The group enjoyed a hike at Lake Manyara National Park last weekend. They spotted baboons, dik-diks, flamingos and antelopes. The group enjoyed walking through the savanna grasses, a nice change from the dusty heat of town. So much exciting progress is happening at the worksite! The roof was installed this week on the kitchen, so now our group will work with the community members to mix up plaster to create the interior floor and walls. They will start cleaning up the exterior of the building by doing some needed landscaping, ensuring that water will drain properly and no large puddles or mud will pool near the entrance.
The world map project is progressing – the whole map is painted and now our students will be working on painting the country names on the map.
The night sky proves to be more spectacular than ever on the plains. Other highlights include cooking squash / coconut soup, practicing new Swahili vocab whenever possible during the day and sharing moments with students in the school while visiting their classes. Many evenings of sporting events including soccer, volleyball and handball have been played by our group and the community members. Amid all of the fun activities, much insightful reflection has been blossoming within the group during morning and evening meetings. Our group has been thinking about privilege and living closer to the earth. They have gained a lot of awareness about all the extra comforts and often times, distractions, that they have regular access to in the U.S. and they want to make sure that they don’t take these privileges for granted upon their return. Water use is another topic of conversation that our students are thinking a lot about. They want to use less water in the U.S. now that they know they can get by on so much less!
A favorite dish among students has been chipsi mayai – a potato-egg pancake with a variety of fillings from vegetables to meat.
