Remember I was in Tanzania once?

The rainseason has officially started

This should have been the title of a blog post I was writing in Tanzania. I left Tanzania in May, it is August now. What happened?! A lot, and blog by blog I will try to give you an update. So, first of all, my last few weeks in Tanzania. (Written in May)

Moshi, Tanzania

Mambo!

In the end of this week, I will be leaving Tanzania and that is crazy to think about. One week is nothing and there is still so many things I have to do, procedures want to change and adventures I have to explore. The past month I have done a lot of cool things. If I tell you all of them, you would barely believe that I am actually here to work on the journey of ISM (the school here) towards becoming a UWC. But I am actually doing a lot of work, I write reports, email people, come up with ideas, give talks and mainly keep on explaining what UWC is and why ISM wants to become one. I have also thrown myself into de (non-exsisting) alumni database, which is a lot of work, but it has to be done, so that is why I do it – otherwise it would never happen.

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I kayaked to Kenya

Moshi, Tanzania

Oh oh oh, so much has happened and I have not told you anything about it! Where should I start? Maybe I should explain my current situation. ISM has Spring Break at the moment, 2,5 weeks off!  Tomorrow I will go on a trip, but I will tell you more about that in my next blog. At the moment, I am sitting on a bench in the playground of ISM. I needed internet to send some emails and reply to Facebook messages (sorry guys, I will try to reply earlier) and around me there are people working on maintaining the school. I re-invented Flekke fashion, as I am wearing rainboots (rain season has started and there is a lot of mud), my new tailored trousers with a colourful African print, a t-shirt and a fleece. And I am eating banana crisps, yeah, life is nice. The last week I have attended a neurology conference for non-neurologists. I have learned a lot of things, but some things were just too complicated. However, I enjoyed it a lot to be able to be there.

Hugo on the rock in the river. There is not much water yet on this picture, but now it has rain extremely hard, there is more water.

About how I try to survive in 36 degrees Celsius

Moshi, Tanzania

Dear all,

While I am writing this I realise this is my third week here already. Time flies! I am almost on a quarter of my trip… For some weird reason, days here pass like crazy and even though I have done a lot of things, I still have the feeling I just arrived.

I am here to help with the fundraising for the International School of Moshi (ISM), they want to become a UWC and that is where I have to help. I am working together with Gemma, and we created a task force of people who can help us. In the task force, there are many UWC alumni from or in East Africa, ISM alumni and other people interested. We are organising events her in Moshi, but also in Arusha and Dar Es Salaam. I hope I can actually help with something, because it would be great if ISM would be a UWC. However, I need to say that I am a bit hypocritical because I do not think I fully agree with the speed in which we got new UWC colleges the last couple of years. Of course, it is great that many people can have a UWC experience, but I prefer quality over quantity and as many national committees are already struggling with getting scholarships, how are we going to be able to pay for all these (extra) students? I still support a UWC here in Tanzania because I believe that we need another UWC on the African continent, same as in Latin-America. But before we are able to actually have this UWC, we need money, loooaaads of money.

Random picture of a supermarket here. They have no fruits or vegetables but so many sodas, sanitary products and plates…

I am finally in Tanzania!

Moshi, Tanzania

Update: I could not send this message yesterday because I do not have internet in the volunteers house. Now I am sitting on a bench under a big tree at the ISM campus. This morning I ate breakfast in Moshi and walked around there. I also bought a useful phrases book English-Swahili, so hopefully I will be able to say the basics soon.

Dear all,

I am in Tanzania, finally! For a long time I was planning on going to Tanzania, and the moment I booked my tickets I was so extremely happy, but it was still so far away. And suddenly, two weeks ago before I left I realised it was actually going to happen. I am really going to Tanzania.

On Wednesday I took a plane to Kilimanjaro airport and from there I went to Moshi, my home for the next 3 months. Moshi is a town in northern Tanzania, near the Kilimanjaro. I have been here before in 2013, together with my family. We visited Marco and Marieke and their 6 hildren who live and work there. The last couple of days I have been at their house so many times, because they are amazing and it is very cosy (: