Wanafunzi Wengi!

22 January 2010

We have been back at work this week and it has been a nice change of pace from our weeks off. We did five presentations over the last four days to a total of 442 students between the ages of 15-18. The students were attentive and interested and full of questions, so we had a very gratifying week of work.

This afternoon we also went to a meeting with some government people in order to make plans for Women’s Day, which is an international holiday celebrating women. The CWCD will be mostly in charge of planning activities for a whole week that include village visits, seminars and a celebration. We are excited to be involved in the festivities, especially in a place where women’s empowerment is so crucial to the development of poor countries like Tanzania.

We also received good news that we have been selected for final evaluation by a grant that we applied for last month (funded by USAID). Supposedly it is now not a matter of whether we get funding, but how much. They will be visiting us at the CWCD sometime next week so we are busy getting things ready for their arrival. We are planning to take them to Sambasha Village so they can see some of the work of the CWCD first hand. Mama has been so excited this week that she can barely control herself. Between our new running routine and working a lot we are pretty tired most days and are making up the time we had off lately!

Mala is still doing marvelously also. She is getting spayed in the next couple of weeks and has finished all her necessary shots and vaccines. I miss her daily and look forward to being able to stay with her everyday, but for now she is thriving up in Ilboru with the many volunteers and huge yard to run and play in.

(The picture here is of Mala and I snuggling on the porch. She loves belly rubs and always flops over on her back right in your lap. She is growing up and starting to live up to her name, “Angel”!)

Written by Whitney