Tuesday, October 9

Greetings from Zanzibar!! What are we doing in Zanzibar you ask? Aren't you supposed to be remodeling an orphanage?? Yes-we are remodeling an orphanage and our intention was to actually do some of the physical labor in order to get more done with the limited amount of funds. But you know that old saying about intentions....we learned that day labors would do the cleaning and painting we intended to do for about $2 per day. This $2 gives someone an honest job that will feed their family - and when I say family I mean not only the wife and kids but the extended family that most likely lives with them also. Two dollars does not buy our Starbucks coffee in the morning. How could we not hire them? This also gives some of the men in the neighborhood a bit of ownership in this orphanage. They will be able to say, "I helped work on that orphanage." And hopefully be there to help when the "mama" needs something. Mama is the lady who will run the orphanage - she will live in the home and be in charge of the children - she will receive free room and board for her services. The lady chosen for this job is now living with the children in the hall so they already know her. Her husband passed away a few weeks ago so this will be just as good for her as it is the children.

Monday we stopped by to see what has been done and the workers had begun making a doorway from the bathrooms into the main home and they began to brick up the old gate in the back courtyard (it was a security hazard). Once the masons are done the plumber and electrician will come - hopefully they will be there by the time we return on Thursday.

Let me tell you a bit about Zanzibar. I am thrilled to be able to return to this magical place. There are many things I was not able to see when I was here in March so I am grateful to be able to have this chance. When we made the decision to use day laborers that left us with more free time than we intended and Phil suggested we make a short trip to Zanzibar. We flew over early this morning and will go back to Moshi tomorrow afternoon. Today we saw the "slave caves" where slave traders kept slaves hidden underground after the slave trade was abolished on Zanzibar in about 1870. We also took a spice tour to see how the many different spices are grown which Zanzibar is known for and ate lunch on the north coast. It poured rain almost all day. None of us have seen this much rain in years. It kept things cool until the rain stopped and the sun came out then the humidity followed. Tomorrow we are going to visit the museum and the sultans palace before we fly back home.