Frands

As we went to pay the down payment on the land, we found out that someone else had come with the full payment and bought the land first.  So that was a bummer, but it’s okay.  There is lots of land for sale and definitely still good land available.  We just need to have the money available for when we find the truly perfect piece of land.  Isaac said, “when you’re doing something so good that it touches the hand of the Lord, there will be challenges.”  He’s so right, there will always be issues that come around and we’ll work through them :)

We went on safari this weekend (which was amazing) but my mind was still on Hill Crest of course, and how much I love the kids and the job and Isaac and Elizabeth and how upset I’ll be to leave them.  Then I started thinking about my friends here in the volunteer house, one of which I had to say goodbye to as we left for safari.  It was so sad to say bye to Elsie, we became fast friends through what we had in common (rowing, same age, sense of humor, etc), our love for dancing to the pop music at the club, and our daily stories of the children at our placements.  An environment like this brings so many different people together from all stages of life..Elsie is 19 from the UK, Stephanie is 27 from Canada, Renata is 25 from Mexico, Pip and Whitney are 19 from Australia, Keri is 35 from Chicago, Mark is 49 from San Francisco, and who would have thought we would all be So close in a handful of weeks.  It takes me a while to open up to people but I just came to write this after a 3 hour talk with Pip about our lives, what led us here and what’s coming next, what we hope for in life and what we’ve been through...we have no choice but to jump into these friendships with no idea if it’s going to last, but we’re here experiencing the same things and that gives us a ground for conversation that leads to jokes which leads to a tearful goodbye at the end of each person’s journey in Tanzania.  

Pip is working at another school called Jitihada, and she had big plans just like me to build a new school for them.  Right now she’s raising money for a bus then will proceed to raise for the building, but when I got home today she just told me she’d had the worst day ever.  We chatted for a while before I made her tell me.. she explained that her discussion with the director of Jitihada went worse than terribly.  He had talked her with with big plans and images for the school but told her today that she just needs to put the money in the Jitihada account and he’ll deal with the building of the school.  She realizes that he probably has ulterior motives and is so upset by it, but then asked if she could join me with project Hill Crest.  Now, I was hoping for Hill Crest to kind of be “my” project for them, but I had to put myself in her shoes.  If at the end of my stay Isaac had told me to just put money in his account so he could deal with it because he didn’t need me, I’d be devastated because there is no way to trust a statement like that.  She’s been making plans with him for 6 weeks and was so excited, but it all came crashing down today.  While her dreams were being ruined, mine were being reinforced.  Isaac talked for about 45 minutes about what we’re going to do next week, number one on the list is opening a bank account for Hill Crest.  He wants me to be there, and know all the information for the account so that if when I get home someone asks, “How do you know where the money is going and that it’s not being used?” I can pull up the account and show them myself.  That’s what Isaac said right off the bat, I didn’t even need to say anything. I wish everyone at home could talk to him, he’s so genuine and honest about everything and especially the money we’re raising and will ultimately be giving him (because of rules here, there are lots of fees for foreigners to buy/build, so all the money will be wired to the Hill Crest account we’re opening so it can come “from him”).  So Pip asked if she could join me with building a new Hill Crest and I told her absolutely.   I just couldn’t imagine the heartbreak I’d feel after 6 weeks of planning turned into disappointment in a matter of minutes.  Pip also has a big dream for a school and she’s an amazing person, and having two countries working together to make Hill Crest the best it can be will be great.  And, she’s planning on coming back here three times next year so she could get stuff started fast!  We’ll see, it’s just an idea.  I told her she needed to come in and talk to Isaac herself so she knows who she’s going to be working for.  I would actually really love for her to be part of the Hill Crest Project, I can’t think of anyone better to work with.  

Isaac and I are taking a week off in the area of land, and he needs a break from disappointment after today.  Three of Elizabeth’s friends from college came for lunch so he sent Mary, his sister and a good friend of mine, to get us all a bottle of soda.  She came back and walked straight to the bedroom and Isaac followed, shortly after we heard her crying and were very concerned.  Isaac stormed out of the house and didn’t come back for about 25 minutes.  In Tanzania, people can’t rely on the police...people have to take issues into their own hands, and I knew that whatever had happened wasn’t going to be good for whoever did something. Isaac came back with red eyes and veins coming out of his head..we sat in silence for a few minutes before Mary called me back to the bedroom and she collapsed into my chest and cried as I hugged her.  We didn’t talk about it at all, she asked about Isaac’s friend that is pursuing me (more on that later) and then we just joked around while we cleaned the lunch dishes.  She’s the best.  We were quiet for a few minutes and then I asked her if Isaac just beat someone up for whatever happened.  She said no, but he is going to deal with it appropriately.  Then I asked her about what happened, and she said an older drunk man slapped her across the face because she didn’t give him the proper greeting, but then explained that it was much more than that.  While most of the community is proud of Isaac and proud to have mzungus walking around, there are a few who are very jealous of Isaac and Elizabeth because they’re the ones with mzungu visitors.  She said the whole thing was planned, the man just acted drunk, and she just happened to be the one to step out at the wrong time.  I don’t know what’s going to happened to whoever did it, but I’m confident that he’ll never slap a woman again after dealing with Isaac.  

I’m still so in love with Arusha and the people I’m surrounded by.  Safari was absolutely incredible but the whole time I couldn’t wait to get back to Hill Crest...and Isaac couldn’t wait to have me back either.  I came back to this facebook message from him...

Hallo, i really miss you.How is your weekend? ilook forward to see you tomorrow, we love you, the children loves you, you are apart of us. You belong here, we really miss you.Your love to hillcrest will never fade,''TUNAKUPENDA'',see you tomorrow