In the Land of the Scorpion

After over 4 months of being in Tanzania, I have had the opportunity to experience many different sides of the Tanzanian culture. Adjusting to a new work environment with limited resources has been an interesting opportunity to attune my creative skills. I cannot say it enough for how much respect I have for all the teachers in my family and that I had during my time in school. It’s a different ball game there, but teaching is teaching. You do not know the pains of it until you actually experience it. Every day, I carry my blue bucket of demonstrations to each class. Although I teach everything in English, the students often have trouble understanding what is going on. Throughout their primary education, all their major topics were taught in the national language of Kiswahili. Once moving to Secondary School, the curriculum changes to entirely English. English is the third language for most of these students—after Kibena (the local vernacular tongue) and Kiswahili. Giving them something to look at and associate with what we are talking about has been very effective in bridging the language barrier. I was teaching about solutions, suspensions, and emulsions this week. I had can of American shaving cream that was quite foamy. I squirted a big mound in my hand and was amazed at my students reactions. They have never seen something like this. I think back to when I was in kindergarten, learning to write my letters in it. Its neat exposing the students to little things like this. I am learning something new each day on how to effectively run a classroom. I often times just think back to what worked for all the wonderful teachers I have had in the past. All you teachers out there, suggestions are welcome!

Some of my fellow teachers that travelled to the wedding.
Notice the chicken in a bag.

This past weekend, one of my fellow teachers invited me to his wedding.  I was eager and excited to attend my first wedding in Tanzania. I have come to notice how important weddings are here. Often, when you are invited to someone’s house, the first thing they will show you is the photo album of their wedding, or if you are lucky, you will get to watch the four hour ceremony in whole on video. A wedding constitutes a momentous occasion, just as it does in America. Everyone dresses in their best and people travel from afar to be in attendance.  Prior to the wedding day, our teacher staff was busy making arrangements for the gifts and transport to and from the event. When you attend an event such as this, it is customary that you pay a mchango (a voluntary gift or donation to a particular cause) to the hosting party. This money was then pulled together to purchase a gift, provide transportation for the eight of us that were heading to the wedding. Also, some of the money would be used to help offset the costs of food and other arrangements at the wedding. For this particular event, we each contributed 10,000 TSH.

The teachers arranged private transport to the event, which I was told would be ready to pick us up at 6:30am. I, being the punctual lad that I am, woke up at 5:30am to get myself ready and eat a good breakfast before the journey. I arrived at the school at 6:30 and I was the lone soldier. I mingled with students while they completed their morning chores and at around 7:00am, a few of teachers began to trickle into the school quarters. I asked a fellow teacher where the van was that was going to pick us up, and he said that there was a miscommunication and he forgot to come by. Our transportation did not forget though. He drove by the school with a van full of people that he was taking to town. So it goes here. It was fine though. Tanzanians are very loose with their time and they do not let these little things bother them. I hope this lack of punctuality is something that doesn’t rub off on me too much while I am here… Going with the flow of things is what this whole experience is about.

We began the two-hour journey to the village at around 8:30—all gifts in hand, including a live chicken. I knew Kongoma was remote, but the packed van rolling down the narrow, bumpy, dirt roads heightened my awareness of the depths of rural Africa I was heading into. We arrived in the arid region and were immediately greeted by a scorpion at our feet. The surrounding area differed much from the painted green, rolling hills of Njombe. On our walk from the village center to the church, I ran into some women whom were scooping water out of this hole in a dry riverbed. The quest for water is probably similar to this scene all over Africa and the world. I find myself seeing things like this all the time and each time it makes me realize how lucky we are in America.

The dry riverbed

A view of the village

Lutheran Church where the wedding took place.

The Best Man, The Groom (Mr. Mhanzi), The Bride, & Maid of Honor

We walked to the little church, which seemed to be on one of the higher points of the village.  The bride and groom were just entering the church. We followed them in and I was instructed to sit at the front in a chair nearby the bride and groom. I happily sat in the chair and had a good angle to snap some photos of the couple. (I think they may have strategically put me there). Anyway, during the service there was lots of singing, dancing, ceremonial vows, and signing of the marriage certificates. During the last portion of the service the Pastor started talking about the American sitting up front and how wonderful it was for all us to be gathered together no matter what our race, economic status, or creed. He then asked me to say a few words—in front of everyone. My heart began to pound as I nervously stepped to the front and greeted the group. I was lost for words and told the crowd that I was still learning Kibena and Kiswahili and I was nervous to speak in Swahili so I would say the rest in English and have a teacher translate. I am getting plenty of practice with my Kiswahili public speaking, but was caught quite off guard when asked to speak that day. A fellow volunteer and I were talking and we just need to start assuming that when we are invited to something, we will have to say something. All was well though and the people seemed to appreciate what I said. This was another one of those moments where I had to take a step and back and just realize where I was. It was probably a huge deal to that village that the American traveled out to attend the wedding. It was a great experience and an honor to be invited.

Outside the House

The compost pits

I have been busy working on the a few projects around the house. I just finished digging my holes for my compost pit, which will hopefully yield some good dark soil in the coming year. Next week, I am going to try and make arrangements with our school kitchen to collect some scraps or even start a compost area for the school. I had a really good conversation with the student government members last week about certain things they are interested in doing around the school. One such project that they just completed was a little salon building, where students can get cheap haircuts and part of the money will go to the school.

The fenced in portion of my garden. Check out that
handyman work

In addition to my compost project, I have been busy preparing my garden. I planted my corn this week, and next week I will finish planting some the seeds I have from America. I fenced in portion of my garden to keep the chickens from getting to all my goodies and tastes from home. One thing that I am missing here is the taste of summer sweet corn. Next year, I hope to get some seeds sent my way.  The neighbors are always interested in what I am doing outside. I attract more eyes wearing my classy cowboy hat. It’s one of the more practical items I brought with me.

My little Shamba

In The House

Cooking and boiling my water for the next day takes up a considerable amount of my time in the evenings after school. After finishing my outdoor chores, I fire up my charcoal Jiko and begin boiling my four liters of water for the next day. I have a thermos that holds about 2 liters water. This keeps the water piping hot for my morning bucket bath. I am sure I will slowly wean myself off the hot water, but its one of the little things that is nice to do for myself each day.

Prepping for some chili

PreWhile my water is boiling, I am busy prepping my food for my next creation in the kitchen. I have been learning to cut corners in my cooking by borrowing beans and rice to from school lunch. Each week we have rice once, but beans are in supply every day. These things make good additions to meals like the chili that I made this week. I took some to my neighbors and I was excited that they actually enjoyed it. My rice pudding was not too big of a hit. I have, however, found two things my neighbors enjoy—chips with old bay (french fries) and now chili. They are enjoying the tastes of Maryland. All we are missing is the Natty Boh on this side of the sea.

FInished chili

Some people have been asking about how I clean my clothes. Everything is done by hand here. I set up three basins—one to wash and two to rinse. Once my hands are raw from scrubbing for a couple hours, I hang my clothes out to dry. The real fun comes when I have to iron all my dress clothes with my handy charcoal iron. I am still learning the ins and out of it, but I should be an expert in no time.

One of my least favorite things to do here. My typical Sunday looks like this.

Forgot to take a picture of mine, but this is what it looks like. (Charcoal Iron)

That's all for now!

Siku Njema!

An Eventful Week--Graduation, The President, and a Tornado

Month two at site is fast approaching… Time seems to be moving fast despite my slower pace of life. As the world spins fast around me, I am slowly becoming enveloped in the tiny world of the village that I live in. Things, like my parents flying across the globe to see my brother in Thailand, are impressive feats.  I am beginning to see things from the point of view of my fellow teachers and villagers who may have never even left the region or village for that matter. It really makes me take a step back and realize how fortunate I am to have this humbling experience.

The school where I teach

This past weekend was filled with lots of excitement. Lets trail back to last Friday’s graduation ceremony for our Form 4 students (high school seniors) here at Philip Mangula Secondary School. The week prior to the ceremony was filled with many meetings concerning the ceremony. I didn’t fully understand exactly everything that was going on, but I was able to came out knowing that I was on the entertainment and itinerary committees. For the entertainment, I learned that during one of these meetings I was volunteered to sing a song and give a speech at the ceremony—in Kiswahili. Now, at first I was a little hesitant, but then I said what the heck. I had a teacher help me figure out a better translation of what I wanted to say, rather than sticking to what I was able to whip up. My Swahili is coming along, but still needs a lot of work. I told my students that I speak Kiswahili like a child and need them to help me. Hopefully they will answer my call. So, this little speech I gave congratulated the students on their accomplishments and wished them the best of luck in their future endeavors. I also said that I wanted to share a song that I wrote about where I come from in America. I whipped out the guitar and did my first solo performance. I had a pretty good draw of about 800 people. My solo career is blossoming—though, I don’t think I could do it without the backing of my brothers.

Giving my speech in front of the students and teachers.
"Kamwene--(traditional Bena greeting) Habari za asubuhi wanafunzi, wazazi, walimu wenzangu, na wengi wote waalikwa? Ninafurahi sana kupata nasafi ya kufundisha hapa Philip Mangula Secondari kwa miaka miwili ijayo. Leo napenda kuwa pongeza wanafunzi wetu wanaotuaga na nawatakia mafaniko mema. Pia, ningependa kushirikiana nanyi wimbo moja kuhusu mandhari ya nyumbani kwetu Marekani. Asante sana, nawatakia kazi njema."

Hello and good morning students, parents, fellow teachers and guests of honor. I am happy to have the opportunity to teach here at Philip Mangula Secondary School for the next two years. Today, I would like to congratulate our graduating students on their accomplishments and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. Also, I would like to share with everyone a song I wrote about the environment of my home back in America.

My first solo performance. Dual mic system going on here. 

The parents of the students at the school.

Students receiving their certificates of completion.

After I played my song, the students put on a number of skits, dances, and there was even a fashion show. The fashion show depicted different dress of professional occupations and traditional Tanzanian attire.

Fashion show. Traditional Masai clothing.

During one of the skits, the students created a satire of the classroom in Tanzania. The “teacher” was of course very authoritative with switch in hand and all. It’s a sad reality here, but it was nice to see the students get a chance to poke fun at it. The parents, students, and teachers were all entertained. The ceremony ended with lots of dancing. Everyone seemed supportive of my dance moves. I think they were just happy to see us joining in on the fun. It is easy to shed any shyness here. No matter what I am doing, there are always eyes on me. This is especially true when I am dancing though. The celebration ended with a feast and lots of pictures. I of course pulled out my camera for the first time and captured the day in its entirety. I was happy to capture these moments for the kids. These pictures will be wonderful memories for them and me in the years to come.

The students putting on a dance routine. They did some very acrobatic moves.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures....

After a long day and lots of eating, my site mate in the neighboring village and I hit the hay for some zzzzz’s. The next day’s events were going to be just as exciting. We woke up at around 6am and caught the bus that drives from my village to town. After this 45-minute ride down the bumpy dirt road, we hopped onto another bus that took us to Kipengere. This village is about two hours from town and was where the president of Tanzania would be giving a speech later that morning. We were not about to pass up the chance to see the President, no matter how tired we were. The road on the way to the village was lined with banners of Tanzania’s blue, black, yellow, and green colors. As I looked down on the expanse of land where the President would be speaking, I was in aw at the remoteness and was equally impressed by the land that had been carved by hand in every direction I looked. 

Kipengere--site of Presidential Address. 

Students excited for the President's arrival.

We arrived about an hour and a half before the President arrived. Many of the surrounding school’s students were in attendance, as well as a steady stream of villagers from the surrounding areas. Many of the Tanzanians were excited that we were there. Knowing just a little bit of Swahili earns you so much respect as a foreigner. We mingled with some of the elders and students for a while until one of the event coordinators waved us over to him. At first I did not think that he was signaling at us but then he shimmied his way through the crowd and asked us what villages we were from. We told him our respective sites and that we were teachers with the Peace Corps. He took my hand and led us to the front where he sat us next to the stage as guests of the President. This was super exciting and our view of the event was prime. The soccer field filled up rapidly and local music groups were entertaining the masses with traditional Bena music (drums, whistles, bells). The excitement for President Kikwete’s arrival was building.

Presidential escorts

Along the horizon, I saw caravan of cars that was escorting the President. Before entering the village soccer field, a truck full of men in swat uniforms scattered and surrounded the vehicles entering the field. This was kind of scary at first, but I just reminded myself that this was the President they were escorting. President Kikwete arrived and greeted the excited crowd. I was not in hands reach of the President, but he gave me a friendly smile and wave as I diligently snapped photos of him and his counterparts. The President’s cabinet members and first lady gave speeches prior to the Pres. Kikwete’s address. The President came to Njombe to tour the region, several development projects and to officially open it as a new region in Tanzania. This particular rally seemed to focus primarily on improving the schools and to empower TZ’s students to work hard to become professionals in the sciences, which Tanzania is in great need of. 

The President's arrival.

During the presidents address.

President Jakaya Kikwete

The ceremony wrapped up and we departed the event with the Headmaster of my fellow volunteers school.

At School:

My homemade periodic table

During this week at school, I began teaching the Periodic table to students in my Form 1 classes. I drew up this periodic table and did my village lamination with some clear tape I bought in town. Visual aids like this are lacking in most every subject. There has been so many times that I wish I could just pull up a Google search on the projector and show the students what I am talking about. It’s hard to believe that almost every school/classroom in America is equipped with these learning tools, which we now deem almost essential. Hopefully by the time I am done at my school, I will have a pile of chemistry resources for the school to use. My students will be having their first exam that I made this week as well. I am sure they will all do great!

The little tornado that happened after the
presidential visit.

In the weather:
During the President’s visit to Kipengere, this interesting dust storm came out of nowhere. This little tornado ripped the roofs off a couple houses before it slowly dissipated into the empty cornfield.


In addition to the tornado,  I was impressed by this cloud formation that was blowing over my village. The students laughed at me as I pointed out the cloud formation and tried to explain how cool and interesting its juxtaposition was to the beautiful blue sky that surrounded the mass.  I received a text message from my friend Nikki in the village an hour south of me asking if I was getting the nickel sized hail at my site. No hail at my site though—just a blue sky and this gnarly cloud in the distance. Nikki’s house flooded from the torrential rains that came along with it. All her things were fine and the students were more than willing to help her get her house back into shape. So it goes…

What a crazy cloud formation this was. Notice the blue skies on the right side of the picture.

That’s all for now.

Next post will feature my experience at a Tanzanian wedding that I attended yesterday.

Thanks for reading and check back for more! Keep the letters coming my way!


Philip Mangula S.S.
Attn: Darryl Glotfelty
P.O. Box 699
Njombe
Tanzania

ps. Shout out to my mom and sister for the awesome packages of goodies I received today!

Karibu Njombe!

Week two at site is upon me. I never thought that I would be huddled under two thick blankets and wearing wool socks when I found out that I would be going to Tanzania with the Peace Corps. So it goes here in Njombe…Njombe is located in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. My Dad said there was not that much information about it online so I will throw in a few tid bits of my observations.  From what I see, the economy here seems to be based primarily upon the lumber and tea industry. On the forty-minute drive to my village, there are a couple commercial farms of the aforementioned. With the cooler weather, the prevalence of dairy products is much higher here as well. In town, there is a dairy duka (store) that sells yogurt, milk, and a variety of cheeses. I have yet to take advantage of these things, primarily because lack of refrigeration/electricity poses a few problems. With the stomach issues I have been having here, I need not risk food spoilage on my watch.

Speaking of food, I have been experimenting a little bit in my “kitchen” here. To mix up my diet a little bit, I have been putting a few twists on some foods that I like to eat back home. I’ll share my version of Pad Thai with you. My brother, Elliot, has been volunteering in Thailand for the last 5 months, so this one was made with him in mind. So, anyway…I have spaghetti here, so this serves as my noodles. I do not have any peanuts, but was lucky to have some cashews on hand that a friend gave me before coming to site. Toast these up and they substitute just fine for my purposes. After toasting the cashews, I chop up some onion, carrots, and a little bit of cabbage for crunch. Fry all this together and the dish is almost complete. Next, I add a little bit of oil, along with a couple scoops of peanut butter, one or two tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a couple dashes of soy sauce. Mix it all together and you have something that resembles Pad Thai. Okay, lets be honest, it does not taste that much like it, but it is a nice change from ugali and beans.

Cooking some grub. 

Ugali and beans is the traditional food here. Tanzanians love to eat ugali—lots of it. It is consumed so readily because corn is the staple crop here. Once harvest season comes, the corn is ground into flour. Add some water and heat to the flour and boom—you have ugali. When I first arrived in country, ugali did not sit too well on my taste buds. After living here for almost three months though, I am surprised at how much it is growing on me.  I guess I am slowly becoming more Tanzanian. Nonetheless, I still have yet to escape the cravings for some of my American favorites.

I am lucky that my school provides its teachers with two meals a day during the normal school week. Chai (breakfast) occurs around 10am. I usually munch down on a couple mandazi (fried bread that kind of tastes like a donut) and a couple mugs of hot tea. This is pretty standard for a Tanzanian breakfast. At 3pm, school winds down and lunch is served. This meal consists of ugali, beans, and cooked greens. Once a week, rice is served in place of ugali and on Mondays we get some sort of meat thrown into the mix.

 Lets take a look inside my house:

Outside from the front.

Living room.

Kitchen

Another view of the kitchen.

In the courtyard

Courtyard

Another view

My odd toilet.

After school, I usually go home and tend to some chores around the house. This past week, I got a few students to help me start prepping my plot of land for a garden. Rainy season is approaching  and I want to be prepared to plant. I brought along with me some seeds from America, but I also plan to plant some local crops as well. The students that have been helping me have been having a lot of fun as well.  I showed them my baseball glove and taught them a little bit about the sport.  Along with teaching them baseball, I showed them the intricacies of the hacky sack.  They picked up on both things quite quickly.

The road that I walk down on the way home from school.

First step in prepping my garden--slash the grass.

Some of my students helping me burn the the plot.

Ready for digging.

A view in my banking town--Njombe.

This weekend I am in town for a gathering with other Peace Corps Volunteers. Like I previously mentioned, town is about a forty-minute drive from my village. Every morning, around 7:00am, a bus and a couple vans drive past my school. Our school is a pickup site for these vehicles and it only costs 3,000 TSH (~$2) to take the bus into town.  The dirt roads weave in and out of the hills and pass a number of small villages on the way.

Today, another teacher invited me to visit a recording studio that he records his gospel music at. We went and I was surprised at the setup they had. It was kind of rudimentary, but the sound was very good. They plopped a guitar in my lap, put on a couple tunes, and I played right along. I’m not sure what they thought of my bluesy licks on top of the gospel songs, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. For me, finding a recording studio was one of the biggest surprises yet. I expected I would find a music scene in Dar es Salaam, but never did I think there would be in this part of Tanzania. I am happily surprised and will more than likely be utilizing this studio when my brothers come to visit. The Lake Effect needs to record a track over this way. It will be a nice touch to the next album.

That’s all I have for now. Keep writing me letters and I’ll keep sending them your way as well! Karibu tena!

Day by Day

Sorry it has been awhile since I last updated. A lot has happened in the last couple weeks, so I will try and update you on life here in Tanzania.

Lets back track a couple weeks to my home stay in Korogwe. I remember when I first arrived how nervous and scared I was. I think that it is a fairly common feeling when you arrive in a new situation, especially one that is across the globe. There is so much to discover and become acquainted with. It’s almost like being a kid again. You have to relearn how to wash clothes, cook in traditional ways, set up a mosquito net, and communicate in a new language. The latter was of course the most difficult for me. My simple Swahili sentences and lack of vocabulary made things very difficult at first. My family was so patient with me as I hacked through, learning little by little.  I was always armed with my big smile to keep things light and they helped me through those first hard weeks.  It was not just their help with language, but also their caring demeanor and attitude toward life that was inspiring to me. Life for them is always about living in the moment of the day and to not worry about the troubles that tomorrow might bring. My Mama would sit with me while I drank my chai each morning and we would have simple conversations in Swahili and English. She always told me that everything would be okay and that any problems I faced would be resolved in no time.

My Tanzanian family in Kilole.

I faced a couple challenges in my first couple months. My body had fun adjusting to the heat and new food. I visited the choo (bathroom) on many more occasions than I wanted to. At about week five, I got severe food poisoning and was ill for about a week. I was taken to the hospital by Peace Corps staff, where I stayed in a ward for a night. It was straight out of the movies. There were about 30 beds in the ward, with a range of different patients in each. I was somewhat secluded from the others, but everyone’s eyes were focused in on the one mzungu (westerner) amongst them. This may seem somewhat uncomfortable, but I used it as an opportunity. In Tanzania, everything is about community. My community that day just so happened to be the other patients and their families. At this point I could speak very minimal language, but I greeted my neighbors and told them what was wrong with me. They seemed to understand and said that I was getting good medicine that would fix me up quick. As the night moved on, we chit chatted a little bit more and the Peace Corps staff were in and out, with someone always by my side.  When nightfall came, my mosquito net came down around me.  I wondered why I had a white net and everyone else’s was blue. As if I did not stick out enough, my white net surely drew more eyes to my bed. I realized that PC had put a treated net up around me and the others in the ward were just using what was there. Just another safety precaution. PC has always got my back. The next morning, I awoke, feeling much better and opened my eyes to my Baba and Mama sitting on the bed with my Language Coordinator, Majid. My Baba was wearing his baseball cap that gave me a very nostalgic feeling of being with my Pappy Dale growing up. I felt so thankful for the family I was placed with. During the next week, they slowly nursed me back to health and did not have many more complications after that. Like Mama said, today’s problems will always find a way to be fixed.

The glorious choo at my house. Quite safi compared to most! 

The phenomenal medical and safety team here in PC Tanzania.

When it came time to leave Korogwe, I revisited some of the pains of leaving my home back in America. All the comforts of family and home would be left and I would be on my own. My family hosted a little party for my fellow volunteers in my village and I. The community executive officers and all the families of the 3 other volunteers were in attendance. We ate lots of food and chatted about our time there. We exchanged gifts and reminisced. Our group was the first volunteers that were hosted in this community. I am sure we will never be forgotten, just as we will not forget them. I could tell that would be missed. They will all be missed as well.

The sister's of the volunteers in my village prepping the feast for our party.

My Kaka Charlie and I on my last night in Kilole. I'll be back to visit soon!

Our training class made the six-hour bus journey to Dar, where we would do one more week of seminars and final prep before swearing in.  Our heads of school were in town for some seminars to attend together on how to make our service transition easy and effective. Also, our group prepared a little song that we were going to perform at the ambassador’s house later that week. 

During this week, I missed the first of many of my family’s birthdays. It was sad not to be in Baltimore with my sister as she celebrated her 26^th birthday. I was able to skype her a little bit on that day, which made things nice J. Shout out to Blakely! This will be a challenge, but they all know I am always thinking of them as I send love across the globe!

My best friend Haeli and I anxiously waiting to be sworn in. 

Fast forward a little bit to September 12.  This was the day that we would transition from Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) to Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs).  We arrived at the Peace Crops office and signed all our documentation and then headed over to Ambassador Lenhard’s residence. We would be stepping on American soil for the first time in some 10 weeks—well kind of… The magnitude of what we were about to take on set in.  There were news crews there and lots of important people. A representative from the ministry of education, the US Ambassador to Tanzania, and the Country Director all sat in front of us as we transitioned for PCT to PCV. My favorite part of the event was playing guitar with as part of a trio of musicians with the group singing a song that was a parody of the song “I Want To Be A Billionare” that we called “I Want To Be A Volunteer”. The day was a huge success despite the heat and all the sweating. It was a really nice event to close out training and be with all my fellow trainees who were now some of my new best friends.

Ambassador Lenhard and I after the swearing in ceremony.

Country Director Dr. Elizabeth O'Malley and I. Check out that Maryland pin on her  right shoulder.

Some of my best friends in country after the the swearing in event. (Ben and Conor)

We headed back to the hotel and hung out for the night and awoke at 3AM to board our vans to the bus stand in Dar.  At around 6AM our bus left Dar for the 11-hour journey to my new home of Njombe. The ride was not the most comfortable, but there were many sites to see along the way. We drove through about 50km of National Park, where I was able to see giraffes, zebras, elephants, and gazelles for the first time in the wild. What a surreal experience that was. It inspired me to start whittling. I carved my first giraffe, and I know many are to come after this.

My first whittling project. All those years watching chainsaw carving
at the fair is helping to hone my craft.

The cool air of Njombe welcomed us as we arrived in the early evening. Our trio of Njombe volunteers is staying in town for a couple days to purchase living supplies and some other needs for our homes.  Sunday we depart for our villages to begin the next two years of our lives. Many days of learning, challenges, and accomplishments are ahead of me. I know that if I keep things in perspective and take things day to day, I will be fine. I am equipped to survive and soon thrive here. Each new day brings something new and special, even if it is an obstacle in my way. These are things to learn and grow from.

Thinking of you all back home!

Please write to me at my new address:
Philip Mangula S.S.
Attn: Darryl Glotfelty
P.O. Box 699
Njombe
Tanzania