On Sunday I was woken up from a nap by my friend, Yoni, saying, "Do you have an evacuation plan? I'm probably heading out tonight!" Hence the freaking out began. There I was, all moved in and getting excited for the return of my roomie, Aubs, and officially hear that this storm wasn't going to be taken lightly. After many frantic texts and phone calls, Colin decided that my Christmas present this year would be to come see him and wait out the storm. Luckily, flights are always a bit cheaper to the NYC airports and they added more last minute flights, so I was able to get a one-way pretty quick! I had no idea when to return so I didn't book my flight back right then.

 In the mean time, I had an event to go to for the annual "Newcomb Big/Little Sister Pinning Ceremony." It's always a bit hectic, but this year I decided to volunteer as a check in person for a big group of big/little pairs. It was the first day back for freshmen, so they were stressed and excited as it is. Add in a hurricane and a bunch of big sisters having to cancel to prep their houses off campus for high winds and you get ... a lot of little sisters paired with one big sister. It could have gone better, since I didn't really get to chat with my real little sister much, but they managed to pull it off quite well for the circumstances! 

 Packing was a guessing game as I also tried packing up anything on the ground and all of our electronics from midnight to 3 am (when I left for the airport!). I'm really hoping our apartment doesn't have any major damage. It was silly thinking we wouldn't have to worry about hurricane problems since our past three years went by with no signs of major flooding or high winds, but the weather is always there to reconfirm how little power we have in determining what's going to happen in life! And it's times like these when I think of the kids I used to teach in the upper ninth ward, the families with no cars, small, ground level homes, and little money to live off of, let alone to spend on evacuation for a week! I think Tulane is doing a really good job sheltering students and making sure everyone has anything and everything they need, I just hope the same goes for the majority of New Orleans and everywhere else that's been hit. 

I received a notification on my phone today saying classes are officially cancelled along with all activities on campus for Thursday- Saturday. Classes and everything else will resume Tuesday. One week late is much better than the alternative the Katrina classes had to face 7 years ago to the day, making me even that much more thankful for the week off and knowing that this storm hasn't been as disastrous as it could have been! (but it's not over quite yet, so I'm crossing my fingers!)

I've decided I'm getting pretty good at making the most of my time in any place these days! 

I'm so glad I was able to visit with my best girl friends from high school while I was home for about a week. First, Janel got to witness my chipsi mayai cooking practice in the US, which turned out pretty well! I hope all of my friends will eventually enjoy some type of Tanzanian dish out of my cookbook! Along with a terrible movie night featuring "hollow face," Erin hosted a wine night/engagement party where we had eggplant parmesan and each of us brought a bottle to share. I am always happy to get caught up with how everyone is doing and learn about any new things happening in their lives that I usually miss due to being gone all the time. Miss and love you girls! 

It's also become a tradition to try and squeeze in a round of bowling with my A-team bowlers :D Yes- we do have our own shoes and ball, for the 100th time, and you can laugh all you want. It won't change the fact that we can kick your butt on the lanes any day (my attempt at bowling team pride). :) Hoping to get more of my bowling team out next time I'm home for a little reunion!

My mom also had the great idea to go to the Corning Museum of Glass. On her day off, we spent the day at the museum and loved it! There was so much to see and after being there the entire day, we definitely could have spent a few hours wandering around. Half way through our visit, Colin's dad told me that his great great grandfather had donated German enameled glass so we went on a hunt to find it! Turns out, there was a lot of it- not the prettiest of glass, but certainly neat stuff! We also did some sand-blasting to customize our own glass. I chose a bowl for cereal and Donna chose a jar.

Our last day was spent packing furiously, saying goodbyes, and visiting the Nane Nane grounds. GCS set up their main station at Reuben's house, and it proved to be a pretty nice spot to be- full of commotion and other vendors. Mama Glory ended up meeting up with us for lunch so it was a wonderful last minute goodbye! She gave Colin and I key chains so we can remember her in all our travels, which was really sweet of her!  Besides the goodbyes, we picked up last minute gifts for friends and family back home because Nane Nane is just like the county fairs at home! Tons and tons of agricultural products, nonsense blow up toys and stuffed animals, and anything else you can really imagine! 

When I was doing my final packing for Tanzania, I decided I'd bring along some fruit for the long plane rides. Well, it turns out, I wasn't in the mood for eating an apple. It arrived right along with me and ended up sitting in my room after I unpacked everything. After about a week, it hadn't begun rotting in any way so I decided to make an experiment out of it. How long could this apple last without getting smushy or gross? Turns out, all 10 weeks. Should I be concerned that this apple not only hadn't browned in any way, but also showed no signs of aging- no soft spots, completely firm, and was still shiny? Not to mention I had bought the apples about a week and a half before I even left for Tanzania. I've had apples turn bad on me in the fridge after about a week and a half, and here this apple sits, perfect as can be after sitting in a cupboard for over 2 months. I just couldn't believe it!  I am planning to test this state side once I get everything settled in at my apartment :p

I was determined to finally go to the "secret" hot springs that some of the EWH students from last year went to while I was climbing Ol Doinyo Lengai. On Sunday, we headed out to figure out where it was! I had received a few tips from my on the ground coordinator last year, Lora, that the springs were located off the beaten path by N'gombe Village. With my (not so) trusty Swahili skills, we ended up paying a piki piki (motorcycle) driver $4 to lead the way to the springs... which ended up being about an hour and a half drive!! We had no idea how far out it was and it was almost unbelievable when we were suddenly tucked behind big, sweeping trees with pools of beautiful, clear water! The water was a nice temperature for swimming and it even had some tiny little fish that decided our toes were worthy of nibbling on. I kept forgetting that there indeed was quite the current due to all the spring inlets, so my dog paddling techniques were definitely needed haha. Right after we got out, a ton of local kids jumped in. Talk about a nice place to relax when you're home is basically a desert!

After that, we headed to Moshi and spent a wonderful evening eating Italian food and watched the Olympics for the first time! The next day,  Colin and I headed to KCMC to figure out where the blood bank operates in Northern Tanzania. I had already discovered last fall that blood banks in Tanzania are pretty scarce and that the blood donations are even scarcer. Since my thesis is all about separating blood I went to check out their facilities. Luckily, the EWH students working at KCMC (shout out to Juan and Christine!) got us headed in the right direction and we ended up having quite the tour of the facilities! Everything was very professional, and procedures almost exactly the same as you'd find in the U.S. I learned that they consistently have blood shortages, mainly due to the lack of volunteers. People aren't really aware of what blood donations can do for others and some really just fear needles, or finding out their test results. Around 5% of the population in Tanzania are living with HIV, so the fear of being diagnosed with it is a big one, especially because treatment isn't available for the majority. 

All in all, it was a great trip!

Unfortunately with the cookbook project, craziness around the workshop with Nane Nane approaching, and finishing up other random things, we didn't get to go out and test our new addition to the maize sheller. Not the prettiest of solutions, but if GCS is able to test it and see that no jamming occurs with it on, it could solve the problems they've been having and start putting them back on the market. Since the company is so new, I'm hoping some of the things we did and the reports we wrote will become a solid foundation for any future volunteers/engineers that  work there. Overall it was definitely a great learning experience and I hope all of their business model plans and sales rep training proves successful, since that was the company's main focus this summer. 

As for Twende, I was able to help write two grants for Jim and his current project, the animal powered generator. One of the grant applications required a "story" submission on their website HCD connect. Our posting can be found  HERE. Jim will also continue to work with World Vision and Global Service Corps since the project report we submitted about Ngage village was able to create enough interest in the project and  they are now planning on fixing the problem! I hope to stay updated and hopefully see a solution in the near future :D

Finally safari pics! After deciding not to go last year, it was pretty necessary to head out to some of Tanzania's beautiful national parks! We spent two nights at Panaroma Campsite, which had an amazing view of Lake Manyara, and then two days exploring Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire. The crater was a crazy experience, it was basically a bubble of wildlife where the animals have a solid food and water supply year round and Tarangire was filled with elephants and giraffes! It was such a cool experience being in two totally different environments seeing some of the most beautiful animals in the world. 

Since I did a project write up for our village visit, I figured it'd be easiest just to post it in here as well! 

After World Vision and Global Service Corps approached Twende and Global Cycle Solutions’ workshop in Njiro about the noted river problem in Ngage, Colin, Jim, and I inquired further about the problem. A field visit was arranged through Global Vision for July 31st. The following report outlines observations and potential fixes to the problem:

Problem:

The river that provides the surrounding villages with vital resources also prevents them from distributing their produce effectively. Due to the lack of a bridge, large vehicles such as lorries must drive over 140 km of rough dirt roads rather than 40 km if they could simply cross and continue on. On our way back to Arusha, we saw 3 lorries stuck in the large ditches found at various points on the roads. 

The current solution has been in place for over 40 years and has provided a simple, relatively cheap option for small groups of villagers and motorcycle drivers to cross in 5 minutes to reach the other side. There are 2 boats available to cross, one being a dug-out canoe and one being a wider wooden boat. The dug-out canoe is well built, but due to its age, it is beginning to leak requiring water has to be emptied frequently. The wider boat is more unstable and not robust enough to carry large objects such as a motorcycle. The cost to cross the river is 200 shillings and the procedure to cross is perfected by the men steering the boats to handle the strong current at  that point in the river. We approximate the distance to be about 70-75 meters with a depth of up to 2 meters.

Possible Solutions:

The ideal fix for this problem would be to build bridge that is strong enough to hold a lorrie. The bridge would only need to be single lane due to the low traffic seen in this area. This solution would allow all traffic to avoid taking the large detour around the river, and would be especially helpful when large shipments are leaving the farms. This however, would require a team of civil engineers, a lot of material, and possibly government help.

The step below this fix would be to make a wooden bridge about 2 meters in width to allow people to walk across, carts and motorcycles. This would resemble a dock-like construction entirely made out of wood. If this is possible, perhaps farmers could have larger trucks bring their produce to this bridge point and then cross via motorcycle or hand carts with the products they’d like to export.

The simplest solution that was discussed was to create a pontoon raft with a large surface area along with a rope system which stretches across the width of the river. The construction of the craft could make use of local materials including wood, leaves, rope, and plastic or metal drums. This would be a temporary solution but the ability to carry larger loads would benefit the villagers.

Biggest Challenge:

The river’s current is very strong due to the rocks that concentrate the stream flow towards the irrigation system. The boats used now are maneuvered in a way that involves complete 180 degree rotation to avoid being pulled down stream. If built, a raft may witness too much force in the highest current areas and make it too challenging to pull across if the system is set up in the area being used at this time. At a place of slower flow, the raft would be much easier to implement. 

After viewing the river crossing, we continued to explore the surroundings and see how the recent irrigation system that World Vision and World Food Program implemented has brought change to the area. Rather than having to concentrate all of their time and effort in the rainy season, farms are now flourishing with onions and benefiting from crops all year long. The major problem now is the high cost of transportation of produce and the fluctuating price of crops because of this. One farmer was in the process of building more storage units so his onions could be dried and stored properly until there is an increase in demand and price for onions. All of the people we met with were extremely gracious and kind, allowing us to see their fields and answering any questions we had. 

Overall, it was a really fun trip and it was nice to have another day out in the village. Colin tried his first goat meat and everyone was SO welcoming!