Saturday 3rd November Jambo from Moshi! The travelling day for the international Babcock team first started for the three Victoria-based employees, who had an internal Canadian flight to Calgary before a nine hour flight to Amsterdam to meet the rest of the team. The rest of the team from Ottawa and across the UK successfully got to Amsterdam on time, although not without some stress for the nine flying from Bristol - a missed connection looked certain after some technical issues with the aircraft, but we all made it safely! After slowly making it through Kilimanjaro airport, we received a…

Friday 19th October The team arrived at Kilimanjaro International Airport after an enjoyable flight, despite the early start. We practiced 'Jambo Bwana' as we made our way to Umoja Hostel. We enjoyed our first Tanzanian meal of chips, rice and stew before heading to bed for a much needed sleep.   Saturday 20th October On Saturday morning we started with a breakfast of pancakes and egg and then attended our in-country orientation with Louise & Ben to go over cultural points and our health & safety induction. After lunch we made our way to one of the two sites we'll be…

Monday 8th October After arriving at Umoja Hostel not too long before midnight, the volunteers awoke to their first day of their home-building expedition. After an orientation and safety briefing the team left for the TAWREF offices where we were treated to a very warm welcome by all the staff and volunteers at the TAWREF office. They kindly gave us a 'kilo of fire' as encouragement and strength in our work and a very interesting presentation about the work of TAWREF and their collaborations, including Vine Trust. After a couple of choice purchases from the TAWREF gift shop which supports…

The April General Home Building Expedition to Tanzania arrived safely last night (Sunday) in the dark, with all luggage except Fiona's.  'Enjoyed' a bumpy bus ride to Moshi, but lovely waking up to heat this morning (although no power at present). Heading off for breakfast - pancakes and eggs.  All is well, The April General Home-Building Team Sunday 1st April  We started the day with a late breakfast, despite most of us being awoken at 3am by the call to prayer. We spent a lovely afternoon at MCCC (Moshi Children's Christian Centre)  playing football, making loom bands and face painting. It was great to…

Recalling my time aboard Jubilee Hope, it’s primarily memories of the people that I shared those two weeks with that I carry with me. A diverse group of people who warmly welcomed a stranger into their midst, who embodied what it is to truly live and work as an effective team. A team where each member had a clearly defined role yet all willingly chose to pitch in to help and support to achieve that which needed to be done; cleaning, caring, translating, attending to late night emergencies. It was so refreshing and encouraging to work along side those who…

Updated 19th June 2024 Day 3 We played with the children on our worksites and brought bubbles and balloons for the local community. The boys bought footballs for the children at the site, after the one they had taken from Berea popped. We moved so much sand and gravel in the heat, which was more difficult than we thought. After a very well needed dinner we were able to sort through our donations into piles for the two families and a more general pile for the rest of the community.   Day 4 We moved 800 buckets full of sand…