Change of Plans

I decided that I could not handle the orphanage in Moshi anymore. I was not happy and there were too many factors playing into that. They do not teach love there and therefore the kids do not understand that its not okay to hit me, spit on me, throw food at me, etc. It was hard being the only volunteer and being ignored by most people that worked there including the head Sister. A friend made a good point to me by saying "why volunteer for people who don't appreciate it?" So at the beginning of the week I made a change and come to Arusha which was my next placement. I am scheduled to be here 6 weeks and havent decided what I will do with the last 3 weeks of my trip (stay here or go back to Kenya) but that is a decision that doesn't need to be made now.

I am working with Living Water Children's Center. I live at the house of the family/directors with another volunteer from England. They have two projects. There is Living Water Children's center which is a 5 minute walk from the house and 25 kids live there. There is also part of a primary school there (baby, intermediate, and standard 1 and 2). The LWCC kids go to school there as well as some other children from the area that then go home at the end of the day. The second project just opened this past year and it is a full school in Kisongu which is right outside Arusha and about a 30 min trip away from the center. They have all levels of classes there (baby-standard 7) (standard 7 is equal to the end of middle school for the US) and do both day and boarding school (lots of boarding here in Africa. The LWCC children that are standard 3 and up board there along with kids from outside families. I hope this is all making sense!

I am not sure of my schedule here yet because some days are in the center and some are in Kisongu. I will be doing some teaching and assisting with that and evenings and weekends are just hanging out with the kids. All teaching is done in English so the kids are pretty fluent which is a big change and a big help. A few of them are helping me to work on my Kiswahili which is fun. These kids are also older (3-17) so its a change from Kenya.

I am happier here in Arusha and actually feel like I am being productive and making a difference which is what I was looking for! I cant believe it is October 1 and in exactly two months I will be home again. I am so thankful for this experience and cannot wait to share more with many of you when I get back stateside.