Loaded up and ready to fly

Wow.. school bags and supplies, shoes, white shirts and party dresses, baby joggers, fleece blankets galore! Donations, both material and financial have been exceptional. This doesn't happen without a lot of help from a lot of generous people and organizations. Many thanks to all, including the many who came right to my front door!

On the eve of our Africa-bound departure we are weighing laden duffel bags, reviewing itineraries and travel documents and generally pulling together all manner of loose ends with growing excitement for the month ahead. For those of you who might not know, Audrey Takoski and her daughter Claire are joining Lachlan and me for a one month visit to rural Kilema Hospital on the south flank of Kilimanjaro. We will be joined by Priya Michado and her husband Rob from Amsterdam who hosted us memorably in Europe after our year in Kilimanjaro. For the month of January we'll be visiting many local schools and the homes of orphan and vulnerable children in the district, reviewing the academic progress of 65 students funded by Canadian donors to the Kilema Support Fund Tuition Project since 2008. There will be a lot of students to interview, needs to assess, shoes to order, fee forms to review, as well as the many sometimes difficult cost /benefits to analyze. We will be helping out Sunday Shalula and Ireni who work now at the Kilema Tegemeo Orphan program coordinating services and funding for some 200 other OVC's out of the roughly 800-1000 in the district. It is a delight to see the program working well in their capable hands. Our jobs this time of the year are similar. It's Back to School.
Besides completing our school related commitments we hope to visit two orphanages in Moshi to scout for a few young Canadians who wish to volunteer in the near future, a Masaai girls achool and a teachers college in Arusha where one of our students, Franki Kilasi studies. Priya comes from the NGO sector and has links to many Kiwwakuki women's projects near Kilema so we hope to tag along where we can and build connections and better understanding of the local reality.