The End and The Beginning

This is a picture of our volunteer group on safari in Lake Manyara Park. Jessica took the photo but I really dig it!

We got an update on Happiness' condition and he is doing worse. The poor man needs some sort of surgery on his bladder or kidneys (he currently has a catheter that has been replaced once due to the infection). Because of the language barrier it is hard to understand exactly what's wrong, but the doctor says that he will not get well without surgery. The surgery will cost a grand total of $50 USD (60,000 TSH), which is also about the cost of sending a child to school for a year here. Nie and Erin are going to take him to the hospital on Monday, but they will have to pay for his surgery in advance before he will be admitted. Nie has decided that she will pay for the surgery out of her own pocket, but I am trying to gather some money from the other volunteers to help her. Can you imagine a surgery in the U.S. costing only $50?!

I am sad that today is my last full day in Tanzania and my last day at TAFCOM. Tomorrow I get on a plane to return to the States and begin to figure out what to do next. What an amazing journey I have had!!!!

This morning I said my goodbyes to Nie and Jonas, who gave me a very sweet card and took me and Erin out for coffee. I also had to say farewell to Mama Lilian (she is MZUKA - awesome) because she is going to Dar es Salaam for the weekend. In Swahili there are several ways to say farewell - kwaheri, which means "goodbye," or baadaye, which means "see you again." I've been using baadaye a lot and hope that I will return here some day.

Much love to everyone and I'll see you soon!