Saturday 22 August 2009

Tanzania: Day 9

From Tanzania 2009 Photo Album
One more day!

Up at 6 am. Out by 7 am. Drove Southwest 40 km to an area called Majimatitu and a school of 3,500 children. Lucky for us, it was Saturday so the crowd was slightly smaller. We were in a very contained area and we set up shop quickly. It was worth the wait for the sun to get a bit higher to allow for better donor photos. We again started with the 270 individual shots and we were working at a near record-breaking pace. The groups were flying through so quickly, that we were left to wait for the smoke to clear from the children leaving the picture-taking area. We hit a bit of a snag in the afternoon and used our time creatively by going shopping for water and biscuits for the local children and taking advantage of an opportunity to speak more thoroughly with some local teachers.

From Tanzania 2009 Photo Album
With many of us being teacher ourselves, we could relate to these stories. However we did learn some interesting differences between Canadian customs and Tanzanian customs. Imagine a classroom of 80 well-behaved children!

Liz experienced a very respectful "God bless you" and many "Thank you"s in English when speaking with the children. Linda had some very interesting interviews and made such a connection with one local mother that the memory was captured on camera.

It was one of our warmer days and we found shade when we could to get some relief. Dave was quick to place the camera in the shade whenever possible.

From Tanzania 2009 Photo Album
After a 6-day marathon, we are looking forward to a much-deserved day off tomorrow, including a trip to Zanzibar. If we are lucky, we might be able to stay awake long enough for a euchre game or two tonight.

We are hoping to blog about Monday's final distribution day on Wednesday. However, we leave directly from Monday's site for Mikumi National Park and a safari. We are hoping to connect with you before leaving for home but we cannot guarantee it.

Thoughts to you all,
Team Tanzania 2009

Leave your comments here.