Tanzania

I hired a car to finally join with the group in the Kilimanjaro area of Tanzania. One driver took me to the border, stopping to greet elephants (from a safe distance) along the way. Then I said goodbye to Kenya and another driver took me to the lodge Colleen booked for Woven, the name she and Janna chose for our tour, supporting and learning about the work of LOOM International. I must say, after my various challenges over the first days of my solo travel, it's an enormous relief to now be surrounded by familiar faces and a set tour.

We had an intense three days here that's difficult for me to summarize. What stands out most is the slow but momentous development happening with childhood education. Before this trip, I had a romanticized, superficial view of the Maasai people. In our little trips, I've now seen or heard about their poverty, lack of education, and childhood marriages. Various local partners of LOOM took us around to see new schools, villages, and even "special toilets" that are exponentially improving the lives of these people God loves.​

Note: If you grow up in an authentic Maasai context, you'll know little or nothing of what a toilet is. And if you build a school, it needs toilets. But the ground is very hard. And with limited budgets
that building only happens with a lot of hard work. Art one school we were told their toilets were special because it literally took years to dig them. A nearby school thought of a shortcut: look for the widest anthill and build on that softer material (after removing the ants). It gives new significance to the concept of a "throne room". In the end (haha), both are special.