Next Adventure, Help?

After coming home from Tanzania, I went straight back to university for my last couple of months of stress! The end of second year was hectic and whilst doing the last few assignments I was also trying to find a place for my boyfriend and I to move into in a matter of weeks, even more stress! But once everything was sorted I could finally breathe a sigh of relief and say I've got four whole months off University. I can hear you all saying this would be the perfect opportunity to go travelling, not this time. 

Having decided to move in with my boyfriend, everything this summer is revolving around our new home and getting it all furnished and just so, which is amazing and I wouldn't of changed a thing, it was the right step for us to do and it's just a different kind of adventure. But that doesn't stop me from seeing some of my friends that our currently travelling the world, i'll always have the travel bug and I look endlessly at different destinations on Pinterest. (Who doesn't) Whilst hoping to learn to drive this year too I also want to have a little get a way somewhere in the UK but that'll be for a blog post around winter, my favourite time of year. So anyway what I was getting onto, my sister has just moved her entire life including her puppy to New Zealand to live their with her boyfriend, which gives me a great reason to go and visit that beautiful country, but with still being at Uni and not knowing what job I may get at the end of it, I am at the moment only planning to go in Dec/Jan 2017/2018, which feels so far off but it will give us time to save and hopefully work it around our jobs. We are planning to go for a month but on the way we would love to stop off in Japan, this stop off would only be for four or five days. So this is where I am asking for help, People of New Zealand and Japan, or those who have travelled there what would you recommend doing? I open to all suggestions, I already have some in my head so I know they are a must if they are suggested. 

Travelling Home.

We had quite the wait at Kilimanjaro airport, it's a strange set up, you only got through security once your gate is open. There was one security conveyor belt too which would be unheard of back home.  Once we were through security we found out our plane was delayed, we knew we only had about an hour lay over in Doha airport and its a massive airport so we were slightly worried about getting that one on time. Once on the plane we were settled and had decided on the films we were going to watch, we had lucked out again and had no one next to us until, half way through the flight a guy decided to change seats and sat next to me, I don't get why when all he did was sleep with a blanket over his head, he wouldn't even move out the way for me to go to the toilet. Finally arrived at Doha airport we rushed to out gate which was about a 15 minute walk and we were walking fast! We were trying to multitask by connecting to the wifi to let family know how we were. So very out of breath we reached the gate to find out that flight is also delayed. We weren't too bothered this time because at least we had internet. 

This flight didn't have TV's but we wanted to sleep so didn't mind, we were on the front row so had a nice extra leg room. I managed to sleep for about 3 hours but was disturbed sleep. Soon we were approaching Manchester and I have never been so happy to see the rainy, miserable city more in my life! When we landed I was bombarded with messages off my mum of baked goods and homemade pie she had been making for my return. As we got off the plane and walked through the bridge, I saw a familiar face, my dad was there to greet me, it was so nice to see him, walking at the airport has his perks! A worry of myself and Rachel's was that we wouldn't have our luggage! But it was there, we had no problems and headed out to be given a cuppa by Rachel's mum and a huge hug of John! I was so happy to be home, but couldn't help but feel guilty, I was back to reality, where I have a loving family, boyfriend, amazing friends, constant electricity, hot water and a brilliant education. I would have loved to bring every single children from the orphanage home with me and give them a care free, trouble free life. 

Our Last Day

It was quite a surreal feeling when we woke up on Tuesday morning, everything was now the last time, last breakfast, last walk to the center, last time we see the children. It was starting to feel real that we were going home. When we woke up it was again lashing rain, we had got ready and eaten, but now we had to wait for the rain to stop so it was safe to walk up to the center. Eventually it stopped and we headed up to the center, it was a slow walk up because we were trying to be so careful so we didn't fall. Seeing the children for the last time was so sad. What made it worse was because it was the easter holidays some of the children go back to relatives for the break, we didn't know who was going and when they were going so each day for the past three or four days we would turn up to the center with children having gone home, and we hadn't been able to say goodbye. I know its wrong to have favourites but it's bound to happen and as long as you don't give special treatment to individuals what harm does it do. So the day my little boy wasn't there when we went up to see the children I was heartbroken, I would have brought Elihuruma without any thought, he was the cheekiest, funniest little boy with a smile and eyes that melt your heart. The children gave us some many notes to take with us, and got ordered not open them until we got on the plane. I even got on note for my family off Brenda which was the sweetest little message. The children sang for us and we gave out sweets or 'pee pee' is what they say. Walking towards the gates was a sad moment I may never see those children again. Then as soon as I stepped out the gate I slipped and nearly did the splits. Within a few meters I slipped again luckily just about stopped my self from falling onto my bum. Walking down the hill was hilarious, we were being so cautious! Luckily there were no more falls was grateful to be back at the house, we washed up, locked our suitcases and had lunch for the last time here, then we were getting a lift to the airport from David. Sadly we didn't get to say goodbye which was really sad we had such a good relationship with him and he wanted us to give him our contact details but didn't get the chance. Little David started to cry when we were leaving so he ended up coming to the airport with us. It was quite a long journey to the airport but knowing we were heading home made it go quite fast.

Still No Power.

With us heading home the next day we needed to get a few last bits from town, Deo took us into town, so we could get last minute presents. Then we needed to go to a internet cafe to check in to our flight and print out our boarding passes. With no power still at the house this would have been impossible. Deo dropped us off at the internet cafe, and asked if it would be alright for use to make our way back to the house, we were fine with this, having taken the Dala a few days back I felt I knew what I was doing. So after printing everything out, having a quick check of Facebook and checking in with my family and John we were done. We headed to what we would call a bus shelter and waited, we agreed we wanted to get in a slightly empty looking one, Dala Dala's are known for theft on them and being white your an easier target. After a good half an hour waiting we finally got in one that was virtually empty. It's only about a ten minute journey to the road that leads down to the house. We decided that we would head to the center and see the children before going back to the house, as we were walking to the center we saw a power line being repaired (about time) when we got to the center the children were all shouting the power is back on so can we bake and watch a film. It was way to late now, and we obviously didn't have the film things with us. We were also disappointed that we didn't get to bake with them but you can't plan for no electricity. The children had asked before when we were leaving and we were always honest with them, one child asked today, we said we leave tomorrow, we are coming to see you in the morning then we are going to the airport. They were all shocked, and wanted to know if we had any paper, we didn't have anything on us at all having come from town, so I said I'd bring some tomorrow morning, I knew it was for them to write notes for us to take with us. So after an evening of packing up and making sure we had everything, it was time for our last nights sleep in Tanzania. 

No Electricity.

With it being the weekend, we had organised to bake with the children and watch a film, we had all the ingredients bought. We were there thinking we were all organised, but we couldn't of predicted that were going to be out of power for two nearly three days! So when we went up to the center on Sunday, all the children wanted to bake and they were asking what film we were going to watch, with the only electricity they use are light bulbs they hadn't realised there was no power, so we had to break the news to them, they didn't believe us at first they ran to one of the classrooms and tried the light bulb, when it didn't work straight away they said as soon as it comes back on can we bake and watch a film, we said yes as long as it came on early enough for us to fit it in. As the message got passed around the children they all started asking if they could bake yet, there was still no sign of power. By the time we went to bed there was still no sign of power. 

Poorly In Tanzania

Today we had planned to go to Moshi, which was a town near to Kilimanjaro, there were some beautiful hot springs that Deo had told us about and he wanted to show us around Moshi too because that was the town he grew up in. I had been poorly for a few days,I had been sick the day before and suffered from an upset stomach for a few days too, when it got to Friday I thought that I must be better by now, but I was very much mistaken, I had a tiny bit of dry toast at breakfast and straightaway headed to the bathroom, there was no way I could go on a 2 hour car journey like this so I stayed at the house. I was telling Deo that I wouldn't be able to come with them I said i'm poorly, which is very close to Pole in swahili which means sorry, so he thought I was saying i'm sorry but really i was saying I was sick, this was cleared up later and we taught him some other words such a chippy, cuppa, gutted. 

I stayed in bed, reading most the day, because I had decided I wasn't going to eat anything to give my body a chance to recover, later on when everyone was back, I told David I wasn't well, he then told Mama, who straight away came to see what was up, she then sent one of the boys to go get me some lucozade, which was a big help. I woke up the next morning feeling much better, No food and lucozade did the trick. If I hadn't have been better the next morning they were going to take me to the hospital, which worried me, that fear might have made me better haha. 

Rain, Rain and More Rain.

After being awoken during the night by the heavy rain, it was still pouring when we got up, now i'm used to rain living in England, but this was on a whole new level. Apparently the people in Tanzania do not cope well with the rain and everything basically comes to a standstill, when we arrived at the center we were greeted with all the children under shelter, we asked why they weren't in class they explained that school was cancelled because of the rain, but all the teachers were already there so I didn't get why classes were cancelled. Today was also the day that three volunteers were leaving, it was going to be strange we were a group of seven down to four. Linda and Anna two that were leaving were so lovely, they had been coming to the center for quite a few years so they new the children really well so all the children were so sad that they were leaving. When we started goodbyes, the children were starting to sing and say their goodbyes, everyone got so emotional, seeing the children get upset made me get upset, it was such a shame to see them leave, when we first arrived, Linda and Anna were the most helpful and caring people, it was just what we needed when we first got there.  

Reading and Writing.

At the end of each month the children have exams, with the results it is worked out whether the children are in the right class for their ability, some children get moved down classes which is such a shame to see, if schools in Tanzania had teaching assistants introduced into their schools, i'm sure there would be less need to moving children down classes.When we went to the center in the afternoon there was no homework to help the children with because they were having their exams, so instead we decided to help them with read and writing, most of the children's English is amazing considering it is their second language. Having one to one time with the children to practice their reading and writing is so valuable, you notice where each individual needs help, and rewarding their strengths. It would be amazing if the teachers have the time and access to helping the children outside of the classroom. After reading and writing practice it was only fair the children had some fun, so we played some football and basketball.

 

Cooking Spaghetti Bolognase for the Children

After a relaxing Sunday morning, we headed up to the center to prepare the food we were going to be cooking. We had decided to cook for the children and the staff at the center. I believe the children had tried spaghetti bolognese before, but it was a nice change form their usual food. Cooking without any electricity was an experience, we had a huge pot and a fire, cooking for nearly 50 people was a first for myself too. After a good few hours of cooking it was ready to serve up to the children, they absolutely loved it, the boys were the first ones for seconds. It made me realise how easy we have it, being able to turn on a tap and we have heat to cook with, we don't have to go and collect fire wood and have to deal with smoke that burns your eyes. We are so blessed and so many people don't realise it. 

  

Shopping and a Group Meeting.

Before we went on Safari we had organised a day of shopping for Friday, as five of the volunteers were leaving within the next week so they wanted to get presents and so on. So we went on the hunt to get some material because everywhere you go you see this beautiful distinctive material, women wear it around their waists, children wear them as a dress for going for a shower, and you can use it to be made into anything you could possibly imagine. After going to lots more shops and markets, we headed home, but because we got to town separately there then wasn't enough room in Deo's car, so myself and three others decided to get a Dala Dala, which is their public transport. Having been warned to be careful taking the Dala I was quite nervous, luckily we found a quite empty on and got in, the Dala stops at the top of the road that leads down to the house, if we were to walk it would take at least twenty five minutes so we decided to be adventurous and take a Peki Peki down the hill, which is a motorbike, Linda took some persuasion but in no time we were each sat on the back of four motorbikes gripping onto the driver, it was such a thrill, going over bumps was fun, and we got to the house in no time. When we arrived back at the house we were greeted with the dinner table outside with chairs all around, we were going to have a group meeting with all the volunteers and Mama and David. They sat us all down and wanted to say thank you for all the work and effort we had put in with the children, they are so appreciative of the volunteers and there way of saying thank you was to get a chef to come to the house and put on a lovely spread of food. Mama shared some of the background stories of the children, we had read their files, but hearing them out loud was heart breaking, the trauma those children have been through is more than anyone could comprehend and to see them with smiles on their faces is the best thing you could ever hope for. 

Maasai Tribe

On our second day of our safari we were able to stop off and meet a Maasai tribe, this tribe was situated near the entrance of the Ngorongoro crater, which trust me when I say it is far far away from any civilization. We were greeted with a dance from the tribe and then invited into the 'village' we were shown the homes, which is a very small hut made form mud and dung, with one tiny window in so the smoke from the fire is let out of the hut. There were several beds in the hut the one I went into had a mother and baby in there and we were told that the whole family would sleep in the hut as well as their goats.The tribesman that was showing us around infromed us that they only eat goat, they use everything from the animal, eat it's meat, and drink it's blood and milk. We were shown the school, as we entered the children were singing, and then one child went to the board and pointed to numbers they recited the numbers in unison in English. In the middle of the 'village' there's a circular market where they try and get you to buy their jewelry, the tribe use the money they get from tourists visiting to go to the nearest town and buy beads to be able to make things to sell, they also use animal bones that they to make things out of. 

    

Safari

The next two days were going to be spent on Safari we were visiting the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Lake Manyara. I think the photos speak for themselves, but I would like to say it was the most incredible experience I've had the pleasure of experiencing. The views, the animals, and the excitement is something I will never be able to forget!

Sports day.

The Plan for the day was to go to the center again, but this didn't happen. We were told that we were going to Yakini because apparently the teachers wanted our help with something. So we arrived at the school, saw the headteacher and he asked us what we were going to be doing today, we said well we thought you needed our help, he wasn't aware of any teachers requesting our help so instead we joined two of the volunteers with some of the children to go to football and netball trials. The children we were ging with had got through to the second round and now they were going to play to see if they got picked for the Arusha team. From Yakini we had one girl for the netball and about 7 boys for football. It turned out to be a great day, being someone who was brought up with playing netball from primary school all through to college and played in the teams, it was great to be able to help share my knowledge of the game. I practiced with Swali, whilst the athletics was happening we practiced shooting and as soon as we were practicing we attracted a crowd, all the girls wanted to join in a play with us, which was great. 

After a few matches and having to restrain myself from questioning the refs decisions, the team was announced and Swali was the first girl picked for the team, we were all so proud! The boys did amazing in the football matches too, five out of our seven boys got picked!

Maths Lesson.

The day started by going to the center st 8am, we had planned on sitting in on a lesson with the intermediate class, we were in class with the children, waiting for at least ten minutes, and there was still no teacher, I went to find out what was going on to be told there the teacher was not in today, so Class one's teacher set some work and we were left to supervise. After some time most of the children had completed the work and had started to get a bit restless, quite frankly I think they were just bored, they all started to play up and get noisy, in the end when they had all done the work we started doing maths questions on the board and getting the children to come out and write the answers. Within the class there is a huge age difference, as most of the classes are formed on ability instead of age, the youngest in the class was around 7 years of age and the eldest 10 years old. After a short time back at the house for a lunch and bit of time to relax we headed back to the center, I brought some pencils with me and handed them out to all the children, they were shocked when I said they could keep them, they were very thankful, now there was no excise for them not to do their homework! 

Church and Baking cookies.

Every Sunday the children attend church, I was so keen to learn more about their culture and this would be the perfect way to get a better insight. Church started at 10am we met the children at the church they were all dressed smartly and already sat down, now their church could easily of been mistaken for a emptying building, the churches in England are mostly quite grand building which you would be able to notice was a church straight away, this was not the same in Tanzania but still they made it look lovely with colourful material behind the alter. It was a lovely atmosphere, we were welcomed but the church and we were asked to introduce ourselves and say where we were from. There was plenty of singing and dancing and it was such a blessing to see them so happy. After a couple of hours the children have a short Sunday school lesson, I sat in with the younger ones and they sand some more songs and recited some passages from the Bible. We then went back to the house for lunch which was Pilau (rice and meat) this was one of my favourite meals. At around 3 in the afternoon we did some baking at the house,then once we finished the baking all the children would come down and we would watch a film. It was lovely, hearing their laughter and smiles watching the film, this was a treat for them and it mainly only happens when there are volunteers to do it with them. It was Mother's day back home, and we were currently watching Despicable Me 2 in Africa surrounded by

beautiful children, there was a moment in the film where a little girl sings a mother's day song but she doesn't have a mum, at that very moment I looked around at all the children around me and started to tear up, I thought about how all of these children have either been mistreated, rejected, abandoned, or left on their on due to death, yet they have smiles on their perfect faces and are some of the happiest children I have had the pleasure of coming across. 

Lazy Saturday and Goodbyes.

When Saturday came around we were shattered, getting used to the heat and the early starts had taken it's toll on us, so we had a relaxing morning, tidying are room so we were a bit more organised and reading in the sun which was a lovely way to start the day. A bit later on the children came and joined us at the house as one of the volunteers Marie who is a regular at Living Water and donates a lot towards the developments was leaving so the family had organised for a cook to come in a put together a wonderful spread before she went. The food was simply amazing it was the best we had so far it was a lovely treat for us all. Watching the children eat such good food was a lovely thing to witness, don't get me wrong they have good food at the center and they have big portions! But it was nice to see them get some meat which they don't really tend to get. They sang and danced a goodbye song for Marie which was lovely to see. One of the family members had a 3 or 4 month old baby and the children just loved holding baby Nathan, they were so gentle and careful with him, and of course I had to have a hold of him! After the celebration we headed up to the center and took wool up so the children could make bracelets. The amount of times a child would start a bracelet then have to go do some chores and then would come back a while after to continue the bracelet saddened me. It would be lovely to take away all the chores that the children have to do but that's their routine and they just get on with it, which I admire about them so much, on a daily basis they clean their clothes, fold their clothes, clean the center which includes sweeping the floors, mopping the floors, picking up twigs and leaves, cleaning the toilets and showers, cleaning the classrooms and their bedrooms as well as get their homework done and have a bit of time to play. Children in England do not know how lucky they have it, they would not last one day if they switched lives with one of the children I was with. 

Cooking class.

With an early start and very little sleep it was hard getting up to go to Yakini but it was well worth the early start we had the best time teaching the children how to make sandwiches and fruit salad, a lot of children said they had helped cooking but hardly any of them had made a sandwich, we were working with roughly around 120 children which is hard in any situation but was worth the effort to see that they had enjoyed themselves. The children were so safe and sensible with the sharp knives it was a pleasure to teach them, and they enjoyed eating the food they had made themselves. My group was in charge of the fruit salad, we were set up on a station outside, and the children got to take it in turns to help cut up the fruit.  Sadly some of the younger ones wanted in on the action and the place got a bit hectic, but we asked the Headteacher to calm them down, he did so and we then cleaned the room with help of the children. The children at Yakini and the center have an amazing work ethic when it comes to cleaning and washing, they work together and they do it all with out moaning, which I know if that was me as a child I would have had something to say. Even myself as a child would not be expected to clean like they do at school, we would clear up after ourselves and that's about it, but they clean down the tables, brush then mop the floor, I watch in admiration, and tried to helped but they wouldn't let me.

Shopping in Arusha

We spent the whole day shopping today, from 10am to 5pm we went around different shops and markets. It was so interesting to see the contrast in culture when we were shopping for fruit and veg all the stall holders would swarm around us trying to sell us their produce. It was a strange feeling to be the only white people that were in the market, I wouldn't have wanted to go there on my own, it would have been a daunting experience if I went there by myself. Thankfully Deo cam with us to make sure we didn't get ripped off by the locals. In the evening we went to a club called Viva Viva which was a lot of fun. It was definitely contrast to a night out in England and the attention white people get over here is insane, I would never have expected to get the attention we did but all in all was a great night and didn't get back to the house until 4am and had to be up at 7:30 to head out to Yakini that morning.                                                                   Getting ready for our first night                                                                                                      out in Arusha

Teaching

Living Water Children Center 

Today is our third day at the center and we had an early start to go up and join the children at the center for their class I sat in on a English class, all the children wanted me to sit next to them it was sweet, they are so welcoming and as soon as myself and Francesca another volunteer walked into the classroom they all stood up and welcomed us by saying "kariboo teachers".

David sat myself and Rachel down and told us about the history of Living Water, hearing about the work they have done is heart warming! When then went to Yakini where we were asked to teach an ICT lesson which was quite easy because it was pretty basic stuff we had to show them what to do, but it was quite daunting being thrown in at the deep end, the language barrier bothered me a little as the children can understand English and can speak it well, but when they would speak in Swahili it would exclude us, so naturally we thought they were talking about us. By the time we got back to the house it was 5:30 and we were shattered, after a nice relaxing sit outside we had tea which was delicious we had rice and beans which was probably the best cooked meal we've had so far here we headed straight to bed ready to see what the next day had installed for us. 

Myself teaching ICT

Homework with the children and Yakini

On our second day we decided to have a lie in with us having very little sleep the day before. Once we got up with had black tea and sweet bread for breakfast, the bread is made fresh at the house. We then went up to the center around half ten, which was just in time for their tea time, which would be the equivalent of break time back home in the UK. We got to spend some time with the children before they headed back to their lessons, which we sat in on, seeing the teaching styles was an eye opener it is very different to the schooling in England, there is very little activity from the children and not much involvement, they mainly get taught at. At the center there are about 45 orphaned children who are taught during the day with day students from the local village who attend the school.

Intermediate class at the Center. 

Then we went to visit the main school Yakini which also has Living Water children that board as well as paying students but mainly it's a private school for children in the area, it schools over 500 children. We were then showed the town of Arusha which was interesting we were able to change our money too, we came back to the house to write down information we have learnt and then the power cut out for three hours which was an experience in its self, we had to eat in the dark which was interesting it also meant no internet for three hours which was not fun when I want to inform family of everything. It was amazing to see how the women who cooked our food the 'dadas' just carried on with everything, they are so used to it as it happens very often apparently.

                              Children from Yakini.    

Finally arrived in Tanzania

So after three flights and 16 hours later I arrived in Kilimanjaro airport, after only 2 hours sleep whilst travelling I was exhausted! W were met with a sign with my name on by the friendliest guy called Deo (Just like in the movies), he was so happy to see us! 
We had a 40 minutes drive to Arusha, we drove down some of the longest and straightest roads I have ever seen! We picked up David who was the guy we had been in contact for the placement he was really lovely. Everyone we have met have been so happy and cheerful. After arriving at the center we just spent some time relaxing and met everyone that lives here we were taught a few phrases that I really need to remember! In the afternoon we went to meet the children at the center which is only a five minute walk from the house, the children were so welcoming, they call me Teacher Amanda, they loved showing us around the center and their classrooms and their bedrooms, they asked so many questions about England's Queen and and Princesses. We were offered lunch which we had to accept as it is seen as rude to reject a gift it was interesting to try but wasn't very nice we had maize and a meat stew which wasn't a very nice texture!
We met all the other volunteers in the evening who were so lovely too us, and offered to take us shopping so we could buy snacks. Tiredness hit me rather harshly, so we headed to bed rather early that night, it felt amazing to be in a bed, even with a mosquito net up.             


Photo on the left is the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. 

One month until Tanzania

Today is exactly one month until embark on a sixteen hour, 6,872 mile journey from Manchester airport to Kilimanjaro airport to take part in a three week volunteer opportunity through my university. I'll be working with Living Water Children's Centre and i am so excited to get there and start. I have volunteered before in Thailand at a orphanage for a couple of days and wished i could of stayed much longer so i am thoroughly looking forward to spending a longer time volunteering. I have been trying to volunteer to be able to go on this adventure and i am so close to my target! 

For anyone wanting to volunteer in Tanzania a heads for you is that you have to get two Visa's wish come to around £170, when we first chose or charity to volunteer through we weren't that clued up on the visa system so finding out we had to pay that much was bit of a shock. 

I've linked my fundraising page just in case any of you sympathies with me and know how difficult it is to fund raise when you're a student trying to hold down a job too!

http://www.youcaring.com/other/help-living-water-children-s-centre-/246591

Countdown to Tanzania

So I have 54 days until i set off on a 16 hour journey to Tanzania. So far I have realised raising money is pretty damn hard especially around Christmas time. But my excitement about going out there and helping so many young lives is a lot greater then the worry about not being able to raise all the money, I know some how it will work out. 
But if any one that is reading this can spare a few pounds to a wonderful charity that helps and loves so many young children that have had grown up with no family other than the wonderful people at Living Water Children's Centre, here is my fundraising page if any one can spare a little bit of money. 
https://www.youcaring.com/other/help-living-water-children-s-centre-/246591