So I put a man in jail this weekend...

I haven't been updating my blog lately because my plans for the week got completely turned upside down.

When I signed my contract to be a coordinator for the EWH program, I did not expect that I would be dealing with a burglary in one of the student's houses.

One calm weekend was too much to ask for. I had just finished lunch on Sunday when I got a call from one of my students. I hate getting phone calls from my students. If I get a call, it's something bad.

"Is everything okay?" I ask.

"No." One of my students answers. "There's been a burglary at the Marangu student house."

'Shit...' I thought. "What was stolen?"

"Two and a half million shillings."

I couldn't believe it. 2,500,000 Tsh was stolen from the students' home. I don't have to tell you twice that two and a half million Shillings is a LOT of money. I've never seen a million of anything in my life, so the thought of two and a half million stolen was unimaginable. This money converts to almost $1600 USD.

My restful weekend had turned to something out of a nightmare. I informed EWH immediately then threw some clothes into my backpack and left TCDC for Moshi. I wasn't sure when I would be back but I didn't think it would be anytime soon.

The first step is to always file a police report. After some bad luck with a bus that broke down, I finally made it and met with the students. I got caught up on all of the details. From their story, I immediately knew we had a very promising suspect.

THE STORY:

The broken door frame from the door being kicked open.

The Marangu students left their student house to buy food and use the ATM in Marangu Town. The students locked the main door to the house and the two outside gates before they left. As they were heading down the hill into town, they saw their Night Guard heading up the hill towards their house.

When the students returned after an hour, they found the two outside gates open even though they had locked the gates when they left the house. The only other person to have the gate keys was the Night Guard himself. They found the front door kicked in and the lock was broken as a result. One of the students had hidden $170 USD and 2,254,250 Shillings under his pillow...but when he checked for it, the money was gone. It was unusal (and lucky for the thief) that the student had so much money in cash. He collected the money from other students meant for the Mt. Meru climb scheduled for next weekend.

We all knew it was the Night Guard who committed the burglary. It was stomach churning when we realized the thief was someone hired to protect things like this from happening.

THE POLICE:

We couldn't finish filing the report on Sunday because the offices were closed by 4:00 PM. We had to return the following morning. I did not want the students to go back to their burglarized house because it was far too dangerous for them, especially if the front door was still broken and the Night Guard was still around.

I had them sleep in the KCMC student house which had extra space and was close to town. We met again the following morning to finish the police report. At this point I was all too familiar with the process. After we finished, I was disappointed at the lack of action the police were taking. We HAD a suspect. We even had the Guard's name and phone number. What more did the police need to DO something about it ($$$?).

They told me to go to another police station. Fine.

I left with the students to the Himo Police station. The city of Himo is located at the foot of the Mt. Kilimanjaro, down the road from Marangu. I did not have high hopes of getting help from them...but I had to try.

The police did not know very much English. I tried my hardest to talk to them in my broken Swahili. I unfortunately don't know a lot of Swahili words pertinent to law enforcement (except for thief-Mwizi). Somehow they understood what I was trying tell them. They understood the urgency of the situation when I explained that we had a suspect and he was still at the hospital. I stressed that we had to act quickly before he fled.

The police did more than what I expected from them. They didn't just send us back to the hospital with an officer. They took us in the Police Land Cruiser with 5 officers and another officer armed with an AK-47 (Wow, it was such a big gun). Driving up to the hospital was surreal. Here I found myself driving with armed Tanzanian police officers in a Tanzania police cruiser to try to catch the thief. I have no idea how I convinced them to come with me, but I was sure as hell happy to have a "force" behind me when we confronted the Night Guard.

When we got to the hospital, we met up with Evans, the technician, and Nickson, the accountant. They were very useful in mobilizing the hospital to catch the thief. Evans was able to explain to the police all the details that I couldn't (since his Swahili and English is excellent).

We first went to check out the scene of the crime, the Marangu student house. The police inspected the gates and the front door. They took down the floor plan of the building and had the students describe where the money was kept before it was stolen.

After that we went back to Marangu hospital with the police to meet with the head doctor and a few other member of the hospital staff. Once the staff found the Night Guard, the police had him lead us to his house to search for the stolen money among his belongings. He was acting very suspicious and guilty throughout this time. He tried to go into the house first (likely to hide the money before police could find it) but the police refused him entry and entered first.

Because only one of us (the victims) were allowed to enter the house, I went in. "House" or "home" was a very generous term to describe his living conditions. There were no lights and there was no kitchen or bathroom or toilet. It was just a single-room mud hut. I was surprised at the Guard's living conditions. It was not because he was poor or jobless though. He had a huge drinking problem and there were piles of empty alcohol containers littered on his property. It looks like he spent most of his money on alcohol instead of improving his living accommodations.

It was so dark in the house that we had to use our cell phone flash lights to search. Almost immediately the police found 200,000 Tsh in the pocket of one of his jackets. Any sort of doubt that he was the perpetrator vanished. At this point, the police were brutal towards the thief. How the police treat thieves in the third world is nothing like in the US to say the least. They slapped and kicked him many times and beat him with a wooden stick until the stick broke.

The police continued to "question" the thief to find out where the rest of the money was hidden. However, the thief was stubborn and wouldn't admit anything. It was some time before the police found the rest of the money. They turned the entire room upside down and found the rest of the money stuffed in a pair of shoes. From that point on, the police did not hold back. I felt no pity for the thief. In the third world, there is no mercy for thieves. And often times street justice leads to death. When the Night Guard stole the money form the students, he knew this would happen if he got caught.

As the police where preoccupied with the thief, I left the hut to count the money that was recovered. A lot of the money was still untouched but we found 204,250 Tsh missing (about $130). The thief would not tell them where it is...he still claimed innocence. What a scumbag.

Eventually the police got the name "Jessica" out of him. Jessica was his girlfriend and he supposedly gave that money to her (or at least the amount that he didn't already spend on drinks at the local bar the previous night).

The Night Guard was arrested and the police took him (and his girlfriend) back to the police station. The students gave their statements and the Night Guard was was put in a cell for the night. The girlfriend was let go when the police realized she had nothing to do with the actual burglary itself.

We went back to the Himo police station to bring the Night Guard to Marangu court the next day. It was very scary at first because they put us in the same car with the thief. Even though he was in handcuffs, it was weird. I kept on giving him the nastiest looks the entire drive.

The court was not what I expected, here's a glimpse of it. Our thief is in the red hoodie...on his phone...while he's handcuffed.

The judge listened to our side of the story (from our statement) and listened to the thief after us. He had the guts to plead "Not Guilty." What a joke. Everyone in the courtroom started laughing.

It was not long before they convicted him and the judge was working on the sentence. I was impressed at how quickly these events took place. Less than 48 hours after the theft did I find myself sitting in Tanzanian court awaiting the thief's sentencing. The Night Guard got 2 years in prison. I was very happy. I would have liked a longer sentence but the judge was lenient since this was his first offense. I think if we had a lawyer or went through the same process in the US, the thief would have gotten a much longer sentence.

It's okay though. 2 years in Tanzanian prison is like 10 years in a US prison. I am at peace with the verdict. The recovered money was returned to the students and the 204,250 Shillings that were not found will be paid to the students by the security company responsible for hiring the Guard. This is what 2,050,500 Tanzanian Shillings and $170 Dollars looks like:

The hospital is now looking to terminate their contract with security company. The security company was not even hired a month before this incident occurred!

We personally saw to it that the Night Guard was put into jail. Sometimes, if you leave it to the police to do it themselves, they might just let the prisoner go (if they get paid off, e.g. by a girlfriend). We tried to get a sneaky picture of the thief and the student whom he stole from. The irony that the two of them were sitting next to each other while we were taking the thief to jail was almost funny.

And here is the officer taking him to the prison. The thief's last moments as a free man.

I will be going back to Marangu on Friday to make sure the company pays up the remaining money.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with how this ended. These past few days were some of the most stressful of my life. It feels so rewarding that it ended well. I've never been in a situation like this before and I'm SO happy I didn't screw this up :)

Kibosho + Marangu Hospitals

I visited Kibosho Hospital yesterday. It's one of the more remote hospitals and I've never been there before so I decided to take a cab. On the way over I tried to get a shot of Kili since it was a clear day. This was the best I could do:

For those in Grill lab, Michael is doing well here in Tanzania! He's at Kibosho Hospital and (in my opinion) he and his partner have the hardest hospital based on their living accommodations, remote location, and limited resources. Despite this, they are currently the most successful hospital and have already fixed 13 pieces of equipment!

We worked on an old defibrillator when I visited Kibosho. It's been out of commission since 2004 so I don't have high hopes that it can be fixed...but I do think there is a chance. We found the user's manual and based on the troubleshooting guide, we are seeing exactly what should happen if the battery back is dead. When we try to run the machine, it starts up and tries to charge but then turns off after 10-15 seconds. I think just replacing the battery (which is harder than it seems because it is a very specific battery) may just do the trick. You would be surprised at how many fixes here are based on simple things like shorted/broken wires and dead batteries.

After Kibosho, I went back into Moshi for the night. I got a single room at Kilimanjaro Backpackers hostel for $10/night. True, it was a small room...but it was one of the most restful nights I've had in Tanzania. I was so exhausted from traveling that I slept like a rock.

Just a view of Moshi from the balcony of the hostel. I prefer this hostel over others because of its central location in the city.

I was also planning on meeting Ash and her boyfriend, visiting from Zimbabwe, at a nearby coffee shop. I was looking forward to go to the Kilimanjaro Coffee Lounge, which served the best cappuccinos in town, but unfortunately it was closed down. Based on the cobwebs on the gate, it looks like it had been closed for a while :( Mildly disappointing. I still met up with Ash and her boyfriend for dinner at Union Cafe. Nice guy!

The coffee at Union cafe is amazing. For those who don't know, coffee is very important to the northern Tanzanian region. It makes up a large part of its economy and is Tanzania's largest crop export. There are two varieties that grow in the Meru/Kilimanjaro region called Arabica and Robusta. Arabica is more common but my favorite happens to be Robusta.

After my restful night at the Backpackers hostel, I went to visit the Marangu girls. They are doing very well in their hospital. I've noticed that the hospitals with a fundi (technician/engineer) on staff have been doing well in terms of amount of equipment fixed. I think it's because the staff are more willing to trust the students with the hospital equipment because the staff already trusts the hospital fundi.

After my long day, I am now safely back at my home-stay at TCDC. I'm excited for a relaxing weekend since I'm so exhausted from tavelling this week.

Machame Hospital, First Visit

Today I visited the girls at Machame Hosptial. Since Machame was my hospital last year, it was great coming back again.

I took them to a nice lunch at the Protea Hotel about 10 km down from Machame Hospital. It was such a nice place it took me by surprise. If you ever find yourself climbing Kilimanjaro and want a hotel close to the Machame Gate of the National Park, this is the hotel you want to book. It's like a little paradise retreat in the heart of Africa.

We all ordered steak medallions with a mushroom sauce. Best meal I ate in Tanzania so far.

After lunch we kept trying to catch the dala dala back up to Machame hospital to work but all of them were full (where full means people hanging on to the outside of the van!). A group of kids kept us company as we waited. They made our day much more interesting.

After we finally got back to the hospital (by catching a ride down to the main junction then getting a semi-full dala dala back up) we got to work. The girls did not have very many things to fix yet but I told them it takes time for the staff to build up a trust in them. Most of the staff don't like handing over their equipment to what they see as outsiders. But during their 3rd week or so I expect that the girls will get inundated with equipment after they proved themselves and gained respect with the staff.

We mainly worked on an ECG machine that kept on producing a very high frequency noise artifact. We narrowed it down to the ECG leads after doing a few tests on ourselves and determining that the Left Arm lead was no good. Based on the I, II, and III orientation, only the II orientation was clean because it did not use the Left Arm lead in it's calculation. The issue is that replacing the leads would cost about $190, which is not possible to replace. There may be another set of leads somewhere in the hospital that could replace the broken ones.

Since it wasn't very cloudy today, Kili decided to show its peak. We went on a little hike to get a good shot of it. I love that it looks pink with the sunset.

Since the girls had a spare bed in their housing, they invited me to stay the night. We did breakfast for dinner with hash browns and french toast. I would say this was a very good first hospital visit. I'll be going to Kibosho tomorrow and I'm hoping that will go as smoothly.

A Good Day

Just a quick post before I go to sleep:

This morning was hectic for me. Yesterday, I forgot my jacket at the restaurant I went to for dinner. I was so depressed when I realized because it was my favorite and it was the only jacket I had packed. I didn't high hopes of getting it back but I decided to go back early in the morning to check. I felt so lucky. It was right where I left it! I could not believe it. I think the staff didn't notice it because it blended in with the black chair. I learned my lesson and will be even more careful with my possessions in the future.

Overall, today was very relaxing. I did laundry and spent my day planning hospital visits for the next few days. I'll be leaving the TCDC campus tomorrow for a couple of nights as I visit hospitals in the Moshi area. I've decided to stay at the Kilimanjaro Backpackers Hostel. It's $10/night for my own single room. It looks promising, has a very central location, and it comes recommended by my coordinator from last year. Not sure if I will have internet though...

Ash and I made dinner today and we keep getting better in our cooking experiments. It's so easy when you have so much fresh produce at hand. We made chicken, rice, and a stew out of vegetables (tomatoes/onion/cabbage/green pepper with tomato paste and coconut cream). I'm enjoying myself and feel comfortable with the routine that I've established :)

Moshi for the Day + Performance/Hair Pictures

I'd first like to apologize for breaking my blog post streak. I've been good about writing one post everyday until yesterday. However, last night a student got their wallet stolen so I was busy taking care of that mess. Today, I ended up going to the Police station in Moshi to file a police report for the theft. It only took two hours and went very smoothly to my surprise. It's a shame that this theft happened but at least it's an eye opener for the students to be extra careful about their belongings.

Here's a picture of Moshi bus stand. I originally took the picture just to show you what Moshi looks like but I realized after the fact that this is also where the robbery occurred.

Since I already made the trip into Moshi to file the report, I decided to meet with the KCMC/Mawenzi hospital group for lunch. Part of my job entails checking in on the students and taking them to a nice place to eat as they update me on how things are going. We went to Union Cafe which is a very nice place (and expensive) as it's mostly catered towards tourists.

It was great to hear from the students but it's disappointing to learn that they are not enjoying KCMC very much. KCMC is the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College and it's the largest hospital that EWH works with. It's privately owned with over 450 beds. All other hospitals in the Northern Tanzania area refer patients to KCMC for surgeries and specialists. Since it's privately owned, the hospital can afford to hire engineers on staff. KCMC is very organized and there are many rules and procedures when it comes to broken equipment. The students cannot roam the hospital looking for things to fix, instead they are given tasks by the hospital engineers. This system works well when the engineering mentors want to get the EWH students involved. This year's group is struggling with that.

The good news is that the KCMC EWH students also work at Mawenzi hospital in downtown Moshi. It's a public hospital and considerably smaller. Since there is no official hospital engineer, they have free reign when it comes to finding and fixing equipment. I hope they have better luck there.

Even though I wasn't planning on going to Moshi today it was still good that I went and caught up with the students.

I also owe pictures of the performance I went to on Saturday night. The group from Denmark performed in Danish so it was hard to understand what was going on. I think it was something about 7 nordic gods and their quest for 7 different things...and a witch, I think.

Then the second performance was an African dance group that travels throughout the Tanzanian region. It was hard to get a good picture because they were moving so fast!

Dance party at the end to celebrate a successful show!

Unfortunately I also promised to post a picture of my braided hair. I only took this picture because I'm good on my word. It took me 9 hours to get it done and my first thought when I finished was "Oh God, I've made a terrible mistake." I then spent the next 3 hours undoing it....

So don't worry, my hair is back to normal again. It was just an experiment that failed miserably. Don't laugh...this picture shouldn't even exist:

EDIT: In the loving words of my boyfriend: "That hair...is the worst thing...that has ever happened to you." Thanks.

Market Day and Extensions

Today was market day at Tengeru. Ash and I went to buy some oranges and vegetables. For 2000 Tsh ($1.18), we bought 10 oranges (machungwa), 4 tomatoes (nyanya), 4 shallots (viguntuu), 2 avacados (parachichi). Our spoils:

When I was leaving the market, a bus full of white people (tourists by my guess) drove by. They looked so surprised to see me in the market by myself. I even saw one take a picture of me. I'd like to think they stared at me because I looked so at ease in the market. I've already accepted that I stand out like a sore thumb and it doesn't phase me anymore.

I think I was the most interesting thing those tourists saw that day. Look at me, I might as well be a local.

In addition to food, I bought hair extensions at the market. I want to get my hair braided in the authentic Tanzanian style. I found hair extensions that were a good match in terms of hair color. Hopefully my hair can hold them. A woman will be coming to my home-stay tomorrow to braid my hair for me. We'll see how that goes!

After dinner, I went to an interesting performance hosted on TCDC campus. One of the traveling groups was from Morogoro, Tanzania and another from Denmark. I will post about it tomorrow when I'm not as tired and will be confined to a chair for 10 hours as I get my hair done.

First Day Off!

Since the students are at their hospitals, I can relax for a little bit. Ash and I slept in then went for lunch at Tanz-Hand's. I had lamb meat balls with tzaziki sauce, sweet potato fries, and a Peanut Butter Milkshake! This restaurant has a really interesting concept behind it. It's catered to tourists, volunteers, and resident foreigners and the restaurant's profits support the Usa (Oo-sa) River Rehabilitation and Training Center. This organization helps provide schooling and employment to those with physical disabilities. Tanz-Hand's also includes a gift shop of items made by its students. These include sandals, wooden sculptures, clothing, etc. They are all very beautiful pieces and the money goes back to support the students. I will likely find my way back here in the future.

After lunch, we visited my home-stay from last year again. We had authentic Tanzanian Chai: black tea, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and milk. There's no fixed recipe so if you are interested in trying it for yourself, just go for it!

I also learned a lot about ethnic hair today. I helped Ash undo her braids and we went to a local hair salon. The women there loved my hair. I was thinking of getting braided extensions while I'm here just to look more Tanzanian. Since I do a lot of traveling, having African braids might help me look less like a tourist to avoid getting harassed. However, it's very hard to commit to that hair because it usually takes 10 hours to put it in. My hair might be too slippery to hold the extensions in anyway. If I do it, that would be new whole look for me...

Switch day was a success!!

I am very exhausted after traveling all day so this post will be a short one. Today was switch day and the students left TCDC to move into their hospitals.  Here's a group photo we took the morning of switch day. I love this picture.

Once everyone was ready, all the students with hospital assignments in the Moshi region went with me while Ash took care of the Arusha group. I took a quick picture of all the Moshi students before we left in the morning. The Moshi students are great and since I'm based in Moshi, I couldn't be happier working with this group!

Everything went smoothly today. We left at 9 AM and dropped off the Machame girls first. Since I was at Machame hospital last year, the visit brought back great memories for me. It was nice to see the hospital and the staff again. The Machame girls are in good hands.

After leaving Machame, the bus took the remaining students to Moshi. Once in town, I got off at the bus stand with the Marangu and Huruma groups to take them to their hospitals via public transportation. We ended up buying out a NOAH for 30,000 Tanzanian Shillings for a 60 km drive (just shy of 20 dollars for about 40 miles). Since this was the first year we tried this arrangement, I was not sure how it would work out. It ended up great and in the future, I recommend that the students placed in Marangu and Huruma hospitals get dropped off in this manner.

While I was dealing with Marangu and Huruma, the bus dropped off the remaining students at KCMC and Kibosho. I would have liked to see off all the students myself but the TCDC bus needed to get back to Arusha by 1:30 PM and we were limited on time.

When I finished with Marangu and Huruma, it was already 3 PM and I still had to get myself back to TCDC. It only took me 2 hours via dala dala and an Arusha-Moshi bus to make it back safely. I really appreciate that transportation is so inexpensive here. It means that with only a little bit of money you can find yourself very far away having another adventure.

If not for evening tea, I would have been fast asleep as soon as I got back to my bed. Since the students made it safely to their new housing and are taken care of, I think I will sleep in tomorrow morning. :)

Pre-Switch Day

Today is the student's last night at TCDC. Tomorrow is Switch Day, when the students leave TCDC and move to new residences closer to their hospitals. Ash and I gave the students pre-briefings on their hospitals to prepare them as much as possible for what they should expect on their first day. Most of the pre-briefings went well except for a group who had their hospital assignment switched with another. One of the groups was not happy with the switch and took it hard. However, the decision was well thought out and done in the best interest of the students and the hospital based on the students' experience, hospital resources, and team dynamic. I hope they eventually come to realize that the decision was for the best and learn to love their new hospital.

Now before I go into the logistics of switch day, I've included a map of the hospitals for reference:

View EWH Hospitals in a larger map
*NOTE: zoom out and scroll around, there are 12 hospitals total

It's been difficult organizing the cars to drop students off at their hospitals. In the past years there was only one bus to Arusha and two cars to Moshi (one for Machame, KCMC/Mawenzi, and Kibosho hospitals and another for Marangu/Hurma). However, as you can see from the map, Karatu is so far away and this year the roads are in very poor shape with may off-road detours due to construction. The trip to Karatu hospital would take the students 4 hours. Originally we did not plan for a TCDC car to drop off the students at Karatu. Instead, they would need to take public transport from Arusha. We decided this was bad idea because it would not only be the students' first time traveling alone but they will also have all their luggage with them and travel to a far away town that they have never been too. Ash and I were unwilling to put the students into such an situation.

Instead, we will have the bus go to Moshi and take two cars into Arusha. One of those land cruisers will take the students all the way to Karatu directly. Unfortunately with out budget and time limitations, Marangu and Huruma students will now need to take public transportation from Moshi town. Even though the Marangu/Huruma area is new to the students, the roads to their hospitals are very smooth and safe. I will be going with them to ensure that they get dropped off safely and with all of their luggage. I think the best thing to do would be to buy out an entire NOAH for us and all the students' luggage.

It's been a long day and tomorrow will be longer due to traveling. It was nice to wind down with some ice cream. For those who don't know, Neopolitan ice cream is my favorite. I was so confused and disappointed when I opened up this tub to find only chocolate...Oh well, still good.

Instead of squirrels, Africa has monkeys and they happen to be all over TCDC. These are Vervet Monkeys, also known as Blue Balled Monkeys. I'm sure you're wondering why they have that nickname, right? Well, they do in fact have bright blue testicles.

While this picture is mildly inappropriate, I'm including it because my boyfriend does not believe these monkeys really have blue balls. Exhibit A for you're enjoyment. You're welcome, Ryan.

For dinner we went out to eat at a restaurant just down the road from TCDC. Again Mt. Meru was looking beautiful on our walk over. I hope you won't get tired of all my mountain pictures, but mountains have always fascinated me. Some of the EWH students plan to climb Mt. Meru from August 2nd to the 4th. They kindly invited me to join their climb since it has been on my bucket list for a while now. It costs $495 each for our group of 10 or 11 to climb. This does not include the cost of equipment I need to rent (which is everything other than a backpack) or a tip for our guides. Worth it?

I was very impressed with the restaurant when we arrived. It was a nice, clean place with reasonable prices. Apparently is only opened its doors recently! Mama Gaude (my home-stay mother and swahili teacher from last year) treated me and Ash (and her son) to dinner since it was the end of the first half of the EWH program.

I guess since I'm American, they recommended I get a burger. I just went for it and it was actually pretty good!

Thanks for reading!

Mt. Meru Hospital

Today we went to Mt. Meru hospital. It's the largest hospital in Arusha with 450 beds. Because it's a public hospital, it usually has lot of broken equipment that needs repair. It's an ideal place to send the students to get accustomed to working in the hospital environment.

We usually work on the equipment in a yard at the back of the hospital. You can see some students opening up an oxygen concentrator on the ground. At the end of the day it was still broken but we at least diagnosed the problem to be with the valves in the motor.

Mt. Meru hospital is appropriately named for its great view.

Happy after a long, productive day at the hospital!

This picture was taken as we were leaving the hospital at one of the two stoplights in Arusha. From the photo you can see how many motorcycles (piki pikis) are on the roads. Wherever you look, you see them. The bikes come cheap from Asia and are an affordable way for people to get around quickly. However, many piki piki drivers have almost no regard for rules of the road and are the cause of many road deaths and injuries. Orthopedic wards are filled with piki piki drivers and it has become a growing issue in recent years. The piki pikis are one of the reasons why roads here are so notorious and dangerous.

First day with the students!

Lab went well today and I am so relieved! We had a 100% success rate which is more than what I could've hoped for, especially since we didn't have very many spare PICAXE kits. Also, this was my first time ever teaching. While I've been a TA before, teaching is very different and much harder. I was surprised at how much time I spent getting ready for lab just to make sure it would go smoothly.

Overall I am very happy with the reception that I got from the students. I didn't feel like a stranger intruding into an established group. I also think they appreciated that I memorized their names and pictures before coming to Tanzania. I'm excited to get to know them better in the coming months!

After class today the principal was hosting a "party" at her house to welcome the new staff at TCDC. It was a very interesting custom that involved getting into a large circle, holding hands, dancing, and singing. Some students were dragged into the middle of the circle to dance or lead a song. I did not have my camera but I know some students did. Once I get my hands on those pictures (and hopefully a video), I'll post it!

Tomorrow will be a long day. We're going to Mt. Meru hospital in Arusha to work on broken medical equipment. I'll be sure to take some pictures at the hospital since this post was picture-light!

So this post has at least one picture, here's a photo of the pizza that my home stay made for me! Really good and home-made!