Day #4 - Thursday (15th June) Thursday was one of my favourite days so far! It started off with a late breakfast at 8am - something which was definitely appreciated. We then spent the majority of the day at Fuka, a local school and children's home, where we had the wonderful opportunity to play with what seemed like hundreds of children. We met so many people and got to hear their stories during the short time we had with them. After the games finished, we helped paint the children’s home – "Sarah Hardie House". It felt so good to help with even the smallest of things. That evening we went out for a meal. I…

Monday 12th Monday started with a visit to the headquarters of Tanzania Women Research Foundation (TAWREF), one of Vine Trust's partners in Tanzania, where we were greeted with a welcome song sung by all the staff, before listening to a presentation about their work. We were then able to visit the gift shop, where a couple people made some questionable fashion choices when buying shirts! We then drove to both of our home-building worksites and started digging foundations for the houses. Visiting the sites was an eye-opening experience - witnessing the nature of the extreme poverty faced by these communities left many of us quite emotional. However, we made sure…

Day #1 - Monday On our first day we had a team briefing in the morning, followed by a visit to the office of Tanzania Women Research Foundation (TAWREF), one of Vine Trust’s local partners in Tanzania, for an eye-opening presentation. After purchasing a few gifts for family and friends back home, we went to Moshi Christian Children’s Centre, where we played football and games with the children, using some of the donations we brought to Tanzania with us. It was a good introduction to what we will be doing over the next couple of weeks. - Freddie R and…

Our final day in Tanzania was filled with warm goodbyes. In the morning we visited both home-building sites and were able not only to say our final goodbyes to the families and the fundis, but also to see the incredible progress that had been made in the past few days. The team was astounded by the dedication and hard work of the fundis, and was amazed to see the homes nearing completion. Having visited the sites, the volunteers were able to do some last minute shopping before heading back to Umoja Hostel for a final feedback and reflection session. The team all agreed…

Monday was a productive and emotional last day on our worksites. It has been wonderful to see the houses become homes over the past week or so. The team working on Efata’s site spent the day carrying water and rocks to the site for the fundis, learning new Swahili phrases and even being proposed to! On James’ site, the volunteers supported the fundis as they dug a large hole in the garden to provide soil to complete the floor foundations, enabling the fundis to begin pouring cement for a sturdy finish. Early on Tuesday morning, the T20 team set off on safari! We arrived at Tarangire National Park mid-morning and, within…

Expedition blog from Perth Grammar School, Arran High School and Carluke High School Given that we head off on safari at 6am tomorrow, this may well be the last blog from our expedition before we leave Tanzania on Friday night to return to Scotland on Saturday. Sunday saw most of the group opt to attend an English-language at the church linked to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC), the local hospital in Moshi. KCMC is the second biggest hospital in Tanzania, and a major teaching hospital in this area, so many medical students from across the African continent choose to study here. The 2 hour…