Africa cont... Chekereni

August 30th: Began our journey from Nairobi down to Tanzania. Spent the better part of the day on Riverside shuttle bus. We noticed a considerable difference in the condition of the roads between Kenya and Tanzania. It felt like as soon as we crossed the border into Tanzania, there were far fewer potholes and road hazards. I like Tanzania...

We spent the night in Moshi, a great little town at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. This a popular place to stay for people climbing the mountain. It felt like coming home to me, since this was the closest town to the village I lived five years ago. This is where Lulu and I would get groceries and check email once a week.

The first place we went when we arrived was the post office. I needed to find out if the boxes of books had arrived. The postmaster checked through the incoming freight records and found nothing. I was so disappointed. I have no idea what happened to those books. There is nothing more I can do but just hope that they are still at sea and on their way.

During my weekly visits to Moshi, Lulu and I also frequented a little bakery by the name Abba Ali's Hot Bread Shop. This bakery is wonderful, full of tasty little baked pastries, sweets, rolls, and breads. I took Rob and Jasper to this little gem as soon as we left the post office. We filled our bellies with cracklins and chocolate tarts. We then found a room at the Buffalo Hotel, one of the listings under "Budget Accommodations" where we stayed for $10 a night. We had a great view of Kili that first evening, which was very exciting since it is typically shrouded in clouds this part of the year.

View of Kilimanjaro from Buffalo Inn

We woke up early the next morning and headed to Chekereni, the village I lived in when I lived here with Lulu five years ago. Originally, we were planning on staying in Chekereni a few nights, but I started feeling really nervous about not having a place for Jasper to sleep when we got there and the mosquitos. I didn't know if there would even be a mattress for us to sleep on or a blanket or anything. So Rob and I decided that we would just sleep in Moshi and go to Chekereni for the day. We took a dala dala towards Himo, through Jiapanda Junction, turned south, and hopped off where the train tracks cross the road.

Daladala ride to Chekereni

The village is essentially as it was when I left. There were a few new buildings here and there. The biggest change was the power line that was running though the town! Chekereni has electricity as of a month ago! Nobody can afford it except for the Catholic mission home and a few others (including a barber shop and a store with COLD sodas!), but it is a huge step towards development. It was so much fun to introduce Rob and Jasper to all the people of Chekereni. They kept asking "Bwana yako? Mtoto yako?" "Your man? Your baby?" It was hilarious when I said "Ndiyo! Bwana na mtoto yangu!" "Yes! My man and baby!". They would get so excited and laugh so hard and whack me on the shoulder and congratulate me. We visited the Catholic Father's home and chatted with him for a while. We spent the bulk of the time visiting the home of Joseph and his family. I was closer to this family than any other in Chekereni. There are five kids in their family: Suzie, Joseph, Consolata, Bahati, and Emanuel. The father is a guide for climbers on Kili. Suzie, the eldest lives in Dar, but happened to be home visiting, so it was great to see her. Jospeh is now a bus driver in Dodoma, so I missed him. Consolata was gone too, but Bahati and Emanu were both there. Bahati is a grown woman now and she is so beautiful and smart. It was so wonderful to see them all. Bahati wasn't at school because she hasn't been able to pay her school fees. We left her enough money so that she'd be able to pay her fees for a few months. I told her I would send more soon and that she needed to stay in school. Rob and I made a pact that we are going to get her through secondary school and then help her find a scholarship for college. She is the number one student at her school and how neat would it be if we were able to find a way to get her to come to a university in the States?

Bahati and Jasper

We visited a few more friends, and then Bahati took us to her school. When we arrived, all the students were lined up for dismissal. The headmistress asked us to introduce ourselves and give a little speech to the students. It was really embarrassing and we were totally caught off guard. I felt like I had a huge frog in my throat and tounge-tied, but Rob saved us. He said how lucky they were to have such a beautiful school and told them to work hard because doing well in school would provide them with opportunities for the future. It was neat. I got teary-eyed because I could see that the students were all listening so intently and hopefully. We sat down and talked with the headmistress about what the school's needs are and what we could do to help. There is so much need in this area, it's overwhelming. It was so neat to have Rob there with me because now we are both inspired to do something to help. We want to start a non-profit to help the schools in Chekereni. The books were intended to help start a school library and if they ever arrive, that would be the first step. But the schools need so much more than that. They need text books, school supplies, a laboratory for chemistry and physics, a playground, electricity, running water, and staff offices. So, I'm going to start trying to do SOMETHING. We'll see. I'm researching what it takes to start a non-profit at the moment.

So, that was Chekereni. Exhausting, overwhelming, a little depressing. I just don't think I could have managed staying there much more than we did. I want to do something to help. I want to take that overwhelming sinking feeling in my heart and turn it into something positive.

All in all, it was incredible to go back to Chekereni. What a wonderful spot on the earth. The people there have the kindest, happiest hearts. They welcomed us with hugs and showered us with love. It was great.