I am sitting in a local cafe working on the computer, listening to Christmas music, pondering the count down until Dec 25th, and sweating from the warm air a fan insists on assaulting me with. It's the first day of winter! Formal work at V4Y closed down last week until January, so I have enjoyed relaxing …
Author: indyrey
“Nothing about us without us is for us..
Youth are the solution not the problem!" This slogan sat proudly on the backs of each kid and drew my thoughts for much of the youth camp. A strong call for youth to be active agents for change within their country and communities, and a reciprocal call for the society to intentionally involve youth societal change, planning, and …
Wired for connection..
"How does it feel to have internet access at your house? Handy? Too distracting? A nice balance?" - Jessie My goal for this trip was to write a blog post a week. I wanted to keep people updated without writing gobs of emails, and I wanted to spend intentional time on my writing. I had …
From point A to point B..
Daladalas are everywhere and they're cheep. But each mode of transport here has its pros and cons: For 5x the price of a daladala I can get to the town center on a bodaboda (paid motorcycle) in 1/3rd the time, with 10x the fun, 1/4th the walking, 5x the exhaust/dust, 1/7th the swetty discomfort, 4.5x …
Who is your president?
That question was raised by one of my students. I answered it: "My president is Barack Obama and my president will be Donald Trump starting in January." "How aware are people in Tanzania of the recent US election? Either locals or the international volunteers you're living with." - Seth Thanks for the question. I suppose …
To travel..
This week Johanna and I have journeyed to the coast with Vanja as she concludes her time in Tanzania and we travel after completing the semester at school. Starting in Arusha on Tuesday we drove east with a van full of friends to a beautiful desert oasis that the locals call the Hot Springs. They …
The Zone of Comfort..
Happy post Thanksgiving everyone! I had a delightfully traditional Thanksgiving. After a brief celebration of my housemate Kamal's graduation from an electrical school I joined Laura and Tarik for a deliciously American Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner was mostly prepared by the very funny and very hospitable Noah and Tricia Kaye who are EMM Missionaries new …
Ask me a Question?
I am a huge fan of questions. But I'm not going to dive into that now. I have inflicted my students with my love of questions by insisting every one of them jot down a questions on a scrap of paper to me every Monday (so only twice now...). I figured kids ages 9-13 would …
Getting schooled..
The Arusha Integrated Primary School is gracious enough to give me 40 minuets six times a week to teach their kids hygiene and first aid. I've taken the liberty to translate that class title to "Health Class." Health topics like hygiene, first aid, diseases, or body systems are covered under their Science Class. So my Health …
When you drink water, remember the spring..
...a Chinese proverb according to the internet. And a heady reminder that the water we rely on has to come from somewhere. Clean drinking water is a global issue even surfacing as a problem close to home in America. Flint, MI and our country's aging pipe infrastructure, the struggle (or battle...) at Standing Rock, ND …
Continue reading When you drink water, remember the spring..
Rays of Cobalt Blue 