Final Thoughts… by Brenna Amundson

“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place. Like you’ll not only miss the people you love, but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and place, because you’ll never be this way ever again.”

As this trip comes to an end, there’s a lot of thoughts going through my head, along with everyone else’s I assume. A lot has happened these past 17 days. There’s been some downs, but along with that, an overbearing amount of ups. But it’s these ups and downs that make the trip what it is. McMorrow has said that each year is a different year for him, despite being in the same place and having similar action plans. For example, we were the first group of students to have to deal with bed bugs, and he has also had to deal with a lot of giggles during prayer *cough cough chaperones*. Thinking back to the quote that I started with, we will truly never be this way again. We have all gained a new perspective of life from this trip I believe, some more than others, but again, we were told from the beginning of this experience that we determine the quality of our trip. I know that I will miss the person who I am now at this time and place. No matter how hard I try to be that person back home in Minnesota, it just won’t be the same. But like I said, a lot of thoughts are buzzing around Hartebeest lodge on our final night in Tanzania. The people we met, the places we’ve been, and the lessons we learned are just some of the things we’ll remember when I think back to the summer where we went to Africa. 

For starters, we met many wonderful people throughout our time here who could not have made the trip possible without them. We have Baba Dickie, or as most of you know him, Mr. McMorrow. We technically didn’t meet him on this trip, but we have come to know him in a different way than we did before. This whole experience wouldn’t have even been available to us if he wouldn’t have had that dream to return to Tanzania after one visit. He has put in countless amount of hours in planning and communicating with people here and making it the trip that it was. Next, there’s all the staff at our lodge, with David and Aiden to name a few. These two have not left the lodge since we got here and have done everything to make our stay as awesome as it has been. Along with them, there’s all the ‘back of the house’ staff, and Victor who takes down the flags and keeps watch each night. Then there’s Juma, the man who lives here and has done all the planning for McMorrow that he couldn’t do. He’s a great guy to talk to, has a beautiful family, and is an awesome dancer… we learned this at cultural night. Another person who has made a major impact on this trip is Jesca. You learned about her in a previous blog, but until you meet her, you don’t really know how amazing she actually is. Mama Cindy described her as a modern day saint, and I can fully attest that this is a true statement. She is a strong and beautiful woman who has dreams and goals that will take her very far in life. Another person, or actually group of people, are all the citizens of Tanzania that we have come across. Some we got to know well, but many remained strangers. Regardless of our relationship with them, they always offered a warm “Jambo!”, a friendly smile, and in some cases, their phone number to be their friend. We also got to know one another who went on this trip a lot better, all the students and chaperones. Without the group that we were, there wouldn't have been the experience that there was. 

Along with meeting a lot of people, we went to a lot of places. Marangu Falls to start the trip and Manyara National Park & Ngorongoro Crater to end the trip gave us glimpses into God’s creation and how beautiful our world actually is. Ngorongoro took my breath away, and while seeing all the animals I had to remind myself that this was real life and not just a Disney ride. We also created a ton of memories at these places, playing in the freezing water of the falls and pointing out animals from our safari cars. We also got to see the village of Mikocheni. These people were living in situations that many of us couldn’t even imagine, yet they all came out to greet us and welcome us to their village. Seeing the way that people lived really made us all appreciate and feel blessed to have what we have. Visiting the women’s group was another one of our opportunities. With the mamas, we got to make coffee, wash sorghum, dig a “dam”, and have home visits. During these home visits, we went in pairs with a mama and she invited us into her house. These women live in houses with 2 to 3 rooms each, yet welcomed us in there and were proud to show us where the live and what they have. Their hard work and attitude they show each day really shows us how strong, powerful and proud these women are. For seven days of our time here, we got to visit some worksites as well. I was at the orphanage each day, but coming back and hearing the stories from those who went to Agano and Uru was really cool and interesting. My experience at the orphanage was one that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. From day one there, I hung out with a boy named Johnson, who was not much older than age one. He is a little guy who loved to giggle and laugh, and give me fake pouts then grin. I never knew someone so small could leave such a big impact on my heart. He was just one kid I got to know, but many others have plenty of stories I’m sure they would love to tell if you asked. Tanzania has so many amazing places to visit, and someday I hope to return to them.

Throughout this trip, we also learned a lot of important lessons and messages. One of them, a commonly said Swahili phrase, was pole pole. It means slow down. In Tanzania, they like to let life happen as it goes, not rush through it. If mass was supposed to start at 8 am, but didn’t start until 8:30, well, pole pole. The bus was supposed to pick us up at the orphanage at 12, but didn’t get there until 12:45, well, pole pole. Take the time to just let things happen, don’t make them happen. Slow down and don’t get caught up in the everyday jumble of people, and meetings and technology. We also learned about ndotos, or in English, dreams. The whole purpose of this trip was to take us out of the ordinary and get us involved in something that’s extraordinary. Being in this situation allowed us to think about some dreams we have, and how we want to accomplish them in our life. McMorrow encouraged us to dream big, because “It’s those big dreams in life that make life interesting.” Another common phrase throughout the trip was, “Be present, keep two feet in Africa.” Although there was things going on at home, we tried to keep our mindset in Africa and just live here in the moment, because who knows when the next time we return here will be. Another phrase that we were taught here was “Always look up, never look down.” This means that we should always look below us and be grateful for what we have, and never look above and yearn for what we want or think we need. One final message is take action and do something. We came here on a mission for service, and just because the trip ends doesn’t mean that idea for service needs to end. As McMorrow says, “we live in a world of mess, so jump into it and act.” That doesn’t mean that we need to hop on a plane and fly halfway across the world again, because there’s plenty we can do back home without doing that. This trip has taught us a lot of things, both about what’s going on around us and about our personal self. Bringing these lessons and messages home is something many of us hope to do.

All in all, this trip has been an amazing and eye-opening experience. Right now it may not seem like it was a trip that has changed our life, but looking back on it I have a feeling that many of us will look at it that way. Years from now I hope we are able to go back and read the blog, go through our journals, and look through pictures and remember the time we had here. While I know many of us are excited to go home, it will be sad leaving behind a place that has created all these memories. So to everyone at home, we’re excited to see you and hug you, and please ask us about our time here because we have a lot to share. As I started with a quote, I feel like it’s only right to finish with one that I’ve been thinking about the past couple of days that can relate to this trip in many ways. Kwaheri Tanzania, it’s been good.

“But the most beautiful things in life are not just things. They’re people and places, memories and pictures. They’re feelings and moments, and smiles and laughter.”

Building a dam... or something by Beau Latzka

Throughout every past mission trip to Tanzania students have done a labor project for a local women’s group here in Moshi. This year, we were told that our task was to build a dam. Many of us were extremely excited to learn how this was done and couldn’t wait to get started. Our first day of the project we hopped on a bus- or as it is called here a dala dala- and traveled to the work site. We all thought we knew what we were getting in to; maybe wading in a river and using concrete or brick to build a sort of wall in the water which would then create a reservoir. We were dead wrong. We were dropped off on the side of the road and led into a farming area with a few houses and animal pens. We walked by some corn fields, through some corn fields, and then were lead into the middle of the woods. At this point everyone was extremely confused as to where this “damn” was supposedly going to be. Regardless, we all kept quiet and did what the women told us. They started to cut down an area of banana trees (Sophie was actually hit by a falling tree trunk - she’s fine!) and afterwards, gave us shovels and hoes and told us to start digging. Ummm what?? Not only was there no river, there wasn’t even any water! Apparently here a “damn” is actually a hole in the ground which is then filled with water and fish. After a short discussion and clearing up some confusion the women told us that we were actually creating a small pond for fish. I guess this explanation was supposed to make more sense to us. Smile and nod everyone, smile and nod. What they didn’t tell us is how they were even going to get water and fish into the whole. Essentially we all felt like we were digging a very large grave. As the digging commenced we all took up arms and began ripping through the dirt. Jessica had said we needed to dig about two meters or so down. At first it was a huge cluster; people were crowding in one area and there wasn’t any room to swing the hoe or shovel out dirt. Mary Joe was actually hit in the head with a shovel (she’s also fine!) We all looked up to see her forehead gushing with blood and Jessica trying to drag her back down the path to get to a hospital. Mary Joe knew it wasn’t as bad as it seemed and had Alisse step in and fixed the wound with a bandage. After that commotion we continued our excavation project. It was tough work and very tiring but everyone kept pushing through each day and we actually got a lot done. The women would occasionally take over for us and we liked to joke that they were the varsity team and we were all on JV. It was amazing to see how efficient they all were and it was good for us to learn better techniques as we watched them. We were able to find an efficient system for digging; hoers would dig up the ground starting from the outside and working our way in and afterwards, the shovelers would come in and shovel out the dirt that we had dug up. As some would say, it was hot as Africa, so while we were working the guys ended up taking their shirts off to avoid drenching our clothes in sweat. We were all pretty dirty after our two-and-a-half hour sessions, some more than others. Zack and I were completely covered in mud after every work day and the women laughed every time we came walking up the path. After putting our best efforts into three hard days at the work site we were still unable to finish our project. This was disappointing for us because it always feels better when we are able see the finished product after putting strenuous hours into something but we were still proud of what we had accomplished. The women were extremely grateful as well. They thanked us over and over again and were very impressed with our work ethic and how much we had gotten done in those three days. Even with the hot weather, the dirtiness, and the exhaustion, everyone kept a positive attitude and did their very best. This was what the service trip was all about. It was a great experience for all of us and we are extremely thankful that we were able to learn so much from these women as we helped them over these past two weeks.

Approaching our final days and challenges we have faced By: Alex S

As our final days in Moshi approach and we are all anticipating the hot showers and sleeping in our own beds, it’s amazing to look back at all the challenges we have faced. There was a lot of initial shock upon our arrival in Moshi, the language barrier, the different sights and the fact that all the drivers drive with what seems like no regard for safety. A lot of us viewed some things as challenges while others had no problems with them. For example the food, small rooms and lack of a washing machine. As time went on these inconveniences just became a fact of life. But as the trip progressed so did the challenges. It seemed like every day another handful of people were sick, but Alisse was awesome and made sure we had all the meds we needed to make a full recovery. A recent and unexpected challenge for me and my roommates was the discovery of bedbugs. We had noticed for a while strange red bites on our bodies and had joked that it was bedbugs. We eventually checked under Hannah’s sheets and found that our joke was now a reality. We peeled back the sheets and to our surprise we found tons of little bugs. One of the chaperones googled bedbugs and compared them to the picture, sure enough they were a match. After a brief meltdown we proceeded to evacuate all of our belongings into the hallway. The hotel staff was alerted and our mattresses and bedding were carried from the hotel. Luckily the chaperones and other girls were quick to pull together and offer their clothes, beds and kind words. This incident even shocked Mr. McMorrow since no other trip has ever encountered bedbugs. After fumigating the room and getting new mattresses and sheets I’m proud to report that our room is bedbug free, just in time for our last three nights here. There have definitely been a lot of challenges, but who's ever been on an easy mission trip? These challenges have really added to the overall experience which will be impossible to forget. The good and hard parts of this trip have formed and experience which will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Hey mom, dad and Owen! I’m counting the minutes till I get to see you. Miss you lots and love you more!!!!!! - Alex

Parents as Chaperones and Chaperones in general. By: Jared A and Hannah P

Having your parent as a chaperone isn't as bad as you may think. It’s nice because you have their money to spend instead of your own. You don’t need to bring as much stuff. You always have someone who will talk and listen to you. You don’t feel as homesick. They usually pack everything that you might have forgotten. They can take care of you if you get sick (like Hannah). You have the memories to share with them. You don’t have to buy as many gifts because you can buy them together. You will have someone who understands what you talk about when you bring up stories of Tanzania. You can buy more stuff because you have two suitcases to fill. These are just only some of the pros of having your parent as a chaperone. There are some cons of having your parent as a chaperone. The first is that they can easily embarrass you. They know about all what happens here; even the things you don’t want a parent to know about. They also can easily “borrow” money from you (Mama Cin likes to take Hannah’s money a lot). So as you can see, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Throughout this trip, the chaperones have gotten really close. We always see them laughing and having a good time together. For example, they will have random outbursts of laughter during dinner time. Without them, this trip would not have been the same. We can’t thank them enough for all they have done to make this trip possible. 

Hannah: Hi fam! I hope you aren’t missing me too much! I love you all and can’t wait to see you! 

Marti, I hope you didn’t miss your bunk bed buddy at the cabin too much. ;)

Jared: Hey Dad, Allison, and Kaylee, miss you all! Dad I hope being alone right now doesn’t make you too lonely and I hope that Allison hasn’t taken Libby from you. Can’t wait to see you guys!

Safari Day 1 - Manyara National Park by Zack S

Today we woke up at about 6:30-7. We than had breakfast and finished up packing for the safari. We then got picked up by the safari drivers around 8. We drove about 2 hours to a small shop where some of us got some snacks and other things. Then continued on for about another hour and a half until we reached the Manyara National Park, where we checked in and paid then drove to a picnic site to have lunch. For lunch we had the choice of a burger or a chicken sandwich. After lunch was when we officially started our safari tour. We then got on a very bumpy dusty road and started out by seeing monkeys and some birds. As we drove further we saw many giraffes and at least 10 elephants. I think we were all really amazed by the elephants. We also saw many wildebeests. At about 5 we ended the safari and started driving to our campsite which was way up. We arrived to our campsite around 6 and got a tour of the place, then we had a “snack”, for the snack they served us soup. Then many of us showered in the out door bathroom and got settled in our 2 person tent. Each tent had 2 twin sized beds in them. We had time to do what we wanted till about 8:15 then we all met up at the “lobby” of the campsite and ate dinner. For dinner we had rice, potatoes, and beef. This meal was very similar to a lot of our other meals but was a little fancier. After dinner we had a prayer and share, than the rest of the night was ours to do what we wanted. 

Zack: Hey mom and dad miss you guys. Also who ever else in my family is reading this. See you soon.  

Safari Day 2… Ngorongoro Crater by Quinton and Jacob Z

(sorry, but yes, it is out of chronological order).

Today we woke up at 6:30 in the morning to some annoying birds. We then had breakfast and packed our belongings from our tents. The safari drivers were there to pick us up at 7:30 and took us to the crater. As we entered the park, we had to drive on a bumpy road for an hour until we got to the crater entrance. The moment we entered the park we saw wildebeests and zebras. We noticed that the wildebeests weren’t the smartest or the cutest animals we would see today (or ever). We passed through the herd of wildebeests and moved on to see other animals like gazelle, water buffalo, flamingos, and jackel. We saw some hyenas chasing some of the animals and noticed that they weren’t afraid of anything. The drive through the park was never all that boring because we always had something to see. The landscape was beautiful and breathtaking. When driving along our guide noticed some lions. They were laying by a pond but were too far away to get a good look. This wasn’t our first lion encounter. We then saw some laying by a hill camouflaged in the tall grass. They were also too far to get a good look but one of the lions later got extremely close to the road. After a few minutes of picture taking our guide led us to the hippos. They were really fat and quite useless. On our way back to the picnic area, we noticed a large buildup of safari cars. We pulled up to see a lion sitting on the road. After looking for awhile, we saw our friend Pumba out in the field. The lion walked along the road with its eyes fixed on the lunch it was trying to acquire. After a few minutes of watching, the lion crept in the grass approaching the hogs. After a few more minutes the lion made its move. It chased the animals out into the plains. The lions speed was not a match for the eyes of the hogs. They outran the lion into the open fields. After seeing this happen, we made our way to the lunch area. We ate our lunch in our cars so no animals could maul us (ha ha). We all gathered by the hippo pond for a picture and saw some more blobs (hippos). After lunch we made our way to the exit and said a bittersweet goodbye to the crater. Then our eight hour, traffic filled journey began. We hit a lot of traffic on the way home and turned our four hour drive into a seven hour journey. JZ and I had an issue on the way back. Our bodies were telling us we needed to release some stress and we were in the middle of a traffic jam. Our driver (after 45 minutes) found us a spot to use the old restroom. That stop made the rest of the trip tolerable. 

Quinton: Hello to everyone in my family that may be reading this. I have not died yet. I have drank 7,865 Fantas. 

JZ: Hi family. I have lost some weight. See you soon.

Schedule Change

Parents,

The government of Tanzania has passed a law raising the fees for entry into the safari parks.  The end result is that it would cost us over $1,000 in additional fees if we went on safari as scheduled on July 1 (when the fees take effect).  So, instead, we were able to make a change and go on safari today and tomorrow.  Therefore, you will not hear from us for a few days - hopefully we can get some blogs posted on Thursday night (our time).

Things are going well!  We've had some minor bugs run through the group but overall we are healthy and the kids are doing an amazing job.  I wish I had time to write each of you personally about the amazing growth and efforts I have seen from your child!

Pray for us as we head to Manyara National Park and Ngororongoro Crater!

Jiendeleze Womens Group - Manual Labor - Jesca by Anne and Koala

The women’s group was originally started by a group of women who came to Jesca asking for help because she's a lawyer. Jesca soon decided to start an organization that fought for social, economic, and political equality. The group slowly began to grow and now has over 100 members ranging from ages 17 - 87. In their culture, women usually stay at home, take care of the kids and husband, and make food. But these women grow crops, make coffee and jams, and many clothing items to sell. Many of them also work on their own farms and take care of livestock. Also many of them have small businesses which has made the women more independent. Some of these projects are what we have been working on the past few days. 

The first day we went and met all of the women at Jesca’s parents house, which past student trips have visited. Each of us had to stand up and introduce ourselves in English and Jesca translated in Swahili and vis versa. After this Jesca talked about the origin of the group and the daily life of each of these women. In all honesty this meeting went too long and many of us were getting antsy. The next day we arrived at the house and was told we would be making coffee. It’s not as easy as some of you may think. First you put the coffee beans in a bowl type thing and smash them to separate the shell from the bean. Then you shake the beans to get rid of the shell completely. Thirdly you roast the beans over an open fire. We had about 4 to 5 stations where we were roasting coffee and each station had about 3 people. This was because eventually smoke from the fire would get in your eyes and you would begin to cry and that is when the rotations of people would come in handy. Lastly you put the roasted beans back into the bowl type thing and grind them into a powder, which would be the coffee we Americans buy in the store. We also helped bag the coffee. It was interesting because the women made their own bags out of plastic by hand using a fire to melt it. 

The third day we went to the house assuming we would be making a dam or jam but when we arrived we were told to start washing sorghum. We all looked around at each other like what the heck is sorghum. We were separated into groups of 3 and were given a bucket. little tiny seeds (sorghum), and water. So we began grabbing a pile of these seeds and rubbing them between our hands in the water. Then we would switch out the water and continue the same process. All of us thought this would be super easy but to our surprise it wasn’t at all. After we rubbed the seeds between our hand we had to shake the water out of the seeds. This shaking process was done over and over again for what seemed like forever. None of us knew the reason for what we were doing. But once there were sewing seeds we began to see dirt at the bottom. The technique of shaking the seeds was that the seeds were lighter and the dirt was heavier so as you lose more seeds you are soon left with only dirt. Then we fully understood the reason why washing sorghum was such a long process. The best part was that after we were done we realized our hands were very soft which made most of us happy, especially girls. 

The fourth day (which was today) was by far the toughest and took the most out of us. Today we were told to take out our gloves and bring them with because we would be building a dam. We had to walk a long ways from the house and also had to walk into the forest of banana trees. Everyone was super confused about what we were supposed to do. A man began cutting down some trees and one of the branches hit Sophie in the head. But no worries Sophie’s parents!!! She was perfectly fine after it happened. Anyways he cleared out an area and told us to start digging. We dug for about two hours but it seemed like we didn’t even make a dent. Some of us were hoeing and the others would shovel out the dirt. Today, many of us were not happy because everyone was covered in dirt and were getting bit by bugs so when we were told to start walking to the bus, we were grateful. This hole is supposed to be 3 feet deep so we will be working on this project for the next few days. When we finish the dam the women plan to put fish in it so they can fish and use that as another way to make money. 

Through all of these projects we are very aware at how hard these women work on a daily basis. We are always complaining about being tired or needing a break but not once has one of those women said they needed a break of complained. They are always happy to see us which really lightens the mood and makes it easier to keep working. Everyone is looking forward to the next days working on more projects. 

Hey Gwen and Mark, I know its been pretty quiet around the house without the favorite child. I’ll be home soon to keep you guys busy! Love and miss you and say hi to the cats for me;)

Also Koala says hi to whoever wants to accept it. Ha.

Mass, Meal in Town, Coffee Tour by: Aliina and Devon

We started our day just like any other day, but instead of going on three different buses to go help out at the orphanage, preschool, or the secondary school, we walked into town for 8 o’clock Mass. We started our adventure after breakfast but we left in separate groups because after Mass we had the opportunity to walk around town and do a little shopping. When we reached the Cathedral where Mass was being held we had to wait because the 7 o’clock Mass was still finishing up, just from that we thought that it was going to be a long Mass. Mr. McMorrow had run into an old friend of his whose name was Edward. Edward is a boy our age who comes from a very poor family, and he met McMorrow and the group four years ago. When he heard we were coming back, he made sure to come to the Mass so he could see us again. It was really inspiring to learn his story and see and meet him. 

We finally had the chance to walk into the church and it was really beautiful. The Mass started off as an English Mass but that changed really quickly because there were more Swahili speaking people there and I don’t think they wanted to waste their breath on us. Aliina was falling asleep but then a cute little boy who kept pointing at her and laughing kept her awake. The music for the Mass was really different from ours because they had children singing during the Mass instead of older people but they over sang every song by 2 verses. They were also only accompanied by a drum. During Communion we had to walk up to the front of the church and kneel at the altar to receive the Body of Christ. After Mass they had a little celebration because their Mass won a competition between churches and they received a trophy. Aliina met some more cute children, named Harriet and Stella, and took a bunch of pictures with them. 

We finally went our separate ways to eat lunch and go shopping for a little while. The first place we went was to Reagan’s shop. The owner (Reagan) started out as selling paintings on the street, and he managed to work his way up in the world and now he owns the biggest art shop in Moshi. We went at separate times and hardly saw another group. Quite a few of us bought a lot of stuff. After shopping we walked through town to our lunch destinations and ordered food. Devon went to the Indo-Italiano and ordered something delicious and Aliina went to Union Cafe and ordered savory coffee and the best strawberry milkshake ever. She also ordered pizza with a lot of cheese, egg plant, and salami on it. 

After stuffing our faces, we went to the post office where we all got surrounded by fly catchers trying to sell us touristy stuff. It was absolute chaos. It took us quite a while to say no to them and for them to finally realize that we weren't in the mood to buy anything at that time. When we got on the bus we headed to a tour of a coffee farm outside of town. It was a really cool and interesting tour and we got to make coffee and drink it. It was super delicious! Our tour guides were the sweetest men. When we thought that the coffee tour was done they pulled us back in with some more facts and interesting information about the Chagga tribe and how they lived during the civil war. We even got to go into another cave, like the ones we saw on day 2. After we went in the cave we went to a little tourist store and looked for some souvenirs. We were standing around waiting for the ok to head to the bus, and Aliina saw some more kids named Denise and and, as usual, ran to them like her life depended on it. When the tour came to an end we said our goodbyes and spent the rest of our night hanging around the lodge, talking to friends and having a good time. 

Hi - from Devon 

Hi Dad, Jeremy, Josh, Maija, and everyone else that I love! Mom and I miss you guys. We are having a great time. Love you lots. 

P.S. Dad I met Brightness and Constelatha. Juma really is the man and Jessica is so sweet. Happy June 26th :-) <3

and to Ramona’s parents… she finally got her pizza :-)

Mikocheni by Mike and Stephanie

Today was emotionally exhausting. We visited Mikocheni village, a rural village of 4,000 people about an hour away from Moshi. We thought we had already experienced and adjusted to the culture shock here, but it was nothing compared to the experience of Mikocheni. 

Our day began a little bit later than normal, with brunch at 9. We all enjoyed the extra 2 hours of sleep. We left for the village around 10…African time…so actually more like 10:30. The two of us and Mr. McMorrow met Father Reginald, who was our connection to Mikocheni. He was very welcoming and excited to meet us. The four of us drove in his car, followed by a bus and dala-dala with everyone else. We passed through a giant sugar cane plantation, which contained a school, markets, and houses in it. Father Reginald was very willing to give us a background on both the plantation and the surrounding villages.  

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the village elders on the outskirts of town. We were able to see both the old and new church. The old church was made of tin and wood, falling apart, and scarcely had room for 50 people. The new church was unseen by any previous group and near completion, needing only doors and windows to be installed. It was much larger than the older one, but was still a very basic concrete building. The elders were very eager and proud to show us their new church, which had been built through funding by the diocese. After a short prayer service (in mostly Swahili) and an explanation of the current needs of the village, we went to go see past projects of the Tanzanian Village Fund. The Tanzanian Village Fund is an organization founded by previous students who also went on this trip and felt inspired to help. They had recently finished a project that provided free clean water to the village, eliminating a daily 6 km walk. This project consisted of a water well, a holding tank with a solar powered pump, and access to running water at the school, which is where we went next. 

At the primary school, we were pleased to see that even though it’s a holiday, there were still students there preparing for national exams. When they saw us in the distance, they all ran into the classrooms, shouting “Wazungu!” which means white people. They sang us a song about how Mikocheni is their home and how they will always return to it. Unfortunately, we learned later that many kids there our age have to leave Mikocheni in search of a job and other opportunities. The teacher greeted us at the door and began to give us a tour of the 8 classrooms that they have. He explained that even though their capacity is about 360 students, they have over 800. They manage to cram up to 100 people in classrooms smaller than the ones at Cathedral. They are very happy to have concrete floors in a few of their classrooms (also provided by the TVF), but they’re in dire need of floors for the other four. The only thing intact in the last classroom are the walls, and it is unable to be used until a renovation can happen. Even the best of their classrooms would not even get close to the expectations of a classroom in Minnesota. The ceilings are sinking in, there are cracks on the wall, and the rooms without concrete are uneven causing the desks and chairs to keep breaking. Even in these horrible conditions, the kids are still so excited and willing to learn. We left after giving all the students suckers, and then we were on our way to the village. 

The moment we started walking through, all eyes were on us. Everybody was staring as our group of 33 wazungu were walking through this remote village. Our group slowly increased in size as we walked through because all the kids saw the candy and were following us to get more. Many of the kids who had already gotten a sucker would hide it in their pockets, and they would fool us into giving them more. While the kids were cute, the village was almost a different world, compared to our previous experiences in Africa. The majority of houses were made out of sticks, mud, and leaves. They were about the size of a typical garden shed, often with only one room and one or two windows. There was the occasional brick or concrete building, which were almost non-existent a few years ago. This was encouraging proof that the TVF is really making a difference. Most of us on the trip who had never seen the village before thought that it was in terrible repair, but everyone who had seen it was overjoyed at the progress that has been made over the last few years. This really spoke volumes about how bad it was before and how much regular people like us can make a huge difference. 

The people in this village were so welcoming, friendly, and joyful. Even though that’s been a common trait of most people we’ve encountered here so far, the situation in Mikocheni is much different. These people are living off of almost nothing, and they are very appreciative of the simplest things. It’s inspiring to see them not complaining about anything. In our culture, it’s almost expected to hear complaining about petty things. Seeing people so happy over something as simple as a bracelet or sucker really put things into perspective. This emphasizes how blessed we are, but this isn’t supposed to be about guilt. The true importance of this experience is to inspire and encourage us to want to serve the world. 

We concluded our journey by walking to the lake that they fish at. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. The lake was right in the middle of a very flat savannah surrounded by three groups of mountains in the distance. It looked like what we all thought Africa was going to look like. “It looked like it came straight out of Animal Planet.” ~Beau. Besides the beautiful view, it was quite sad to see how much the lake had shrunk. It took us 15 minutes of driving to find the lake that was once directly next to the village. This has increasingly become a problem for the fisherman. After our long ride home over bumpy gravel roads, sharp turns, and lazy cattle that would not move, we had a great group discussion about our day. Overall, this experience has impacted all of us and could be described as a turning point in the trip. 

Mom, Dad, Rachel, David: I miss you all but just know that I’m having an incredible time. I hope you’re having a good time back at home, but I bet I’m having more fun ;) Give Elena a big hug for me!! (If she’s still there, sorry I don’t know your schedule) Love you all <3  -Steph 

Hi family and friends! It’s great here and I can’t wait to share more stories with you. -Mike

Upendo Orphanage by Sophie and Sydney

For the past three days, we have been volunteering at Upendo Orphanage. Everyday we take the “Dala Dala” which is a rickety bus, to the orphanage. On the first day of arrival, we walked in and met the head Sister, Sister Jacinta, who showed us to a waiting room where we waited to first meet the children. While we were waiting for them, we were walking around the building and saw the infant room. We all looked through  the window and immediately fell in love with their smiling faces. We met the two Sisters who are working with the infants, who are from Austria, and are volunteering there for 8 months. When we first saw the kids, they all walked out of their room holding hands and singing. This sight alone brought tears to our eyes. When they first walked into the room, they immediately ran up to us and held their arms up, wanting to be held. We were nervous, because we had heard about how you don’t choose the kid, the kid chooses you. So we were really anxious about not being chosen. The feeling subsided when the little kids ran up to us immediately. After meeting the kids we took them into the TV room and sat them on our laps while we watched “Tinga Tinga Tales” (African Cartoon). Around 10:00 everyday, the kids line up at the windows waiting for their snack of warm milk. Before they receive the milk, the nuns would line them up along the windows and lead them in prayer while they folded their hands. Then, all of us would grab a cup of milk and hand it to the children. After they drank their first cup, one of the Sisters would come around with a bucket to give a refill of the milk. When they finished their milk, we played more with the kids and their toys, and watched TV. About an hour later, it was time for lunch. They do their same prayer routine, and pick a table to sit at. We had to feed them their lunch, which usually consists of some type of rice or potatoes, and spinach sauce. After they eat, it is time for nap time. We all take the kids into their rooms based on gender, though some of the young boys sleep in the girls room. We put them into their beds and placed their blankets on top of them, and then it was time to wait for the Dala Dala to come pick us up and bring us back to the lodge. The second day, we took the children on a walk outside, and to go see the chickens or “kookoos” (chickens). After their milk, we watched the Wiggles, and fed them their lunch. After however, it was time for a bath. We had to take them to their gender bedrooms and undress them. They were all running around like crazy naked babies. We set up an assembly line of drying the kids off, moisturizing, and dressing them in crazy outfits. Then it was off to bed for the babies, as they all waved goodbye and tried climbing out of their cribs. Today, which is Friday, was our third day at the orphanage. Today we all played outside and spun them on a merry go round type thing. They were all very sleepy and cranky today, because many of them are sick. Next, after their milk, we took them outside for a walk and they would push each other and fight all over the stairs. Then, we followed the regular routine by giving them lunch and taking them to a bath and lastly putting them to sleep. We’ve been having a great time at Upendo and have formed great relationships with the kids. 

fam, hope you are having a great time and I miss you lots!! Can’t wait to see you, I’m having a great time! - Sophie

Mom, Dad, and Grayson, I pretty much don’t wanna come back. Considering I’m not even the favorite child you probably don’t even miss me. JK. Luv ya. -Sydney

Uru Secondary by: Jeremiah Thyen and Ramona Kuhn

“It’s already day four in Tanzania and I can’t believe it! It’s going by so fast!” -Ramona 

Today is the second day at The Uru Secondary school for the both of us but unfortunately Jared who came with us yesterday wasn’t feeling good so he stayed at the lodge. Instead of Jared, Quinton came along to bring our number up. Our group is the smallest compared to how many went to the other worksites; our group is a group of three students with Scott and Alisse. On our way to the first day we were informed that Cathedral hasn’t partnered with this particular school before, in fact working with a secondary school is a new add-on this year. Upon arriving, we walked into a misty courtyard area with vibrant green trees and hedges. While walking to sign in the Headmaster’s office, all the students poked their head out the window or stop and greet us good morning. We spent the whole three hours talking and interacting with many students ranging from thirteen to seventeen. We noticed a lot of differences in our cultures. For example we talked about what our parents and grandparents occupations and what they are aspiring to be. What we discovered was that the newer the generation, the more they wanted to improve their occupation. Another topic we talked about was what they liked to do in their free time. It ranged from futball (soccer), basketball, volleyball, monkey in the middle and dancing. We then talked about each of our perspectives of one another. They said that they want to have a thriving society that reflected our own. What was surprising was that they knew a lot about our politics and our iconic figures. After questions to break the ice, we went to tea time with the students rather than the previous day where we spent it with the teachers. An observation that we had was that their “lunch room” was under a tent canopy outside of a building with no tables or benches with a mud floor. As tea time went on more students gathered around to talk with us and ask about our time here or about America. Towards the end of tea time, each of us went along with different groups of students to show us around the school. We were shown the garden, where the teacher’s apartments were, the kitchen, the boys and girl’s dormitories among many other things. Discussions during tea time ranged from the differences in the high school system, how cold it is in Minnesota is and favorite subjects in school. The students were very passionate about making their dreams possible to become doctors, pilots, lawyers and engineers. A big part of them wanting to pursue these careers is to help give back to their communities which was very genuine. After regrouping in the school’s library, we collaborated with the Uru students to brainstorm about how we could serve with them in their school. What’s really important about this is that we’re trying to establish a long term relationship with the school. Some of the ideas we came up with were: improving the lunch room, raising funds for laptops, book drive and other teaching aids. 

“I didn’t want to leave the school. I would live with them in a heartbeat. They’re genuine, very hospitable and I just can’t get enough!”- Ramona 

After our morning worksite and lunch everyone went to work with the women’s group. Jesca, the founder and head of the organization, wanted to show us what the project was the students did the last time Cathedral was here; their project was to renovate an office where the women can work out of. What was really cool was that we had to walk through multiple corn fields in order to get to the office from where we were dropped off. Our first project was to make coffee grounds and package it. We didn’t expect it to take that much work. In fact, there was five steps to it: pounding the shell off, getting rid of the shells, roasting the beans, grinding them and finally packaging the beans to be sold. It was quite the experience because we were working side by side with all these women to make one day of work easier. After leaving the women’s group, we went into town. We were ransacked by street venders  trying to sell us merchandise. Another noticeable thing was that we had to be very careful when crossing the street because there traffic is crazy. In fact, a man tried to help us cross the street and almost got hit by a dala dala (bus). On our way home we got to see Mount Kilimanjaro was showing and it was just breathtaking. Overall we had an amazing time.

Mum, Dad, I don’t want to come home, but I want pizza so… - Ramona

I really like the food here- Jer

Agano Preschool by Josie Maus-Conn and Julia Meyer

Today was our first day at our work sights.  The two of us went to Agano Preschool, so this morning after breakfast fourteen of us piled into a van and drove the fairly short distance to the preschool.  Upon arriving, we were in awe to be greeted by a group of children standing in the door way, singing us a welcome song, and holding a beautifully decorated homemade cake bearing the words “Welcome Agano”.  Almost all of us teared up, as it was one of the coolest feelings we have ever experienced.  When we entered the school, the children got in five groups around the room to do various activities.  Both of us (Julia and Josie) actually started out by coloring, and we gave each of the kids a crayon and were trying to teach them colors by asking them if the knew which color they had.  They responded with “pink color!” or “green color!” and they loved switching crayons with us and learning a different color. Then we switched stations and went to the play area. Some of the kids wanted to play catch so Josie made a circle and threw a beachball. The kids would almost wrestle each other if it meant that they were the ones that got to catch and throw the ball. Julia also played some catch and soccer with the little boys. Josie and Julia had their fair share of balls to the head during this time.  It was very chaotic, trying to pay attention to about 15 kids at once.  It was stressful, but the good kind!!  After this, the teachers had us all line up at the front of the room, and the kids sat on the floor.  One of the teachers cut the cake into little cubes and there were four kids that represented the group, and each one got a piece of cake on a toothpick and hand-fed it to us!!  It was the most unique experience we have ever had, being that we were standing in front of the entire class being hand-fed…almost like royalty!!  Afterwards though, we each got to feed one of the kids some cake too, which was good because we all felt bad that the kids didn’t get cake!! After all of the cake eating we took a break for tea. The teachers had prepared and served us tea and donut-like rolls. During this time we were encouraged to eat everything and drink every drop of tea that we were given. We were already really full from breakfast and cake, but there is no such thing as saying “no” to food in Tanzania. Don’t get us wrong, the food is very good, it is just constantly being served to us. We discussed our plans for the upcoming days with the teachers and they were very interested to know more about the preschool that we have in America. At this point were all dying to go back into the other room where the kids were. They were all so excited when we walked back into the room. There is no words to describe the happiness that their smiles brought into our lives. We can not get over how cute they are! Then we circled up for repetition of letters and colors, and we also sang many songs.  Some of the kids got to recite the colors individually, pointing at them with a meter stick.  One little girl pointed at pink and said “grey color!” instead, and the entire class shouted “NOOO!!” and then she had to go sit down.  We thought that was a rather aggressive reaction.  But if someone got through all the colors without messing up, they would chant “Well done, well done, you are a winner!” This was so awesome, because we’ve never seen kids so excited about learning!!  They knew so many songs and responses, and expect for being incredibly excited to see us new people, they were very well behaved.  For some of the songs we were supposed to hold hands around the circle, and the kids would literally slap each other to fight over who got to hold our hands. It made us wish that we had more hands, because obviously we only have two so the seven kids who wanted to hold out hands were not all able to!!!   After singing for a while, we got to sit down in a circle because it was almost time to leave.  Josie had a crowd of about seven kids around her trying to sit on her lap, and we felt bad having to say no to even one of the kids, so we tried to be touching them all.  So Josie had three kids on her lap, holding hands with two others, and two more sitting in front of her.  The best part of this was just how loved we felt.  From being greeted by song and a cake, to have kids literally injuring others to holding your hand, it was amazing to be so wanted, and someone that they immediately wanted to be around and love. Julia also was basically “covered” with kids, honestly it was almost overwhelming. She was trying to make sure that all of the kids felt loved and cared for. Never in her life have she felt like people enjoyed being around her that much. It was sad to leave, because they didn’t understand what we were saying so we couldn’t explain that we’d be back tomorrow.  It was full of lots of hugs and high-fives good bye!  

Josie says love you Mom, Dad, Ceil, Jelly, Maggie, and chickens….I’m having such an amazing experience and I wish you were all here with me. 

Julia says love you Mom, Dad, and Jake. Hope everything is going well back home! I miss you guys, and I haven’t forgotten about you guys on the other side of the world!!

Claire is doing great, and got to see Moses today!! <3

Marangu Falls by Jake V. and Mikayla

This morning we woke up at 7 am, but a few of us woke up wayyyy earlier. Mama Jo woke up at five, and Beau at four started playing solitaire in the dark. Brenna and Mikayla woke up at 5 due to early alarm and saw them. Then they went out to look at the stars to find instead lots of clouds and prayer/singing chanting from next door neighbor. Then once it was actually time to wake up we all gathered for prayer and an amazing breakfast of eggs, “sausage”/hotdog, toast, fruit varieties, hot chocolate, Tanzanian tea, coffee, and these tasty flat pancakes. After we all loaded on a bus to start our day full of many encounters. From greeting many from the bus to on the streets during our touristy day. We started out with going up to the mountain of kilimanjaro to see where people hike up and learn about the mountain. Then we went to manmade caves learned about the culture and history of them and went inside them. Then we went to eat lunch at marangu falls above the falls to eat a hamburger.. or hamburger with beef and egg. Also mango juice a chicken, and some wonton hot beef pocket and muffin with classic banana. Soon after we made our hike to get the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. We learned to find out he the hike was difficult because of the slippery steep stairs. Once we finished our long trek we got a beautiful sight of the waterfall and we all got in and the water was freezing. It took awhile to get use to, but not to long because everyone enjoyed the moment. We went under the falls and climbed the slippery rocks. A lot of people fell down in and almost drowned haha jk but sorta. But we all survived and it was over all a very fun once in a lifetime experience. After that we went back on the bus to the hotel and ended the night with an amazing dinner, prayer, and group talks about our day. A great first day.  Love you mom, dad, and hockey. From Jake.

Departure and First Impressions by Dominic and Julia Schmitz

Well it sure has been a crazy last few days. After weighing our bags, we hopped into a car and began our (very long) journey to Tanzania. The car ride in the Dom’s vehicle was fairly uneventful, with the only memorable highlight being Jacob and his mother singing “Pump the Jam” together. We arrived at the airport and soon after flew off to D.C. After landing we stayed at a super nice hotel. As Mike Maleska said, “You know a place is fancy when you have curvy wood as a decoration”. After catching some Z’s we woke up bright and early to get to begin the next leg of our journey. (FYI to my (Dominic’s) dearest mother. I maybe, sort of, for sure left my retainers at the hotel, so if you were to tell the orthodontist about that while I’m gone that would be oh so very kind of you. Love Dom <3) We checked into the airport than quickly killed the layover time by grabbing some breakfast. Dom’s group grabbed some breakfast burritos at Chipotle as our final meal in America. Julia's group did as well. Chipotle must be just that good. After a few hours, we boarded our plane and continued our voyage to Tanzania. The flight was ridiculously long, and incredibly boring so describing the trip is fairly easy. Sat around. Listened to music. Watched a movie. Read a book. Inflight meal. Repeat. After several tedious hours of flight we finally landed in Africa, specifically Ethiopia. We had around a two hour layover at the airport, which was mainly spent soaking in our new surroundings. When we first walked into the airport, the scene was vaguely familiar. There were flight gates, and seat for individuals to sit down and wait for their plane. The similarities ended there. Unlike American airports, the area wasn’t very mall like. Wildlife fluttered around the rafters (mostly rather angry looking pigeons), and it didn’t have the very polished aesthetic that we were used to back home. Dom was out cold for this entire plane ride, but Julia did notice some interesting things about this flight. Mostly, she was jealous of the passengers further back in our airplane because while we were all sitting in full rows, some people had entire rows of seats to themselves. They were taking full advantage of this, many were sprawled out, fast asleep, sleeping. When we touched down in Tanzania, most of us were dead tired, even nodding off to sleep on the floor of the Tanzania airport while waiting to go through customs. Well, maybe not everyone, mostly Julia. She was pretty much falling asleep whenever she sat down. After getting through customs, we loaded the vans and set out towards Moshi. It was about an hour from the airport to Moshi, and Mr. McMorrow advised us as a group to pay attention during the ride and take in our first glimpse of Tanzania. However, Julia was asleep again most of the time. Here were Dom’s first impressions: When we hopped aboard the bus everything we saw on our drive to Hartebeest was really overwhelming. Pulling out of the lot was particularly surprising when we though we might die as the driver took a right into the left lane, which we were used to oncoming traffic driving down. We relaxed after realizing that driving in Tanzania was opposite of what it was coming home, but nonetheless it was still a little scary. The primary mode of transportation in Tanzania seemed to be motorcycles, which zipped by us constantly on our drive. All around were hilly fields covered in patches of sunflowers as we moved along dirt roads. The land was really choppy and structures sporadically spread out across the roadside. Cattle, goats, and chickens randomly roamed the countryside, sometimes shepherded, sometimes not. Despite the rustic look of the land, citizens milled about like they were in a busy city. We yelled “jambo” constantly out the window at the people we saw and were filled with excitement when they responded to our greeting verbally, or with a smile, nod or thumbs up. After settling into the drive for a little bit though, and calming down, we began to notice that the look of poverty that seemed to be surrounding us. The buildings weren’t shiny and clean like our cities back home. Every structure seemed several decades old, extremely worn and unclean. Along the roadway towards our hotel plastic bottles and other garbage was littered across the dusty roadside. Despite the positive vibe that came from the beautiful scenery and friendly faces, it was easy to tell on the ride that this was an entirely different world than the one we’ve known for our whole lives. The group arrived to Hartebeest after about an hour of driving. When we reached the lodge, we were greeted by a very kind staff and a welcoming soup which was very delicious. After getting to our rooms with our luggage, we all claimed our beds and began unpacking. The rooms were surprisingly comfortable. Granted some of us may have set the bar lower than others. No, were were not squatting over a hole int the ground. The rooms had a fully functional bathroom with a toilet, heated shower, and faucet. We were living like kings. The rooms had 3 to 4 beds depending on your amount of roommates. The beds were twin size matrices, with a complementary bug net draped over the mattress. The different groups also entertained themselves by playing cards and talking. Julia passed out once again until dinner. She spent the rest of the night in a zombie-like state, only kind of awake enough to eat. She does remember the food was all very good. Dom remembered the dinner in a bit more vivid detail. It was some chicken with sauce and noodles, white rice, and some mixed vegetables, which all in all was surprisingly tasty. The only complaint was the bones periodically found while chewing, but I suppose this is somewhat reassuring as it probably means our main dish was freshly caught and cooked for our meal. After our long journey, we finally settled down for the night, doing our best to catch up on sleep and excited for what the rest of the trip would hold.

We Made It!

This is just a quick note to tell you that we have made it safely to Moshi, Tanzania.  Stay tuned to the blog for more details!

You found it!

Welcome to the blog for the 2016 Cathedral High School Africa trip!  This is the 8th Cathedral trip as part of the Global Issues class.  In 2008 the first group went to Moshi, Tanzania followed by groups in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.  In 2015 the group did their service in the Dominican Republic.

Follow along as students share their experience.  We arrive in Tanzania on June 20.  Please keep us in your prayers.

Peace and blessings,

Baba Dick