Welcome to Greetings from Tanzania! Don't be confused, we have yet to leave the States, but I wanted to update the site. In the upcoming weeks, Michael and I will be preparing to embark on an experience of a lifetime. With One Heart Source, we will be traveling to the Arusha District in Tanzania and spending three months there starting an education-based orphanage center. As we speak, there are volunteers from UCLA, USC, and other universities working hard to build the center and volunteer quarters. The 10-acre land is in Phase I of development and hopefully by the time our Fall Group is done, 3-acres of it will be developed.
In merely 51 days, we will be leaving San Jose for a far away land. As dreamy as it sounds, I face this near-future with excitement and a great deal of anxiety. Throughout the past few weeks, my driving hours to and from work have been occupied with mental preparation for what's to come. I'm also almost done with Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea and the imagery of destitute living situations Mortenson and David Oliver Relin provides has been overwhelming. Although the climate and landscape of Tanzania is quite different from that of Pakistan, poverty knows no limits. The difficulties may vary, but the extent of what lacks is great in many places throughout the world. Much of my anxiety comes not from the drastic change in living standards I am about to face, but from a mixed-bag of excitement and uncertainty that comes with knowing very well my fate may turn out to be like Mortenson's. But like I am always told, take one step at a time.
My job at the Tech Museum's summer camp is wrapping up with only two more weeks in store. Once that takes place, it'll be time for serious planning. An actual packing list, a camping backpack to store all my things, a long shopping list, review of Swahili and OHS curriculum and lots and lots of thinking. Honestly, the excitement is hard to contain. I spend much of the day daydreaming, wondering, and waiting for September 19th to come my way. When co-workers ask about my upcoming trip, my mood shifts. I feel my spirits lifting and find myself much happier with everything that is going on. No words can express that feeling. Maybe, just maybe, I've found it. Maybe this is my calling. Maybe this is my greatest passion. Maybe this is what I'll do for the rest of my life.
But then again, I remind myself:
Take one step at a time.
Some ways you can help:
- Donate - money, soccer balls, anything else you think we may need
- Suggest - give tips on traveling, supplies, medical things
- Questions - get us thinking
