First Impressions

5.12.2008 Almost a week in Africa and I'm excited! I was excited from day 1 and I get happier and happier as the days go by. Call me a happy-go-lucky optimist (my husband does), but this place rocks! And our project rocks! It seems like we are in the right place at the right time; everything is falling into our hands, we keep meeting right people wherever we go and that feels good. So very very good! My reason for being here is to 'check the place out' from a family point of view. Emotionally I have always known that it's better if we all move here, but intellectually… well, let's just say that I have moved countries before. I have lived in four different countries so far, and out of those I have moved once with kids. I can tell you it's a totally different story to pack your backpack and wave adios when you have only yourself to consider. With a whole family it's different. We have three kids who will pay the consequences of their parents' whateveritis; idealism? Desire to save the world? And in this neighborhood the price can be very high. There is malaria (it's the biggest killer in Tanzania), typhoid, TB… plenty of nasty diseases any mother would freak out from. And I am afraid. Of course. Who wouldn't be? So I arrived here Monday night, flying to Kilimanjaro airport, which by the way is an international airport. I met the trusted Margot and Sibhon and after a cool beer concked out in a gorgeous little hotel my darling husband had chosen for my first night in Africa. (He promised it would be downhill from there on and he has kept his promise- I'm writing this in Dar in a hotel that has not only fleas but also cockroaches..). Tuesday morning we walked into Moshi, which is a nice little town. Certainly not Europe, not even Middle East but for Africa- great. It has been voted the cleanest town in Africa several times. We then took a taxi to the International School in Moshi, which was one of my biggest tests for the place. And boy did it deliver. The school is absolutely gorgeous. It has it's own campus 10 mins out of centre of Moshi, surrounded by acres of lush, green fields and huge old trees. The headmaster is a lovely man and everything looked so serene, even idyllic. Now I know schools are schools etc but as far as I can see this one has a lot going for it. And I'm not only talking scenery here, or the swimming pool with views to the Kilimanjaro (yes, parents can use it too!), It seems that they have a great attitude towards learning, and a philosophy to 'inspire individuals to be lifelong learners in a global community'. Cool! I saw some of the mums too, and to my relief they looked like sane people. So in my little head the thinking went like this: If these respectable looking people put their children here, and if a number of others send their kids from all over the world to board here, it must be ok. Right? Right. As far as I'm concerned the matter is settled. We're moving. I will not go into the rest of my trip, except to say that I saw the simba and the lucky elephant. I also saw communities in the jungle with no health care and an infant mortality rate of 75%. Seventy five per cent. I saw things that shocked me more than I can ever tell you, people that touched my heart and made me want to start treating them straight away. NOW. God knows we are needed here and with his help, and yours, we can only hope and pray that we can make a difference.