Arrival

Dear all

The team have landed back into Heathrow and hope to be back at St Dunstan’s by 10.15am.

They can’t wait to see you all!

Best wishes

Team Inspire 

Ps Please ignore a recently deleted post about them being delayed- they are all through customs and heading for the bus back to College now :) 

On the plane!

Hi all,

Just to let you know the team are at the airport and on the way home. They are due to arrive at 06.20 tomorrow morning into Terminal 4 from Doha, flight number QR009. 

It has been a pleasure to work with all of the students and teachers from St Dunstan’s and to see the link between the College and the Livingstone Tanzania Trust continue. We hope you all enjoy looking at the photos and hearing the many stories! 

Thanks for your support to make this journey happen.

Beth, Josh and all at Team Inspire. 

Safari Wildlife Checklist

Here is a list of everything that was seen from Miss Charlestons car, we were in convey so each car saw pretty much the same. 

Tarangire: impala,tawny eagle, golden backed jackal, Guinea fowl, eland, dik dik, elephant, zebra, water buffalo, wildebeast, ostrich, brown backed vulture, giraffe, pied kingfisher, water buck, reed buck, lion, olive baboons. Grants gazelle, lilac breasted roller, ververt monkeys, ringed mongoose, ground hornbill, warthog, saddle billed storks. 

Interesting trees; baobab, candelabra, acacia, sausage tree. 

Manyara: blue monkey, olive baboons, silver backed hornbill, hammer kop, woodland kingfisher, klip springer, maribou storks, brown backed vultures, golden striped jackals, yellow billed stork, juvenile saddle billed stork, flamingoes, Goliath heron, pelican, water buffalo, spoon bill, black harrier, bush buck, water buck and a glimpse of a honey badger.

Safari!

From Inspire Leader, Megan:

Our final morning at Gendi was full of mixed emotions; sadness at leaving behind a place we had come to call home but also excitement as we ventured forth to Taranagerie National Park for the eagerly anticipated safari. 

After quickly packing last bits and pieces and a speedy breakfast of honey, bread and fruit we said goodbye to Gendi and were on the road by 6.40am, heading to our safarai destination...Tarangerie National Park! 

The sights we saw on safari surpassed all our expectations. The team couldn't quite believe our luck as we spotted not one but countless elephants, lions, giraffe, buffalo, ostrich, zebra and wilderbeast to name just a few! The Lion King really had come to life on the savannah of Tarangerie. 

On our way back from safari the team stopped off at the Masai market to pick up some souvenirs, before checking into our home for the night, Twiga Lodge. 

After a well deserved final meal we reflected on a fantastic trip and all we have achieved so far. Another early morning awaits us tomorrow as we squeeze in a visit to Lake Manyara before heading to the airport to begin out journey back home.

Leaving

Well it's fair to say on our last day at Gendi Primary School, it got a bit emotional. After our final hearty breakfast of porridge and milo, site foreman Ben set us at work on the finishing touches to the toilets. With Ben's motivational words and Harriet keeping everyone happy and healthy as our medic, we powered through, either adding a final cost of paint to the girls toilets or completing the final stages of brick laying.

 Unfortunately there was no time for chapatis or mandaszis as we were too busy preparing for the leaving celebrations. A team of 6 helped prepare the meal we were to have with the community which involved the likes of Sean vs Garlic (Sean won with the help of some salt), and dancing around the fire with some Gendi students. 

Meanwhile, the rest of us tidied up our communal area and rooms which was busy, hectic dusty...and Mr Cox helped as well. We were then treated to the community lunch consisting of chicken, stew, rice, beans, plantain, and watermelon; quite a feast for our last day. 

After lunch the celebrations began with a dance from the local dance group after which Christina the Headmistress, representatives of the government and other important members of the community thanked us for our work. 

Following a farewell song from the students of Gendi which made many of us very emotional, it was our turn to thank everyone. 

Isla, Bea and Simon thanked Yohanna, Helena, the Fundis, the school and the entire community for making us feel so welcome and at home, its fair to say that that made us emotional too. 

Julian from LTT then made a poignant speech about the importance of our work, including the importance of our work, including having disabled access to the toilets, having an incinerator to help girls deal with their menstral hygiene and the importance of educating girls, boys and teachers about menstrual hygiene. 

By our surprise and gratitude the group were then presented with gifts including a handmade bag out of Tanzanian cloth, a necklaces, tchengis for the girls and blankets for the boys and a certificate of our time here. 

We then concluded the celebrations with an intensive period of dancing and jumping up and down, the water works turned on. 

Jack said he'd never seem quite a reaction when volunteers were leaving, in other words, there were a lot of tears from both the students of Gendi and us. But, as Luke rightly put it, you cry when you know there are good times to come, and that is most certainly true. With the end of our time at Gendi School, we look forward to a lifelong relationship with LTT, never forgetting the special memories and bonds which we've made here.

Singe

Yesterday afternoon’s sport took its toll as we all awoke a bit tired. Following the exotic addition of pineapple to the porridge spirits were lifted as work began on painting the girls toilets and plastering the hand washing station. 

Finished the painting of the girls toilets whilst the washing station was also fully plastered. 

After a lovely lunch from Helena and an interesting debate with Julian from LTT, we took a short walk to the local private secondary school. At singe school we had the opportunity to socialise with Tanzanian school children the same age as ourselves. The tour they took us on of their impressive school showed us how the building blocks we are laying through building a new set of suitable toilets can act as a springboard for gendi school to transform into a school the standard of singe. 

Being able to talk to school children our age provided a unique opportunity to understand what life was like for a Tanzanian teenager and the afternoon was rounded off through a game of volleyball and basketball with Sean's team finding a common goal to motivate themselves, they ran out 2-1 winners against miss Charleston's team (who despite being outnumbered 9 players to 6, won the second set comfortably taking it to a tie break best of 5 to finish, which they were unlucky to lose). Whilst in the basketball Dylan claimed himself to be the best player. 

This relaxed way to socialise with our hosts provided the perfect ending to a full day. Quote of the day: " Aimee say something funny" Aimee "something funny"

Ps photo of Helena as requested!!

Rain down in Africa

Rain has been a recurring topic in the past few blogs. Today was no exception. A lovely sunny start to the day was disrupted by an unexpected and instantaneous hammering of rain in the evening worthy of the tropics. Though Jack took full advantage of this downpour by still having a shower! 

The morning began with a fresh portion of papaya and mango, with the usual serving of porridge. Project work was facilitated by Sam Barrett's leadership and Simon's medical surveillance. Social team finished work 15 mins early before break to help with the final preparations for Helena's birthday today. With balloons (that kept popping), stickers, party hats, and mandazis with special chocolate sauce, it was a truly successful party. A colourful card was signed by the whole team, and seeing Helena's smile lifted our spirits for the rest of the day. 

In the afternoon, after a game of tope darts, we paired up and gave the children an english lesson with singing and lots of questions. After the lesson the team joined the students in games of netball, football, catch, ans an energetic and colourfuk Macarena (courtesy of Sam Bailey). Lots of pictures were taken, and lots of friendships were made. 

The ambiance at dinner was made by Fiona, Dylan and Pieter's scouse accents and a singalong to Megan's playlists, including Ed Sheeran, The Jackson 5 and a bit of Whitney. 

Quote of the day Mr Cox; "And then the shower went". 

Written by Sam, Ben and Isla.

(Sorry we have no pictures today 🙈 we will take lots tomorrow to make up for this!)

A big day

Salamu parents! We are writing this at the end of a long day which began with an early start if porridge. Todays, market team included Sean, Luke and Sam Bailey who went to buy fruit and gifts for our hosts in the afternoon. While the team, under Fionas capable leadership and Aimeés medical skills, continues on the project, painting then erecting the hand washing stations. 

At break we re-grouped to devour Helena's gorgeous chapatis and finished our work day early to go on a community walk. When we nearly reached the house of our hosts we were serenaded by about 2 dozen members of the tribe, vibrantly dressed and chanting in Swahili. We joined in, with impressive dance skills from Pieter and Simon and we were ushered to a row of benches by a number of smiling elders. 

After a short welcome by the two hosting brothers and the community council, we were invited to introduce our finest Swahili- "Shikamone gina lango.." Following that we were presented with a fine spread of various Tanzanian dishes that included a number of textures- 'the texture of this is like slime' - Kate. To our surprise, spoons become a rarity and we resorted to eating our food with our hands, discovering exotic ingredients such as kidneys. 

After lunch, we had an opportunity to ask and answer questions through our well spoken translator Yohanna, where the locals were shocked by our outrageous British taxes, in particular inheritance tax. Julian, the founder of LTT, brought up key issues of gender equality and deforestation which were met by mixed responses. 

With a final dance we returned to the school: showered and played with a few kids. A Tanzanian spa was created and opended where hair washing took place and a chain of hair brushing was formed. Simon was able to display his talents of combing Fionas hair, which lead to Bea while she read and Aimee at the back. Although gender roles seem set in Tanzania, Sean's wise words meant Simon wasn't discriminated against- 'it's important to get in touch with your feminine side'. 

Spirits continue to remain high with Craig David, Marvin Gaye and Ben E King constantly being harmonised and imaginary ping pong getting competitive. 

Sean, Sam Barrett & Kate