Sat,13-Jun-26

Safari Day!

   

Fri, 12-Jun-26

Today we went to say goodbye to the sites that we have been working on for the past few days which was very emotional. The best part of the day was getting to see how much progress has been made on the houses since Wednesday. It was also emotional when everyone started to give their speeches too. We also got the chance to go to a market and learn traditional Tanzanian bartering techniques for buying things.

-Ellie

Thurs, 11-Jun-26

We went to the love and hope centre which is a local orphanage that protects young homeless children from sexual assualt. While we were there, we participated in traditional Tanzanian food prep and cooking where we were given the option to try the food. After the cooking we were given time to play and bond with the children playing football, skipping ropes and bubbles.

After the Love and Hope centre we went to a local shop called i-Curio, we were able to spend our money on souvenirs. Finally, for dinner we went to a ceilidh where we saw traditional African dance as well as doing scottish country dancing.

Today showed us how hard the Tanzanian children have it as there were a large number of children at the orphanage showing us how lucky we actually are and opening our eyes to these problems in the world.

Shoutout to the people who were pulled up to dance individually with the traditional Tanzanian dancers during the ceilidh as it required a lot of courage to get up and participate in front of the whole group.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to seeing the houses and getting to see the families and the Fundis one last time before we go on Safari.

-Ruby and Jack

Wed, 10-Jun-26

We went to the worksite and helped the Fundi move buckets of sand and materials for the construction of the family home. During the day we also played with the local children with things like balloons and bubbles. Then we came back to the collage, passing through lovely towns and had a lovely Tanzanian dish for dinner.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to the ceilidh with TAWREF and meeting the people at the Love and Hope centre.

-Amy and Ava

Tues, 09-Jun-26

We spent a full day on site, where we created a chain from the groundworks of the house to piles of materials and passed along bricks and buckets of sand along the chain to the Fundis. We had a speaker so we were able to sing along whilst passing along the materials; this helped us work as a team and move the materials quickly to the Fundis in order for them to build the home for the family.

At the end played with the local kids, for example, we played with bubbles and balloons which the children really enjoyed.

    

Today taught me that we should be grateful for the things we are given through how appreciative the kids were for small toys and sweets.

Shoutout to Harvey for doing most of the heavy lifting.

-Harvey and Abbie

Mon, 08-Jun-26

On this day we had a much needed chill, playing cards and eating snacks. We got to bond as a group by playing just dance! We visited different souvenir shops and bought things for ourselves and our families.

As a group we loved having the opportunity to go around local shops and comparing the differences to our shops at home. In the souvenir shops they didn't have prices for each item, which is different to Scotland so we had to ask the shopkeepers for the prices before we bought anything. We learned to be aware of expenses and if what we were buying was worth what we were paying.

-Zennor and Issy

Sun,07-Jun-26

We started off with an early breakfast at 06:30 followed by a church service at 7:45. The service was very energetic with all the locals full of life and passion. The service lasted 2 hours packed with several upbeat songs. Once that had finished we headed to Chagga caves to see how the Chagga tribe managed to survive conflicts. We got a tour from the locals through the caves then had a lovely lunch and showed the process of how the coffee beans were de shelled, pounded, roasted and grinded up. Whilst being shown the coffee making process the locals got us all clapping and singing along to all their catchy songs.

  

- Ellie and Isla

Sat, 06-Jun-26

Today we visited a primary school where we planted trees to provide shade for the children. We made sure we looked out for eachother due to the high heat, working together to switch positions to ensure we all took breaks. We were also lucky that lots of the children were there too to greet us so we had the chance to play games with them.

       

My favourite part of today was feeling a sense of achievement after planting lots of trees in the high temperatures. In addition, we really enjoyed giving the children sweeties at the end of the day and seeing how happy they were.

Something that really stood out to me was how friendly and welcoming the community are. They all made an effort to come and greet us and it was so appreciated and we felt at home. Another was the such small things like sweeties and a football made the children so excited. It was really heatwarming and it put into perspective that even the little things make such a difference and it felt good to be part of that.

Shoutout to Alex, Cameron, and James who were pretty much constantly working hard to get as many trees planted as possible to support the school.

Tomorrow we are really looking forward to visiting the church which we have heard lots about and how incredible it is. We are also excited to visit the Chagga caves where we will have the opportunity to make our own coffee and also purcahse coffee to take home.

-Neve and Caleigh

Fri, 05-Jun-26

We were at the site for a full day with the Fundis and our work team. We were having a good laugh with the Fundis by singing and dancing; we learned some new Tanzanian songs. We were at our site just outside of Moshi. As a team we cooperated well by helped mix concrete and did chains passing rocks from the base of the site (we passed over 500 bricks!). 

 

We also played with the village children. We gave them bubbles and balloons, and they thoroughly enjoyed playing with them.

Today stood out due to a few reasons including: plaing with the Watoto's(children), seeing how happy they were when we were playing with them, and the quiz that we participated in at nighttime.

Today taught us that teamwork is an important part on a building site and that we need to cooperate to make sure that the job is done successfully. We saw how happy the families were when we gave them gifts which shows us how lucky and priviledged we are back home.

Shoutout  to Mrs Whitley for being good with the Watoto's.

We are most looking forward to singing and dancing with the Watoto's and planting trees at the school tomorrow.

- Emily and Barron

Thurs, 04-Jun-26

We went to visit the TAWREF to meet Dafrosa and her team and get information on the family we will be helping.

After TAWREF we got on the bus and headed to our building site that is next to the house of the family are currently living in. The mother was kind enough to let us see inside her home and the conditions they were living in which was an eye opener.

On the building site we passed rocks down as a team but we had to take a lot of breaks for water because of the heat.

What today taught us was that we are fortunate on where we live and that the builders work very hard in the heat, we should try our best to do the same. When you see people in poverty they are not exaggerating and that's how they really live.

Most looking forward to spending our first full day on the site ad to interact with their children.

-Thea and Poppy

Wed, 03-Jun-26

We visited the marangu waterfall and got to learn about the history and origin of the waterfall. We had to travel a good hour to get to the waterfall which was a rocky and bumpy ride. While there, we faced a challenge of nagivating slippery rocks and paths with steep stairs. But we overcame it by listening to the tour guide and being respectful. We stayed as one unit and looked out for each other.

We took loads of photos to hold onto memories and to share with people.

We also went on a tour of the local market led by Elly Kimaro where we saw all the vibrant and fresh local produce grown from local farms. We showed our teamwork by keeping in formation while walking through the market.

 

"The visit to the waterfall was my favourite part of the day because I got to hear some history and to see an incredible waterfall" – Alex

"My favourite part of the day was socialising when having lunch and talking about the once-in-a-lifetime experience" - James

 

Shoutouts to Elly, Augustino and Erik for taking us through the local market and keeping us all in check.

We are excited and most looking forward to grafting tomorrow!

 - Alex Lambourne & James Moir