So much progress!!!!!

This may possibly be my last blog entry until I return to America in 9 days…

But I have so much to share…. So you will need some time to read all that is taking place and the progress that I am making with African Empowerment Project.

My Research:

...so much to share.....

Sorry it has been so long since I communicated on here!

Computer issues, health issues, and the way of life here in Tanzania are all to blame!

What have I been doing?

I visited Kalimata NGO (Non government Organization), a center for women starting their own small businesses. I love the concept of this program. The organization was started by a few Dutch women providing micro loans ($2,000 to $6,000 loans,) to African women interested in a small business.

Slow and steady wins the race....

Hello and thanks for checking out my blog.....

I have been busy traveling over the New Year and have made some helpful connections as always. But first, before the travel I was able to spend some quality time with 2 of the children of Imuma Center for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children right after Christmas.

Christmas and more observations and reflections

Sooooo... I had a white Christmas on the white sands of the beach of Kigamboni. I am fortunate enough to have a place to stay here with my friend, Durban (Bushman) as he truely comes from the Bush, who happens to have rented a home with 2 bedrooms, kitchen bath, living area and front porch and yard complete with mango, coconut and cashew trees... He will be accompanying me on many of my travels to translate and help me navigate my way. So for Christmas Dinner we cooked fish, coconut rice, guacamole, and an omelet.... yummmm!!! So as I write in my journal this morning I was thinking ... who would have guessed that the girl who can't stomach, steak and eggs or pizza for breakfast is eating octopus, tomato/onion/lime salad, and chipate at 9 am!!!

We have no stove or oven so we cook on a small clay 'local stove' using charcoal, with coconut leaves for fire starter... Girlscout style!

First week in Tanzania

So much to say... I don't know where to begin... so I will start with; I am safe and happy, here in Tanzania. Sorry for the posting delay... My computer is in the airport in Montreal. :( Long story, but Jim is working hard to try to get it to me... in the mean time I will be at the Internet, maybe once a week.

For now I am staying with a friend in Kigamboni, enjoying the mango trees in the front yard, the fresh fish of the Indian Ocean and amazing travels. I really do have so much to say but I will begin today with my most recent feeling of desperation and desire to make a change... I should say... I WILL make a difference in the remote village of Mnangole... an 8-hour bus ride from where I am staying now... and I will say, the bumpiest bus ride I have ever experienced... but it was worth every bruise.

It is a village of 900 all living in stick and red clay huts that they have built for themselves. These are some of the hardest working people I have ever met and yet have the least of any people I have ever encountered. There is no electricity or running water in this village... heck...running water ??? NO WATER at all... These women and children must get up in the early hours of the morning to trek 1.5 hours to the next village through hills and rocky terrain to gather water for drinking an cooking... water that is infested with baboon and turtle feces... and carry this water on their heads, for 2 more hours, back to their village before 7 in the morning so that they can feed their family and then head off an the next journey to the farm, an hour away, to cultivate and harvest vegetables. Then they often return to gather water again before the sun goes down at 6:30 pm. My journey to both of these destinations in one day wiped me out... and I did not carry the water, I did not have the baby on my back, I did not work the field in the farm. Just a leisurely walk to visit these places... for that matter... I didn't even carry my own backpack, my friend Bushman did that... and I was so ready to sleep at the end of that day.

Sooooooo, I'm sure you can see where this is headed... my first project WILL be to get these beautiful people the water they need and deserve as fellow human beings. There is so much more that this village is in need of... accessible health care... again they must walk 4 hours to the nearest hospital and if they need care the next day they must go home and return again the next day as there are no rooms for boarding at this hospital... children are lacking in education... the list goes on... but... Water... clean accessible water MUST come to this village. The other things will come in time.

Getting Ready...

After an amazing 28 years of working at Champlain College in Burlington, VT, I am preparing to embark on a new and exciting chapter in my life. In 6 days I will be traveling to Bagamoyo and Kigamboni, Tanzania to pursue my mission... soooo...packing, goodbyes, and early Christmas celebrations with the family, will fill my last short days in Vermont. Looking forward to 3 months of research and development, with exciting things in store for me and the beautiful people of Tanzania. Please scroll up and become a follower so that we can all be in this together! Thanks! Beth