PATRICIA ELIZABETH PRIMARY SCHOOL GRAND OPENING - QAMEYU VILAGE - 20 DEC 2014

UPDATE – 22 December 2014 

PATRICIA ELIZABETH PRIMARY SCHOOL, Qameyu Village, Babati District, Tanzania; 4 Classrooms, Administration Building

HI ALL

Greetings from Tanzania again!

Amazing, awesome, unforgettable. Words cannot adequately describe the experience we had on 20 December in Qameyu Village.

congratulating Restus and the local VIP's

women greeting us - thrown flowers rained down on us 

When Mathew and I arrived at the site, our car was blockaded by about 90 colourfully dressed chanting and warbling women. As we got out of the car, they engulfed us and led us to the reception area adjacent the beautiful newly painted orange-red buildings. No time to look more closely at the buildings, as the mass of about 300 villagers huddled around the canopied VIP tables were anxious to proceed with the opening ceremonies.

Similar to Gongali, we were treated to drumming and dancing then a few passionate speeches by the District and local politicians who emphasized the responsibilities of parents, teachers and students themselves to maintain a quality environment. A few points made;

the handshake with one of the first pupils

“Parents - provide clean uniforms and food; children - study hard, and keep the walls and floors clean from the mud (a challenging task in the rainy season).”

we all joined in the dance

The top VIP, District Executive Director, Mr Mrutu, invited me at the beginning of his speech to accompany him in singing the national cultural anthem. It sparked a rousing applause. 

My speech told the story of donor Ted Woodcock whose wife recently passed away and how he wanted to memorialize her with the name of the school, “Patricia Elizabeth Primary School”.

“…she would be very pleased to be here to see the smiles on all you wonderful children.”

And then I gestured my arms and eyes upward and said;

“She’s probably looking down at us now and smiling at you.” Everyone laughed.

ribbon-cutting

We cut the ribbon to the doors of the Administration building to more great applause, recorded it with appropriate photos, then disassembled informally for congratulatory chats and drinking of soda (pop) for the kids and local “busa” for the adults.

The atmosphere was quite jubilant until the ever-present threatening dark clouds suddenly released a torrential downpour that sent everyone scurrying for shelter - our cue to leave.

It was a tense two-hour ride back to Babati to our lodge. The rain slickened the clay roads causing me to lose control of the car at one point down a steep slope. The one good thing about the trip though was the reduction of speed of the boda-boda motorcyclists who drive way too recklessly, passing and cutting in too soon, creating huge dust clouds. They were reduced to overcautious slipping and sliding at slow speeds. Thank God at least for that.

the new school - minutes later, the sky fell

"jump-dance" entertainment

Election Fever

December 15 was the national Election Day for lower level government leaders; Ward and Village officials; chairmen and executive officers. Next year it will be for the district and national levels; District Chairmen, MP’s, President.  In the last few days before an election, men from both parties (CCM and Chadema) were driving around everywhere, blasting out their appeals to voters through boom-box loudspeakers mounted on the back of pick-up trucks. And noisy celebrations in the streets and bars were the norm – an excuse to party, it seems.

When I arrived at the Gongali Primary School site on 16 December for my meeting with the school committee, I was surprised to see District Chairman Lazaro Titus speaking to a large gathering in the schoolyard. Head teacher Mark Mollel educated me on post election procedures. The school was the site for the village voting. I noticed wind-blown pages of electorate lists pasted on the exterior walls of the school. And today, it was Lazarus’ job to brief the population on the results. Since there is no local TV media, the District Chairman has the daunting task of going to each ward in each village to announce the results. I spoke with him briefly. He looked exhausted. 

Gongali/Kilimamoja Primary School Operating Budget Assistance

meeting with school committees

My school visits and discussions with the head teachers uncovered of a serious lack of operating expenses. Government assistance amounted to a paltry 200. CDN per year for school supplies only, not enough to cover costs for all the books needed for new graduating classes. Being always so busy with building construction, I admit to being a little neglectful in looking closer at the way the schools were operating. The school office has no shelving to store books, no cabinets to store binders and files, not even any binders for the files - just heaps of paper and books on the floor. The teacher’s desk in classrooms is a shared kids desk. Building maintenance is non-existent. The wall paint on the first few buildings we did at Gongali and Kilimamoja is peeling and wood trim is back to bare wood. Some windows are broken. The impoverished village cannot contribute anything significant, other than uniforms and meals at home, i.e., no food program for kids lunches. 

After hands-on work sessions with the school committees of both schools, I concluded that their need was genuine; books, administration supplies, teacher desks, shelving and painting, but no food program as unfortunately it was not in our mandate and original agreements with the village. We painstakingly went through their list of needs and arrived at a minimal budget, about half of what they were asking. And when I announced that this year we were fortunate to have some available funds to at least get the schools in basic and decent working order, to my surprise, the committee members all stood up and cheered. This was a new experience now for them, to actually have a budget to work with.

We discussed administrative procedures, including the need for a bank account, double signatures on cheques and District Education Office co-ordination. And when they satisfied me that all procedures were in place a few days later, I deposited a couple of thousand dollars each in their accounts.

Getting Closer; Electricity at Gongali Aslini Primary School.

Probably the greatest achievement of this trip was finalizing the installation of electricity to our first school, Gongali Primary School. After six months of challenging commitments from both the national company Tanesco and our electrical contractor, the switch is about to be turned on. Back in May, we signed a contract with Tanesco to do the installation, but because we were a “private” organization, we were required to provide the equipment to them. They gave us a shopping list of items; a transformer, cable, connectors and ground rods that we had to purchase from a manufacturer. With no choice, we agreed, but ohm-my-God, we had our work cut out for us. We ordered the transformer from the manufacturer in Arusha, and when its assembly was completed, we hired a truck driver and had it delivered to the site at Karatu. Insuring it in transit was not possible so we took the risk.

The Transformer FINALLY installed

The transformer sat at the site for five months, waiting for Tanesco to get two wooden poles. I was re-volt-ed that nothing was happening. But it seems we got a stroke of luck when, as I was meeting with the school committee at Gongali, we had an unexpected visitor; the honourable Member of Parliament Israel Natse (remember him from the high school opening?) who just out of curiosity and also for good press I imagine, wanted to sit in on the meeting. That was my cue! I mentioned the Tanesco resistance to our electricity connection progress and no sooner had I completed my sentence, than he was on his cell phone. Tanesco started work again the next day. 

transformer repair

Poles arrived at the site the next day, but they were not installed in the locations shown on my plan to run the line to the head teacher office, but instead were located to connect to the last residence building. Their field foreman apparently had good reasons to do so, but it required our electrician to relocate the main panel and do extensive building rewiring. 

Well, guess what! When it was finally installed in December, Tanesco noticed the transformer was damaged. Yes, probably in transit. I consulted with the manufacturer and was relieved to hear it was only a minor problem. He gave me instructions and I hired a welder to reinstall the broken part, which he did (see photos). So at the time of my departure from Tanzania back to Canada, Tanesco was back on the job, current-ly installing the meters and hopefully doing the final connection.

Despite all the hassles, it was worthwhile. The school staff and students are excited and are finally taking the Korean-donated computers out of the boxes for January training classes. The homes and classrooms will have lighting! And most importantly…cell phones can be charged. What a huge life-changing accomplishment for this dark part of Africa! And remember what I described previously about the Mayor’s plans now - to relocate his offices here, build a church, and more.

The two new school projects this year were a complete success. We are so fortunate to have finally found a quality builder in Restus Sanka, and I have great confidence in both the Gongali Village and Qameyu Village local government and school officials to complete their share of the remaining project facilities. Major issues remain however;

Both the Edith Gvora High School and Patricia Elizabeth Primary School projects need electricity, water and sewage drainage systems. We can help with continued donations from our friends in Canada and elsewhere.

We are also fortunate to be partnered with Dr Askwar Hilonga and his “Gongali Model Co”. They continue to strive for solutions to assist in the High School’s development. To date they have initiated and were responsible for the drilling of well-water near the high school site and are seeking solutions for funding of the associated pump systems.

Christmas in Tanzania

Christmas goat

Christmas here is simple, but heartwarming. It’s such a nice break from the Western commercialism. Christmas Day and Boxing Day are simple family times, cooking hearty meals (pilau a highlight) and visits from neighbours who express their appreciation. I was cycling on Christmas Eve and passed a man and his young son walking a young goat to a neighbour’s house. He explained it was a Christmas gift for helping him with his crop harvesting.

A pleasant surprise. I received a newborn calf as a Christmas gift from a local family near my lodge who befriended me over the last couple of years. What to do with that? Of course, it should stay with its mother and I must now pay for its upkeep and feeding so that it may grow to be a healthy milk-producing cow. Haha. I had to applaud it as a very clever enterprise on their part.

my Xmas present

Before leaving Karatu, I visited Gongali School's top pupil Patricia at her home. I was shocked to hear from head teacher Mark Mollel that things had turned worse for the family. The father had abandoned the family, and with no income, little Patricia hasn't even a school uniform to wear. It didn't seem fair to have the school's top student feeling sad and ashamed about her clothing. I gave the family a Christmas present; enough funds for a new uniform and a bunch more for food.

Star Pupil Patricia's family

Valerie and Lillian

My last few days in Tanzania spent with Mathew Sulle and Claud Goi’s families were relaxing and memorable. The highlight was the enjoyment of their kids watching a couple of rented I-tune movies on my computer, a rarity for Tanzanians. Do you remember, a year ago, Claud’s new baby was named after Lillian, the mother of donor Michael Stringham’s wife Charlotte who visited their project last January. I was very happy to see little Lillian in her beautiful white Christmas dress and her hair perfectly braided in little ribbons, almost one year old, walking now and the centre point of attention with her big smiles. We did a lot of eating, sharing stories, laughing and reminiscing. I’m very fortunate and blessed to be a welcomed part of these families.

Asante sana sana (Thank you so much) and kilalaheri (good luck) to all of you in the New Year.

End of Update

Easy Rider - I want this guy's job

EDITH GVORA HIGH SCHOOL GRAND OPENING - 5 DECEMBER 2014

Edith Gvora High School Grand Opening

Gongali Village, Karatu, Tanzania

 December 11, 2014

Member of Parliament Hon Rev. Israel Natse on left;
District Executive Director Moses Mabula on right

the audience, many of whom will be future students at this school

The grand opening took place on 5 December, the day after I arrived at Karatu. Unlike previous openings of school buildings attended by only middle level politicos, this one was different; the Member of Parliament, Mr Israel Natse and the District Executive Director, Mr Moses Mabula arrived, demonstrating the significance of this project. And it was certainly that; phase 1 of a new high school with 4 classrooms, and administration building and a modern toilet building. On my part, I also invited two English holidayers I met on the plane , Mike Hughes and Peter Coleman, who had expressed a keen interest in experiencing the ceremonies. 

Alan's speech; Mathew translating

At my turn to speak after several standard political speeches, I thought I would start out with a simple opening greeting, the first line of their national cultural song; “Tanzania, Tanzania, nakupenda kwa moyo wote”. Surprisingly, as if to a cultural cue, all the seated kids in the audience stood up and sang the complete song. Not what I intended, but a delightful outcome. Following is an excerpt of my speech:

“You may be wondering so let me tell the story of how we chose the name of the school.  Edith Gvora is the wife of Mr Tony Gvora from Victoria, Canada. She passed away one year ago. Mr Gvora wanted to show not only his deep love for his wife Edith but his appreciation of her life of humanitarian work, so the result is this wonderful school named in memory of her. Next year you may be able to meet Mr Gvora when he comes to visit a class in progress. And we know that he will be very impressed not only with the quality of these buildings but the enthusiasm of the new students pursuing their educational dreams…”

boys and girls dance and singing

A group of boys and girls then treated us to very rhythmic singing. That  was followed by the customary “jump dance”, a circle of men and women jumping up and down to energetic drum-pounding by several women. The two English guests and I were invited to join in , and to this day, my efforts to match the changing beats of the jumping continue to amuse the locals.

We then did the official ribbon-cutting to boisterous cheers and whistles, toured the buildings and lastly, were interviewed by Tanzania’s Star TV. 

Star TV interview of Alan, Mathew and
District Executive Director Moses Mabula

The Administration Building

All four completed new buildings.
Two 2-classroom buildings in centre, Admin Bldg at left, Toilet Building at right

Not enough applause can be given to builder Restus Ernest for the outstanding quality and successful scheduling of this project. The level of workmanship of every trade is unprecedented relative to our previous projects; smoother plastering, increased structural concrete and foundation work, better trusses, higher quality doors, windows, hardware, and even the choice of PVC gutters over the standard rustable metal ones. It has been a rarity in my 35 years of design and building to have witnessed such professionalism, problem-solving initiative, leadership and respect from sub trades. THANK YOU, RESTUS!!

I chatted with Mike and Peter after everyone left. Their beaming smiles said it all; an unforgettable and unprecedented experience for them.  Their 200 USD gift for the school was greatly appreciated. 

L to R; Peter Coleman, Alan, Mike Hughes,
Builder Restus Ernest

Regarding the project’s process, this phase one is only the start. The village and local government have so much to do. The erosion gully was one major problem and a local work crew managed to fill it in nicely, but much remains; landscaping, planting, electricity and water supply, and the problem of registration of the school without the required laboratory facilities. Everyone is very optimistic though, and willing to work hard to ensure success. For example, the District Education Officer is proposing to use one of the classrooms as an interim laboratory. We’ll have to see how that pans out.

December 20th is my visit to Qameyu Village for the opening of the three buildings there; the new Patricia Elizabeth Primary School. Restus is the builder for that one as well and he reports that it is 95% complete - an amazing feat considering he started it only six weeks ago in a difficulty accessible remote area. The next update will tell its story.

End of Update. 

EDITH GVORA HIGH SCHOOL & PATRICIA ELIZABETH PRIMARY SCHOOL UPDATE - 12 NOVEMBER 2014

Construction Update - 12 November 2014

EDITH GVORA HIGH SCHOOL, Gongali Village – First Phase; 4 Classrooms, Administration Building, Toilet Building

PATRICIA ELIZABETH PRIMARY SCHOOL, Qameyu Village; 4 Classrooms, Administration Building

Hi All

Director Peter Daniels visited both sites from 21 – 28 October to inspect the halfway point of construction of both projects and provided the following information.

Our two current construction projects are well under way and the construction quality is excellent thanks to the skills of our builder, Mr Restus (Rusti) Ernest, a former teacher who decided his passion and abilities were more suited to construction. That is fortunate for us as we are now benefitting from his construction expertise as well as his knowledge of school needs.

Edith Gvora High School: Gongali Village

All buildings including the two 2-classroom buildings and the toilet building are approximately 70% complete, with wall plastering, ceiling construction and roofing underway. The administration building has offices for headmaster, vice head, and bursar, a staff room and storage and electrical rooms. The administration building will be the first point of access for the high school complex, when the new road access is completed.

Admin Building on left; 2 2-classroom buildings in centre,
toilet building on right

Administration building

The locals are also excited to be involved in the project; even good-spirited Mayor Peter Hayshi has spent many hours working on the concrete pours. The first teacher residence building, a village initiation project, is in the final stages. And local laborers are currently working on clearing the land for the new road.

roof framing in progress on the classroom buildings

concrete slab on roof of toilet building
will support  water tanks

loading roof trusses

ceiling framing

Local laborers are also filling in the large erosion gully between the buildings. Since machinery is being available, they are resorting to lots of manpower and simple hoes to hack away at and redistribute the hard-packed clay.     

filling in the erosion gully with hoes

wall plastering with cement

Patricia Elizabeth Primary School: Qameyu Village

Peter Daniels and project manager Mathew Sulle travelled the bone-rattling road to Qameyu Village west of Babati to witness good progress at this site as well. This phase of the project includes two 2-classroom buildings and an Administration building. Future phases will add the remaining 3 classrooms as well as the dining hall and library buildings.

Trenches have been dug, and reinforced concrete footings are being placed. Due to the upcoming rainy season and its effect on road conditions, Restus ensured all heavy materials were pre-delivered to the site. 

start of trench digging

finished trench

Mathew inspecting
trench footings

Peter and Mathew with District Education Officer (red)
and Councillors

Peter, Mathew with
Councillor Paul Margwe

And more good news; the local councilors advised additional land has been assigned to the school for future sports playing fields and teacher residences.

End of Update 

EDITH GVORA HIGH SCHOOL - GONGALI VILLAGE & PATRICIA ELIZABETH PRIMARY SCHOOL - QAMEYU VILLAGE - UPDATE SEP 2014

1.  Edith Gvora High School Project - Gongali Village

2.  Patricia Elizabeth Primary School - Qameyu Village

3.  Electricity to Gongali (Aslini) Primary School

Hi All

Greetings from Africa (Tanzania)

Gongali Electricity

I just returned after three weeks in the Karatu District organizing the construction of the new High School project at Gongali and visiting the new Qameyu Village site for the first time. But first an update on the Gongali School Electrical supply project. The electrician, Sebastian Hilonga, completed the wiring of the classrooms and teacher residences, and I just received shockingly good news from Project Manager Mathew Sulle that Tanesco, the power company, has finally started their work to install the transformer and power poles. So excitement is building among the teacher families living there…

our Gongali Primary School transformer

playtime…

…speaking of which, I decided that a Sunday picnic for the teacher families would be a timely event at Gongali Primary. For one thing, it’s an opportunity to celebrate the arrival of a 4^th teacher family to the little community. Emmanuel Pariso, his wife Sophia and baby Gloria are delighted with their new home and friends. 

chalkboard art greeting at picnic day.
Note the portrait - they made me black. Yay!

Also, teacher Boniface is now married and has just returned from a honeymoon. A small man with a huge grin, he proudly introduced his tall shy bride Irene. Headmaster Mark Mollel and wife Sarah attended the wedding in Arusha, a well–deserved holiday for them.

picnic day at Gongali

 Mathew and I and his two visiting daughters, Lissa and Maureen, showed up with food, drink and volleyballs and we spent the hot sunny afternoon munching on pizza and chasing errant volleyballs to the delight of parents and children alike.

a gift for PSFA from the community

This Gongali School community is growing. With the advent of Director Mark Burrowes electricity project, Mayor Peter Hayshi is planning the relocation of his office here. On one of my visits with him, we walked the site and he pointed out the location of a new church to be built there soon. And to my surprise, he proclaimed a 2-acre plot next to it as a gift to PSFA to build an office/accommodation building. Hey, we’ll seriously consider it; a great opportunity for drop in visitors to support our cause as well as saving on accommodation expenses during our work here.

Edith Gvora High School

We are so fortunate to have solved the biggest problem of any project – the selection of a good builder. Restus (Rusti) Ernest is a former teacher but his passion was building. His resume is a great benefit to our work. His English is great, he’s computer savvy, and to top it off, he’s smart and excellent with construction.

The project is fast-tracked for completion before Christmas this year. Construction didn’t start until I arrived, as I needed to assure the proper siting of the buildings. I came with freshly drawn plans for the minimum four buildings required for registration of the school name. As usual the costing came in high, but through discussions with Restus, some redesigning (with hand drawing, as I didn’t dare bring a computer this time around as mine was stolen from my room during my last visit in April/May) and some additional generosity from our donor Tony Gvora, we finally arrived at a construction cost. 

they mix the concrete on the ground

digging trenches for the footings

teacher residences at the high school site

the erosion gully

foundation wall trenches 

concrete brick foundation walls

surveying the classroom buildings

I also sent a design package to the top gun in the region, Mr Moses Mabula, the District Executive Officer, who on a previous occasion requested monthly progress reports of our work. And fortunately, his staff accepted my suggested changes to the government plans that we were given to follow. For example, I improved the Administration building layout by having indoor rather than exterior access to washrooms. (I couldn’t imagine staff running to outside doors in the middle of their heavy rainy season.)

To date, Restus has built the floor slabs of the two two-classroom buildings and is doing the foundations for the Administration and Toilet buildings. The walls weren’t up yet, but I did my usual carpentry part of roof framing. How, you ask?? Well, I decided that the trusses should be built with a little better engineering than ones on previous projects. So I asked the B&B hotel if I could build on a nice level grass area outside my room, and they allowed it. 

building roof trusses

my load of truss timber

the finished sample trusses (made with Steve Miller tools)

I built three sample trusses, one for each building. I enjoyed figuring out a strong design that doubled up on the bottom chord members to allow alignment in a straight plane; it used more timber, but will also be more durable.

During my last visit, I drafted an agreement whereby the construction would be a partnership between Primary Schools for Africa (PSFA), the Gongali Village Government (GVG) and the regional government, the Karatu District Council Office (KDCO). PSFA will design and construct the buildings and GVG and KDCO will be responsible for site services, ie, electricity, water, sewage, rainwater collection, roads and paths and landscaping. Two important issues that they needed to address by the end of this construction phase were the provision of water and septic systems and filling a large erosion gully running between our new buildings.

L to R. Restus at far left, Mayor Hayshi centre in blue,
DED Moses Mabula in brown suit, Alan, Engineer Julius Kaaya 

A little anxious about their ability, I met with all parties at the site to ensure they do their part and fortunately it seems they are very motivated. Mayor Peter Hayshi had some village funds, so he decided to have the community get into the spirit by building a teacher residence to start with. Walls are up and roof framing is about to start. DED Moses Mabula, a tall charismatic politician, as a show of commitment, strongly directed his accompanying staff to remediate the existing erosion gully between our buildings. Great! This will get done, but I’m still a little worried that the water and septic will be delayed as funds are not yet available.

the Gongali Model Co celebrating
the new high school construction

The good news about water though, is that the Korean connections of Askwar Hilonga and his Gongali Model Co. have funded the drilling of a borehole about a kilometer downhill from the school site. It will take a lot more funds, however, to get the water up to a new water tank. Our Director Mark Burrowes, a local Victoria mechanical engineer, has agreed to design the pump system for it.

A worrisome issue arose on my last day in Karatu. Prime Minister Kikwete and his Ministry of Education has just decreed that all high schools must build laboratories to increase the breadth of science learning. For us, it now means we need to have a laboratory building constructed before we can register the school, which will jeopardize the donors naming of the school. The village or ourselves do not have the additional $50,000 – $100,000 CDN extra that it would cost. We will see how this develops over the next few months. Mayor Peter Hayshi was understandably angry and so was I, to now have the rules change at this late stage, but he assures me that he will resolve it somehow.

Patricia Elizabeth Primary School

Mathew and I went on safari, not to see animals, but to scope out the new primary school to be built that is funded by donor Ted Woodcock to memorialize his late wife Patricia Elizabeth. Our destination was the tiny village of Qameyu located west of Babati Town, a 3 hour drive from Karatu to Babati and then a bone-rattling 2 hour drive from Babati to the village on extremely rough and dusty roads.

Qameyu kids

We were greeted at the village office by the senior VIP and Project Manager, Ward Councillor  Paulo Margwe, the District Education Co-ordinator Mary Modaha and several other local political staff, who then led us to the site which to my delight, was large and FLAT, (a plus for building). I was surprised because it seemed to be the only level site in this hilly community. Unlike most village schools, there is lots of room for a good sports field for soccer. We walked around the perimeter of this wonderful nine acre property, with me sketching and pacing the distances, to eventually agree on the location of the buildings. We’ll do the seven classrooms, they’ll do the outhouse-style toilets. If future funds allow, they would like a kitchen/dining hall and teacher residences.

fog screen at Qameyu site (captures early morning dew water
 - 10 litres per day) - an NGO projec

gift of 200 lbs of potatoes
 (I gave my share to a local family in Karatu)

official welcome by local kids
who will be the first ones for the school

the sign makes it official - there will be a new school here

the school site - nice and flat

mapping out the building locations

After passionate speeches (Mathew translating the Swahili ones) in front of a crowd of some smiling and some bewildered village elders, parents and children, we were presented with a gift of two hundred pounds of potatoes and our vehicle “walked” off the site surrounded by a group of colourfully dressed women chanting and adorning the car with plants and flowers. It was an amazing experience – a first actually.

chanting women "walking"
our vehicle from the site

And now, back to the hotel where...

...we ate Carlos for dinner

The stay at the hotel this time was more enjoyable than previous ones. Security had been tightened up since my room was broken into last trip. But it was high season with a lot more tourists staying here, as well as new NGO's with their various projects projects. The highlight was meeting a lively group of young Germans who had been on a whirlwind tour of Lutheran church facilities. It was the birthday of their director Wolfgang and to acknowledge his work in Tanzania, the local church gave him a goat which the group named Carlos. Carlos was a bit of a problem for sensitive Wolfgang; he was not comfortable with Carlos' supposed demise of being served of dinner. To add to that, Kerrie Robertson, a long term hotel guest working here with an NGO developing programs for HIV infected village women, took a liking to Carlos. And she would have daily visits to ease his loneliness while tied up at a tree near her room. So Carlos was spared…at least while the Germans were there. But on the day after they left, the staff inherited the gift and with the least bit of hesitation, decided to treat the remaining guests with the popular Tanzanian delicacy of roast goat. After a few mouthfuls during that evening meal I gagged when someone whispered…"That was Carlos". It was strange and somewhat sad to have eaten something with a name, but more so for Kerrie to have lost a friend as quickly as she had found one.

So now its back to Canada to continue with fundraising to help with the Gongali laboratory building as well as our other school projects that need us to continue with their building program. We are getting busy, but I’m lovin’ it!

Alan

End of Update