Time flies when you are busy helping others...

This week went by so quickly I still can’t believe it’s the weekend. I spent my mornings at TAFCOM working frantically on the fundraiser, and the computer work was appointed to me. As most of you would expect, I willingly accepted this task. I was responsible for flyers, invitations, raffle tickets, posters, and the powerpoint presentation, all relatively easy projects but nonetheless time consuming. However, I can finally say I completed my week’s “chores”. We have secured all of the big things, selecting the same venue that was used the first time and finding a local band with the help of our local friend, Abbas. We haven’t even made a dime (or I suppose I should say a schilling yet), but it is a rewarding feeling to see how much hope our efforts give Nie and Jonas. Every time we check off another item on the giant To-Do list we prepared, we all sigh in relief, one step closer to success.

On Wednesday we abandoned our office work and spent the morning visiting a private school in Pasua. Besides the fact it was a great excuse to meet Nie and Jonas’ son, who is only four, one of the other volunteers will be sponsoring Happy (a student at the TAFCOM Children’s Center) to go to boarding school. Both of Happy’s parents have HIV and have struggled with their health since being diagnosed, and the opportunity for her to obtain a good education free of cost is a true blessing for the family. It was interesting to tour the grounds and enter each classroom because the education system is structured so differently here. Even the youngest students were busy learning English, and it reminded me of how all to often you hear the United States education system criticized for how few of people are bilingual.

That same afternoon we had our final cultural activity scheduled. We made the hour-long trip to Arusha, a much larger city than Moshi, to attend the Rwanda Genocide Trials. It was an incredible experience. While the genocide took place in 1994, the trials will not be officially concluded until the end of this year or early 2010. However, since the end is nearing, many of the people still left to be tried are rather prominent figures. We saw the closing arguments prior to sentencing by the prosecuting side in the case of a highly-decorated General of the Rwandan army. He was charged with carrying out genocide, the worst possible charge in the U.N. courts. We did not know until leaving the viewing room that the man accused of ordering the murder of over 800,000 people was sitting on the other side of the glass. While we did not see the final ruling, the experience itself was historic.

Thursday afternoon was also rather emotional. After lunch a group of seven of us met up with Mama Sarah, an HIV-positive women who runs a support group for 20 clients and numerous orphans. She is currently working to register her group as an NGO but many obstacles stand in her way, most obviously financial barriers. Despite no official office or building, insufficient funds in her bank account (which was set up by a CCS volunteer only a few weeks ago), and little to offer her clients, Mama Sarah remains an incredible human being. She is driven by her faith in God and her hope for the future, and she possesses an energy that is contagious. She has everything she needs to make her dreams a reality, but of course, like most people here, lacks capital. This is a very frustrating and disappointing component of volunteering. It is hard to constantly remind yourself that money could save the world it seems without feeling obligated to donate your own. We went with Mama on four home visits, bringing a small gift bag of rice, sugar, and fruit to each person we met with. Each home was similar; a cramped dirt room with too much furniture, little light, and little ventilation. Despite their gloomy quarters, each person’s demeanor went from dismal to overjoyed when they saw the parade of seven white people enter their door. With each person we held hands in prayer and despite the language barrier, it was easy to sense their gratitude. Unlike TAFCOM, the clients who are visited by Mama Sarah are too ill to find work and rely on friends or family members to provide an occasional meal. This poses a significant health problem, however, because when the anti-retro viral drugs used to treat HIV are taken without food, they act as a poison in the body and cause extreme sickness. Many of her clients have many pronounced symptoms of AIDS and without ample nutrients, risk certain death. This realization lingered in all of our minds during these visits and for most brought tears to our eyes.

Again the week flew by, and this weekend is rather low key. Since seven of the volunteers who arrived at the same time as me will be leaving this evening, the whole group went out last night to a restaurant called Indoitaliano (a interesting mix of Italian and Indian menus). I managed to eat an amazing pizza and French fries, a little touch of home. Tomorrow I hope to do a coffee day hike with some of the group to see firsthand the process of making coffee. I’m sure I’ll have stories next entry. Hope all is well on the homefront. Talk to you soon.