Kisha at school

Sunday, January 26


Sunrise over Moshi ~


We were up early listening to the beautiful, lively music coming from the Lutheran church behind our hotel and spotted the magnificent sunrise ~















And a great day for the mountain as well ~





This turned out to be quite an eventful day!
First the beautiful sunrise and then we were going to see Kisha at school.
We would be taking a bus from the busy bus station right around the corner from our hotel so Mama Elitha said she would come here at noon.
Now, every year Dana tells us stories of events like this and it is hard to believe but now we have experienced it first hand ~
So, at noon we thought we should wait on the street in front of our hotel just in case mama Elitha wasn't sure where our hotel was ~ we waited and waited. Dana tried to phone her but she couldn't get through. Finally mama called Dana at 1:00 and said she was on her way. So we went back inside the hotel area and waited in the shade until we figured it was time she should be there. We went back outside and waited some more. FINALLY at 2:30 they arrived ~ two and a half hours late and no big deal.
~ TIA ~
I will say that some of the problem is the language ~ neither side can be sure they've delivered the message correctly however no one seems to care much about time here. When Dana orders a cab she has to say ~ mzungu time ~ white people time ~ ha.
The bus was another whole experience ~ it was like a large dala dala. We got on ~ took seats ~ plenty of room ~ no problem! I sat next to the window and John sat in the isle seat however there was a sort of portable seat next to John ~ it folded up and down. After people filled the rows behind us that seat would be pulled up ~ filling the isle ~ for someone to sit on. We figured on the one person eventually sitting there ~ we just didn't figure on the three people that actually sat there. Ha! We were smashed against the window. When we started moving the wind was blowing through the window so much that I couldn't keep my eyes open but I couldn't close the window either because it was sooo hot ~ I just closed my eyes for half of the one hour trip. Every time you ride one of these buses they have to stop for gas because they have to wait until they collect cash from the passengers to buy the gas! (It only costs about $1.25 to ride the bus). This place is really amazing!

Here we are smiling with plenty of room ~ Elizabeth and mama Elitha in front of us ~




We got off the bus in the middle of no where ~ walked up this dirt road ~
We have seen several schools in our travels so we didn't really know what to expect ~ bad or worse ~



Vunjo Secondary school ~


We were extremely surprised when we entered the grounds of Kisha's school. It was really lovely, peaceful and quiet.


The administration area ~









And Kisha spotting Dana ~



Last Sunday we did find out Kisha's birthday is October 1st and she turned 14 yrs old.


She seems happy at school and introduced us to some of her friends ~





Church was just letting out so we saw all of the kids coming out ~ heading back to their dorm areas. There are boys and girls at this school all wearing different color t-shirts ~ red for form I ~ blue - form II ~ green- form III ~
purple - form IV and yellow- advanced. The "form" is the grade level and there are multiple ages in each form because some children don't continuously go to school if they don't have the money.



Mama Elitha and Elizabeth and Kisha insist on carrying our backpack out of respect for our old age ~



~ so John carried Elizabeth's



Mama and Kisha ~



Kisha and Elizabeth ~



Kisha, Dana, Elizabeth ~



John, Kisha, Lynn ~


A classroom ~




Boys dorm area ~ laundry day ~





Classrooms ~



Church on the right ~






So Dana carried mama's purse ~



New eating/ testing hall expected to be completed by April ~





The school store ~










Sign on the administrator's door ~



Time to say good bye ~



Kisha's cousin also attends this school ~ (on the left)





Kisha's English/Swahili teacher ~


It was a great visit ~



We road the bus back to town ~ another eventful experience and brought mama and Elizabeth back to the hotel for something to eat. They laughed and said they were no longer in Africa ~ too many mzungu (white people)





Another great day!