They Come, They Go, They Leave Behind Pretzels...

Of course, they bring more than pretzels. They bring energy, enthusiasm, and their talents to help out at PHS. Dana and Cindy (Dana is a PHF board member) spent 2 weeks with us, working, eating, and playing. They discovered a big interest in jigsaw puzzles with the students. Dana discovered that his beloved Blackberry works from just about everywhere in Arusha!

Tom and Jeanne were only able to spend a day at PHS where Dr. Tom reviewed health records for our students and made some recommendations for further care. They (actually one of their sons) discovered that an allergy to horses also meant an allergy to donkeys! Fortunately nothing serious, however.

I think everyone discovers that you can eat pretty darn good here. Between Stiggy's and the Hillman BBQ and the PHS lunches, people are well-fed.

We were also fortunate to have Lauren, Grace, and Sarah, 3 student nurses from Gustavus, who spent a week with us organizing health charts and examining every student. A big job for 3 young women who speak no Swahili! Thanks to them things are much better organized, students who need medical care are getting it, and we know that everyone is basically doing well. They are also the PHF volunteer pioneers, being the first ones to spend nights at the site. Remember, we have no toilets (and the latrines have no seats, just a hole cut in the floor), little electricity, and water hauled from a pump in buckets for washing. They were game for a week of roughing it and did great!

Katie and Adam are here for 3 months, primarily working on our library books. We are hoping to have them all catalogued by the end of their time. They will also help out with student activities and with some projects around the site as well. They are also living at the site, and are understanding that "roughing it" could maybe be an understatement? They have the additional factor of being the only non-Tanzanians onsite in the evenings and weekends so there is a culture shock and adaptation as well. We are glad they are here and so grateful for their help.

We want to say THANK YOU to Al who made a generous donation toward the students being able to travel to Ngorongoro Crater on a field trip. The majority of Tanznanians can go their whole lives without seeing the amazing wildlife of their own country, yet they are told constantly about environmental and ecological needs and troubles. By giving them the opportunity to see these sights for themselves, we hope to broaden their horizons and gain a better understanding of the importance of balance between development and conservation.

We are looking forward to another P640 group at the end of the month. They alway come ready to have fun and work hard and we're sure this group is no exception!

Finally, meet Gina. Her husband is Max, who is the estate manager at PHS. Gina is taking over the lead on volunteer coordination and is starting things off with a bang! When you start making your plans to volunteer you'll quickly see why we are so lucky to have her on the team. You can send questions about volunteering to her at gina@peacehousefoundation.org

THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone who is able to share their time and talents at PHS and PHF. You are making a difference!