Village Event: A Day of Pictures

Week Three

Driving Across Tanzania: In Pictures

I thought that today I would show some pictures that I took driving back to Dar Es Salaam from Singida. It was an unusually cloudy day and I took these with my ipad so the pictures are not the best. However, they provide a snapshot of what it looks like traveling across Tanzania….for 14…

Week Three

School Days

We have met with a district education official and he has offered to take us to some local schools to talk to teachers about eye care and students. Any doubt that he would be willing to guide us and translate disappeared when he found out we had transportation. It was our golden ticket. We meet…

Week Two

The First Day

The day dawns early. Rather it is still dark out, but the Islamic call to prayer at 5 am followed by the Catholic Church bells at 6 am precede the actual sunrise by a large margin. So, dawn is a welcome arrival to actually see our surroundings I look out of the room to see where…

Week Two

The Fourteen Hour Drive

When I found out that we were going to be based in Singida, Tanzania, I did what I always did when traveling to a new place. I googled it. The results came back a bit bare. Usually TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet were good resources to check. I did some further googling related to them. Still…

Who is Your Leader?

My full fellowship team met in the hotel lobby in the morning. Gökhan had arrived after a quick trip to Turkey over the weekend for a wedding and managed a smile even given his early morning arrival into Dar Es Salaam and having only had a few hours of sleep. Alex joined us and we…

Arriving in Tanzania

I was settled into my seat on South African Airways looking eagerly over the African landscape from my window seat. I had forgotten that I had indicated a special meal on my star alliance profile so was surprised when they approached my general area and asked if anyone had a special meal. I ignored it…

Leaving South Africa

My colleague, Helen, and our NGO partner, Alex, were oh the same flight as another fellowship group headed to Tanzania. After a full week of on-boarding, we were ready to start our actual fellowship and get working on our projects. We left in plenty of time for the airport as planned by the meeting group.…

Arrival in South Africa

I have just arrived after a long 15 hour flight. My body tingles in funny places, there is a slight haze in everything I think, and I dare not look at the clock set to my original time, but I am otherwise fine—having arrived safely and without incident. I always think when I land after…