Unwanted Goodbyes

My time in Tanga has come to an very unwanted end. I have barely had enough time to appreciate all that Tanzania has to offer, but I have very much enjoyed getting to work with the 4H Tanzania organization and getting to know the people who are changing the lives of thousands of youth. I will greatly miss my 4-H family. I have had the chance to work with the best co-workers for the past six weeks and I want to give you a little overview of my relationships with some of my co-workers.

Joseph and I always had a great time together. Every time I saw him, he took the opportunity to give me advise about the ladies. From the beginning, Joseph has tried hooking me up with any single female we met...and a few married ones as well. He wants to see me take home an African woman...or two or three. When I told him we are not allowed to have more than one wife in America he said, "well, this is Africa, so it's okay." It did not matter what we were doing or who we were around-it was always a good time for lady advice. He would even take the time to give me advice during meetings. I will very much miss Joseph's oh so helpful advise on the ladies as well as his somewhat inappropriate, yet hilarious comments.

I did not have the opportunity to work with Alice very often during the working day, but I did get to know her during tea time and lunch time as well as the random times I went to go speak with her. I made it an everyday habit to make Alice laugh. Whether I had to sing her a song or dance in her office, I wouldn't let her leave for the day unless she laughed. I am going to miss shouting at Alice from across the yard and busting into song and dance just to make her laugh.


Eliza was a tremendous help to me during my time at the camp. She was the office assistant and was always there to take care of me. The first day I met Eliza, she told me that she wanted me to teach her English and I told her she could help me learn Swahili, so I taught her how to speak English slang. I taught Eliza how to say "what up" the thug way with the slight head nod. So, every morning when she came to greet me, we exchanged "what ups" with one another. I also taught her how to say "peace out" when she left, so she always went around saying "what up" and "peace out" to everyone. It was pretty entertaining and always put a smile on my face. She is a widowed mother and I will miss her caring and loving character.

Of my Tanzanian 4H family, I will miss Gudila most of all. I worked with her from the day I arrived at the camp and I couldn't have ever dreamed of having someone more fun to spend my time with. I usually busted into song several times throughout the day while I would be sitting next to Gudila. It wouldn't take long before she would laugh. I think my music habits rubbed off on her because she eventually started busting out in song. Joseph really worked hard to try to hook me up with Gudila. So, I of course played that up every chance I had. There would be times when I would propose to her in front of all our co-workers or times when I would shout "I love you Gudila," so everyone could hear. I will greatly miss Gudila's kindheartedness and how appreciative she was of even the smallest things.

It goes without saying that I will very much miss Chloe. Chloe and I have been together non-stop for five weeks. You get to know someone pretty well when you spend that much time together. By the end of our time together, Chloe and I were able to finish each others thoughts and sentences. I could not be more thankful to have had Chloe to keep me company during the week and during our weekend adventures through Tanzania. She was an incredible person to work with and I look forward to following her work during the next five months to watch how she makes a difference in so many lives. I take confort in knowing that once she has completed her time in Tanzania, she will not be so far away-just two states away.


Although my internship is now complete, my adventure still continues. I have 12 days before I come home and those 12 days will take me through three different East African countries. I will be spending six days in Kenya, three days in Uganda, and three days in Ethiopia. If you haven't caught on yet, I love adventure, so you can imagine that I have planned some pretty adventurous activities in these three countries. I encourage you to continue reading to find our where this journey takes me and what adventures lie ahead.


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