Painters Have Arrived

Finally I am able to get some photos uploaded. There are not as many as I would like to include but this is a start.

Below is a photo of me scrubbing Mama's wall. The dark brown/gold color is some unknown substance that we were washing off so the paint would stick.


Below is Mama's room with a coat of primer. Today is Friday and when Gwen and I arrived at the home the painters had already primed Mama's room and were just finishing the primer coat in the bathroom.

Below is the photo of the framing work for the Boys and Girls bathrooms. You can see the toilet tanks hanging on the wall and the squatty potties on the ground.

Below is a better photo of the squatty potty. The white is the primer. I have no clue what the final color will be.

Below is the finished water storage tank. There are many times where city water has no pressure so this storage tank has a float meter that will keep it full so the children will have water even if the city water is off or too low to flow.

We really had hopes that the children would be able to move in by today but earlier in the week we realized that would have to be pushed back until Monday. Now I am not sure what to expect. I feel positive about the progress that has been made, it has been slow for US standards but I strongly feel it has been very quick for Tanzania standards. Since there really is not any physical work Gwen and I can do we are just coasting until the kids get into the home. Anyone who knows me knows coasting is hard for me. We are having a good time walking around Moshi. At this point we have walked a great majority of the central town and we prefer the quiet local streets instead of the tourist areas. Here in Moshi there are young boys who make a living at approaching white people with goods to sell. I say white people because most of them do not approach Gwen until they find out she is American and they they are on her just like they are the rest of us. The local term is flycatcher and most of these boys are 14 to 17. There is one I will buy from before I go home because he goes to the church but I keep thinking about what a hard way that must be to eek out a living. We have befriended one of the flycatchers named Saleem - he followed Jenifer everywhere she went and inquired about her the first day we showed up with out her. He has finally learned that we are not going to buy so now he just greets us. I fully expect he will try again to get us to buy but he has slacked off for now.