Technology Troubles in Tanga

Tanga 4-H Technology Training

I spent most of this week in Tanga (eastern Tanzania right by the ocean) with the Tanzania 4-H. Many universities are interested in doing research in Tanzania – especially with agriculture. One university took the approach to put information into the hands of 4-H district advisors through the internet. This is actually a pretty cool project and when it gets fully up and going, I think it will get some good results. I was hired by them to present the information on this project to the district 4-H advisors- about 30 Tanzanians. My tools to present were the internet, a PowerPoint which would be shown up on the wall through a projector. Now, anyone who does presentations on a regular basis knows that if something can go wrong with technology, it likely will. Well, true to many of your predictions, it did! That particular morning (and frankly the rest of the week), the electricity and internet kept going in and out. So, I would show a few slides, the power would go out. I show a few more slides, the power would go out. Ahhh! Thankfully the group was really patient. Plus, they were really excited about the concept of the web-page where they could get information on starting 4-H projects, etc… We also set up GMAIL accounts together. So, overall I think the training was a success. But, it's a good reminder of the realities facing this country.

A Nice Welcome Home

After being absent for most of the week, the students at Orkeeswa were very welcoming to me upon my return. This is one of many reasons why I like these kids! "Teacher, welcome back." "Teacher, we miss you in biology and agriculture…no one was there to teach us." I suppose it could just be flattery or something along those lines. But, our kids just seem to have a genuineness about them. I guess that's part of why I like working with them so much.

Girls Basketball in Moshi

Yesterday we did the 2 ½ hour drive to Moshi for a girl's basketball tournament. The girls played really well winning all but one game. Plus, when they did win it was by a really large margin! It is fun being with them because of the new experiences they are having. For instance, when you sit in a car for 2 ½ hours and you aren't used to it…you vomit! At least two girls had that experience anyway. They like to sing at the top of their lungs too! They usually sing the same 4-5 songs over and over again…mainly because they can never remember all of the words. It was, however, a little distracting as I was trying to navigate the narrow, dangerous roads. I'm sure anyone who has traveled with students can appreciate what I'm talking about.

Frightening Trip Home in the Dark

Last night we dropped the girls off at their homes because it was dark. I did not know how much fuel we had in the tank (which has been an issue lately…we've run out of gas twice in the past week…dumb volunteers…why don't you just put fuel in the darn thing!) and getting a flat tire on these thorns is always a concern! Plus, the headlights are pretty dim on the Land Rover. So, needless to say, we were set up nicely for an adventure. The last girl we dropped off lives way out in the bush. We pulled off from the "main road" onto what we thought was her driveway, only to discover it was nothing but huge rocks, thorns and washouts. We backtracked, drove down the main road some more, and made another attempt. Just as we were about to back track again, we noticed a Maasai woman waving her hands. It was a member of the students family, although the headlights were so dim she couldn't make out who it was. We followed her as she literally ran in front of us to show us the path. After we unloaded the last girl we headed for home. Unfortunately, we still couldn't find the right path. Once again, just as we were about to get REALLY stuck, a couple of Maasai warriors, including one of our students arrived to help. And again, they ran in front of us to show us the way. It began with four. Then, a couple more arrived to make six. Pretty soon, we had at least a dozen Maasai from this family, including children and that same mama, running in front of us in the headlight to show us the path. At one point, I had to "gun it" to make it up a steep hill. The mama thought I was going to run her over and dove off the road – hitting someone else on the way. Oh, those times you long for a camera! We finally found the main road and made it back to our home last night relatively unscathed.

Back to Teaching!

First Week Back

My apologies for taking SO long to update the BLOG! Last Monday was the first day back to teaching at Orkeeswa secondary. Needless to say, it's been busy. We have many new faces! We lost four volunteers (don't worry...their term was just up!) and one local teacher. I'm still teaching biology and agriculture in three different forms (grades). So, that means I step in front of a class 18 times/week. I'm also the school nurse. No cracking jokes about that one please... I take my responsibilities (and my thermometer) very seriously. I'll get to Lisa's responsibilities in a minute.

The students were excited, for the most part, to be back. I mean it's still school! But the relationship these guys have with each other and the staff is really unique. They are highly motivated to be there and be "good students" so it creates a good culture to want to return to.

Lisa is Teaching English!

In addition to being the "after school activities coordinator" and "office manager" and being married to me (full time job too), Lisa is teaching English! She's going to be great...but she's never taught secondary students....doesn't have a background in English as a subject (besides speaking it like a champ) (she was an ag-econ major) (but don't ask her about ag-econ either!) That being said, she's already done really well in her classes, especially Form 1 who she was working with last fall. Let's all pause for a moment and reflect on how we treated our high school English teacher and then feel remorseful for the things we did to them. Then, let's pray for Lisa. And me too. Well...all teachers all over now that I think about it! We need it!

Helping 4-H in Tanga

Well, after all that praying, you're really going to hate this. I'm not teaching this week. I'm hanging out by the beach in Tanga, Tanzania. The Tanzania 4-H is partnering with Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin for some development projects. Somehow I tricked them into letting me be the presenter here for a part of the program. I'm talking about a website that 4-H advisors can go to to access content which they might use to teach 4-H members and also to discuss topics/issues. It's a cool tool. Hopefully the training goes well tomorrow too. Well, if nothing else I guess I got to hang out in beautiful Tanga for a few days while everyone back home was teaching away!

The past two weeks in Uganda have been awesome!

For the past two weeks Lisa and I have been traveling across Uganda. This place is incredible! It is aptly dubbed "The Pearl of Africa". We have seen some beautiful country and had a lot of adventures. We'll try to summarize an exhausting and wonderful past two weeks. Lisa should be putting pictures up soon on Facebook, so stay posted. There's some good ones!

Midnight Ride across Lake Victoria

We left our friends Rich and Carli in Mwanza to take an all-night ferry ride across Lake Victoria. I didn't sleep most of the night even though the quarters were adequate. It was hot, noisy and every noise I heard I was sure was a burglar coming in! Nevertheless, it was an interesting way to travel.

Lake Bunyonyi

Our first stop was to beautiful and peaceful Lake Bunyoni. This place was surrounded by steep terraced hills. The place we stayed was right on the water. And, good news, they also had wood dugout canoes for rent. So, of course we tried our hand at this form of transport (still common amongst the local folks). Bummer, I left our passports in my shorts pocket! I was so worried about tipping over, we only canoed for about ½ an hour! What a sissy I am!

Climbing Mt. Sabyinyo- 3669 m tall

After the relaxation of Lake Bunyoni, we tried our extinct volcano climbing skills on Mt. Sabyinyo in southwest Uganda. This consisted of climbing up three peaks, on rickety (often broken) tree ladders, in the rain! We slogged through the mud in our sandals doing our best to keep up with our rifle packing guide. Every now and then the clouds would clear and you could see beautiful views of Rwanda and the Congo. Then, the rain would start again and the view would be reduced to about 10 feet or so. When we finally reached the summit, we were frozen and wet, but happy to be standing in three countries at once – Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. All in all, we hiked about 9 miles and did a 1200 meter ascent – sometimes straight up. To put it plainly, it kicked our butts! But, the views and personal challenge made it worthwhile.

Hiking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

This is easily the highlight of the trip for me. We hiked through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Its name is well deserved – you couldn't see more than 50 feet into the jungle because the foliage was so dense! You could pay $500 to track gorillas here (one of two places in the world…the other was where we did the hiking the day before). But, we decided that was too much money. We instead decided to hike through the forest and just see the jungle and whatever animals we could – about 12 miles. We hired a porter and began. The jungle was intense! We had a good path the whole way. However, I just can't describe how beautiful/wild/strange the plant life was surrounding us.

Bad Hotel Experience with a Twist

We stayed in some bad hotels on this trip – most tolerable enough for the price. But, the night before we left for Kampala, we stayed in a really bad hotel. We got overcharged for it, food was bad, really bad bathroom, etc… Then, the owner (and I swear the whole town) decided to have a party just outside our room most of the night. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant stay. The next morning, the owner had our breakfast prepared only for Lisa to discover the milk was sour. As we were sitting there (around 6 am after no sleep), the owner asked us to contribute to her political campaign! After all we had been through, we politely declined.

Modern Life in Kampala

From southwest Uganda we took a bus to Kampala, Uganda's capital city. We have been living in Monduli now for nearly 5 months. When we arrived in Kampala (1.5 million people) our eyes nearly popped out of our heads! It was very modern, clean and overall inviting! We had brewed coffee (not the instant I usually have to drink), went to a shopping mall (bought a cook book!), went to two movies, saw a museum and a cultural center. Let's just say that Lisa's not really a city/shopping person. But, give her five months of the relative sensory deprivation of Monduli, and she was all about it! We really enjoyed Kampala.

Rhino Sanctuary

From Kampala, we headed north. Along the way was the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. It was a bit of a let-down. They had reintroduced nine white rhinos to the area. We did get to walk up to them (apparently it's OK to do this with white rhinos – black rhinos and we would have been toast). After watching only three of the rhinos rest under the tree for about 20 minutes, we were pretty well set and ready to head back. I don't really know what I was expecting – maybe them to charge at us or something cool like that. Oh well, it was cool to see this species, which was nearly hunted to extinction, slowly making a come-back.

Murchison Falls

North of the rhino sanctuary was a very cool place – Murchison Falls. These falls are formed from the Nile rushing through a narrow gap in the rocks. We took a boat up the Nile past crocodiles, hippos, elephants, monkeys and wart hogs. At the base of the fall, we hiked about an hour to the top of the falls. The force of the water was cool. Plus, the trail was covered in a sort of mica rock which made it look like glitter. Besides being really hot and humid, it was a cool day. It was a humbling experience to stand next to something so powerful.

Rafting the Nile in Jinja

Our final adventure was white water rafting the Nile River in Jinja. We went down class five rapids. In case you don't know – which we really didn't – the biggest is class six! We went down a few class threes and fours – spooky stuff. Then, came one class five named Silverback. About ½ way through the rapid our raft tipped over and all six of us riding it fell out. We all went way under the water. I swallowed a lot of water and it took what seemed like forever to reach the surface. I was coughing and spitting out water when I finally came up. Ironically enough, Lisa, who is quite afraid of water, was way less panicked than I was! She told me later she was just thinking "well this sucks." We kicked and struggled our way to the safety raft and then finally back to our original raft. Overall we went down three class five rapids – one with a 15 foot drop! Gladly, we only tipped over the once (in Silverback). It was one of the scariest things I have ever done, even though I've been rafting several times before. What a great end to the trip!

Heading back to Monduli

Now, we are in Jinja just waiting to take a 16 hour bus ride back to Arusha and then back to Monduli. We are so thankful for these experiences and seeing some of God's wild creation. We'll have about a week to get ready and then teaching resumes.

Travel Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Stopped at the Gate

I will try to summarize a really long and tragic (at least from my perspective) story so as not to bore you! And, to make sure you are interested, I'll tell you the punch line FIRST – we got to the gate to the Ngorongoro National Park and were kicked off the bus because we refused/couldn't pay the park fees. OK, if you are still interested, read on.

Immediately after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, we wanted to go to Musoma (near Lake Victoria). We knew we wouldn't have time to buy a ticket, so a friend of ours purchased them for us. There are two ways to Musoma – one through two national parks and one around them. Obviously, the one through the national parks is much faster and with a much nicer road. However, there is a $50/person fee for each of the two parks; or $200 for Lisa and I (on top of the bus fare). We were told by some folks that we would not have to pay that fee because we have Tanzania resident's permits. So, we got the tickets going through the park – should have been about an 8 hour ride.

The day of the trip, we arose at 4:30 AM (after just coming down from Kili the day before!) and got on the bus. We rode along in peace - even saw some giraffes! Then, when we arrived at the gate to Ngorongoro, there was a park ranger telling us about the fees – and that we DID have to pay. I, of course, thought he was lying to me. So, I called my friend and tried to have him explain to the park ranger why I should not have to pay. That didn't get me very far! My friend told me he was "going to call someone to get this figured out" and hung up. Of course, the network went down right after we hung up, so there went that lifeline! I argued and argued with the park ranger. In the mean time, there is a bus full of angry Tanzanian folks wanting to get going! The biggest issue was that we had not brought enough money (and I still didn't trust the man to be telling me the truth). So, finally I conceded to get off of the bus with our stuff with the idea that the bus company would arrange our transportation back to Arusha and give us a partial refund. Long story short, both were lies!

We finally returned to Arusha at around 1 PM and were told to return at 4 PM to the bus company and they would get it straightened out. When we returned, we were told they would not give us a refund and they didn't even go to Musoma on the day we needed. So, finally we conceded (yet again) to purchase a new ticket to Mwanza going the long way (again departing at 6 AM the next day).

Let's just say, after all that, my feelings toward Africa were not very good! I'm not a confrontational person by nature. I was spent, wiped out and angry. We went back to our hotel and just sat in a semi-vegetative state for the remainder of the day!

The Longest Bus Ride EVER

If at this point, you are bored with travel stories, skip down to Veronica. If not, read on!

So, the next day, we began our journey to Mwanza. We had a better attitude from the beginning of the day. We again wake up at 4:30 AM for our 6 AM bus. About 3 hours in to the trip we start driving on these unpaved, bumpy and dusty roads. I mean REALLY bumpy and dusty. Soon, everyone is covered in a thick layer of road dust. About 6 hours in to the trip, the bus breaks down (reference bumpy roads). About 10 hours into the trip the dust turns to mud on us as we start to sweat. About 14 hours into the trip we arrive in Mwanza. Unfortunately, we still need to go to Musoma (about 4 hours away).

Thankfully, we had made friends on the bus with a man (Nickerson) who lived in Mwanza and he helped us get to the proper bus station to get to Musoma. Unfortunately, they were closed. Yet, somehow in the midst of things, we found another friend (Deo) who was also going to Musoma. He said we should wait by the secondary lot of the bus company and they would come by there and pick us up (I'm thinking "yeah right"). Anyway, it's about 8:30 by now and Deo said they would be there by 10 PM.

Around 10:30, the Musoma bus pulls up. Unfortunately, so did about 20 men – yelling and shoving. Evidently, there were not enough seats for everyone! Deo said, if we just go down to "this other place" we could get on there. So, we once again hop in a cab and drive "to this other place". We are told not to worry because the driver of our taxi is the young brother of the Musoma bus driver. I love Tanzania! So, we get to the "other place" and hop out of the Taxi. Deo tells us to hurry. The bus pulls up, but again 20 or so yelling and shoving men do to! Deo is not a tall man – maybe 5 foot 4 inches or so. Yet, somehow in all of the yelling and shoving he talked the conductor into letting us on! So, we literally had to shove our way on to the bus!

Once on the bus, there are exactly enough seats for all of us (thank you God!). Lisa finds a seat with her little back pack in between two slender college girls who are very happy to have her join them. I, on the other hand, have our honkin' big pack with all of the clothes! And, my seat is next to, let's just say, a rather large lady who is, no lie, taking up about ½ of my seat! Since we didn't have time to put our bags under the bus, I'm holding it in my lap! But, I had to sit sideways in my seat to accommodate for the extra ½ of a person. It's now 11:00 PM and my nerves are DONE! So, I tried to get as comfortable as possible – which already is very challenging. Unfortunately, the stress of the running and the shoving and then just general body heat, you know what happened. Yep, we started to sweat. And, the mud flowed once again.

So, to make a long story even longer, my seat mama and I sweated it out until 2:30 AM when we finally arrived in Musoma! After nearly 20 hours of travel time (that day alone) we were ready for bed!

Visiting Veronica

We sponsor a girl through Compassion International. Finally, after all of the fiascos of the past two days, we were able to meet her. After some brief introductions and a tour of the Musoma Compassion facilities, we were taken to Veronica's house. She lives there with her grandmother and siblings. I can't remember how long we have been sponsoring her, but over a year. She has been writing letters to us and they sent a picture too. It was so great to be able to meet her and spend the day with her. We took her to lunch. Lisa spoke all of the Swahili she knew with her! Veronica, like many other children in Tanzania, need financial help to pay for school fees, medicine and food. We were very impressed by the work that Compassion is doing.

Skyping with Family

We finally had fast enough internet to Skype with family. It's been great to see their faces! I especially enjoy watching my niece and nephew do back –flips while mom tries to keep the microphone from falling off of the computer. Lisa's family was kind enough to hold up the cheesecake they were eating just so she could see what she was missing! Thank goodness for technologies that keep us all together (when they work).

Christmas in Mwanza

We said good-bye to Veronica and her family and headed back to Mwanza. During our language training we met a couple, Rich and Carli, who are missionaries here in Mwanza. They run an orphanage called Starehe. Rich and Carli and their daughter Elise are from Canada. We struck up a friendship at training and decided it would be great to spend Christmas with them. So, for the past week we have been here in Mwanza! We have tried to help as best we can at the orphanage. It has been so relaxing to be here with them. Their house overlooks Lake Victoria which makes for some beautiful views. We miss our families a lot (as do Rich and Carli). But, if there was a place to spend this holiday, it was definitely here with them. A few highlights here have been on Christmas Eve we ate a feast prepared by Rich and Carli and then opened gifts. We were also introduced to the game Wizard (a card game) which Lisa promptly won. We also have really enjoyed their daughter Elise who just started walking. Thank you for a wonderful week!

Coming up Next – Uganda

Tonight (hopefully) we'll head to Bukoba and then on to Uganda. Hopefully our bus adventures are a little less harrowing!

Kilimanjaro - Failure to Summit

Failure to Summit

It hurts to write that. But, I thought I would begin by telling everyone we did not summit Kilimanjaro - the tallest free standing mountain in the world. I'll be honest, it was a real blow to get within 1/2 hour of the peak and decide to turn around. But, eg0 now thoroughly in check, I'll try to describe what was, without a doubt, one of the best things I have ever been a part of in my entire life. The fact that Lisa and I did not make it all the way to the top (we turned around with about 1/2 hour to go to Stella Point and another 1/2 hour to Uhuru - the actual highest peak) pales in comparison to the beauty of the scenery, the friendships formed, and the personal challenges we all faced. Not to sound too contrived, but this has been some of the greatest days of my life. So, I do not take shame in not reaching the summit in light of everything else that has happpened in the past few days.

Mitigating Factors

Not to make excuses, but here are a few of the realities of Kili -

1. Cold - it's freakin' cold that high up. We were blessed with clear weather all but the first day. Nevertheless, it is just cold at night. Especially the summit day was very cold.
2. Altitude - I underestimated just what an effect altitude would have on everything. It is just difficult to move! Most of the time, especially toward the end, our group looked like we were walking some sort of a death processional - hunched over and placing one foot barely in front of the other. One of our group members actually became very ill with altitude sickness and had to be sent back down. Scary stuff.
3. Dark - we attempted the summit in the dark. It was way more mentally challenging than I could have imagined. Not being able to see the end point makes a difficult task that much more difficult. As soon as the sun started poking it's head up I felt rejuvenated. But, of course, we were already descending.
4. Appetite - as you climb, you lose appetite and consequently energy. I was fine with appetite (go figure) but Lisa started losing hers and had not eaten well for a few days prior to the summit attempt.
5. Headaches - I did not get headaches, but everyone else in our group did. Lisa especially suffered two nights from migraine headaches. The change in altitude really takes a toll.

OK - now that all of my "excuses" are out of the way, I'll try to briefly describe how AMAZING this experience really was.

The Food

We ate like kings. Hands down. We had warm soup every night along with some great pastas, meats and vegetables. Mornings were eggs, coffee, toast and porridge. To climb up an enormous hill and have fried chicken and french fries waiting for you is a real treat! Let's just say, I did not go hungry!

The Terrain

This was my favorite part. Kilimanjaro has at least five distinct ecosystems. We hiked through them all. I just cannot describe how beautiful it is to be above the clouds and watch the sun setting while the peak of Kili is in the distance. I saw plants I swear were out of a Dr. Seuss book. It is also a fairly easy hike. If not for the mitigating factors (see above), hiking Kili is just like any other hike. We went up the Macheme Route, which is a bit more arduous than some of the others. But, even that was not terribly challenging. I would strongly encourage anyone interested in this adventure to do it!

The Company

Lisa and I were joined by fellow teachers Scott, Ben and Victor. Scott's cousin JJ and two of his fellow pilot buddies Brian and Will joined us. Let's just say everyone clicked well. Poor Lisa had to spend six days on the mountain with all guys though!

The Crew

We went through Tembea Africa for the climb. They were so good. Imagine being a porter and having to carry a basket of stuff on your head, a backpack on your back and trudge up a hill past people to get camp set up before they get there. These porters, guides and cooks redefine tough to me. Plus they did all their hard work with a smile on their face.

Final Thoughts

This was easily one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. I feel so blessed to have experienced the country we did in the way we did with the people we did. It is a humbling thing to be out of breath because there is no air and also because the scenery around you is so phenomenal. So, not making it to the summit, even if only by a little bit, quite pales in comparison to the teeming treasures that were gained along the way.

Last Day Celebration – A Rainy Success

Rain and second thoughts

We are in the "little rainy season". However, there was nothing little about the rain this week! It rained nearly every day. One day it gushed water from the sky. It was difficult to see more than 2-3 yards. We were ready to drive home and I walked to the car with my umbrella. A girl asked me to use my umbrella to walk home. She had a jacket on with the hood up, but she was still getting poured on. I said no primarily because there were other students there. How can I be fair and only give it to one student? Then, a little while later a boy came up and asked to borrow my umbrella. He did not have a rain jacket or anything. He looked truly pathetic with rain dribbling down his face. I gave the umbrella to him, asking that he share it on the walk back. Why did I give the umbrella to him and not to her? Was my decision fair? I know it's not a huge thing, but my decision really troubled me. Who knows what the right answer is in this, or any similar situation.

Last Day Celebration

Friday was our last day with the students for this term. It was also the last day for several volunteer teachers who will return home now. Even though it rained most of the day, many parents and siblings came out to for the day. We showed them the science fair, the pre-form woodworking projects, a skit and some music. It was a great last day!

Snake Park

Jane and Lisa took the pre-form students on a field trip to snake park. There they say many local snakes – most of which will kill you! They also saw crocodiles and turtles. These Maasai students are strong and tough but put them on the back of a camel for a ride and they are terrified!

Lisa's Birthday Party

We celebrated Lisa's birthday last night by having a party at our house with the staff. My personal favorite event of the evening was watching Scott and Michael (local guy) doing Indian leg wrestling on our living room floor!

Heading out for Kilimanjaro

Tomorrow we begin our 6 day ascent up Mt. Kilimanjaro. This is the tallest peak in Africa. I'm pretty excited. After we return we will travel to western Tanzania to visit friends and then up in to Uganda. We will try to journal about the experience. Your prayers for a safe journey would be appreciated!

They ate the kidneys...raw

They ate the kidneys...raw

We had our staff party on Saturday. Wahoo! We killed two goats and cooked them in traditional Maasai fashion - chunks skewered on wood stakes. While one of the men ( men only get to slaughter the animals), one of them cut out the kidney, split it in half, handed one half to his slaughtering partner, and both of them popped the raw kidneys in their mouth. Later they made a drink out of blood and fat. We drank it. Not a fan.

Fluffy #2

Bad news - Fluffy the land tortoise went missing after only one day in the school garden. However, miraculously he returned - only a little smaller and with a different attitude. Not sure where Fluffy, the sequel came from. But, who am I to ask those sorts of questions?

You danced like you didn't have a spine - The Conformation Party

We went to a conformation party for a family member from one of our friends who works at the school. These Tanzanians know how to throw a party! It's not enough to give a gift. No, you have to dance it up to the person! So, we danced our way up to the front of the room and placed our money in a little hat. We danced pretty "stiffly" because we were all nervous. Then we got asked to come up again. So, we dug deep in the pockets, found more money, and danced our way up there again. This time I decided that I would cut loose with my dancing. Maybe not the best idea! But, I wiggled and I jiggled up in front of a whole family I didn't know. However, it seemed they liked it. They were clapping and cheering. Afterwards, a family member said to me "Oh, you did a good job when you were dancing. You moved like you didn't have a spine." I have been waiting my whole LIFE to have someone tell me that!

Climbing Kilimanjaro

We probably won't write next week because we'll be climbing up Mount Kilimanjaro. We're pretty excited about it, but I hope we don't die.

Egg Man and Little Rabies

Two staples of our house are the man who delivers eggs (Egg Man) and the dogs who dig through our trash (Little Rabies). Actually, there is one dog who runs around with a chain around is neck. He's DLR - Domesticated Little Rabies. Egg Man sells us eggs in broken English. He always demands a cup or two of water. He usually comes on Mondays. One time, he was at a staff party with us! He just shows up in random places. Just wanted everyone who reads this to know what we have to look forward to for excitement around here!

Good-Bye Jane, Scott, Lisa, Quinn

This is our last week of school. So, after this Friday, we say good-bye to new friends as they end their volunteer time at Orkeeswa. We've really been blessed by these guys. But, I guess transient volunteers are just part of the nature of this place. That... and transient egg salesmen.