Biana, Nema, and Flora drink Uji (porridge) before school.
Biana, Flora, Norbati, Usufu, and Nema wave before school. Jen Etkin (Colgate '10) painted the two classrooms at Kao La Amani in 2008 and they still look great.
Usufu teaches me Swahili numbers in the nursery school classroom.
Esther, Pastor Tukai's eight year old daughter, lives at the orphanage. Esther and her biological siblings get no special treatment just because they are related to Pastor and Mama Tukai.
Mary, the youngest girl at the orphanage is three years old. Mary and her two year old male counterpart Patrick are too young to go to school so the two of them play with each other all morning. She is never without a smile on her face and rarely without Patty at her side.
Flora dressed for preschool
Mechanics work on an old farm truck in town.
A view from the farm: This small shack is the neighbor's outhouse, but homes in this area are often only about five or six times this size. Many Maasai live in this area.
Dada Emelda, Dada Gracie, and I pick tomatoes at the farm for the children. The word “dada” means sister. In Tanzania you refer to everyone as either sister (dada), brother (kaka), mother (mama), or father (baba).
A view from the farm: Mighty Kilimanjaro looms over Boma Ng'ombe.
A view from the farm: To the west, Mount Meru stands dwarfed by Kilimanjaro. However, at 4562.13 meters (14,967.618 feet), Meru is impressive itself.
