Waeingwaray – July 3

It is a gloriously sunny day – cold but blue, blue skies and bright sunshine. We head up to Waeingwaray (the school) right after breakfast to hopefully finish the 3 classrooms. A good start as we finish all the filling and begin painting. Out of three classrooms there is in very bad shape, where Jason and I have to literally rebuild the windowsills and corners – not an easy task without tools but a good challenge. We succeed and move on to helping paint. In order to keep the classrooms bright and cheery, we paint everything bright white with red notice boards. It really is amazing on what a difference it makes.

The students are on holiday, however, they are preparing for exams so there are several classes prepping for their exams next week. I have the pleasure of meeting the head teacher, Mr. Samaye and Hafia the Kindergarden teach, who also heads up the school development program. They have done an amazing job at turning the school around over the past 3 years to the best school in Babati. Through Julian’s efforts, donors and donations, they have been able to raise enough money to put the teachers on payroll, which is not a requirement of the school. In addition it has also help enroll and pay for 50 more students. Just before lunch some of the students stop by and are excited to see our progress – they love having their picture taken and want to help as much as they. They help with some the painting and are quite proud.

Working through the morning we almost finish the first classroom before heading to lunch. We head to the Café down the road where we have a special treat – sweet potatoes with chili sauce to accompany our chapattis and mchichi (cabbage). The chili sauce is made fresh by the woman who sells the schools fresh produce which she made on the spot with tomatoes, chilis and shallot – is not just spicy but fiery. She and the cook at the café laugh at us as we try to cool the heat with our chapittis. I am going to miss this little café where the local workers gather for lunch everyday, the food is made from heart and besides being delicious cost $1 USD per day including a coke or chai.

After lunch, Jason has to head to Arusha to pick up his daughter, we get back to work to hopefully complete the painting in the first classroom. The afternoon is bright sunny and perfect weather, we are victorious in finishing the first classroom and sit back to admire our work. We walk back in to town as Jason was our ride, tired but feeling like we have accomplished today’s goal. The late afternoon evening light is magical as it turns slightly red, reflecting off of the red earth and setting behind the mountains. As we walk through the villages, we stop to buy fresh tomatoes and bananas to have for breakfast tomorrow. Before getting to the guest house, Fiona and I decide to head to the market to purchase katanga’s the colorful fabric the women wear. On the way, we meet two local women with their babies, they show us the way to the best shop and despite the fact that we don’t share the same language they help us pick beautiful pieces at local prices and even show us how to tie them the proper Afrikani way. We say our goodbyes and head back to the guesthouse, where we head for a beer and dinner. Tomorrow is our day off and I believe all of us are looking forward to a day of relaxing.