Hello from Dar es Salaam. We are passing through Dar on our way to Zanzibar for Xmas and New Year's. After finishing IST (In Service Training) in Dodoma we headed back to Kibakwe with a few of our friends for a little village visit before our Xmas vacation to Zanzibar. Once we got back to the village I started digging the garden in preparation for the rainy season and our dudes, Zizo and Gilbert were totally stoked to start teaching other people in Kibakwe the new farming techniques they learned at IST. Since we were back in Kibakwe for only a week, it was tough to get any type of a permaculture seminar organized before Xmas. We plan to facilitate some permaculture and bio-intensive gardening workshops when we get back to Kibakwe after New Year's. My idea is to have Zizo and Gilbert teach the workshops themselves so that they can feel some ownership for what they're doing for their community. They have a better idea of how and what to teach than non-Tanzanians would anyway. Also, they can continue this work after we leave after two years. All in all, IST was a big success. All of the counterparts of the other PCVs seemed to be really enthusiastic about what was being taught and everybody got along really well. I think that the Tanzanians got a better understanding of Peace Corps and what we're doing here and what's expected of them throughout the course of IST.
I want to wish everyone back home a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year. We'll be thinking of you and missing you.
1 comment:
Merry Christmas, kids! We're thinking of you here as well, believe me. I can't wait to hear about your projects in '08.
It's funny (and frightening) to think about what it would be like for both of you to be plopped back here, in the snow (particularly high this year) and the commercial hype -- watching non-stop news about Christmas shopping, how people aren't buying enough this year, how people are buying everything at the last minute, how this year's sales compare to last year's sales, how online sales are up or down (depending on the report)... You'd get the bends. Seriously. It's worse this year than ever before. You're lucky to miss it.
However, I know Mark and I and your family and other friends miss you terribly.
Take care, be safe and have a lovely holiday in the sun. And keep posting updates. I check in on both your blogs all the time to see what's happening with you on the other side of the world... xo!
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