Wow. The past few weeks have been full and beyond my ability to describe (yet). Sometimes I find my scrivening here requires significant reflection and, for now, I’m so fully present, I’m not yet able to take a step back to fully grasp all that I’m experiencing here. That said, I am happy – and our trip, to date, has been incredibly successful. We have:

• Celebrated the arrival of the fourth graders first-ever regional exam results; they amazingly placed #1 out of 17 schools who participated in the Arusha District Eastern Zone Exam – and every student from Shepherds Junior received an “A” !!!
• Placed postcards for sale in 3 local outlets, including a reputable high-end safari hotel that has three locations;
• Prepared for a performance by the children that will be held on Friday, 8/1, to raise funds;
• Participated in the school’s auction of items donated by the parents that raised over $800 USD;
• Worked with 4 volunteers who paid their own way to join us here including Zoe, who wrote the previous blog entry, Amanda who will write below, Tim Llewellyn, an incredible photographer who captured beautiful portraits of many of the children, and his fiance Nelle, a former art teacher who spent some quality time with the school’s aspiring artists;
• Held a preliminary meeting with an organization that plans to install solar power at the school’s new site; and
• Created an entry for a video contest in the US (cross your fingers – maybe we’ll win $10,000!)

We’ve also attended a Parents Council meeting, performed some technology training with Mama Lucy & her son William, conducted a number of video interviews, created both written and video messages for our donors and supporters, gone on safari with the children and spent as much time as possible with Mama Lucy and the teachers at the school exchanging stories and ideas.

Amanda May, a volunteer who’s focused on product development, had this to share about her experience since arriving just a week ago:

Since first getting involved with Epic Change, I have heard countless stories from Stacey and Sanjay about the culture, school and the kids here in Arusha . . . It left me with very few surprises upon arriving.

As expected, every single child has touched my heart and soul in a profound way. And I won’t lie by telling you that I wouldn’t love to take them all home with me either. The new school is a refreshing testament as to what hard work and inspiring dedication can achieve. And after spending time with Mama Lucy, I can assure you that if there were even just one more like her, the world would be a more beautiful place.

Here is what I have encountered over the last 10 days that I would like to share with you:

1. “Wazungu”: two or more foreigners. It is a funny word that took a while for me to use. While in a local market last week with Mama Lucy’s son, William, Tim and I were some of the only white people there. There was a common look we were greeted with that made me slightly uncomfortable . . . an uncomfortable I have never really known before. So I asked William flat out “What do they (locals) think of us wazungu?” His answer was along the lines that they know we are rich. Rich is a very subjective term – but they are right. This leads me into my next lesson . . . (by the way, I am not rich).
2. Money does not fix everything. If you are reading this blog, you have likely given money to Epic Change (if not, donations are welcome 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) . . . and I can tell you that your money has made a HUGE difference. Your donations have made at least three times as much impact as the same amount of money collected in the States and spent here on other projects (including other schools). From what I have seen, I am pretty sure this is why: Epic Change stayed out of the way. Unlike many other Western aid approaches, Stacey and Sanjay let Mama Lucy run the show. And why shouldn’t she? She is the reason there was a school to begin with. She knows what her students need to receive an excellent education. I have seen the horrible impact that Westerners have had on this community by “trying to help”. They often choose to work against what the community leaders feels is important and make decisions that they are unqualified to make. In turn the outcome has resulted in inflated production cost, substandard quality, inaccessible location and services, among many others. There is no reason for this.
3. Smart people live in mud huts. I can tell you the people here live in very different environments and situations then most of us, and it is hard to see past that. But guess what? Smart people live here, lots in fact. And the kids at Shepherds Junior are brilliant. Imagine your kids in primary school not learning math, science and geography in English, but in French. That is what is going on here. It is a wonderful advantage for these kids, as the high schools here are English-medium while government primary schools are taught entirely in Swahili, leaving many students radically underprepared for public secondary schools and further education. It was amazing to me to see the fourth grade class learning Algebra in English . . . call me crazy, but that is pretty unbelievable.

This trip as taught me a lot. But if there is one thing I wish everyone could learn from me it is this: we can all help a local women make a priceless impact on hundreds of lives. I have looked into the eyes of these future success stories, and I promise you all that your efforts, donations and support will not be wasted. And the sooner we can help to provide the support Mama Lucy need in expanding to meet the needs of her people, the sooner more children will receive a top-notch education. 

PS: The one thing that I did find surprisingly disturbing here is western volunteerism & aid and its impact on the local culture and people. I will admit, even as a youngster I wanted to save the world one penny at a time. Whether it was an acre of rainforest, a manatee in Florida or a starving child in a third world country . . . I would have saved them all. The word “save” is going to be the lesson of the trip for me. One thing I have learned over the short 10 days of being here is that you can’t save people . . . not by making them more like us.

Posted: July 31st, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 2

We have been incredibly busy this week; four amazing volunteers have now arrived! Since so often I share my own perspectives here, I thought it might be interesting to have some of them write what they’re learning and observing here in Tanzania. This entry is by Zoe Flanagan, a 21-year-old college student whom we met on our first trip to Tanzania, and who is working with us here now. I was excited to hear her views on our work here…and I hope you are too!

Hamjambo warafiki!

Hey everyone, my name is Zoe, and I’m going to be taking over this blog today. I am currently volunteering for Epic Change here in Arusha, and I couldn’t be happier to be working with these great people. I met Sanjay and Stacey as a fellow volunteer, on their first trip here with CCS. I was not very involved with Epic Change this year, to be honest. I signed up for the monthly donation, half out of guilt that I could not do more. But this trip has changed that.

My initial travel plans for my summer were to travel throughout East Africa to learn about the world of NGOs. I am studying Sociology and Anthropology (SOAN) at Lewis and Clark in Portland. A friend of mine who is also in the SOAN department initially planned on exploring this world with me. We decided together that we would do some sort of ethnography of the NGO culture. We recognized how large the NGO phenomenon had become and we wanted to see what made it tick. Sadly my friend was unable to come, and because of that, I was less comfortable traveling alone to do the research. I decided instead I would come back to Arusha, a town I really enjoy, and see what I could find. Quite serendipitously Epic Change was going to be here, needing help, the same time I was. So I went with this omen and decided to see what exactly it was my crazy friends Sanjay and Stacey were up to.

So what have I learned about NGO’s? Well to be honest I think it is going to take several years for me to truly digest everything I have learned. I have an inkling now, I’m getting the feeling that Epic Change has become my diving board into this non-profit world and I have just taken a swan dive in, no looking back. I am giving credit to Epic Change for being my diving board because I have been in the non-profit world as a volunteer, fund raiser, and promoter for five years now. I have always been passionate about the causes. Yet, coupled with this passion was a feeling of failure. Although I had good intentions, what I was doing was not sustainable. So far in my research of NGOs I have identified this characteristic, the lethal couple, passion and failure. In the past week I have been plagued with fits of uncontrollable excitement when I rule out this characteristic from what Epic Change is.

So what are my crazy friends Sanjay and Stacey up to? Well first, they are working their butts off. Just this week I think Sanjay pulled two all nighters back to back; the late nights were spent tackling a two hundred item to do list, and many hours were spent battling a printer with an attitude problem. I was there for the second one and that was when I realized just how much work goes into doing this right. You ask what do I mean when I say doing this, right? Well it’s what makes this project sustainable. They are working harder than ever to create the tools and the plan which will allow Mama Lucy to pay back the loan. These tools and plans to fund raise are amazing gifts because they will allow Sanjay and Stacey to step back and let Mama Lucy continue with her important work. By doing this Sanjay and Stacey are also creating a powerful new relationship. Africa has been told for too long that they need the mzungu (foreigner) and that they cannot do anything worthwhile without them. Mama Lucy already had an amazing program before Epic Change got here. Epic Change simply believed in Mama Lucy and what she was doing. To believe in a person and a cause is a powerful thing. Life threw her a curve ball and all Epic Change has done really is allowed her to keep her school. Because she has been given the power of decision in this relationship, she is now allowed to own the moment. From my point of view Epic Change has not only helped build a school but the project has shown this community that it can be built by a local.

It helps that Shepherds is a pretty amazing place. When I go there I really understand that it is the hopeful future of our world. This is a cliché, I know. Hope has been a little over used in the US this year, but not for naught. My fits of excitement have been the first moments in my life where I know I have felt hope; true unadulterated hope. These children will change the world, I am sure of it. Our world is plagued with ill-intentioned leaders, this is true everywhere and Shepherd’s young leaders are being taught to raise their voice. You can hear it when fourth grader Leah says she wants to “be a doctor so that she can find the cure to AIDS”. That is a pretty loud declaration, right? In many of the systems here Leah would be segregated into a school for the poorest of the poor. Mama Lucy does not allow this to happen at her school. This is partly why it is such an amazing place. Children of all backgrounds are learning together at the highest level they can. And they are brilliant kids, all of them.

Mama Lucy says “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.” I have never heard it stated any better. A quarter of a million dollars seems like too much money to some. Many people feel more pulled to go to the most devastated situations with that kind of money. But don’t you think that if you educate this many children at this level and without social discrimination, those devastated situations may be eradicated in ten or twenty years? It is hard to see that, but I really think if there were more Shepherds Juniors throughout the world, the next generation could live a much better life.

These past two weeks have not only been filled with bright and shiny happy days of birds singing songs of hope. Along with my fits of excitement, there have been many moments when I feel like this is just too hard. Along with all nighters, I have witnessed the ugly side of trying to “help”. When you put your whole heart into something, the pain is much deeper when something goes wrong. I think one of the most important lessons I have learned so far is that when you are here you need to think, you really need to be self-reflective and aware of the fact that by trying to “help” you could be creating more hardships and more social handicaps. I know this sounds harsh, but I really believe it. Our presence here is powerful. I am not saying this to make myself sound important, quite the opposite, ( I think I am still figuring this out to be honest) but what I know is that in this one project, Epic Change has stepped back as much as they can, and I have never seen such good results.

Posted: July 20th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 2

Hujambo from Tanzania!

Two days ago I saw for the first time with my own eyes the school you’ve helped to build here in Arusha. I couldn’t wait to tell you about it but somehow, even after two days of careful consideration, I’ve been unable to find any combination of consonants and vowels that when strung together can adequately convey my joy, gratitude and awe.

This schoolhouse rocks. Monkeys play overhead stealing avocados from the trees above. A river at the edge of the property irrigates a vegetable garden on its banks that helps to feed lunch to the students. A canopy of banana trees provides fruit and shade. Hens from the neighbors’ yards occasionally hop over the fence with their chicks in tow to nibble at the grass on the lawn where the children play. The school sits in the shadow of Mt. Meru, the third tallest mountain in sub-Saharan Africa, its powerful, imposing presence constantly whispering to the students its implicit refrain…”reach higher, dream bigger.”

Four huge classrooms glow with plenty of light through windows that were carefully and lovingly welded by a parent at the school. A small shack out back has been built to house a makeshift kitchen; on the ground in front of it were three woodfires glowing, each with a different pot full of rice, tea, beans or vegetables that serve as lunch for all the students and, sadly, as the only meal of the day for some of the children who learn there. Through smart negotiation with the village elders, the village provides free running water – which is also used by residents of the local community – for cooking and drinking, and more can be fetched from the river out back for cleaning and gardening. There are six toilets that flush to an underground sewage system that don’t stink with the putrid smell of human waste as they did at the previous site. Another wooden shack has been hurriedly constructed out front where the headmaster can meet with students, teachers and parents.

With our $35,000 loan, and about $20,000 that she’s been able to secure independently, Mama Lucy has done more than we could have possibly imagined so far. She proudly – and deservedly – wears the indelible smile and luminous glow of a woman making her dreams manifest, and doing incalculable good. Her husband, Moses, and 19-year-old son William share her constant broad grin and in their bodies one sees clear evidence of months of difficult labor; they personally performed much of the construction with their own hands. As the fourth graders greeted me when I first arrived, Baba Moses stood in a corner at the back of the room, his deeply worn face beaming a paternal blend of perspiration, pride, exhaustion and joy. As they stand at the school’s new site, the Kamptoni’s familial pride in its construction is palpable.

I just wanted to write to say, with all my heart, thank you – and to ask you for your continued donations and support. You made this school possible; without you, it simply wouldn’t exist. While incredible things have been accomplished in a very short time, there is so much more to be done – and it can only be accomplished with your help. Right now, a school bus is an immediate need; the vans into which these children and their teachers somehow compact themselves for the sake of their education are simply not safe. You can read Mama Lucy’s personal note about their current school transport here. In addition, the fourth graders will soon need a fifth grade classroom to continue their classes in January.

Yesterday, I asked the students of Shepherds Junior what they wanted to be when they grow up. In the young crowd, there were budding teachers, nurses, gardeners, bus drivers, policemen, a rocket ship pilot and even one little girl named Leah who wants to be a doctor so that she can, in her own words, “stop HIV in my country.” It is much more than land, bricks and mortar in which you’re investing by donating to Epic Change right now; it is the lives, hopes and potential of children whose dreams might otherwise be swallowed by poverty.

There are few, if any, other investments with the capacity for greater returns. I hope you’ll donate whatever you’re able today – or subscribe for $5, $10 or $25 a month – to create Epic Change in the lives of these kids. Please also pass this note along to anyone else you know who may be interested in our efforts.

I really can’t do it without you.

With hope and gratitude,
Stacey

PS: I hope you’re interested in learning more about the Epic Change you’re creating in Tanzania, and will subscribe to the Epic Change blog. I’ve already published one entry since I’ve arrived, and will be writing additional updates from Africa as often as I’m able. To make sure you don’t miss any, subscribe (for free!) to our RSS feed, or to have all of our updates come directly to your email, click here & follow the simple instructions. Don’t forget to post comments – I’d love to hear from home, and our readers here in Tanzania are excited to hear from you too!

Posted: July 10th, 2008 under The Foundry.
Comments: 4