Happenings

Our students playing water polo for the first time in ISM's pool. ISM, the same International School that hosted us for Track & Field last month (more later on that), also invited us yesterday for an afternoon of swimming/water polo in the shallow end, ultimate frisbee and dodgeball. All 30 of our students selected to go had perma-grins. Water polo in the shallow end was the perfect way to reduce real fears amongst our students of water and of swimming. It's like football in the water, their teachers explained. Yes, just like football....only a little different.

Angelo and I, the fearless Social Workers, not afraid to jump in the pool too.

Kalolo playing dodgeball, a new game for him.

Shawna, the coordinator at ISM, and I, relieved that the first of four events went swimmingly. We hope to come once a quarter for activities like this, to use their facilities until we can build our own over the next several years.

Our accomplished teachers, boasting their certificates after our recent Teacher Training over September break. Elimu oyay! Thanks Dr. Marty.

Peace House students at their very first Track & Field event. It was a momentous day. Lots of students placed in the top three for their event, kids who had never done the high jump before in their life, for example, won the high jump, and many of our students who were viscerally afraid to sign up, performed really well and I hope, felt accomplished. They certainly deserved to.

Peace House runner Haikeli who ended up winning her age group in her race, the 1500 meter. I was most proud of her this day. I could almost drink the ounzes of self-esteem she gained that day, that moment.

Leaving for the big adventure in my car...which, if you've been reading my previous blogs, turned quickly into misadventure :(. Hunter and brother Peter are sporting their best first-day-of-school expressions. Turns out they had reason to be apprehensive!
Hunter, sitting in my "salon" on my porch,after his best haircut yet. Thanks to Anne for the professional haircutting kit. My salon business is out the roof now. Kudos nyingi to Pamela Levine, fellow PCV haircutter extraordinaire, who really taught me everything I know today in regards to the art of cutting hair. And it is an art.
Hunter always complains that I post too many embarassing pictures of him on my blog. I don't know what he's talking about. Anyway, these are his latest spider bites. Yes, you can say it: GROSS. Welcome to Africa living. You never know what's inside the mosquito net as you sleep.
Hunter and my co-worker from last year, Boniface, teaming up for a mean match of 3-legged race at a Rotary event last month. Peter Luis, wherever you are, that shirt is brilliant! Thanks again for your solid consulting. Keep up the good work.

In honor of Joe Chow, PCV - Tanzania

I feel compelled to share this email as a member of the big and beautiful family known as Peace Corps, specifically Peace Corps Tanzania. It was written by my friend and fellow PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer), Leiha:

I just came back to Moshi this afternoon, got off the bus and hugged a new friend goodbye, for now. Her name is Leah, nice name huh? She's a short term volunteer here in Moshi. Normally I wouldn't cross paths with short term vols in Moshi town but today we just so happened to have met on the bus this afternoon coming from Dar. We caught up with each other at the lunch/rest stop. While chit-chatting a bit she made a comment about how someone once told her, "Don't wait til you're 65 to start living the life you wanted to try out." That's when I told her of a friend of mine who lived his life with such an intensity that there was nothing left to do but stand back and admire him.

My friend Joe Chow passed away last Tuesday. A fellow Education PCV, he was on school break and while visiting another friend of ours, fell while descending from a rock climb in Mbinga, Tanzania. I myself have climbed this same rock. It's not an easy climb, but do-able. His death was an accident in every sense of the word, nothing could have been changed, it happened. The reality of this is still hard to swallow.

The past week, being in Dar for his memorial, has been a blur of emotion and everything else. We were supposed to meet up and raft the Nile after he completed his service this November, we even talked about attempting another marathon together. I have many wonderful memories with Joe throughout our 2 years here in Tanzania. When Leah shared that story with me today at lunch, I felt an obligation to tell her I knew someone that didn't wait.

Joe lived his life with such a crazy intensity, a complete signature of his personality, that I'm finding myself not so much mourning the loss of the rest of his life, but standing back in admiration for all he did while he was here, alive. Yes, I miss him. I don't know when the reality of his absence will really settle in, or if it ever will. But isn't it our obligation as friends to take those we lose with us in life?

I never thought that the last time I saw him, waving through the window of the bus, I wouldn't meet up with him again in our lifetime. We never truly know, do we? But that's just it. We all will pass on one day. I just hope that in the meantime, we all live our lives to the fullest, happiest, most enriched we can. Life is a beautiful blessing, a gift we share and enjoy together. I am blessed to have been enriched by Joe's friendship in my life.

Thanks for reading this.
Leiha (PCV in the Pare Mountains)