked if she was dizzy from taking the medicine without food and as she looked down at her feet she admitted, “yes, we don’t have any food right now”. What!?! How many of us could say that we ever in our lives have fed people not of relation to us when we ourselves were going hungry…none of us….and I am pretty sure none of us ever will. We were so thankful we thought to ask so we could make sure she and her family had food also. At the end of the visit I took pictures with the members so when I get back you all can see their faces. Also, I may enlist my mom (don’t worry mom if you aren’t feeling up to it this week) to help us start a webpage for Mama Sarah’s group. I will have a copy of their mission statement and what they hope to do to self-sustain themselves (i.e. get on their feet and stop relying on others for outside money) as well as the group members and their overall goals. So needless to say, telling Mama Sarah goodbye today was so hard and I will never ever forget the four visits I have had to this amazing group.
Amani,
Valerie
DA
7/2/09
The kids at my placement are freaking adorable! I am really going to miss them when I leave. Yesterday, they were so great when I got to placement after being absent Tuesday because they all ran up to me and were all fighting over holding my hand so I ended up in with like three kids on each arm. I have some really great videos of the kids from the last two days (yes we can use our cameras now because the mean man is totally sucking up to us so we don’t tell CCS he made me cry)…but anyways...I can’t wait to share the videos when I get home! Wednesday this week, we spent the afternoon in town eating at the Coffee Shop (Tuna for the first time…woohoo), shopping (a second woohoo), and hanging out on the rooftop restaurant that overlooks the city.
Warning gross content ahead: Another necessary mention in this blog before I leave is just how much we all now know about each other’s bodily functions. Not exaggerating, I think we talk about diarrhea or vomiting every single day. It’s a common topic of conversation at like every cab ride and every meal. So for example, we now all use Catherine’s term DA, which stands for Diarrhea Attack, all the time….one of us has spent an entire hour with diarrhea on the hole toilet at the crater, one of us tried to hold a DA for 2 hours at placement before finally turning pale and sweaty and giving in to the scary, nasty toilets, and one of us diarrhea’d a little in his/her (nameless) pants…seriously just a little.
Amani,
Valerie
p.s. I’ve never really had a roommate in my whole life…so what I’ve learned from this trip is that I have a low tolerance for them…yay for sharing a condo with only Matt when we get back!! :-)
The kids at my placement are freaking adorable! I am really going to miss them when I leave. Yesterday, they were so great when I got to placement after being absent Tuesday because they all ran up to me and were all fighting over holding my hand so I ended up in with like three kids on each arm. I have some really great videos of the kids from the last two days (yes we can use our cameras now because the mean man is totally sucking up to us so we don’t tell CCS he made me cry)…but anyways...I can’t wait to share the videos when I get home! Wednesday this week, we spent the afternoon in town eating at the Coffee Shop (Tuna for the first time…woohoo), shopping (a second woohoo), and hanging out on the rooftop restaurant that overlooks the city.
Warning gross content ahead: Another necessary mention in this blog before I leave is just how much we all now know about each other’s bodily functions. Not exaggerating, I think we talk about diarrhea or vomiting every single day. It’s a common topic of conversation at like every cab ride and every meal. So for example, we now all use Catherine’s term DA, which stands for Diarrhea Attack, all the time….one of us has spent an entire hour with diarrhea on the hole toilet at the crater, one of us tried to hold a DA for 2 hours at placement before finally turning pale and sweaty and giving in to the scary, nasty toilets, and one of us diarrhea’d a little in his/her (nameless) pants…seriously just a little.
Amani,
Valerie
p.s. I’ve never really had a roommate in my whole life…so what I’ve learned from this trip is that I have a low tolerance for them…yay for sharing a condo with only Matt when we get back!! :-)
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