King'ori, Tanzania 2014

On my first morning in Tanzania I was woken by the sound of talking and laughing from my colleagues, many of whom I would be meeting for the first time face to face. This was our first morning of facilitator workshops in King’ori for teachers from Leguruki and Ngarenynuki Wards in Tanzania. As I lay in bed I thought about my previous evening arriving at Kilimanjaro Airport at 1:30am. I was welcomed back to Tanzania by the customs agent then I began waiting for my luggage and was thrilled when both bags appeared on the carousel. I left the airport and began to look for the driver I was expecting and did not find him so I began talking to a taxi driver who offered to call my driver. No answer from the driver but then I had a young man ask if I was Kim Brown. He explained that his name was Frank and he was a Master’s student from Dodoma, Tanzania and was on his way to King’ori to meet the EBB team for teacher facilitation. Frank had been travelling for many hours through bus break downs and met me at the airport so that we could travel together to Rafiki House our accommodation in King’ori. After phone calls with Noble and negotiating with the taxi driver we were on our way to the guest house. It wasn’t as straight forward as it sounds. We drove down the highway for a small time before we turned off onto a dirt road to King’ori which is ten kilometers away from the turn. The road was rocky and bumpy which probably didn’t make our driver, Steven, happy to be taking his car down this rough road. At 3:00am in the morning we also weren’t exactly sure where Rafiki House was so we kept slowly down to read signs as Frank was texting with Noble for directions. Finally we saw Noble’s flashlight at the side of the road at the gate to the property.

My first glance of Rafiki Guest House made me smile and when I walked indoors my smile spread. There was a large living space with comfortable chairs, a dining area and the bedroom areas. I was shown to my room and was excited to see a real bed then I found the showers and indoor toilets! How wonderful to have power and running water. On my previous two trips to Leguruki ward there was neither and now I was staying in luxury.

Now it is past noon and we’re part way through our first day of facilitator workshops with 22 teachers from Leguruki and Ngarenynuki wards. We’ve had a chai break and as usual Momma serving tea didn’t think I was eating enough because I didn’t take any bread. She gave me three hardboiled eggs instead of one to tide me over until lunch.
So far my eyes are staying open, my body is only a bit weary and I’m enjoying my first day back in Tanzania with Education Beyond Borders.