Day 10: Maasai

After a whole week of hard work and lots of fun interactions with the members of the local community, the volunteers were ready for a relaxing Saturday. 

Most of us spent the morning visiting a coffee plantation and learning about how it is cultivated, harvested, washed, peeled, and dried. 

After our regular lunch of rice and beans, we had enough time to rest, read, play games, and spend time playing with the local kids. 

Later in the afternoon, 3 Masai men and 3 Masai women visited us for a cultural exchange. We had the opportunity to hear about their culture and traditions as well as to bombard them with specific questions about religion, marriage, death, education, etc. 

They were just as curious to hear about our western culture and were quite surprised that we could not marry more than one wife, but could easily "abandon" her through a divorce. 

Later, they danced and sang for us and we had dinner together. Even though Saturday was a very relaxing day, it turned out to be culturally very rich. 

By Nelson

Day 9: Dareda Primary School

This morning was our first beautiful, clear morning; and, like every morning, we awoke to birds singing and roosters crowing. 

Don and Marianne met with the Dareda Primary teachers, who were grateful for the three classrooms and teacher's office that Karimu built last year. 

The maternity centre is looking better each day. The flooring is almost complete, and the tiles are being laid in the bathrooms. 

The group of volunteers conducted art activities and played games with the Dareda Primary students. The students really appreciate the interaction with the volunteers, because they rarely get the chance in classes of 60 to 80 students to engage in creative activities. 

In the afternoon, Don, Marianne, Nelson, and Luciana, went to a micro-finance meeting and learned how strong the community is in supporting each other in taking out small loans to improve their income and the lives of their children. 

The volunteers are all getting along beautifully. Everyone is positive and cheerful. They have worked hard all week, and they look forward to a day off tomorrow and a visit from the Masai. 

Marianne and Kelly 

PS martin says to Tom sorry about Brexit...

Day 8: Games

We woke up to a chilly morning, and after having breakfast, we started the walk to the site. 

The exterior of the building is painted with yellow and light blue around the edge. Under the direction of Mr Robin, along with Kelly's assistance, everyone stayed hydrated and protected. 

In the afternoon, Daniel the head teacher invited the adults to his house, where they enjoyed a delicious meal. The children and the leaders stayed at the secondary school and had an art class with the local kids. 

The students did a incredible job and we can feel their enthusiasm and artistic talents. 

The games that came after the art session filled the afternoon with laughter. 

On the way back to the institute, Marianne was assasinated by Luciana. Soon after we got back, Ling assinated Sam with a pair of flipflops but eased the pain by giving her a lovely present! 

It's Sam's birthday today, so we had a birthday party in the dining hall, played games and enjoyed soda. Good day!

By Frankie and Ling

Day 7: Midwives

Today the weather was nicer. After breakfast we had our pleasant walk through the village. On our way we were greeted by several adorable kids who day after day wait for us to pass. 

We continued the work loading sand, cracking the floor, sweeping, and drinking water. By mid morning four of us left the job to meet with the midwives.  We were really impressed by how much they still remember from what was taught before.  It was a very warming and productive meeting. 

As we got back to the job site, we could really see the progress of everybody's work. Back at the institute we had a fascinating talk about the Internet from Nelson who worked for Google. We finished our day with no assassinations but lots of happy tired people.

Claudia and Luciana 

Day 6: Tea with the Head

We woke up to a light drizzle and were encouraged by the thought that today would be cooler than yesterday. 

Upon arriving at the work site, with the weather still cool and overcast, we learned that Simon, the head master of Ayalagaya Secondary School, wanted to invite us to have tea and snacks with him and his wife Constancia, who teaches history and English at the school. 

The meal, which included roasted peanuts, was delicious; and the company of Simon and Constancia was very pleasant. 

Then, it was on to the work site. We applied two coats of pale yellow paint to the outside of the maternity ward; and, along with the paid Tanzanian labourers, who seem to never to rest and never to take a break to drink water, we also finished much of the interior flooring. 

Seeing so much work get done was extremely satisfying and made us look forward to the next day, despite our fatigue. Don and Kelly

Day 5: Starting work... And a Game of Assasins!

Waking up at 7 is quite early for a foggy day. That was how this morning welcomed us to the first work day at the project site. 

After a talkative breakfast we all gathered outside, seated on the grass for a little bit and heard Kelly's laugh regarding her own murder. The assassination game was on and our fellow friend was "murdered" by her own mother, very exciting for a Monday morning. 

With everyone's eyes wide open and no trust in each other, (we are taking the game quite serious) we headed up to the birth center.

Nelson was a good leader, Martin was good care-taker, the group was great at working and Jack was great at killing. Did I mention Janice died? Thankfully only in the game. Following the crime scene: some swiping, painting, breaking, cleaning, lifting, eating, drinking water, drinking water, drinking water... 

There was lots of work but a Swahili lesson for our lunch break. 

And with our Swahili well trained by Alfred, we were guided to a little more work and then the amazing view that the walk back carries. 

Back at the institute we divided ourselves between showers, photography class and working out and finally met again to play some cards and eventually have dinner. Ending the night with a quiz that made us go to bed reflecting about the world we live in. 

From Victoria.

Day 4: Church and Birthdays

On a beautiful Sunday morning, the group headed off to our very first church visit after a fulfilling breakfast of bread and sausages. 

During the spectacular trail of vast scenery of luscious trees, we attempted to hold conversations using only a guide book in hand. 'Nisiku missouri sana (?)', meaning what a beautiful day, seemed to confuse the locals more than we intended to. 

At the service, the church was filled with harmonious singing by the church choir which naturally brought the massive amount of locals together in a melting pot. It was a fascinating yet beautiful experience. 

We had the pleasure of being introduced individually to the crowd by the priest after Don's heartfelt speech (and we later found out that it was his birthday! Happy birthday again Don!!). 

After the service, we travelled back to the village and ended the day with a fun session with the local kids and a stressful game of 'stress'. We look forward to our last peaceful night, as the assination game will commence tomorrow. May the odds be ever in your favour Karimu volunteers!

-Janice and Ayana