Writing about my own experiences is typically a very excruciating task for me. And consequently when I have wanted or tried to do it in the past, I have given up immediately. But since I have had so many people generously donate to the cause I am working on, and (to put it bluntly), I need to finally suck it up and do one of these things for people to read (or not), I gotta do it.
Basically, the last two weeks that I’ve been here have flown by. It feels like no time has passed since I was last here, which is awesome. My wonderful friend Bina and I have been working hard on administrative projects associated with EEF (which is the foundation we are helping to develop). We have meet all of the kids (about 30 in total) who are in the EEF program, begun writing a business plan, done a lot of organizational tasks to create a foundation for the program (made individualized files for each of the kids to put relevant documents in etc), and created some specific guild lines for people interested in sponsoring the students. Tomorrow we are starting home visits to each of the students, which should absolutely prove to be a cluster-fucked adventure, as most things in Tanzania are.
One of my girls from the Juvenile Detention Center that I worked in last year is out of jail now, and one of the things I want to do while I’m here is get her set up to go to school next term, because she is extraordinarily academically inclined, perseverant, and truly deserving of education. I will hopefully be seeing her to discuss some specifics in the next few days.
I’m just now getting over a beautiful case of strep throat, (for the record, the 14TH TIME I have had it in my life, but this time was particularly special because it was in a third world country). I had to go to the clinic in town to get diagnosed and prescribed medication. I was at the clinic for four short hours (ha). Luckily (for me at least), one of my friends at the hostel that I am staying in also happened to be sick, so I had some company. Anyone who knows me well can attest that I have a bit of a hypochondria issue, so the very fact that I went to this clinic is a big deal, not to mention the fact that I did not have a full on freak out session while I was there. After sitting for a million years, I finally got my prescription, and was on my way. Id say all in all it was a victory.
So, that’s all I have to report for now. Maybe I’ll write again in another two weeks 🙂
Tanzania: Take Two 