WEECE: LAST DAY AT PLACEMENT

Habari -- Moyo Wambu Una Uma! (My heart hurts!)

Today was my last day at WEECE and it was both joyful and sad. At mid-day the staff of WEECE held a celebratory tea in my honor and we exchanged what we have shared over the last three and a half weeks. They presented me with a certificate for my volunteerism and a skirt they sewed for me in their tailoring class. They also gave me my first konga [which has a special swahili saying something along the lines of "God will watch over me"...and for those of you not familiar with kongas, there is a social side to these wraps...typically, you were the wrap around your waist and there is a saying at the bottom on the back meant to be read by your friends or enemies. It may read something spiritual like the gift I received, or it can communicate to another woman to leave your boyfriend alone...ha! It's a very interesting cultural garment! :-) ] In addition to the tea and other goodies, the girls I teach on the computer performed a going away dance for me. The girls also wrapped my head in a wrap that matches my skirt. I definately had the local fashion going on, but I eventually had to remove the headwrap because my head was a sweat mop!

Relative to my overall WEECE and Tanzania experience, I will be working to capture the first level of insights, observations, and learnings in a follow-on (potentially final) blog. Many things are racing in my head as the trip winds down. I would like to capture at this point in the journey that I have immersed in the concepts and practices of micro-lending while on this trip and feel my life will continue to evolve somehow in this capacity. Not only did I see micro-lending in action at WEECE but I read "Banker to the Poor" and "A Billion Bootstraps" (thank you Maggie!) while here and have a notebook full of other reference items that I want to continue to research when I return to faster internet. I truly see in my heart how micro-lending can change lives -- and I hope I am able to contribute in some fashion along these lines. As a side note, we experienced micro-credit opportunities in many other places in our volunteer work. For example, Kimberly and Erin saw how microlending is assisting families with HIV/AIDS start up small businesses that can be run from or near their homes, and some of our new local friends are working to change their lives through the opportunity of micro-loans. I still have much more to learn on this front, but I continue to be a sponge.

As a final input to today's log, I would like to mention a friend of the "Group of 7" named John. John is for all purposes a street vendor but due to his friendly nature and good english he became a friend of the 7 Mzungus. He has helped us to find good bargains in the market and has helped us to learn more of the local culture. His dreams are to use his good english to build a tour guide business. Yesterday I spent a little time at the internet cafe teaching John some basic computer skills (he wants to learn to type fast where you do not look at your fingers and had heard me speak of teaching the girls at WEECE) and how to do research on the internet. We think John is coming down with Malaria and needs to visit the hospital but as of yesterday he still not made the trip. I will keep John in my prayers for a lifting up in his life. I share a bit of John's story so that maybe you can include him in a special prayer as well.

Tonight we will eat our final meal in the local town of Moshi.

Lala Salama and love to all! Mama A