After arriving in Tanzania on Saturday night, the group boarded the bus and headed off to the United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) for orientation. The UAACC is an NGO dedicated to providing programs and projects for the enrichment of the Arusha community. It was a perfect landing spot to dig into conversations about culture and group dynamics, and to deepen feelings of global solidarity.
Today, the group left the UAACC and enjoyed a glorious ride across the Northern Highlands, where they saw Maasai tribes all along the way. The Maasai people are an ethic group inhabiting Northern Tanzania and parts of Kenya who have traditionally led a semi-nomadic lifestyle.
After this breathtaking drive, the group arrived in their homestay community in the Kinihe Village and joined up with their homestay families! Tomorrow, they will begin their service project building a classroom at the Kinihe Primary School.
Check back often for more blog posts to come!
Now Hear it From the Students! A Blog Post Written on the Road by “Blog Masters” Nadine, Gabby, Katelyn, and Avery.
To whom it may concern, Karibu (welcome) to our blog! It is currently Day 3 and we are en route to our homestay in Kinihe. We had an unforgettable time at UAACC and we were very sad to say tutaonana (bye). We’ve gotten to try so many things already like speaking Swahili, trying new foods, and throwing our bags to a man on top of a bus. A couple challenges that arose was dealing with the mosquito nets and bathroom difficulties (not kunara). This just in! A huge stack of posters just fell on Liv in the bus. At the beginning of our journey, we were amazingly welcomed with singing, dancing, and tiki torches at midnight when….
… we arrived at UAACC. Our first full day there, we did an orientation in the morning and took a tour of the complex and played with the kids in the afternoon. During the tour, the kids just came up to us and held our hands, and it was amazing to feel and see the instant connections between us and the kids. After dinner, we sat around a big fire, wrote down our hopes and fears for this trip then diminished our fears by throwing them into the fire. After this, we all feel ready to tackle anything that comes our way on this trip. We are excited to meet our Mamas, Babas, kakas, and dadas, and will …
…cherish every moment. Before departing the UAACC, we found out our homestay partners but with a twist! We each got handed a sticky note with our name on one side and an animal on the other side. We had to imitate our animals and whoever was imitating the same animal is our partner. We close out our time at the UAACC with a scrumptious meal. Overall we had an amazing first few days together filled with joy, bonding, and laughter.
Goodnight and don’t forget to live, laugh, love.
Yours truly,
Blog Masters (Nadine, Gabby, Katelyn, and Avery)
