Hello readers,

Once again sorry for the delay in keeping all of you posted, we have been quite busy in the past few days. Since Wednesday we’ve finished laying the pipes that connect the windmill to the water tanks and to the not yet made troft, we’ve also completed making both water tanks. Each tank took us a day to make, first we had to tie together the canvas molds that we then added mud to. Once the mud was dry, we added a layer of cement and when that was dry, added chicken wire and another layer of cement. After letting it sit overnight, we removed the canvas molds from inside the first tank and then chipped away the layer of mud to then add a layer of plaster to the inside. Once the canvas molds were taken out, we were able to start on the second water tank. On Saturday, we brought clothing, toys, school supplies and candy to hand out to the children of Zuzu.

Yesterday we went to Chihikwi to see Father Tim play mass in Swahili. It was a very different experience then the one we got from going to the church down the road from our compound. This church was much much smaller, we took up about half of the pews which were actually just small benches made of mud. It was a great experience. In the afternoon we walked over to Paulo’s house to visit his family. We got to meet his youngest son, Micheal, and his wife, Gema, and we got to hang out with his oldest son, Innocent, who has been coming to Zuzu to help us with our project. Last night we had a ‘thank you’ supper for the cooks, Paulo, Anna (the woman who has been doing our laundry), Audrey and Paul, Tmo and also the crew that has been doing the work with us in Zuzu. We had another awesome pizza party and gave out gifts to everyone. We even had a bofire outside Tmo’s place and had a few of the local women come in and dance with us. They played their drums and sang while we did our best to keep up with them. It was a good time all around. Today was our last day Dodoma so we worked on our reflections which are due tonight and we cleaned our rooms and packed our bags. We also visited the Ursaline Sisters one last time to say goodbye to everyone. Tomorrow morning we are heading out to Mikumi to do a three day safari, but on the way we will be stopping in Zuzu to see the water come out from the water tanks for the first time. After the safari, we will be traveling back to Dar where we will be spending the rest of our time. We won’t have access to a computer at all so this will be the last entry until we get back to Yellowknife. Time has really flown by in the last couple of weeks, I can’t believe we only have 10 days left in Tanzania. It’s been an amazing 6 weeks that’s for sure.

See you all soon! And look for a welcome home entry once we get back.

Take care.

-The gang

Editor’s note: As usual, each photo is actually in a quite large format. If you click on the image it can open in a new window and you can see all in glorious detail. Enjoy!

~ Michele

Hey everyone!

The blades read: Yellowknife to Zuzu

So this weekend was our second last weekend in Tanzania. Time has just been flying by. As usual Saturday and Sunday were pretty chill.  Saturday morning we continued painting the blades for the windmill and in the afternoon we paid a visit to The Miyuji Cheshire Home just down the road from our compound.

The Cheshire Home was a pretty unique place. At the moment there are 30 children, with various disabilities, being cared for by a very small number of  sisters.  It was quite the experience for everyone. We definitely all learned something from our visit. Afterwards we spent a couple of hours at the Ursuline Sisters’ playing with the kids.

On Sunday morning, we spent the morning reflecting. We skipped breakfast and we were given time to think things over. We also finished up with the painting, perfecting every blade and adding the finals touches. In the late afternoon, three young women came over to braid our hair, or in Tmo’s case to dye  his hair, and give henna tattoos to those who wanted them. Almost everyone got something done, the boys (including Julaine, because she is half boy apparently) even got  matching crab tattoos. It was a hoot and a half!

Tmo gets his hair done.

Yesterday was a very big day for us. First thing after eating breakfast we loaded up the blades and all of our tools and headed for the site. We spent most of the day finishing the windmill. First we helped lift the motor unto the top of the windmill, then we did the same with  the frame for the blades and again for the blades themselves.

By the time everything was put together, it was about six o’clock and the sun had started to set, creating an amazing picture. Our windmill and the setting sun. It was awe-inspiring.

At that point, most of the village had begun to gather around. A few women and children danced and sang while others banged rhythmically on drums.

Goodbye two-hour walks! We have water in Zuzu.

When Rafieli, one of the workers on our team, finally wound up the windmill blades and then let them go and they started to turn, with the help of the motor and the win,d we all hurried over to the base to wait for water to come.

Winding the blades.

After only a few minutes, water came rushing out towards us and everyone, including us, cried out in excitement. Everyone began filling up their buckets with water right away.

There wasn’t a single person who didn’t have a smile on their face and happiness and excitement in their eyes. It sounds really corny, but it truly was a beautiful sight to behold. The entire experience was incredible and in only those few moments everything we have worked for, all the fundraising and energy that we’ve poured into this project for the past two years was completely worth it, without a doubt.

And finally, today we carried on with our trench digging, which is now pretty uneventful considering all of the other exciting work that we’ve been doing but is still just as important of course. We also started laying the foundation for the water tank.

That’s all for now but stay tuned for more.

Hope everyone isn’t missing us too much.

Cheers!

~Chloe

So… the blog entry today is courtesy of Mike Plouffe. Poa!

With the construction of the trenches and windmill underway, the group’s excitement level is at an all-time high. The 1m³ holes that were dug on Tuesday have been filled with large stones and a cement mixture of sand, water and binder; this is the windmill’s foundation. On it, the four base legs were lifted into position by the majority of our group as the CPPS workers fastened them into place with nuts and bolts.

Lexi working on the trench.

Julaine mixing cement for the base of the windmill.

Alanna getting more water for the cement mixture.

Holding up the first bits of the windmill.

As the tiers were slowly hoisted into position one by one with the assistance of the Windmills for Water group of Awesomeness, the two CPPS workers climbed up the structure with nothing but four movable 2×4 boards and their own balance to keep them from falling. Once they could no longer assemble the pieces from the safety of the inside the structure because the point on the windmill was too narrow, they had to resort to cheap harnesses constructed out of a leather back strap and a chain.

The windmill rising.

Down at the base, Tmo and I put together the brake piece that would be later used to prevent the windmill from turning, therefore preventing water from being taken from underground. The brake is used whenever the wind is intense, so that the windmill is not under too much stress that it breaks down and service is required. Whenever this happens, the service is performed by the CPPS maintenance crew and is paid for by the funds generated by the water sold to the villagers from the windmill. No party profits from the sale of water; it is just enough to cover the cost of service.

Taylor and Sira on site.

As the sun passes its peak and the heat is most intense, 3:00pm is usually the time of day that the villagers enjoy lunch and a break, but we partake in these an hour earlier. Ugali and two varieties of greens that resemble spinach are served on Wednesday; rice, beans, and a single chicken for over twenty people is served on Thursday. Personally, I’m a fan of the rice with the juices in which the chicken is cooked. No big deal. Everyone was munching on some sugar cane at the end of the day on Wednesday.

Mike and Chloe helping themselves to lunch.

Teale cutting up Papaya for lunch.

Munching on sugarcane!!!!

James REALLY enjoying his sugarcane.

Bricks were loaded onto a truck on Wednesday by our group. The same bricks were unloaded by the same group on the site next to where the foundation for the holding tank will be placed; we should be able to help with the construction of this next week.

Also, Fr. Tim managed to strike a deal with the villagers: he would pay them a sum of money (seemingly minuscule to us, but great to them) to do the construction of a 450m trench extended further into the village; we will begin digging the trench from the opposite end and will meet up with them. Comparing the work that our group is capable of doing with the work that the villagers are capable of doing when they have their minds set on it, we’ll probably dig ten metres by the time that the villagers reach our end.

On Wednesday, a snake was killed. Because of the fact that every Tanzanian is convinced that everything living is either dangerous or poisonous, we were actually surprised to hear from Fr. Tim that the snake was actually quite deadly. On Thursday, a wounded scorpion was put on display and later put out of its misery by David; it was then buried by myself and a cross was erected gleefully by Verda. “Mungu Akubariki, Scorpion” – God bless you, Scorpion – the short prayer said by David in the short ceremony are repeated jokingly by a younger villager.

David painting windmill blades.

Verda painting blades.

Today we painted the windmill blades: a bold red spiral against a white background. I’m sure the villagers will be captivated by the design, hypnotized, and under our command in no time. A golden knife and a Northwest Territories license plate that reads “Big Wind” – the official windmill name – decorate the tail piece.

Blade-painting is a group effort.

The windmill blades are almost finished.

The seamstresses are expected to be here at any moment now to return the articles of clothing that needed alterations to us.

Peace be wit’ you.

-Mike Plouffe

Editor’s note: The blog post is cut up with images of the work being done for the well. SO you get an adventure, as described by the author, and images of the drilling, trench cutting etc in between. Enjoy. I sure do. – Michele

Hey everybody this is your mystery blogger for the day, Brad, so hello!

Hope you enjoy. Anywho, yesterday our day began with a road trip in which I forgot my iPod because I thought we weren’t going far, turns out I was a little wrong. So I spent that time trying to find a comfortable position in which to take a nap. Let’s just say that endeavour didn’t work as planned. But we soon enough reached the village of Hombolo which was settled by a beautiful lake where we had our lunch near, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

This photo is of a series of soil samples taken from the hole that they dug on Saturday.

Our first stop was at the land owned by the sisters of Mother Theresa where we were greeted by a lovely older nun from France. But seeing as how Paulo, our driver, didn’t give us a chance to stop by the road and do the much needed business of cleansing our bladders, we kept the introductions short and made quite the line up in front of the bathroom. After, we unloaded a bunch of boxes and bags of donations for the people the sisters were taking care of.

Drilling.

Once we were ready we visited a group of disabled women, then a group of men (some were blind, some were mentally handicapped, others were missing limbs and there were a few who had all of those problems) and we were greeted not with the usual ‘jambo’ but with singing and wailing. We shook everyone’s hands and greeted and conversed with them and overall had an exciting time! The ladies played drums for us and a few of us got our groove on and others got a chance to play. One of the men, though, had burnt his face horribly from having a seizure by a fire and falling in, you guessed it, face first. We didn’t notice him at first because he was alone in a corner for a long time until we noticed him sitting there and we all came by and did our best to make his day as great as we could within the limited amount of time we had to spend with them.

Close up of drilling.

After visiting them we ran into a ton of children, most of them luckily enough not disabled in any way, and they also sang to us a medley of songs and we looked through their little school and they joined us for our next adventure. We then walked over to where the lepers were and had a great chat with each of them while giving them pipi (candy in Swahili, not what you’re thinking) secretly without the little kids around us knowing because we didn’t have enough for them all luckily our secretiveness worked for once! After we visited the really young children and they cling to you for their lives, they were the most adorable little monkeys ever. After we even got to visit the babies and hold a few. Somehow we managed not to make any of them cry when they saw this mass of white people rush in out of nowhere unlike the majority of babies that we see.

So we finished visiting and I intelligently smacked my head into the top part of the gate to get out (the gate was definitely made for the sisters). Here is where I get to tell you about how great samosas and bananas by a lake in Africa are… They are great! Somehow they filled me up quite well even though I was limited in the amount I could get. Following that we took a wonderful bumpy ride back to our humble abode we’ve been calling home for the past several weeks. On our way we got to stop in town to grab ourselves some junk food! Once we got there all I did was play Uker (not sure if that’s spelled right but sound it out) for a straight 4 or so hours. It was the most intense card game session of my life to say the least. Haha but I could be doing that at home so I won’t bore you with that anymore. Then to get some exercise and get off of our lazy butts we left and did our evening ritual of going out and playing soccer with the kids in the field that is part of the school here in the compound. Then we slept.

-The End…

Grace at work on a trench.

Day Today!!! Another amazing essay by Brad. So today, like every other day, we awoke from our slumbers and went through our daily morning routine of mass, breakfast, then getting ready for a good day of work. Today we finally got to start working on the well and I am happy to relay that we have already finished one out of two or three trenches depending on what the village decides on excavating for the foundation of the windmill. We had loads of help from the locals who pretty much took over a lot of the tools but of course we did our fair share. I had five to en people ask me to take my pick-axe and use it but of course I answered with a hapana sante (no thank you) and kept working it.

Trench.

I personally came out of this ordeal with a minimum of five blisters on my right hand and seven on my left because Alanna gave my gloves away and the guy ditched with them so I obviously had a grand time! We made quite the headway and we had our lunch there at the village of Zuzu cooked by the people. It was a wonderful meal of rice we brought and some freshly killed chicken! I turned mine into a stir fry and had a party on my taste buds. Twas a good time but we had to leave shortly after that and doing a little more work. Then we got home and I had a great shower and most other people took a nap to recover. Then we had a supper of fries and pork and now I am writing this blog for the past couple days. Oh hey look at that I’m done.

See you all soon. We’re all missin the knife!

-La Fin

Today was an awesome day!!! We finally went to Zuzu to the village of Mwenge where we witnessed the water drill spouting water!!! It will take them a few days to complete the drilling of the borehole, then we can begin with our windmill project (shoveling ditches, trenches for the pipes etc.) The moment we saw the water coming from the borehole, alot of us had tears of joy in our eyes!!! That is what we’ve been working on in the last two years, and to see it with the people of the village was amazing!!! The people from the village were very happy and excited to see us, and of course the Water!!! They started singing and dancing with their drums. Amazing!!! Once in a life time experience!!! One of the ladies told us that normally she has to walk over 2 hours to get water twice a day, she was dancing !!!!

Also, another highlight of the day was after lunch our seamstresses arrived with the clothing that they had made for us.  Everyone was excited and we had a little fashion show in the compound.  We’ll start working in Mwenge on Tuesday, more posts will be coming soon ………

Bye now!

Verda, Karyn and Shielo

We started our two-day adventure Thursday morning, first stop Itigi. In Itigi we had lunch and then toured the hospital where Father Tim was stationed for quite some time. The hospital was quite large and saw to a lot of people’s needs. In Africa if someone brings you to a hospital it is their responsibility to make sure you’re looked after. Meaning, if you’re there for long periods of time they must feed you breakfast, lunch, and dinner or you will not eat. There are however kitchens so you can make the food at the hospital and bring it to your loved one. All you have to supply is the food. Some children are in the hospital for long periods of time so they also have a class room to teach them things while they’re there. After a wonderful visit to the hospital we started on our way to Manyoni. This would be our final stop for the day. When we arrived in Manyoni, we had to check into our hotels, because there was a mix up with the accommodations we had to split the group up. Sheilo, Verda, Julaine, Chloe, James and David stayed in one hotel and everyone else stayed in the other. We didn’t know what to expect when going in our rooms, all they told us is that some of us would have to share a bed. Well let me just say this now, Taylor and I totally lucked out. The lady at the front desk gestured us into room C 02, all I can say is thank you front desk lady. We had a nice sized room, a big bed and wait for it….. a NORMAL TOILET. You may be laughing but at least we didn’t have to pee in the squat position. Others were not so fortunate, they called are room the “dumping ground”, I hope you catch the drift. After we got settled we went to a family’s house for dinner or should I say a feast. There was so much food and the family was so lovely they even gave us pop. Pop doesn’t sound that great when you have it everyday but when you haven’t had it in awhile it is definitely a great surprise. After the lovely meal, we called it a night and went back to our hotels for a good nights sleep.

We got to sleep in and we were on the bus at eight. We went to the CPPS compound in Manyoni. After having breakfast, we went exploring. We saw the mechanic shop, the woodwork shop and also where they teach drivers ed. We went to the building where they squeeze sunflowers to get oil and cow feed. After that we visited the secondary all girl’s school. It was neat to see the different classes and to see the contrast of their school compared to ours. After visiting the school we went through town before lunch. We arrived back at the compound in Manyoni, just in time. After lunch we were back on the truck and headed to Sukamahela.

In Sukamahela we visited the sisters who look after those who suffer from leprosy in Sukamahela. The sisters greeted us with open arms. We toured the town and met some incredible people. This one lady in particular was so amazed and thrilled that we wanted to take pictures with her, it was so touching. After visiting a lot of people, seeing the dispensary, and playing with a lot of kids we said our good byes and continued our journey starting to head home. Our last stop before coming home was to Chibumngwa, where we said hello to Paulo’s ( our driver) father. We also saw the old maternity clinic that Ana (a missionary that worked with Brother Anthony) used to run.

Back at the compound let me tell you I have never been so happy to see that blue gate, ever. For now anyways Dodoma is home and after a long journey no matter where it takes you it is always nice to come home.

This was just one of our many adventures to come. Saying goodbye from Dodoma. Our Home sweet Compound.

Much Love,

-Teale M.

I am fairly certain that I can’t pluralize rafiki by adding an “s” at the end, but I will because I am too lazy to get up and go ask someone how to say it properly. Perhaps next time I will know.

David and Anne planting trees.

We’ve been keeping pretty busy in the past few days digging holes and planting trees. We spent most of Saturday and Monday hacking at the hard Tanzanian soil with pick-axes, hoes and shovels and then, yesterday after lunch, we went back to our precious holes and finally planted trees in them. We had to mix the soil we had dug out with manure and then put most of it back in, add water and then add a very little tree. Apparently these trees produce extremely hard wood and in 20 years they will be able to harvest them, only to start all over again. It was really nice to see our little project to the end and to imagine all of those tiny trees growing in the next 20 years.

Mike hard at work planting trees.

In the morning we had the opportunity to visit St Gasper’s Primary School as guests at their morning assembly. St Gasper’s is the school here in our compound that is mostly run by a handful of amazing sisters. As it stands now, they educate from the kindergarten level to level 4 but as of next year they will be educating up to level 7. Their student body already consists of over 550 students! Some of which we instantly recognized as the children we’ve visited at the Ursuline Sisters’ Aids Orphanage and as the children who come to play soccer with us most nights. They filed into lines and sang several songs for us, most of which had cute gestures to accompany the lyrics. After the assembly, we brought 65 bags of corn flour to the front entrance of the compound and helped distribute them. Filling in for Sira, we spent the morning handing out the bags to people who the compound had decided were in desperate need of help. James brought out his guitar and Julaine brought out her ukulele and we sang while we waited for people to come collect.

Taylor helping distribute flour.

Julaine helping out

Also, yesterday Shawna, Karen and Tmo traveled to Nbau in Sangita, a small village about 4 hours away from our compound, so that they could visit Shawna’s sponsor child. But I will let Shawna tell you all about it at another time. Hopefully she’ll get an entry in within the next few days so watch for it.

Shawna and her sponsor child.

Karen and Tmo with... (name unknown at this time).

This morning we did odd jobs and tidied up the compound grounds by raking up all of the leaves around their many trees, piling sand, picking up dead things (no need for alarm, the things were restricted to what would typically fall from trees, so no animals or anything), etc. And in the afternoon we went out to the field and played with all of the children of St Gasper’s. Every Wednesday at St Gasper’s is Sports Day and we were invited to go play with the children this week. Imagine over 500 children running around, so that’s about 30 kids for everyone of us. They loved it and so did we. Some of us danced with them to the sound of them whistling, drumming and singing, while others played Stella Ella Ola and Red Rover. Some played soccer or tried to teach them how to toss a Frisbee properly. It was a great time for everyone involved. Something that I got a bit of a kick out of in particular was how fascinated a lot of the kids were with our hair. They would constantly reach towards my head and I would lean down so that they could stroke my locks. They would run their little fingers through my hair and giggle.

I really should go now, but just between you and me, I may or may not be drooling at the moment. There is a mouth-watering aroma wafting in my direction and I can hardly hold myself together. Can you guess what aroma it is? Why it is the wonderful smell of garlic of course! Oh garlic, how you consume me.

Until next time,

-Chloe

A ragged field, riddled with trenches and dried cow dung sits beyond a metal sliding wall on a compound. In the early evenings children wait anxiously outside the barbed wire fences for the first sight of their new found foreign friends. Their coarse bare feet race down the dusty path; their backs clothed with the same worn t-shirts the foreigners have seen them wear everyday since they’ve been there. A sparkle in each of their eyes; the highlight of their day. Young toddlers clutch the hands of their trusted older brothers, as infants are tied securely on the backs of the boys sacrificing play for responsibility. The gate is opened and the children flood in. The ball drops and they bob and weave through their unfamiliar opponents. The smallest of the boys, Terrance, 7, slows to a halt and stands frozen in the middle of the field; his friends more animated now, more then ever, as they run past him. His eyes are fixated on the painted sky above him. Coursing through the blue, purple, pink arch is a jet stream. Suddenly the world seems so big.

-JD

Hi Everyone,

An update from the Chaperones
The kids have been busy, beyond what was in the blog, they have been to a couple of villages – Iyumbu & Kintinku –  and actually was invited into a villagers home, met some amazing Sisters in at Kintinku  – who gave them a tour of their dispensary (health clinic) which was so very basic and primitive yet they handled 50 to 70 emergency patients a day. The Sisters generously provided us all to pop, cookies (bought from Dodoma as there is no store there) and home made chips, what a treat!!.  In the village of Iyumbu we got to see an already installed windmill being used and what difference it made to the people there.

The kids have made friends with some children who live around the compound and regularly meet them on the field to play soccer with them.  We have seen Tanzanian children playing soccer with a ball made out of plastic bags wrapped with twine, and playing without any shoes!  Still looking as happy as can be.  We have also been amazed by the women here.  On our tours, we have seen women with a child on thier back hunched over a pile of rock, hammering it down to gravel sized pieces.  This is what keeps food on the table for them.  What hard workers!  We have seen them carrying huge loads of food or water on thier heads!  How do they do that???

When our group had visited the Village of Hope (see Grace’s blog about the Aids orphans)  The children performed a few musical pieces for us, and we did an impromptu performance of “Lean on Me” as a response!  It was hard to get through it without crying!  Amazing, the words held such meaning.  We also sang them the Canadian national anthem.  What a musical group we are!!

Last week, we were honoured with a visit from the Prime Minister of Tanzania, who toured the compound and spent two and a half  hours with us “having tea” and asking our youth questions about why they came to Tanzania and what their purpose was here.  He asked us all ” Have you ever experienced no water, and no electricity where you live?”  He also allowed youth to ask him questions too.  In a mere 45 minutes, thanks to Verda (who quizzed our cooks about the Tanzanian National Anthem)  we quickly learned how to sing it and performed it as a group for the Prime Minister!!!  He then quizzed us on what the words meant.. thank goodness some of the Sisters had briefed us ahead of time on the translation… (Although we couldn’t remember all of it!)  The Prime Minister was very generous with his time, and allowed lots of pictures with the group.  IN fact, our group picture was going to be posted in the local paper!  We haven’t seen it yet, but hope to pick a paper up to bring home.

We have been fed beyond expectation!  The food has been fabulous, and the kids have had the opportunity to try new Tanzanian food.  We expected rice & beans for the whole trip… but it has been nothing like that!  Although when we start our work in the villiage, we will be fed a typical Tanzanian meal (grains & vegtables).

Father Tim, Audrey & Paul & Cera (FAthers helpers)  have been treating us like kings!  Under the circumstances and extra work load, they have always put our group first and tried to make us as comfortable as possible.  We are very thankful for all their efforts! They have taken us on many tours to the markets, sightseeing (we saw a baboon and monkeys on the side of the road!) and historical sites, and there is so much more to come!

We also want to take this opportunity to recognize the Youths hard work and contribution so far.  From sorting clothes, to cleaning containers, to moving bricks and digging holes, and taking turns doing dishes, etc.  Everyone has been working hard and is anxious to get started on the Windmill.  We are happy though, to make a contribution to CPPS by way of providing our services here on the compound as well.
Also, we just want to note that its Anne’s 17th Birthday today… Happy Birthday ANNE!!    We are limbering up for the bumps as we speak.  LOL!

Over and out.

Verda, Karyn & Shielo

Chloe and Alanna with Brother Anthony. (In the blogs he appears simply as Bro.)

Hi all: I decided to post these images on the main blog as I haven’t yet figured out how to organize images in the photo gallery. Also, this way you get a little more narrative.  The photo above is two of our lovely young people with the man who started all this business in the 70s (I believe) and you can read more about that and him if you click on the “about” tab above.  I and some of you who read here (parents) know this man has a powerful, no-nonsense presence. He makes this happen and has been doing so for years.

Our lovely young people with the Prime Minister of Tanzania, Mizengo Pinda. (I hope I have that right. Please correct me if I am wrong!)

 As I understand it, there is a huge cooperation between CPPS and the powers that be in Tanzania. I imagine this is vital for any project. But this project has been ongoing for decades – bringing fresh water to villages. SO meeting with the leaders of the country certainly gives the kids some sense of the value of what they are doing. I’m not there… But it’s what I imagine.

Below, you will see a small gallery of three images. Read Julaine’s post below and this is what you would have seen had you been there… Digging holes for trees…

Chloe at the Village of Hope.

I have the great honour of receiving these images and passing them on… If you have any questions definitely address them to the lovelies out there doing the work.

With much love,

Michele (in YK)