So the summer teams and gappers have left and we take a step back and look at everything around us that was achieved. Tommie, our Tanzania Country Manager needed a couple of days sleep to recuperate, reflect and revamp for what’s next. A big thanks to all that contributed to our projects in Tanzania and as you can read from below, a lot of great work done…thanks for pulling this together Tommie…

Gap on TULEENI ORPHANS HOME

Taking a break from our daily project work, we had the opportunity to visit a local orphanage in Moshi. With all the stereotypes and media coverage of orphans we see back home, particularly orphans within Africa, we weren’t sure what to expect. However, when we arrived (after a very bumpy and cosy trip in a Daladala), we were overwhelmed by the friendly welcome we received from the children.

After meeting the children, we took part in a number of games and were shown the cramped living conditions.  This involved seeing rooms with up to 10 bunk beds and on average 3 children per bed, which was an eye opening experience. Despite the language barrier, the children were all eager to interact with us and very enthusiastic.  While the younger children were keen for more active games, the older girls were happy to chat and get to know us a bit more – even practice some English or teach us some Swahili!

After the initial introduction to the children, the administrator of the orphanage, Mama Faraji, was kind enough to talk to us about the orphanage and its history. This particular Children’s Home was started in 2006 with 18 children, which has increased to around 50 children being under her care with many children having to be turned away everyday. We learned that she started the orphanage because she was an orphan as a child herself (although was fortunate enough to live with her grandparents).  This made her want to help children who are not as lucky as she was, even though she must fund this herself while also relying on donations.

Some of the kids at Camp before going to Moshi FM for the program

Before we left, we were invited to join hands in a circle, sing songs and dance with the children followed by a variety of ball games. On our journey home we reflected on our experience and agreed that what the lady was doing was inspirational and admirable as well as finding the whole experience affecting and enjoyable. It made us want to support the orphanage during our stay here. This was made possible by an idea put forward by camps staff with whom they suggested to purchase food stuff among other bits and bobs. There is so much more that these poor souls need apart from just food. These kids need medication, School uniforms and other basic needs. Having said that it does not necessarily have to always be monetary. Showing them love and affection, helping them live just like any other child means a lot than a million Dollar donation. Hence we arranged for them to come out of the orphanage and participate in a weekend Live radio show at Moshi FM.  We wanted the kids to live just like any other kid around even if it was for a few hours. We each made a donation which enabled this idea to become reality.

Listening to the kids singing and answering riddles and story telling live on Radio was awesome. The kids were also happy to hear themselves over the Radio and narrating how life was before finding a home at the orphanage and how they aspire to be Teachers and Doctors of this country. It was an emotional afternoon and made a few of us shed a few tears. Seeing the children have the opportunity to become more involved in the local community and enjoy a new experience was rewarding for all volunteers involved…

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This summer Camp Tanzania also hosted 160 students from various schools in the UK. They came out with one objective and one aim only: to make a difference. It is going to be an understatement if we said they met their targets. They surpassed them to be honest…

In Moshi: Mbokomu School – the pupils and the institution are in dire need of a sports/playing field. Currently, they are using a plot full of ridges and holes caused by erosion. This prompted us to “kill two birds with one stone”. Deal with the erosion problem by sorting out landscaping and create a playing field for the students.

Kingdown Team was busy plastering one of the class rooms at Msaranga School and teaching English. The target of this particular project was met 100%

At Mnazi School there were a number of projects: plastering Teachers quarters, constructing a water tank and cementing both a floor and veranda of one of the classes. Rydens College and Kings Langley were involved with these projects.

Ndarakwai Wildlife Sanctuary: The Teams were involved in wildlife conservation related projects including conducting a wildlife census, nature walks and wildlife identification, habitat restoration and ranch maintenance. The students expanded an already existing watering hole for the wildlife to drink water from. They also dug furrows that feed the watering hole from the thawed glacier of Mt. Kilimanjaro. And of course, a Camps wildlife expedition would not be complete without making paper from Elephant pooh!

Nothing satisfying and worth the students time than seeing a herd of Zebras quenching their thirst just after project!

The teams also had an opportunity to work at a local School called Ol molog Vet. Most of the pupils here are from the Masai tribe. Here the teams were involved in Painting the inside of 4 class rooms and their window frames and doors. They also painted 2 staff quarters. They started on a trench/foundation of the Schools’ kitchen and made 360 Bricks which will later be used for the kitchen construction.

The headteacher on Ground breaking day!

In Meru: All mountain expedition Teams go through this location. The projects here ranged from establishing a vegetable garden for the school, constructing a kitchen to learning the whole process of coffee making, helping the mamas with their daily chores of tending to their cattle and preparing their little shambas for planting maize and beans.

Based right in the village, it gave our teams the first hand experience of living life the African way. The camp setup is right on a farmer’s plot of land where they camped amongst the goats, chickens and cows. And if you need to wash your clothes follow the singing mamas down to the local stream. It was lovely to see our clients interacting so well with the community going to church service with them, playing ball games with the local teams…

Students helping mamas with daily chores..

Camp Tanga: Our latest treasure…Many had thought that it was more of rest and recreation spot than a working camp but that would not be very Camps… Projects as usual and goals to achieve. There was a Boat to be built, Seaweed mama’s to be helped and a classroom to be constructed.

A great summer all around. Kwaheri na karibu tena!

Now that all the Teams are here with us, Tommie, our Tanzania Country Manager thought he should give you an insight as to what’s going down with the Team Expeditions…

Camp Tanga:

Did I hear someone say, Diani Beach in Kenya? Nope…this is this is our new ocean location in Tanga. Pretty amazing hah?

Tanga is a small coastal town located 70 km south of the Kenyan border.  The camp is situated in Mwambani village, which is 6 km south of Tanga town.  Our core projects revolve around village life and learning how villagers sustain themselves with ocean related activities such as fishing, seaweed farming and boat building.  It is a special place because the village is situated in a coelocanth marine park.  Our projects  focus on finding a balance to protect and utilize the environment to improve life.  There are two primary schools within walking distance and a secondary school whose expansion where expansion is well underway with Goldaming and Francis Bacon being the first lot to get cracking on the walls (albeit with some teething problems – buy hey, who said building is a breeze?)

Whilst we all love that turquoise ocean, we would not be Camps International without finding ourselves a tall tree in the open savannah to place some tents under and be part and parcel of the wildlife splendors of East Africa…

So welcome to Camp Miti Mrefu – simply translated as “Tall trees.”

And as basic as it may seem, we still have plenty of ground rules (only because we know and respect that this bit of land really belongs to the wildlife)

Conservation and Protection of natural habitats and biodiversity is fundamental to Camps International. In our part of the world where the majority of the population live on less than a dollar a day, it is never as simple as simply saying, “Do Not Poach Wildlife” or “Do not cut indigenous trees” when you have children to feed, school fees to pay, and the drought has destroyed what little crops that have not been eaten by the elephants.

Ndarakwai Ranch where our camp is based has been hit by “poaching for meat” problem for quite some time now. Enforcement through ranger patrols is critical but but equally important is giving the surrounding communities access to basic resources. And that is why camps/ndarakwai are constructing a kitchen for the Ol molog vet School. We have also pledged to provide food rations for the school. This way, the school going kids are at least guaranteed a meal a day as opposed to going hungry and prompting them to hunt for game meat. We have also decided to improve on the infrastructure of the school by painting the classrooms in which the pupils would be learning about conservation amongst other subjects in.

We are not naive and we know that this will take time and resources but you have to start somewhere

“In a nutshell, this is what you’ve signed up for”. My words to Kingdown School.

Meanwhile, what better way to experience Africa than to live in a rural setting where the majority of the population lives especially when it is on the slopes of one of Africa’s highest mountains? This is what Camp Meru is all about. The camp is situated right in some mzee’s (Swhali for elderly man) backyard. The Teams live the African way and go about doing their daily chores the same way the locals go about their business. Tending to cattle, harvesting coffee and learning the whole “shebang” until coffee is put on the table. The students even get to do their washing down at the stream…

On top of it all, this is where the Mt. Meru trek either starts or finishes

And on the slopes of Africa’s highest mountain is our  “mother camp”. This is CT’s main operational point. We use this camp as a point of luxury (well, not quite jacuzzi and steam baths but you get the idea). After having it rough in the other camps situated in Kilimanjaro area, you come to Camp Mbokomu for a running shower but that does not mean there ‘s a whole lot of work going on!

And a whole lot of play too especially when Elphas, our resident drag queen is in da camp!

Tommie, our Tanzania Operations Manager has just sent in a great post on the opening of a new kitchen built by our gappers in Tanzania. Congrats to all!

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the fruits of your labor come to pass. It has always been our ethos to make sure that any project we start we see it off to its completion.

The Fumvuhu School Kitchen construction started from scratch. Making of bricks was the first job the volunteers had to do before embarking on digging the foundation and the construction of the main kitchen block.

The beauty of this project and its progress is that the Kidia community worked hand in hand with our volunteers. The locals got their hands dirty just as much as the ever working hard gap students. It is always pleasing to see parents, local pupils, teachers and local authority joining in helping a common goal.

Last week saw the volunteers rushing against time and putting on final touches on the Kitchen.

Why the rush?

The plan was to finish all pending work and hand over the Kitchen to Fumvuhu School. The targets were realized and we were not going to just hand over the keys and say “Here is your Kitchen, we’ve done our bit”. A proper handing over party was on the cards with the area local authority (Councilor), parents/Teachers board and the Camp Tanzania project coordinator and staff were present to grace the occasion.

You should have been there to see how appreciative the School and the community at large were. The group of volunteers, who were involved in seeing the construction come to its completion, was received with songs and dance.

Speeches, vote of thanks from the local authority, parents, Teachers, pupils and volunteers and the actual handing over of the Kitchen marked the end of the party.

Jackson (our Projects main man and area councilor-doing us the honors of cutting the tape to symbolize the official opening of the Kitchen).

From the camps Team and on behalf of Kidia community we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the gapers who were involved in this project.

Wanna be part of camps next Kidia project?….coming up, Furniture for Fumvuhu!