At Amsterdam

We are all fine, changing planes in Amsterdam, and looking forward to seeing our loved ones later today in Seattle.  All we met in Tanzania send their greeting and love to all our relatives and friends in Seattle.

Church Service at Ailanga

We attended the service at the local Lutheran church.

 

 

Auctioning bananas first, then a chicken.

Guess who won the chicken at the auction.

And, finally, Mount Kilimanjaro.

A quick update Friday morning

Everyone is back from the safari, and in good spirits and health.  Wild animal sightings abounded.

Two had queasy stomachs this morning so stayed in the guest house during the morning tour.

We have full days until we get on the plane Sunday night, have had a great time, but are looking forward to getting home

I will try to do a few more blog posts in the coming days.

Form 6 Graduation Ceremony

Three videos of the entertainment.

The school buildings and surrounding area

Mount Meru at dawn

Mount Meru from the school grounds. The girls dormatory is on the left
and the main classroom and boys dormatory building is on the right.

The classic view from the second floor of the main building. You see the crater in
Mount Meru highlighted in sunshine, where one third of the mountain blew away
years ago. you also see dome-building in the center of the crater.

The girl's dorm on laundry day. Some classes are held in this building also,
and a teacher is returning from class.

The dorm rooms hold 12-20 students each. No closets and the students live
out of suitcases and trunks. They go home for a week or two about five times yearly.

The main building

The Science Building

There are many half-finished buildings at Ailanga.  The building on the left is shelled out as two rooms. We had lunch with the faculty and staff in one of them. There was no electricity or running water in this building so they brought in a water barrel with a faucet for handwashing. The food was carried in large metal serving trays. An hour later it was an empty room with just tables and chairs.

The Science building is on the right.

The biology lab is on the left half and the chemistry lab is on the right. At the far right there is a small
storeroom for all the sciences, with many shelves of chemicals, several microscopes, biology specimens, etc.

The biology laboratory.

The chemistry lab, with the storeroom at the far right. Note the metal re-bar rods sticking up from the room.
These were left there, and not cut off, in preparation for adding a second story to the building.

The chemistry lab seen through a glass-less window. The chemistry benches and sinks
have not yet been installed.

The front porch of the science building. This is definitely no-frills construction. 

Nap Time at the School

 

A little while later, overcrowding sets in ...

Hey, who's that dude with the pale skin. A stranger around these parts?

The Student-to-Student Video Project

Sharon played a video she had recorded with her students in Seattle, asking questions of the students at Ailanga. Then she recorded video of the Ailanga students answering questions posed in Seattle, and adding questions of their own.

The Computer Classroom

Meeting the students at Ailanga School

Arusha is in a draught and the hydroelectric power is failing. There is only one gas-fired power station and it is in Dar Es Salaam and even there daily power outages often last 2-3 hours. In Arusha several times per day and hours each. When we do not have power, other cities get their turn. This has restricted wireless access and Internet cafes.

The result is that I have posted about the first 2 days and we are on day 9 of our trip. Today I will try to catch up a little, by posting a lot of pictures (which each say 1000 words) but not much description. You will recognize your friends!

The biology lab in the new Science Building.

A physics lecture.

Store Room for science equipment.

The farm

The All-School Assembly where we were greeted.











Meeting the Bishop with the school headmistress.

From left to right: the Secretary General, the Bishop, the Headmistress Lydia Mbise, and some members of the delegation.

The Pastor at the Usa River church with the Secretary General.

Arusha at last

The map from the back of the airplane seat shows our route from Amsterdam. The tip of the plane points to Usa River, Tanzania.

Here is the line to get a visa to visit Tanzania added to your passport.  One of our travelers had to wait through this "line" to be admitted to the country. The rest of us stood in another line, just as long, to get through Passport Control. The photographed our four fingers and thumb, both hands, further delaying the process.

Finally we get to the Guest House maintained by the Meru Diocese of the Lutheran Church in Tanzania. It has been 18 hours of flights, about 24 hours total duration, and most of us have had 1-3 hours of sleep.  Do we look it?