First Days In Banjika!!

Hello from beautiful Tanzania! The past couple of days have been absolutely amazing. Two days ago, we arrived at the Banjika School where we were introduced to the students and were assigned our local student partners. To get there, we ate red bananas in the village of Mto Wa Mbu (Mosquito Creek) and spent upwards of four hours on the bus. We continued on to our campsite, which is roughly ten minutes from the Banjika school, where our excellent chef, Wilson, prepared a fantastic meal for us. We then carried our full stomachs from the dining hut to a bonfire where we discussed our feelings, hopes and fears. The bonfire lasted deep into the night, which resulted in a lot of tired faces the next day.

Yesterday marked the beginning of our service project. We mixed sand and cement to make bricks, which we followed up with chai time (tea time) and an amazing discussion regarding social issues in both Tanzania and the United States. We found that many of the issues in Tanzania also exist in the states, which led to further discussion of potential solutions. We communicated in English while also learning bits of Swahili, and it was truly amazing to interact with the students in such a way. Afterwards, all of the boys from both Ensworth and Banjika played a game of football (soccer). Man, you should have seen the football game! The field was right next to the village and surrounded by corn fields with beautiful mountains in every direction. After we said goodbye to the students, we returned to our camp for another fantastic dinner and bonfire.

Jack & Michael

p.s. we are having internet connection difficulties but will post as often as possible...thanks for your patience!