Day 18 and 19

So today we thought we were going to have a fairly free day but it didn’t turn out that way.

We did have a leisurely breakfast with our regular mountain view. We are now the only guests staying here so later we asked if we could have a look at some of the other rooms here just out of interest. Milllie (the manager) said that was fine and so Amina took us round and showed us every room. They are all really nicely done, with some being bigger than others and some being en-suite. We also saw that there are some quite large sitting areas inside the buildings where you can relax if it rains. Because it has been so hot and dry since we arrived in Moshi we have never needed to use these. Amina also showed us some of the Hospitality School buildings which are round the back of the B&B which was interesting.

This is one of the classrooms.

Some of the students


Their kitchen and dining area


No shoes can be worn inside their dormitories


A lesson in progress for some students


The vegetable garden where the students grow many ingredients used in the restaurant.

After our look around we had quite a long chat with Millie and Amina about their involvement with the B&B and the school. We also had to say goodbye to Millie as she would not be around tomorrow when we leave.

When we got back to our room we found that Robert had sent a text saying that Juan (one of the board members of ACTT who we have met several times) and his wife Dorothy had invited us over to their house for coffee. We quickly got changed and were just about ready when Robert arrived,

It was lovely to catch up with the family and to meet their baby son Hugo who is about 9 months old.

Once we left Juan’s we called in at the ACTT office to do a few last minute jobs, and for Robert to do some business. It also gave us a chance to say goodbye to the staff. After this we went to Maembe for a late lunch. While we were there Abdullah, Robert’s friend called in so we stayed there longer than expected.

This beautiful cat was strolling around the garden at Maembe.

By now it was late afternoon so Robert dropped us back at More Than a Drop so we could start doing our packing. Once most of it was done we retired to the terrace for our usual G&T and dinner. It was nice that the mountain appeared for our last evening here.

Day 19

We slept quite late this morning and didn’t have breakfast until after 9. We then did some more packing, said goodbye to Hosiana and Amina and walked down to Keys Hotel for a swim and some lunch.

The place was very quiet to start with although some other people did arrive during the afternoon. Once again it was very hot and we were glad to have the pool to cool down.

About 4ish we returned to More Than a Drop for a shower and freshen up before Robert takes us to the airport. So as I write this we are sat on the terrace with our last G&T of the trip.

For us this has been a great trip, one of the best since we started supporting the schools. I hope you have enjoyed following our journey and we look forward to seeing you all soon. Thanks again for all your help and support.

Day 16 and Day 17

Today has been a quiet day for us. We had breakfast sat at our favourite table on the terrace with views of Kilimanjaro. We stayed there even when Kili disappeared behind clouds (which usually happens around 9am) and spent some time just reading and chatting to the staff.

Today I took a couple of photos of the inside of our room. It is very comfortable and really good value for money.

We walked down to Keys Hotel for lunch and a swim. To make a change from Tanzanian food we opted for pizza today and it was really very nice.  

We then walked back to More Than A Drop in time for a G&T followed dinner. All in all a nice relaxing day.

Day 17

This was our last “working” day. We walked down to ACTT fairly early so it wasn’t too hot. We did some paperwork with Robert to finalise all the purchases we had made. We found that we had enough money left to buy one more laptop computer which we will loan to Kayenze Ndogo school in Mwanza, the new school we visited where Clement is now Head Teacher. At present they don’t have electricity but the electricity supply is not far away from them so hopefully it will reach them in the next few months. In the meantime Clement can charge the laptop at home and bring it to school each day. 

After this we visited Jamhuri School again to collect some letters they had written to pupils at Meadowbrook School in Bristol. We visited some classrooms and the computer lab and met the Vice Chair of the school board. It was a nice visit and the standard of letters and drawings is amazing. 

We then passed by the Kilimanjaro Coffee Union and bought some coffee beans. We met up with Evodi again and so stopped for a coffee.

We then returned to ACTT to have lunch at Mama Irene’s.

This afternoon Robert had invited us to visit a Secondary School near Marangu where the Head Teacher was being invested into the local Rotary Club of which Robert is a member. It was a nice drive up to Marangu through the farms and banana plantations and it was certainly cooler up there.

When we arrived some other Rotary members were already there and the school brass band was playing in the school hall where all the school pupils were assembled.

After a while the Rotary event began and the Head Master was invested into the Rotary Club. 

This took about 45 minutes. For some pupils I think this was far too long at the end of a school day!!

The Rotary Club then provided refreshments and Peter and I then went for a stroll around the school grounds while the Rotary members concluded their business.

We then drove back to Moshi, seeing a nice sunset on the way and we then spent a relaxed evening at More Than A Drop

Day 15

Today was a busy day for us with 2 school visits, catching up with Sandra’s friend Jess and her girls, and dinner with Robert’s family in the evening.

This morning it was a little cooler so we walked down to ACTT without any problems. Around 10ish we set off for Mabogini Primary School with Robert and Bakari. This is a new school for us so they are receiving 3 desktop computers and a printer. There has been no power in the ACTT office for the last 24 hours so Bakari, one of the ACTT technicians has been unable to do a final check on the equipment, so is coming with us in the hope that the school will have power.

It is about a 30 minute drive to the school as it is a little out of Moshi town in really quite a poor area even by Tanzanian standards.

When we arrived we were met by lots of excited children and the head teacher, and the Vice Chair of the school board. As usual the first thing to do was to go through the loan agreement and get it signed.

We then passed over the equipment, only to find the school actually spanned both sides of the road and the computer lab would be on the other side so the children had to carry the computers quite a distance!!

The school actually has a special needs class with 20 children in it which is next to the new computer lab so we popped in to say Hi as we were passing.

Bakari, Robert and Pete set up the computers and then some of the children came in and were allowed to have their first computer lesson. At this school it seemed hardly any of the children had ever used a computer. It was fun helping them to use a mouse and keyboard for the first time.

We then had a quick look round the school, calling in on a couple of classes, before heading off to the second school. 

The children smiled and clapped when they were told we had brought some computers to the school.

This was the Vice Chair of the school board with his youngest daughter Grace.

On leaving we had a quick chat with some guys who were drilling a bore hole to provide water for the school and local community. I believe this was being funded by a US charity. The guys were powering the drill by hand, very hard work in these temperatures. You can see the drill behind them.

Because we had spent quite a bit of time at Mabogini School we were a little late arriving at Kaloleni Primary School and the teachers and Chair of the school board were waiting for us. This school has previously had 3 desktops and a printer and this year we are adding a further 2 desktops. After introductions and completing the paperwork we then took the new computers to the library where the others are kept. 

After installing them some more teachers and children came in to have a look and show us their computer skills. Some of the children were really very proficient and we wondered if they had access to a computer at home but when asked, the answer was No, it was all learnt at school using the donated computers, so this was very encouraging.

Again we stayed longer than planned as the children were keen to carry on demonstrating their skills to us but eventually we left but not before being taken back to the Head Teachers office for refreshments.

By now it was almost mid afternoon and so we got Robert to drop us at Mimosa restaurant where I had arranged to meet Jess. We were there a little early so managed to order some lunch before she arrived. We had a lovely afternoon with her and the girls and it was nice to hear her news from Sandra and Tony.

This evening we had dinner at Robert’s house with his family. This was quite a big gathering because as well as the immediate family, Robert’s sister, niece and cousins were visiting. As always Mama Diana prepared a feast. It was a fun evening, Dimitra is really growing up and completely stole the show. Adasa, Robert’s young niece who is very shy also joined in and was much more relaxed than on our last visit.

The evening was lots of fun but by about 10.30pm we needed to leave so Dimitra and Adasa would go to bed and so did we.