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Monday, March 20th, 2006
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10:11 pm - Returned from Guatemala and Honduras
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| Sunday, December 18th, 2005
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5:49 pm - A moment to breathe...
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It has been ages since I have written in here.
As busy as I am at school, I have to sit back and feel proud when I see the great student work in Web and Interactive Design that is coming out of my classes. My only regret is that we don't get to have gallery or wall shows like everyone else, so unless people do the word of mouth thing, we are the Art Department's happy little secret. :-)
Also , along with my trio of web students we redid the Music Dept. and Commuication Departments' websites, along with maintaining the Art Dept., University Galleries, and University Performing Arts sites. They are all at: http://ww2.wpunj.edu/coac
Aura's House fared well this December. We got $1850 for our well in India, raised enough money to send 46 Zambian children to school, and just launched a new furniture project for a family with no beds in the Philippines as well as a new Philippines Classroom project so that the 4,000 plus children who are crammed in their tiny Manila school will soon have more space and be able to get a better education. The goal is $7,000 and we have already raised almost $1,000 even though the project hasn't officially launched yet. http://www.aurashouse.com. I was especially happy that I got a chance to make my own Holiday Cards through the site, and when people bought them, 25% of proceeds went towards our India Well Project.
Now this weekend is all about finishing my Holiday Cards, Holiday Shopping, and more importantly my homemade gifts. I wish I had had time to make them all homemade. My family, except Lauren would probably complain. :-)
I have 3 more days of work left at the University. I am getting itchy feet again and am pondering another volunteer job in some developing country this summer for a few weeks.
Ok...I'm off to do more holiday stuff...
current mood:  mellow
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| Thursday, November 17th, 2005
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7:19 am - Ideas for Fundraising for Good Causes
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Been busy expanding my do-gooder website...
One recent addtion to http://www.aurashouse.com that has been very successful for us is just adding a simple PhpBB community where our donors can discuss, post, link or whatever.
The other neat thing we just added is a free online shop through cafepress.com. They do all the work...you just pick out products like shirts, mugs, cards, etc... and send in your designs. Many of my students have donated some art. So now we have a nice holiday fundraiser online shop, where 25% of proceeds from sales will go to fund our current water well project for a village in India. Our shop is at: http://www.cafepress.com/aurashouse
Busy, busy...I'm off to work.
Cheers,
Kristen
current mood:  creative
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| Tuesday, October 4th, 2005
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10:14 am - Message from Neema in Rau Village, Tanzania
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I got this email from my friend Neema in Tanzania this morning. I like her expression: "my frendy!" :-)
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Thanks very much for received my msg, Me im fine icontinue goods job and leson, so ineed to greety you and you husbandy i say ilove all. My frendy take care your job and love job I thinks good you help you always, Krist ilove u iwant to see u ma ilove I remember u idont no when see you? Dont forget me malove, imiss u so lo, greet all at America and greet your cat and dog, take care when you come africa because imiss u my frendy
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Photo of me and Neema in July-
http://www.kristenpalana.com/tanz/pages/DCAM0128.htm
current mood:  "frendy"
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| Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
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2:57 pm - Free time?
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A student canceled a meeting with me so now I have this unknown luxury called- gasp..free time.
And yet I can't quite take the Universe's hint to relax. I joined a few new Livejournal groups interested in charities and used the opportunity to introduce myself and "my daughter" Aura's House.
The thing is, I like meeting people who are do-gooders and like to see what kind of lives they lead.
Well, I need to make photocopies for my 5:30 class. I think I'll actually go to the language lab for the Italian class I'm sitting in on.
Buon'idea!
*Note- I am a nerd. I got the highest grade on the Italian test. I thought for sure I'd get beaten up after class. They must've known I'm too tough to mess with.
current mood:  optimistic
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| Tuesday, September 13th, 2005
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7:50 pm - India Well and Zambia School Projects
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Aura's House at: http://www.aurashouse.com just launched two new projects. One is to help eleven year-old Rituparna Mandal and her village of Khordanahala in India get a much needed water well. We also are helping send kids in Zambia, Africa to school by getting them uniforms and supplies that their parents can't afford.
For pics of complete past projects or to help out our new ones, please visit http://www.aurashouse.com.
Every bit helps- even $1 and all donations are 100% US Tax Deductible through Children International. We also have a resource of links to charities helping the Hurricane Katrina victims,
Thanks,
Kristen
current mood: artistic
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| Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005
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9:56 am - Tanzanians are cooking Vegetarian now!
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I just got this email from my English friend, Sarah- explaining the situation regarding the school fee bank accounts we set up for Mama Nelson's kids in Tanzania. I am so excited that when Sarah went back over for dinner, Mama Nelson cooked an entire vegetarian meal! Wish I could have been there!
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Lastly I must mention the dinners Mama Nelson cooked for us (after sidetracking slightly do explain some backgroud) as they were a social, fun but also very humbling experience. Mama Nelson ( Nelson being her eldest son and hence her name- so my mum would be Mama Duncan) lived just across the road from the CCS Rau house. Her and Baba Nelson had two children Nelson (fluent in English) and cute little Irene who always wore pretty dresses. (I’ll try get some photos of them when I go back to Kili to say bye.) We played with their kids (football, flower picking and the like) as often as we could and also had Mama make skirts and bags for us from material we had bought in local shops/markets. Thus we supported her but then the letters from her kids started. I should add here that she also looked after a close relative’s child, Hosiana who was treated as a daughter but seemed to do more than her fair share of housework (she was a wee bit older though). Sadly, her parents had both been killed in road accidents.(Very frequent and serious in Tanzania generally).
The letters were from the kids asking us to support them thru school in some way. They pretty mush all started with ‘I love you Sarah’ or some other genuinely nice comment. Later on after little explanation for the request we would be asked for money for school. Myself and Kristen, my friend from the US decided that we should do something. Giving the kids money was not going to be sustainable and because of that reason CCS would also never sanction it. So we arranged that three bank accounts be set up (savings accounts) for each of the three kids. Thus we gave them the head start they needed but the owness was thenceforth on the parents to add to the nest egg each month. In this way by the time they wanted to draw on the savings (most likely when the kids started secondary school and the fees went up ridiculously) it would have grown considerably from the small amount we had put it.
Anyhow to close this report back to the dinners. I went over twice over the six week period I was in Moshi. Once with Kristen in the first few weeks and again just a week ago to say good bye before I left Moshi. Each time we were there we were made to feel at home and welcome almost like royalty but not to the extent that we felt uncomfortable. Mama Nelson even made the whole meal vegetarian for me on my last visit to them. She wasn’t offended and really enjoyed the fact that we ate loads of the chips rice and curry sauce that she had prepared us! After dinner and some local chai (tea without milk like mum and gran drink) Mama would get the foto albums out and Baba Nelson would return home from work tired, hungry yet just as welcoming! They remisisced over good times and their wedding day as we marveled at the wedding and christening scenes at which tinsel and bright colours were all the rage! When it was finally time to go Baba and Mama walked us to the CCS gate (we had good security there and electric fence) and Baba would go off to join his pals at Deo’s. Happy times. We really felt at home there!
current mood:  surprised
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| Wednesday, July 27th, 2005
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8:48 am - Thought this might brighten your day...
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This is Maria Rosa Rojas and her parents from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. They just found out that the cramped one-room shack they share with 10 family members is going to be replaced with a brand new, sturdy brick home large enough for all of them. It was a complete surprise...
Awesome! All the work on the website has been more than worth it when I see pics like this. :-) -Kristen
Visit: http://www.aurashouse.com for more info.
current mood:  excited
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| Tuesday, July 19th, 2005
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3:01 pm - Videos too
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| Saturday, July 16th, 2005
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9:25 am - Worlds are colliding
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Had a strange dream last night where I was WALKING to my University. (FYI-Nobody walks there- it's car- city...except for my friend Professor Joe VanPutten who's a mountain man but lives really close.)
The roads were dirt and there was a combination of plants found bouth here and in Tanzania- including my favorite -banana plants. I pass an African teen in the middle of the road. He tied the string of a giant balloon around his foot and started floating up towards the sky. He was thrilled and delighted and on his way to some unknown destination! I was a bit aprehensve because it looked dangerous.
At some point in the dream I am back in Africa in a country called "Zongo" whatever that means. (Combination of Congo and Zambia?) It's unclear whether I'm arriving or leaving because I am meeting new people, but saying goodbye to people I met in Tanzania. Someone had brought their dog in a crate, and he was out and making very intelligent conversation.
Well, a few notes regarding my first days back-
-a bit confusing to not be woken up by roosters and instead by Michael's screechy alarm clock.
-no dirt roads- no random goats and chickens everywhere. I miss them. I DID see a giant roach cross my path last night in Manhattan...
-taking Cipro. Stomach was a bit iffy AFTER I returned.
-Trying to eat bigger breakfasts like I did in Tanzania. I lost 5 pounds without even trying and have been able to wear my "skinny dresses." Had dessert with Michael last night so we'll see... I should seriously ban the scale to our garage. It's making me crazy.
-Went back to work. Mixed feelings but overall feel lucky I have a great job.
-LOVED being in NYC last night. I felt like I was walking in a dream. Everything was so big and shiny. No one blew me up on the subway, thank goodness.
-Casually mentioned I'd like to do another 3 week trip possibly with Cross Cultural Solutions next summer to Michael. He was ok with it because his work has budget season June/July so I'd be lonely at home anyway. Hmmm...the possibilities. Thailand? Peru? Guatemala? Ghana? I hope they open a new program in Africa or Vietnam.
-Stupidly went online last night and ruined the plot of the new Harry Potter book for myself. I get my book today. I couldn't resist. had to know what happened. I'll still enjoy it though.
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Bring a smile to a child's face! Visit: www.aurashouse.com
current mood:  indescribable
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| Wednesday, July 13th, 2005
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10:56 am - Tanzania Photos galore
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They are at: http://www.kpalana.com
You'll see a link right on my home page. Video coming soon.
Trying to adjust to life back in the USA. The transition is interesting. More soon...
current mood:  restless
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| Saturday, July 9th, 2005
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11:19 am - Chunky milk and other last suppers...
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Aha...I did check my email one more time. My flight leaves at 9 PM tonight. I tried to see if I could reserve my seat earlier this week so I don't get stuck in the middle of two people, but it was not available yet online. I should try today.
I'm excited to see Michael, though it will be strange to have all the smiling waving faces of Tanzania replaced by all the stressed out people giving us the finger on the highway and all their road rage.
So yestarday Mike Epler and I went with Tonny and the entire staff of Maua Hills on an outing to the village where he grew up. He wanted to take us out to thank us for all our help, and Maua Hills was closed the whole day. We had an excellent time and we will definately miss all the great people at Maua Hills.
The roads were a little scary, and the rain made everything muddy and slippery. We almost got stuck a few times and slipped with Tonny's four wheel drive a few times. We met his mom who is a 76 year old living by herself in a simple Chagga home. She was very sweet, and It was she who offered me a porridge that was brown and made with sour milk. I politely declined. the "mzungu" stomach isn't allowed dairy products in Tanzania. She offered me some tea made with the same milk. She then offered just the milk which had large chunks in it. I also declined, but she was starting to feel hurt. Luckily the next thing she offered was a banana...which I don't normally eat...but it was safe to eat because it's a fruit I can peel. So I ate the banana and she was happy. The smell of the porridge and milk and tea will linger in my nose for a long time. I couldn't even watch the others as they happily ate and drank,. I just stared at a chicken outside the door and breathed through my mouth. Tonny's mom offered the live chicken to me to take home, but I politely declined...so at least the chicken (unlike poor Flappy) will live to see another day. Anyway, I'm just hoping Michael threw away any old milk in the fridge in NJ so I don't have to relive the smell and sight of chunks! :-)
We also went to the seminary that Tonny studied at. Germans had set up alot of the churches in the area in the 1890's. We walked in the rain, and my feet were wet and cold...but we saw alot of plants and animals. It was beautiful. We were basically kidnapped for the day, since we thought we'd be back at 1pm, but got back instead at 7:30PM!
Our last stop was a roadside restaurant. They ordered chunks of meat, which I got out of eating because "Mimi ni mboga mboga!" (I'm a vegetarian.) However, Tonny's wife offered me "wine" which turned out to be an entire glass of Vermouth straight up! You can just imagine how all that alcohol affected me on an empty stomach. The only things I ate all day were that banana and a few ginger snaps. :-)
Well, today I meet one more time with Mama Nelson to give her the funds for the 3 bank accounts. I'll take more pictures of her and her kids and go to pick up the 3 skirts I had a local tailor make for me. Hope he's there.
Pics coming soon...
current mood:  a little queasy, but fine
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| Friday, July 8th, 2005
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8:40 am - Last update from Tanzania (?)
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I hope I can get the dust off my shoes so I can not be too much of a wreck when I fly home. Whenever I walk anywhere and a car or truck, or even bike goes by, this cloud of dust rises up from the road and covers everything. You should see how dirty my white towel gets at the end of each day. Even the corn and sunflowers by the side of these dirt rows are covered in dust.
Yes,I am pissed about London. Then of course everyone wanted my 911 stories so I felt like I was reliving it. I heard the news from my English friend Sarah who got a text message on her cell phone. We then walked the 2 miles to the Internet place/Vocational School where I work and Tonny, the director has a TV so we watched BBC for a bit. Luckily she heard from her friends in London and they were ok.
Yes, me and other people here have signed the pledge at http://www.one.org -I'm into the G8 and fighting poverty in Africa. People are very poor here, and live on less than a dollar a day...but one thing they do have is a good sense of community. Everyone knows their neighbors and everyone helps each other. People have genuine smiles and are really very innocent and uncorrupt. If there is someone trying to scam you, it's usually because of poverty...and you can tell who the bad people are because they stick out against all the good people. There's one really sweet and innocent guy here who PROPOSED to a CCS volunteer here. They have been "friendly" the last 3 weeks...and he is so in love with her (no ulterior motives)he even bought her a tanzanite ring which are very rare and not cheap at all...especially for him!
Can you believe she said yes?!!! She is only 19 and is on the same flight as me Saturday. I think she loves him too...but talk about a long-distance relationship! We don't think it's actually going to happen because she doesn't know when she'll be able to come back. I just feel bad for him, because he's one of these innocent, sweet Tanzanians and going to get his heart broken. :-(
One weird thing that strikes me is that if people ARE mean here- people say they are mentally ill. :-) How many mentally ill people live in New York and Joisy? :-)
Well, in other dramatic news, a hurricane is heading for Key West so my friend and roomate here- Amy, is usually the one in charge with the mayor to evacuate the island. She has been coordinating the whole thing from Tanzania!
Well, the website for Maua Hills is nearly done. See if you can find me in it! The url is: http://mauahills.bravehost.com
This might be my last email until I get back to NYC Sunday. I think I'll poke around Amsterdam a few hours when I get there Sunday morning after my 9 hour overnight flight from Kilimanjaro. I'll be there at 7:30 AM, their time.
Photos will be uploaded next week.
current mood:  nostalgic
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| Thursday, July 7th, 2005
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2:37 pm - Pole (sorry in Swahili)
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Just heard about the London bombings. My deepest regrets and condolences. Pisses me off.
current mood:  infuriated
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9:13 am - Last days in Tanzania
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(a straight copy and paste from my email to Michael...)
Hi Michael,
I am sitting here with my friends from Maua Hills- Eva and Neema who are looking over my shoulder at your emails. they want to type something:
Neema says: that me ilove krist and you try to love krist and god you help you thanks bye
Eva says: that I love christine so much and I want to cnotiune to have her for more time so please when she come back home allow her to visit us again and againe Thank you very much its me Eve or cool lady.
Ok. It's Kristen again...:-) Thank you for not one but TWO emails today. It made my whole morning. I agree with Eva- we should both together make a Tanzania/Uganda trip...We can visit Mt. Kilimanjaro, go on safari in the Serengeti, visit Rau Village and our friends here of course, go to Zanzibar island for the beaches, and then to Uganda (where everything is in English) to see the chimpanzees. Promise some day? It's now high on my list that you should see all these genuine smiles and warm people for yourself. You always only hear the negative about Africa- how strange it was for me to see so much positive.
Today is a holiday in Tanzania called Saba Saba. It started to remember the formation of Tanzania's first political party which then led to Independence...but for some reason, now it's like a "peasants' day" and all the farmers come out to the city to show their produce. I am at Maua anyway today though the primary and secondary schools are closed.
Thanks for your feedback on the website. It is getting better by the hour. I hope to have even more up today, so check it out later- http://mauahills.bravehost.com
Sarah and I will go visit Mama Nelson- Hosiana, Nelson, and Irena later today to see how the progress is going with the bank accounts. I'd like to stay in touch with them...and hopefully every now and then I can send $10 or so to add for the kids' secondary school accounts.
Today is my last full day working here. Tomorrow Tonny, the director wants to thank Mike and I by taking us a few hours away with some staff for a picnic and to the village where he grew up. it will be sad to leave for sure...but I am very much looking forward to seeing you and our cats.
I can't believe the postcard has already arrived. Go Tanzania's postmen! :-)
London in 2012 for the Olympics! I can't wait to tell Sarah. That will be excellent!!! Poor Mike Bloomburg and New York...
Tonight I am being taken out by the volunteers along with the few of us leaving this weekend. we're going to "El Rancho" which is an Indian restaurant.
I look forward to our nights by the pond...maybe some nice walks? Not so much tv will be good. I've only seen it a few times since I've been here. I haven't seen one fastfood restaurant or mall or Hooters either in 3 weeks.
:-)
Well, I'd better get to work. Let's see if we can wrap up this website.
current mood:  loved
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| Wednesday, July 6th, 2005
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8:45 am - Secondary School Fees
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Well, progress is still happening here. We added a web photo gallery to the Maua website yesterday at "facilities and staff." I'll try to add more content today.
Yesterday after lunch I went to get 3 more skirts made by bringing cloth to a local tailor. The cost for the 3 will be only about $12 -and custom made from beautiful fabric.
Afterwards, I had made an appointment with Hosiana's "Mom." Hosiana is actually an orphan, since her parents died in 2000 and her other two siblings were sent to live with different relatives. Hosiana lives with her Great Aunt "Mama Nelson" who has her own 2 kids- Nelson and Irena.
Sarah from England and I decided that instead of giving a donation for school stuff, we'd do something more sustainable. In Tanzania it costs $50 (50,000 TSH) to open a bank account. For most people, that's more than 2 months' salary. So we took Mama Grace with us in case we needed a translator, and told Mama Nelson that we wanted her kids to go on to Secondary school- including Hosiana. We told her that if she gets all the paperwork and applications together, we would give the 50,000 TSH for each child's school fee bank account as long as she promised to put some money into them every week or month.
She was overjoyed and agreed. There's so much red tape here to open a bank account. Most families don't have one. So, hopefully by the end of the week the 3 kids will be in a better position.
Later we went to the Tunahake ("we have rights"- in Swahili) Home for Street Children. The guy who takes the kids in was an acrobat, so he teaches the boys and girls how to do tricks. They did a performance for us and it was SO professional. It was very touching and of course we bought them dinner and made small donations.
current mood:  hopeful
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| Tuesday, July 5th, 2005
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8:21 am - progress
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Yesterday I was teaching the future web design teacher at Maua Hills how to make websites. I killed 2 birds with one stone, because as I was teaching, we were making the Maua Hills website. If you check it in a few hours, there should hopefully be a gallery of photos either on the home page or in "facilities and staff." I'm going to use the photos I took. It's great because there are already some local businesses, some geared towards tourists, who need a website made...so Sambook (the guy I'm teaching) will be making good money for his family. The current (simple) website is at: http://mauahills.bravehost.com It's on a free server so unfortunately there are ads at the top...but it's a start.
I also found someone who can teach the drawing and painting classes- Nicksiba, a local artist who paints in the morning at the Moshi Disability Network. I told him to bring samples of his work here and we'd see if we had a teaching job for him. It's so cool because the economy is really awful here- so it feels good to bestow jobs on people. The nice thing is they will be helping others aquire skills and hopefully that will spread jobs and money-making opportunities around.
Last night we celebrated the 4th of July in Moshi at the Indotaliano Restaurant. We sang "America the Beautiful" and lit matches. Lots of fun. I am missing my Sweetie, but I am going to miss it here. Such great people. Only 5 days left...
current mood: still sad about Flappy
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| Monday, July 4th, 2005
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8:48 am - Wifeline.com
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This weekend was so strange and interesting and I got a lot of it on video just to prove it even happened. Apparently we were the first group of outsiders to stay at the Massai Village. There's a lot to tell, but I'll try to sum it up briefly:
We arrived at the village with a goat (named Flappy) that we got at the market as a gift. We were with 3 local Tanzanians that knew what gifts we needed to bring, how to speak to the elders, what was appropriate, etc...so they were good guides. Flappy rode in the van with us and I was talking to him and petting him, trying to make his last day on Earth a little bit more pleasant.
Yes, the Massai were going to slaughter him. We arrived and greeted the elders. You can't look them in the eye and there's a special handshake. Then the women took us (we were just 5) one by one to their thatch hut and dressed us up in Massai clothes and beads. We went 40 minutes by foot to where they get water- a muddy hole. This is all they have to cook and clean with. They never shower or take a bath and the kids attract flies but are otherwise very cute.
Later the men did a welcome dance for us since we were their visitors. Make no mistake that we were just as much of a curiosity to them and the main attraction and entertainment! We felt like the Saturday Matinee! :-) There was one baby shaking in fear because he's never seen a white person before. The women took us to their huts and the huts have a spot for the baby cows and goats. No one needs to herd them because they know exactly where to walk for water...all in a line and then at night they return to the village and each knows which hut to go in. So cool!
At night they danced and sang around the fire. The chief and his assistant chief walked 4 miles to meet us. Amy (owner of Mangoes in Key West) talked to him for a half hour. I came over and used my bad Swahili and he got all excited when he found out I taught computers in the US. He asked how many cows it would cost to make me his wife! He already has 2. He started by offering 4. I said-"I'm worth more cows than that!" -but apparently that was a good price. eventually we got to over 20 and then he said "Name your Price!" It made me think of William Shatner and Priceline.com. Anyway, I told him I already have a wonderful husband and the next day when I saw him again he was looking at my album. It was funny to think about being a chief's wife though, because I'd get to boss around the whole village. And unlike in other cultures, it's the youngest wife with the most power, not necessarily the 1st or 2nd. They usually stop at 3 or 4 wives. Well, the catch is I'd have to have at least 3 children, walk around in poo all day, drink muddy water, sleep with cows, eat ugali every meal with the occassional goat on a stick. Better to stay in New Jersey with my Sweetie! :-) Michael's teeth are nicer too. :-D
That night I shared a tent with Joelle, the 20 year old student from San Diego. There were cows really close to our tents and I was scared we'd get run over, but luckily it didn't happen.
The next day they milked cows and slaughtered poor Flappy. I was going to watch, but I saw Flappy with a sad look on his face and started to get dizzy. i walked back to the campfire where Erin was sitting. Later the others came one by one, each one having witnessed more than the last. It was really awful. They suffocated Flappy and then stabbed him to collect the blood which they drink as sustinance. Later, I saw Flappy as pieces of meat in a bucket which the Massai roasted over a fire.
current mood:  grieving Flappy
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| Friday, July 1st, 2005
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9:12 am - brainfood
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I just made a little update for Aura's House today. You should visit the site. http://www.aurashouse.com Aura and her family have moved in and my student put the pics online. We are less than $600 away from our goal for the Rojas family in Honduras!
Yesterday was a little more quiet. I worked at Maua Hills in the morning, then attended a bunch of lectures- one on gender issues in Tanzania, one about Shamen and Medicine men, a Swahili lesson, and then a lecture about the AIDS epidemic here.
Later we went to a cultural center called Honey Badger and got to see the locals do drumming and dancing. Like a fool, of course some of us danced right with them. Hey, I got de- rhythm! :-)
I'll be camping with the Massai tribe this weekend so won't be updating again until Monday. Happy Weekend. Go Red Sox! (Sorry, heard they are doing well...)
current mood: giddy
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| Thursday, June 30th, 2005
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9:27 am - Digging in the dirt
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Well, yesterday I was not at Maua Hills because we had a day learning about the Chagga tribe and hiking to a huge 500 ft. waterfall.
First we went to a Chagga Cave. It's in a thatch hut, and you climb down a ladder. At the bottom is a small hole. You have to either crabwalk or go on hands and knees. There are all kinds of caverns and rooms inside. This was so the Chagga could hide from the warlike Massai tribe (the ones I am camping with Sunday! They are peaceful in the 21st century, though i hear they are going to slaughter a goat in front of us!)
It was pitch black in there and the walls felt like the kind of clay you can make pottery with. I was fine in there in the dark, under the ground. There are mushrooms growing inside and you can see where they cooked, etc. Then I saw one huge jellybean-sized ant and decided it was time to go. I have a fear of being eaten by ants, so didn't want to see if there were more.Later we went to a traditional Chagga Hut. They have an area for their goats and cows inside this tiny hut. They have an attic just like we do for storage and the men and women sleep seperatly.
Later we hiked a few miles down a steep and muddy trail to the Maranga Falls. The mist washed all over us when we got to the bottom and it was very refreshing after hiking so close to the equator.
Today I am back at work at Maua Hills with my partner Mike Epler of LA- a Software Director. He has a wife and two teen daughters. Our walk here is so beautiful. We are at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro and walk by cornfields, banana plants, chickens, goats, and waving kids. People are very friendly and not burnt out like back home. They smile with their eyes as well as their mouths.
I made a map of how to get here on the computer last time and took publicity photos for brochures and the web. My friend Neema here had to walk with me to tell me the names of the dirt roads, or I would never have gotten the map done. Today I think I'm teaching web classes to Tonny and the staff so they can train future teachers.
I'll surely be very busy here before I leave next week, though I am satisfied that I accomplished a lot and made my little difference. There are more photos up at http://public.fotki.com/kpalana/tanzania
current mood:  good
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kpalana's journal
hungry