Wednesday, June 20, 2007

I'll Never Be Tired of Seeing Dik Dik


It's been so long since I last wrote on this blog (almost 3 weeks!). The time seems to be flying by me faster than I was expecting. There is a zen that can be found in the simplicity of daily life here. I run through the village every morning at dawn and watch the sunrise over Mt. Kilimanjaro. It's truly the most awesome land feature that I have ever seen. It rises to over 19,000 ft from sea level! Along the way, I see women carrying bunches of bananas to the market and children walking to school. The village is just waking up and startling to bustle. Basically, I know that things will be alright when the day starts like that.

I teach Geography now at my school in addition to English. We are learning about Latitude and Longitude. I'm trying to incorporate everything they know into one class so they can see that what we learn is completely applicable. We do basic algebraic equations and the class is taught in English. Then I do my best to translate into Swahili until they get my drift. My Swahili is good enough to sound like a 6 year old child and their English is at about the same level so we can usually meet somewhere in the middle.

For anyone that may have missed my last mass email, I have also become active in trying to get some of these kids back into the mainstream schooling system. They are so smart... they deserve a chance at a better life. I asked for financial help from anyone that was willing and hoped to raise enough money to send one of my sharpest students to a secondary school. I was blown away by the response that I received. It seems like the message reached quite a few people. Their support has helped me gross almost $6000! That money will allow me to permanently change the course of 7 students lives by sending them to school. But, more money also means more responsibility on my part. I have been working hard setting up a student scholarship fund in Moshi. My primary concern is finding a way to insure the longevity and sustainability of this funding. I want other volunteers in the future to be able to do the same things that I have done without having to start all over.

My days have been filled with various tasks and life is deceptively busy. On one hand, I have never spent so much time just sitting and talking without any real distractions or interuptions. We have this tendancy in the US to turn on the television, or play with our cell phone, or page through a magazine when we are left you only someone else to entertain us. I have not even seen a television since I left over a month ago. I thought the withdrawl would be difficult, but it turned out to be entirely non-existent. I read, and write when I feel like being alone and I walk through the village or visit one of the orphanages when I want some company. On the other hand, I have felt like I am in a unique postion to leave a permanent and positive effect on the community before I move on. I want to attain a non-profit status for my scholarship fund as soon as I can so I can continue to fundraise in the future. Then there are lesson plans to make each night, school supplies to buy in town, and an entirely new language to learn. Not to mention my need for a tasty beer before I sleep whenever possible.

I went on Safari last weekend. PLEASE MAKE A NOTE... do whatever is necessary to experience this before you die. I have virtually no chance of relaying through words what I feels like to be among so many animals and see such a condensed circle of life. But I'll try... It was like I had traveled onto the National Geographic channel. We saw every species of animal that you can imagine: Zebras, Wildebeest, Gazelles, and Dik Dik (small deer) living amongst Lions, and Hyenas. There were Hippos in the water while the Buffalo drank their fill. The Giraffes ate leaves off of the tallest trees and families of Baboons and monkeys hung from every branch. At one point in time, we found our jeep parked between a mother elephant and her calf... She was not happy and it was truly exhilerating/terrifying. She started thrashing around and I didn't know whether I should continue to snap pictures, or hide and pray for my life. Obviously, I kept on snapping away like a tourist, but it was scary nonetheless.

But, by far the most amazing experience was seeing a Cheetah. We found him sitting in a field. I couldn't believe it! he had attracted a small army of jeeps by the time he decided to get up and move around. He started walking right towards our vehicle and I kept taking pictures every second. I figured he would turn around at any minute... but he never did. He walked right past us. I mean he was no more than 10 feet away from me! Then he started walking straight towards a group of Zebras and Gazelle. He took off after them and the chase ensued for about a minute. A Cheetah moves everybit as fast as you've seen on the television... All the animals got away. But, it was funny because half of the jeep was routing for the Gazelle and the other half for the Cheetah. I was left with this feeling that I had truly just witnessed something unique. But, there was a part of me that wondered if this was just another day in the park.

To sum everything up, life is good. My experiences have been everything I hoped and I've been able to connect with the culture and community more than I could have ever imagine. But, I still miss my life back in the states sometimes. Inevitably, people and things move on with or without me. I miss all of you terribly... please keep in touch. I will do my best to do the same. Until next time...