Rombo ---> Sanya Juu

After a few very intense days in Rombo, at Kiraeni School, we have stopped in Moshi on our way back to Sanya Juu. Kiraeni was pretty tough. It's a pretty remote area, and the poverty is intense. We spent the time there distributing scholarship funds that THE Mission had collected over the past year. Every school we went to thanked us, and quickly told us of SEVERAL kids that were also in severe need. The poverty here is different from anything I could have imagined. There are no welfare checks, no SSI. People live in tiny mud huts, and cook the little food they have inside their homes over a fire. Most do not go to school because every school costs money. There are no free public schools, so most children start working from the time they can walk. I could describe the poverty on and on, but basically, it's intense, and has really touched my heart. I met a couple of children that were orphaned by HIV, which was a little more than I could bear. I've shed several tears here in Africa, but I'm with a great group of very supportive people. This is the experience I came for, a deep change in my perspective. I'm not sure where this experience will take me, but I find myself thinking all the time about how I can continue to help, and if this is what I want to spend my life doing. Who knows. The accommodations were very tough for us in Rombo as well, the tiny bed that my head hung off one and and my feet hung off the other, covered by a suffocating mosquito net, with bugs buzzing around all night long. The heat is relentless, and the rooms were tiny, and shared. The food portions were small as well - one omelette in the morning for the four of us! And a shower that was either ice cold, or scalding hot! But, I keep reminding myself, it's nothing compared to what these people are living in everyday. My favorite part so far is the spirit of the people. Unlike many other places in the world, the people here are always smiling, so kind, and VERY welcoming, despite their poverty. I'm exhausted, so that's my report for today. Thanks all for reading, and as I stated before, I'm keeping a more accurate handwritten journal of my day to day movements, thoughts, and feelings, and would be glad to share it with anyone when I return. It's a different world over here....