Hello All!

The pictures: First, this is the oven we helped purchase this weekend for the orphanage. It has 3 gas burners and 1 electric, with a gas oven. We also got an electric mini-oven with 2 more electric burners. Now, Peace Matunda can cook when there is no electricity, and when the gas has run out! The night we installed it, Kase, Amanda, Becky and I made meatless lasagna.

It was delicious, but Magi (the usual cook) was not very impressed. haha. The man in the white outfit is Kaaya, the founder of the orphanage and school and our host. He is a great guy, with a great sense of humor. We have a blast with him.

The second picture is our back yard. This is Mt. Meru, the second tallest mountain in Africa, and we literally live on it. Isn't it incredible!?! I think I have taken about 50 pictures of it just because I am blown away every time I see it.

On to other things...

Most of our food is rice and beans, pasta and beans, or chapatti (like a pancake-tortilla). We have purchased soy sauce, ketchup, and even ranch dressing in the city to try and spice up these traditional Tanzanian dishes. Taste is not a necessity here I find, just sustenance.

More and more, I find myself getting a bit frustrated with my 'mzungu' status. It is impossible to do anything without being stared at, ripped off, or confronted. I blame this on the other mzungus who have come before me. Saturday, as we were driving up the mountain in Kaaya's car, an elderly man reached in to the car with his palm up and said to us "give me money'. That seems to be the white image here - rich and willing to quiet the natives with shillings. Gross.

Sunday, we had 2 more volunteers arrive, and three more are coming in tonight. This is totally going to change the dynamic of things at Peace Matunda - there will be as many volunteers as orphans living there. Kase and I intend on keeping our responsibilities in the baby class, but we might have a few more helpers.

This morning, we sat down and read through the profiles of all the kids at school. Most of them have lost either one or both parents. Many grandparents have re-assumed the role of parent. Most struggle to have 2 meals a day, and barely any can afford the cost of education (it is not a right in Tanzania). This was a bit of a reality check for me. Each day, our class comes in as if their whole world couldn't be better. They sing, they laugh, sometimes they cry, but mostly, they are hopeful and excited about the day. They have so little, have experienced so much already, and yet are still resiliently charming. I joked with Kase the other day that I want to send my kid here for the first three years of his/her life, just because I find the children here to be independent, strong, and yet innocent. I did not think that was possible. The kids here should be emulated by people young and old every where. The essence of life is not material here, it is experiential. It is so easy to see that these kids will probably have more of an influence on my life moving forward than I could ever dream of on theirs.

Thats all for now. I love you all!

- Michael