Week 3 in Arusha

Monday morning we made the 2 and a half hour journey to hot springs which was well and truly worth every back breaking bump on the road! The spring was beautiful, it just appeared out of the miles of open dusty plains... an amazing discovery. We spent 4 hours here enjoying the hot crystal clear water. There was also a rope swing which was great fun! Our taxi driver, john, had the time of his life too, spending the whole day with us! 

Whilst here, in the middle of nowhere, the village owners kindly decided to make us food. They made us chips myeye which is a chip omelette (very popular here), however as we are SO fussy we just had good old plain home made chips. Definitely the best day so far!

As if the week couldn't get any better.... 

On Wednesday after placement the same 5 of us who had been to hot springs earlier in the week ( the best group ever ;) ) planned a coffee tour. We had a 3 kilometre walk through a beautiful green forest filled with so many banana trees and coffee plants! 

We were taken along the rough terraine by Noel who made the tour extremely enjoyable. He took us to his house high up in the forest which was peaceful, beautiful and secluded from the rush of busy Arusha Town. His family had prepared us the most amazing feast for our lunch, it could have easily fed 10 or 20 mouths.

Noel then involved each of us in the process of making coffee which surprisingly has many steps unlike the instant rubbish back home. The coffee was amazing when finally ready... Everything does taste so much better when you put a little effort in! 

To round off the tour, he let us enter his garden and taste his sickly sweet sugar cane...

We must thank Noel and his family for the fab day which we recommend if you are ever in Arusha!

This week on placement was definitely an eventful one. One of our supervisors was involved in a motorcycle accident and split her head open, such a shame as she is a really nice lady! All bad things happen to good people but we cheered her up with a card and a bracelet as a present which she was really appreciative of. The hospital itself was busy this week as there were a few accidents on the road. One involving a bus crash and a 7 month old baby losing a limb. The staff could not operate immediately on the infant as there was a powercut in the theatre department so the baby was simply left on the table. Incidents like these are difficult to hear about never mind actually viewing them.

The rest of the week on placement picked up though. The clinic was busy and we managed to communicate with more patients using English and gradually more Swahili! 

Wednesday night was intended to be a quiet one... Some wifi at Players and then to bed. However somehow, ended up going out for some drinks at a place called Mango Tree! A tad more lively than Players. Turned out a fantastic night with Angie getting best dressed and winning a bottle of wine! Great night, always the best when they are unplanned! 

Friday morning we went to Njiro to spend our fundraising money and spoil the children of Neema house. We spent lots of money in the supermarket and toy shop, what a nightmare trying to kart things around!

The locals were kind enough to help out two poor Mzungo (white) girls. We could barely fit in the taxi, as you will see below haha

Our shopping spree resulted in; 

A baby walker

A spongebob car 

Giant building blocks

A bouncy hopper

A baby fruit go kart

Balls

A drum set

An elephant game 

Bubbles 

6 Bottle Steriliser 

Formula

Food pots

Baby cups

Bottles

Nappies

Rattles

Talcum powder

& baby wipes

The excitement on the children's faces was unreal as we pulled up to Neema House.

It is very touching and emotional seeing how happy the children are here. Neema House is an amazing establishment with very caring owners and workers, all who want the best for the children living here. Without this baby home we would hate to imagine what would happen to all the beautiful babies who call this their home.

 

The Texan owners kindly took in a pregnant woman who's husband threatened to kill her if she had her baby due to certain village beliefs. We are delighted to say she had her baby 5 days ago, weighing just 4lbs. Both mother and baby are doing well.

We spent the rest of the day here playing with the children and their new toys!

We all had so much fun! We can't thank everyone enough for your kind donations which have enabled us to bring joy to all those little kids.

On Saturday afternoon we went to a bespoke painting class, which was so much fun. Simba and Felix, two very talented arists, were brilliant and helped us learn the process of making a piece of bespoke art.

This entailed a lot of wax and painting... Messy work!

All in it took us about 4 hours to complete our masterpieces!

It is great having something meaningful fom our trip that we have made ourselves and put so much effort in! Such a fun day! We also had the opportunity to buy some of the artists fantastic work... It was so hard to choose the had so much amazing work! 

Definitely want to go back and try our hands at some other types of art work! 

To top the day off we went out to dinner at Blue Heron with Aman, Kavita and Sarus ( the best group!) for our last meal together in Arusha... Really going to miss these guys :(. 

Hope you enjoy reading our progress, we have has an amazing week!

Angie & Chloe