Tanzania is one of the oldest known continuously inhabited areas on Earth;
fossil remains of humans and pre-human hominids have been found dating back over two million years.
Ahead of us loomed legendary Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest freestanding mountain in Africa, as well as the 4th most prominent mountain in the world. We were told that it is quite rare to see her summit, without a cloud covering.
The country side is quite beautiful.
and we passed acres of coffee....
Our destination this day was to visit The New Band's school and vocational facility in Arusha.
The students sang for us and welcomed us to their school.
We had the opportunity to plant trees.....setting our roots in the rich soil of Africa.
The Secondary School will allow young people to have the opportunity to further their education at a time where there is a great shortage of secondary schools in the country.
The Youth Vocational Training Center will be a place where idle young people can be trained in various skills such as carpentry, home science, sewing, accounting, cooking, computer skills, etc. that will enable youth to be self-supporting.
James took us out to a woman's group that wanted to share their vision.
They have purchased some chickens and pigs and hope to sell eggs and product to earn income to feed their families. As we pulled up to their property, the woman, dressed in Masai costume, began their welcome dance.
The dance is part jumping, rocking, and a lot of flapping of the fantastic beaded collars.
It is energetic and joyous and we were thrilled that they would perform for us.
Such beauty!
Their feathery hopes for their future....
As a group we were able to donate enough funds to enable them to purchase more chickens.
There, in their small yard, in the middle of the vast dry land (the season of rain is just to begin).,
they surprised each of us with gifts of beautiful beaded jewelry that they had made.
We were deeply touched by their generosity.
Imagine.....with so little of their own, they offer gifts to us who had come for a visit.
As we left Arusha, Mt Kilimanjaro smiled upon us and proudly presented us with the gift of her
incredible beauty.
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