Area Photos

Corner of Double Road and Chagga Street in Moshi. I called this Dala-Dala corner because the Dala-Dalas (local buses - see the van bottom center) stopped here. This was also where most of the flycatchers would gather to watch for tourists.

Tanzania Coffee Lounge - our main hang out and Internet Cafe. It was too hot for my normal Americano so mostly I would drink Coke Light with the occasional Fanta Orange. Notice the Maasi guard in the bottom left of the photo. He was one of two who were always at the front door.

Two Maasai Warriors - Pappae and Little Ruben on guard at Ngorongoro Crater camp at night. Pappae was the Maasi who guarded our camp at night to chase away the occasional hyena.

Nambe Falls located about 4800 feet up Mount Kilimanjaro. After that hike, Gwen, Jenifer and I decided it would be fair to tell people we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. We could conveniently leave out the part about how high we climbed. Kili is 19,340 feet tall so we only made it about 25% up.


My First Million!!! This is One Million Shillings, only about $900 US, but it looks impressive.

This is Gwen standing on the stairs inside the salve caves. These caves were carved from the coral reef bedrock of Zanzibar Island and used to "store" slaves waiting for a ship shortly after the slave trade was outlawed.

Gwen and Jenifer on Safari

View of Kilimanjaro from my hotel window

This rainbow appeared as we were leaving Ngorongoro for the last time. We all took it as a sign from God saying everything would be OK. This was the perfect way to end a very stressful and emotional trip.

Final Orphanage Photos

Mama Mursale's Room Completed

Completed "Squatty Potty" - yes it is clean. The ugly brown stuff is old grout that was never cleaned off by the tile man. We scrubbed as much off as possible but Chua is going to try to get some solvent to clean it up even better.

This is the boys as they enter for the first time.

Here they are after a shower. They are wearing the new clothes donated by the people at church. Amos is wearing a plaid shirt giving a thumbs up.

Here they are on their beds. Amedeus is the one standing up.

The photos do not show as dramatic a change as I would have hoped but we did the important things like electrical and plumbing. Here is a list of all that was able to be accomplished.

• payment of old water and electrical bills to begin new service
• re-wire entire building and install interior and exterior lights
• re-plumb much of the building
• install exterior water storage tank
• knock out wall to provide interior entry to bathrooms
• install separating wall between boys and girls bathroom
• install two showers, two squatty pottys, and two sinks
• install metal security gate and front door
• close off front windows for privacy
• screen all windows
• build 14 beds with mattresses
• scrub walls in Mama's room
• paint Mama's room and bathrooms
• wash walls in main great room
• clean and paint exterior building to use as living space for security guard
• sweep and mop interior
• sweep exterior

There is a Christian School in Tennessee who is also raising money so hopefully soon they will be able to resurface the main floor and fully paint the interior. Just those two things will make a big difference in the look and feel of the home. The boys don't care that it is dreary looking inside, they are just happy to be there. In fact, they are all excited to know they will be going to school soon. I do not know how long they have been out of school but many of them asked when they would be able to go. Our children in the US do not know how lucky they are to have access to quality education so easily.

I started this blog by calling it a journal of faith in action because it was my faith in Jesus that gave me the desire to make a positive difference for others. I really had hoped to find a "door" to a new life of service. I did not find that door. Oxford dictionary defines faith as "complete trust or confidence and a firm belief especially without logical proof". I have faith that some positive came from this trip - I have faith that The Lord put the money we brought to the best use - I have faith that good lessons were learned by all involved. I also have faith that there is more to come!!!

I have to say one final thank you to everyone who followed our journey!!! Knowing you were out there thinking about us, praying for us, and routing for us made a big difference - especially during those times we were most discouraged. THANK YOU!!

KwaHeri Tanzania

Good Bye Tanzania! Gwen and I have moved up our flight and are leaving Tanzania this evening. We will return to Seattle Sunday afternoon. Upon returning from safari we realized that our work here is done so why stay longer than necessary. The Collazo family will stay until Monday as planed.

We are very ready to come home. This trip has not really gone as planned but that remindes us of how to make God laugh...tell him your plans. God has his own and better plan and we can not always see that right away. The best thing about this trip is that 14 children are living in a home they did not have before. Gwen and I went by the house to say good bye to Mama Mursale and the children - it was difficult saying good bye to these children. They are so well behaved and want more than anything to be hugged and loved. Ruben took some photos of us all. That Amos, the oldest, is smart as a whip - I just wanted to pick him up and put him in the taxi with me. He would do well in the US. God willing we will meet these children again.

We are now in town for one last post from the field, lunch and to say good bye to the "flycatchers" who have become our friends. One of them named Kesh carved some cross necklaces for Gwen and he was at church last week by Gwen's invitation. He had been to other churches in the area that had told him he could not come to church with his dreadlocks so he was wary but we assured him God does not care about his hair. Hopefully he will continue to attend. We have not seen Saleem for a while so we will look for him. Since we moved into town we have really gotten to know some of the local people and it is sad to say good bye.

Once I am back home I will make at least one more post with some photos so you can see the children. I also would like to share some things about Tanzania and their culture. See you all soon and thank you again for all the support!!!