On Monday we continued at Rau Primary School with me and Harry working on the toilet again. Sadly despite hiring a better builder and pulling out al of the stops we didn’t complete the toilet block this week. All of the walls are currently five foot high and it will be completely by the next group in April – which is good to know! Despite not finishing it, I’m pleased with what we did and know that some proper toilets will make a difference.

Sabrina practices some new sign language!

Sabrina practices some new sign language!

We then spent the rest of the week at a government deaf school, which was an AMAZING experience. We learnt the Tanzanian sign language alphabet as well as greetings and spent time with the children, signing away like semi pros! We spent Wednesday planting 60 trees in the courtyard around the school, to improve the environment for the the children but also to teach them about conservation issues. We returned on Thursday for another lesson of sign language. It was so disheartening to hear that the vast majority of the kids at the school are there purely as a result of getting an ear infection which wasn’t treated. This is a great country and there’s clear signs everywhere that its developing but I still feel for people here who lack basic medical care which we would take for granted. However it was great seeing the energy which was put into teaching the kids and makes me believe there’s a real future for people here!

Five members of the group were leaving over the weekend because they’re only signed up for 6 weeks, so we had Friday off as they had officially finished. Two of the group, Olly and Clem left to climb Kilimanjaro, whilst some of the others returned to Arusha for a night out there and end on a high. I had a relaxing day on Friday and packed my bags ready for our trip to Dar Es Salaam early on Sunday, I needed to pack on Friday as I’d decided to go on a cultural tourism trip the next day and had to leave really early on Saturday. However, I was struck down by ‘Africa time’ the next day, after I left the house at 6 o’clock in the morning expecting to get the bus at 7 it didn’t actually leave till 8:30! Welcome to Tanzania : )

Mkomazi National Park, just east of the Pare Mountains

Mkomazi National Park, just east of the Pare Mountains

The trip more than made up for it however, my destination was Usangi which was two and a half hours away. Once there I did about four hours hiking with some great views over the Pare Mountains, I was also able to view across Lake Jipe into Kenya- which was stunning. I stayed in accommodation above the school in the village, which was an experience. Sadly I didn’t get a lie in on Sunday as I had to get a bus at 6 o’clock so that I could meet up with the rest of the group on the way to Dar. Ready for the next adventure!