Community Presentation: September 3rd 6:30pm (Teton County Library)

Photos: Laying the initial bricks for the library, the group on first day of construction, Maasai Shukas and sneakers, new friends, and the famous baobab tree!

Returning Home

Hi All!

Evan called today from the Kilimanjaro airport to say that the group was about to board a plane to head home and that they were all well and had a very special experience in Tanzania.

If we don't have further news in the next 24 hours, they should be landing in Jackson at 9:07 PM tomorrow on Delta flight #1243.

Look forward to seeing you at the airport  and hope you'll stop by our Farmers Market booth tomorrow AM  between 8-and noon  for some coffee and fun and games.  IC 21 is the non-profit of the week!

Have a great weekend and all the best,

Susie and Lina

Asante Sana!

In many ways, it is rather unfathomable that we are (attempting) to write our final blog post from the Noloholo environmental center. Our time here is winding down and before we embark upon our safari, there is much to tell in order for you all to get a glimpse of what we have been up to. First, a comment on the blog posts. We apologize that we have not posted more; however, the internet here, deep within the bush of Africa has proven to be incredibly scarce. While this is actually a very welcome change to our often fast-paced, “connected” lives in the States, the only drawback has been an inability to get posts to you in a regular fashion. Just this morning, for example, I have woken up an hour and a half prior to the morning wake-up call in order to post this blog entry, only to sit in front of the blog page that took nearly 45 minutes simply to load. For this, we apologize. However, please understand our situation and you can be rest assured that our disconnection from the cyber-world has facilitated a much deep connection in the Tanzanian world. 

A recap: As previously mentioned, we have finished the service component of our project. The library in the small, neighboring village of Loibor Siret is as completed as one would hope to expect in 10 days of intensive work. The brick walls have been completed, plastered with many, many wheelbarrows full of hand-mixed mortar and the roof (including skylights) is finished as well thanks to some hand sawing and hammering. Pictures to follow. Additionally, we have completed our teaching component in the Loibor Siret Primary School with every one of our students having an opportunity to take on the roll of a teacher. Meaningful and often powerful lessons were shared with a lot of oversight and guidance, especially from our group leader Yara Abad – our teacher in residence. Finally, we’ve completed creating an entire organizational system for the library and the 15 boxes of books we brought with us. We devised a simple, yet effective system to mark each and every book as fiction, non-fiction, environmental education, or reference and also included a color coded reading difficulty level on each spine in order to align with a student’s reading level. As well, each book has been individually stamped, numbered, and cataloged in a computer system by our students. We have hand painted signage for the library indicating where each book can be found, how to determine difficulty level, and also hand built two book shelves (creatively conceptualized by our own Zeke Nelson) to serve as prototypes of what the remainder of the bookshelves can look like in the library.  The students have also chipped away on their independent projects, including (as an example), obtaining two Hydraid bio-sand water filters to serve the children of the Loibor Siret schools with clean water. Conner Seeton and Molly Pickerill, the two students spearheading this particular independent project, have run water workshops for children highlighting how to keep water from being contaminated, explained what contaminated water can do to a person, and then created a “water advisory team” made up of individual students from the Wildlife Club to continue monitoring the development of the water filter project going forward after we depart. This is just one example of the 15 independent projects being completed by our students. 

For those parents out there with students on this trip: nice work. Each student has been wonderful, productive, inquisitive, reflective, and without complaint the entire trip. Their work has changed a community. Their smiles have bridged language and cultural barriers. Their participation has made this trip very rewarding as the leaders of this trip. For this we thank the parents of our students - asante!

These are just a few brief highlights of our work and efforts. It is impossible to highlight everything. All of these efforts were rewarded yesterday when a formal ceremony was staged at the primary school dedicating the soft-opening of the library. This was “a big deal.” The ceremony lasted the entirety of the afternoon, was covered by the national press, a national television news station, and included representatives from the national congress and regional leaders. It was a testament to not only our efforts, but the many years of work and support that our friends here at the African People and Wildlife Fund have put into this particular community. The community’s appreciation was overwhelming. Songs, dances, and speeches ensued. Each student was gifted beautiful, handmade traditional Maasai garb for their efforts.  As the representative for the national congress mentioned, we have built the first library of its kind in the entire region, and more than likely most of the regions of Tanzania. He went on to say that it not only serves a community, but it also serves as inspiration for the Tanzanian government as a vision of what is possible for their remote, pastoral communities and their schools. Without a doubt, we have been welcomed back to Tanzania with open arms. In addition, as previously mentioned, we were able to gain insight into the scope of what the African People and Wildlife Fund is doing for the Maasai people (and wildlife) in this wonderful part of the world. This library was their idea and as significant and intensive as the work was, it is but a fraction of what the organization is accomplishing every day. There are many non-governmental organizations across Tanzania, but APWF, lead by Dr. Laly Litchenfeld and her husband Charles Trout, stands out as an organization of the highest integrity, effectiveness, and vision. 

Finally, our day ended yesterday with a great feast and celebration back at APWF’s Noloholo Center. We participated in traditional Maasai dances and enjoyed our last evening prior to departing today for our two and a half day safari. It is with incredible sadness that we depart our new friends and new family. It is with incredible joy that we celebrate our accomplishments and future together. We will update again after the safari has been completed – until then, we thank everyone at APWF and the village of Loibor Siret with the highest respect and gratitude possible. We humbly leave this chapter of our project changed and inspired. We will continue to post, so stay tuned!

Asante Sana,

Mark

Familia

I remember at the beginning of the trip, as we all gathered around a table of our hotel cafe, the first conversation our group shared was about Disney movies. While I never mentioned it, my favorite Disney movie quote was, “Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind.”(Lilo and Stitch). We have not only become family within our group, but we have become family within the village. Charlotte has adopted one of her fine students, and always awaits to see her “baby” as we drive towards the school. Avery has been adopted by one of the village mamas, and I have been called a daughter by one of the builders at the library site. During our visit at a Maasai boma (aka homestead), the giant family of over 100 welcomed us as brothers and sisters. Blessings and pictures emerged with the exchange of cultures, and by the end of our visit, no one wanted to leave. Over the short time in this new world, we have become ohana, familia, family.

-Sammy Douville :)

WIth a little help from our friends.

Student Reflection

 Below is a bit that one of our students wrote into our group journal...

"We do not care about what we have, what we care about is happiness” Explained Revo, a Tanzanian man working at the Noloholo center. It’s a simple concept, yet like the many other aspects of Africa it seemed foreign.  In America we have a true love for our possessions. Consumption runs through our veins. To dismiss something we value so highly seems odd, maybe even uncomfortable for some.  But here we are the strangers forever thinking differently. It is so refreshing to be in a place where success is measured by happiness. Intrinsic values appear to be extremely important, and the sense of community is strong. You can see the respect that people have for each other. There is something about the relationships here that seem to involve a deeper level of understanding. Our insight into this place has just begun. 

-Dia Huggins

A few shots from the field: (1) Giraffes sighted during our wildlife count with African People and Wildlife Fund and Tanzanian government staff, (2) Cowboy Up in Africa, (3) Building structural supports for the library, (4) Three legged race with the Simba Club, and (5) Our new friends on the Maasai Steppe.

Jackson Crew Meets the Loibor Siret Simba Club!

After work yesterday our students and leaders met the incredibly committed members of Loibor Siret primary school's Wildlife Club, and we bonded while learning about water, cleaning the environment, and a fantastic three-legged race!

A Few Shots (bricks, lorry, Arusha)

First Day of Work

As we bounced and rocked through dried ruts left from the long-since-passed rainy season’s runoff, our “Serbian Lorry” kicked up red dust and someone shouted over the engine’s low growl, “Duck, torn branches!” Everyone leaded forward as if imitating the giant wild ostriches we’d seen the day before. “A warthog,” someone pointed out as it rumbled away quickly into the thorny African bush. “Pumba” our new Tanzania friend interpreted as he pointed to the squatty beast. We continued along further, a plume of red dust billowed in our labored wake. Then the hand of Zeke Nelson silently motioned to something ahead. “It caught my eye because the trees looked like they were running,” he explained later. The “trees” emerged out of the thicket and crossed directly in font of our truck – a mama giraffe and her young baby – pausing long enough in front of us for everyone to sit in wonderment and awe…

So began our first day of work – the commute, anyway. We arrived at the Maasai village of Liobor Siret – our Serbian Lorry full of strange foreigners amped and anxious for the first day or work. The village shaman began the opening ceremony with words of welcome and solidarity. “Our color may be different, but we are all the same in the eyes of the Creator,” he remarked and continued with elegant words of support and thankfulness for our efforts. After the ceremonial first bricks were laid by representatives of our group and the community, the sun emerged from the typical morning cloud overcast and our work began. Team were formed – brick layers, brick carriers, sifters, cement mixers, and those that hand chiseled half bricks for when we needed them at the corners of the building. Our students dove in head first and many hands both local and our own promised good results. Our production goal for the day was exceptionally exceeded thanks in large part to the late afternoon arrival of approximately 30 children from the village. These young Maasai, ranging in age from about eight to thirteen years old, seemingly found themselves motivated to contribute to the library that would ultimately serve them. Without request or hesitation, they began carrying the heavy, handmade red-dirt bricks (some weighing nearly as much as they did) to those of us waiting to stack them. Like a swarm of worker bees descending on the hive, a chaotic “running of the bricks” ensued. Young girls dressed in wraps of vibrantly beautiful Maasai patterns of red and blue traded enormous smiles with our own students as they eagerly passed brick after brick. “Without a doubt, a highlight of the day,” Sammy Douville shared at our nightly, reflective group meeting. The goal for Day One was to lay three rows of bricks. We laid five rows and on some walls seven rows. Measured success. Our students returned to camp and enjoyed a well-earned bucket shower – water boiled over a fire was mixed to take some of the shock out of the initial pour. There were no problems falling asleep after our first workday.  More to come!

~Mark

Good morning from the Noloholo Environmental Center

Habari za asubuhi! Good morning from the Noloholo Environmental Center where we arrived safe and sound on Thursday evening. After our expert drivers from King’s Safari navigated the long and rutted road from Arusha in three matching stretch Land Cruisers, we veered right, catching our first glimpse of the school at Loibor Siret and a set of zebra butts (a sign of good luck?). The students are in high spirits and (knock on wood) no stomach ailments have been reported yet. Yesterday, Buddy, who is Laly’s husband and the facilities manager here at Noloholo, gave us a thorough tour of the Center and walked us through the construction process, including a hands-on intro to making rammed-earth bricks. As the fog of jet lag begins to fade and we fall into a regular work routine, we look forward to watching these young adults develop further into the boisterous, dynamic, kind and thoughtful group we know they are! Stay tuned.

Note one: we’ve found that Internet service here is finicky at best. Please bear with us if a few days transpire without a post. We will inform Lina at the IC 21 office in anything urgent occurs.

Note two: We now have a Tanzanian mobile phone and may be reached (IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS ONLY) at +255 (76) 24 90927.