Tanzania: SCAW in Mjimwema

Three new items were included in our itinerary. There were the ferry, photographs of multiple groups of children, and a visit to the Canadian Embassy.

Today our team leader, Tom Belton, drove our van on to the main floor of the ferry “Sea Breeze” around 6 AM. We all stayed in the van as passengers stood to the right and in front of us. On our left was a jeep with six men in uniform with “Tanzania” stitched on to the lapels. Within a few minutes we were on our way across the harbour. The ferry was large enough to hold about one thousand passengers on the main level. The ride was smooth and slow. We reached our destination in about 15 minutes.

For the first time, we arrived at our distribution site before the truck which transported the bedkits. Therefore, we took extra time to find the most suitable location for the bedkit display. We discovered a lovely view of the Indian Ocean behind the school. Unfortunately, we could not use that area for the display because there were many trees and not enough open space. A suitable location was found and soon we were ready to say "Yako" as the children were given their bedkits. Tom played a soccer game with a few students while others gathered around to watch with delight, before the school bell rang.

The team members were eager to experience how the photographs of multiple groups of children would work. We completed the sets of threes at about 10:35 AM, then took about one-half-hour break to change the bedkit display and talk with the parents who had assembled to watch the distribution. In the previous distributions, there were ten children in each group photograph, whereas today, threre were two groups with nine children in the photograph, one group with eight, fourteen with six, seven with eleven, one with thirteen, and seven with ten. It was more challenging to organize the children but the team members all worked together to finish the task in record time.

Although we were sweaty, grubby and unkept we headed to the Canadian Embassy. We were going to meet with Mrs Jennifer Wood, the First Scretary (Senior Trade Commissioner). We were delighted! Mrs. Wood was very pleasant and seemed genuinely interested in our organization and what we were doing in Tanzania. She give us good wishes and took photos with us.

Just before we left the embassy, there was a peacock proudly stepping around around the parking area. This was symbolic of the pride we felt: to be Canadians and to have made a difference in the lives of 600 children today.

Grace Wood,
SCAW 2006 Tanzania Travelling Team