And Finally......Day 74, 75 and 76

 Day 74

So today we are up fairly promptly as we are going to go and get our PCR tests.

We walk down to ACTT at about 9am. When we arrive Robert is out visiting a client so we have a chat with some of the staff. I have included some photos taken in the office this morning. We spend quite a bit of our time here so thought people might like to see it, especially if you haven’t seen it on my blogs from previous years.

This is the entrance. As you can see the ACTT offices are down some steps, in the basement.

Pete is talking to Bruno by the front desk. You can see they now have a hand washing facility here.

So this is the view as you enter ACTT. There is a front desk displaying some laptops and then Dommy’s desk is right beside this.

Opposite Dommy, is the workshop where Bakari and Boniface do repairs and servicing of computers.

There is also a small showroom where desktop computers, printers, projectors etc are displayed.

Then around the corner, Winnie and Vai share a desk and Bruno has an office opposite them.

Then at the back is a storeroom and a training area where this morning Boni is running an ICT class.

By the time I have taken these photos and chatted with the staff, Robert has returned and is in his office.

It is now about 10.30 and we head to Mawenzi Hospital in the centre of Moshi to have our PCR tests. This is only about a 5 minute drive from the ACTT offices.

We put on our face masks, walk in through the main gate and there is a room for Covid testing just on the left. There is no-one in the waiting area when we arrive and the clinic room is shut. We sit down and wait and soon a doctor arrives and unlocks the door and we go in. The first thing the doctor does is to check our payment and receipt texts on my phone. He checks our passports and makes a few notes before he then does a nose and throat swab for each of us. We are then done and told we should get the results in 2 days. For anyone who has seen “The Good Karma Hospital “ TV series, this hospital looked very similar!!

We go back to the office and Mama Irene brings us some soup and bananas.......it’s a sort of breakfast/mid morning snack.

We then sort out some business with Robert and have a chat with Bruno before going out for a late lunch.

After lunch Robert drops us back MTAD. When we walk in it appears that the girls are having a lesson in Resturant Service. They are all dressed in their restaurant uniforms and Neema has them all laying up tables ready for a formal dinner.

We don’t do much for the rest of the day. It’s pretty hot so we sit in the shade and read our books. Later we have a light dinner.

Day 75

This morning we wake to the news that Qatar will be added to the U.K. “Red List” on Friday meaning all direct flights from there to the U.K. will be banned. We keep our fingers crossed that our flight on Thursday doesn’t get cancelled.

We spend the morning doing our packing and then walk down to ACTT. When we arrive they have no power again. This seems to be a frequent problem in Moshi at the moment.

We have a cup of tea and then about 12.30 we drive out to St.Ursula’s English Medium Primary School where some of the teachers may be interested in buying computers. Vai is also with us this morning.

When we arrive the Headteacher isn’t around and the other teachers are supervising lunch so we wait for a bit. Eventually Robert and Vai get a chance to talk to the teachers.

This school is only a few kilometres out of Moshi in the lower foothills of Kilimanjaro but it seems that the slightly cooler climate is great for growing coffee. There are coffee plantations everywhere.

By the time we drive back to Moshi it is gone 2 and we are all in need of some lunch so Robert drops us at a bar called Coco Kitchen whilst he drops Vai back at the office. Our waitress Elizabeth recommends a dish called “Kisinia” for lunch. I think Kisinia means platter or something similar in Swahili. The dish is a mixture of chips, salad, chicken, sausage, and goat with a chilli and tomato sauce. Robert arrives back just as the food arrives. It is really tasty and a bit different. When we finished we were all really full and the meal and our drinks for the 3 of us cost about £8.

While we are eating Elizabeth comes and asks if she can take our pictures for advertising as it is a new dish......we of course say this is fine.

It is now mid afternoon when Robert drops us back at MTAD. They also have no mains power but do at least have solar as a back up.

We still don’t have our test results so can’t fill in the forms for Qatar or check in for the flights so all of that will have to wait for tomorrow. 

Day 76

This morning we did our final bits of packing and then set about filling in all the forms we need for travelling.

First off we did our Passenger Locator Forms for the U.K. Government. We had to do one each and they took a while to fill in. We then looked at the form for Qatar but this needs to be printed and filled in by hand so needs to wait until we are down at the ACTT Office to do this. At this point we still don’t have our PCR test results so can’t complete it anyway.

So around 11 we walked down to the office. Soon after we arrived our PCR test results arrived by text - NEGATIVE!! So that was a relief. We printed off the the certificates. We then also printed off the Qatar forms and filled those in. After this we checked in for our flight and printed off the tickets. So much paperwork....but I didn’t want to rely on electronic versions in case of problems with networks and connections.

This afternoon we had planned to go and visit a school for deaf children where Bakari was doing some teacher training but just as we were about to leave the school rang to say they had no power so we abandoned the visit. Instead we just went out for lunch then back to MTAD.

Robert picked us up at just gone 5pm to drive us to the airport. We had a relatively smooth journey and arrived here just after 6. As we had plenty of time we stopped for a final drink with Robert before saying goodbye.

As I write this we are now sat in the departure lounge at Kilimanjaro Airport. It actually took about 40 minutes to check in, go through security and immigration and that was with no-one in front of us so this is certainly not quick. There is a lot of form checking, entering information on a computer and photographing the forms. I would certainly advise anyone to get here early to allow plenty of time for this. 

So this is pretty much the end of our trip and the end of my blog.

For anyone interested I have just done a quick summary of our trip with a few “interesting” facts.

We have been in Tanzania for 74 nights. We have stayed in 13 different locations, some of them more than once. 

We have travelled 5130 Km (3206 miles) by car as well as taking 2 flights and 7 ferries. We have travelled from Moshi to Mwanza then up the side of Lake Victoria as far as Bukoba and across to Kayanga then back to Mwanza, across to Ukerewe Island then across to Bunda, through the Serengeti and Tarangire, back to Moshi, on to Same, up to Mambo in the Usambara Mountains, down to Saadani and on to Dar es Salaam and then back to Moshi. Of course some of the miles have been clocked up during day trips.

We have seen at least 52 different types of mammal and reptile and 153 different types of bird.

We have met up with many old friends and made new ones and been introduced to 5 babies.

We have got through 12 bottles of hand sanitiser.

I think we have eaten bananas of some type every day. 

Even in these days of restricted travel we have met people from at least 14 different countries excluding Tanzania, albeit that some now live in Tanzania.

We have had some rain on 21 days which means we have had 54 completely dry days. We have had some sun almost everyday and most days have been very hot.

We have visited 17 different schools and 5 colleges/places of further education. 

Our main purpose for the trip was obviously to continue our School Computer Loan Project. 

During our time here we have visited 9 schools where we have extended the project by loaning a further 21 desktop computers, 1 printer, 1 laptop, 2 projectors and 15 surge protection extension leads. This now brings the total amount of equipment loaned to these schools to 56 desktop computers, 8 printers, 6 laptops, 4 projectors and 39 surge leads.

We also visited 2 other schools in the project where we have now ended the “loan” and handed over the computer equipment of 11 desktop computers, 1 printer and 7 leads to the schools to keep. 

A further 4 desktop computers were gifted to 4 ACTT agents for them to “gift” to a school of their choice as an incentive to encourage schools to run an ICT Teacher Training course.

Below is a summary of all the support provided to schools since 2013

A total 18 Schools and 1 Teacher Support Unit ( plus the 4 schools chosen by the 4 agents in 2021) have been supported with the following :-

110 Desktop Computers

10 Printers 

9 Laptops

1 power stabiliser

6 projectors + 1 spare bulb

2 replacement printer cartridges

54 surge protection extension leads 

We also funded a full time computer technician for 2 years to help support ICT in schools in and around Moshi.

This was all funded from the money that we have raised with the help of everyone who has supported us. Thank you to everyone, whether your support has been large or small, without it we could not have done any of this.

And finally thanks to everyone for reading this blog and “travelling” with us and if anyone has any questions or is interested to know more about our project please ask.

 

Day 71, 72, and 73

Day 71

This morning we travelled back to Moshi. Evodi picked us up at about 10.15. This journey was far smoother than our one on Tuesday. We called in at an ATM on the way, then stopped at MTAD to drop off our bags and finally got Evodi to take us to the ACTT Offices.

Today is the day the ACTT Moshi staff are having their day out. They have planned to visit the Materuni Waterfalls followed by dinner at a bar in Moshi. Robert is still travelling back from Kenya and won’t join us until the evening so Bruno has made most of the arrangements.

We arrive at ACTT soon after 12 just in time to find Mama Irene providing lunch for everyone. Then at around 12.45 we are ready to leave. It is decided that Bruno will drive Robert’s large car with us, Dommy and Mama Irene and Boniface will drive Bruno’s smaller car with Bakari, Vai and Winnie.

It takes about 40 minutes to reach Materuni village where we need to register and pick up our guide, a guy called Reginald. We then drive a further 20 minutes up a pretty rough track to where we can park the cars. From here we get out and walk to the waterfalls.

It takes about 25 minutes to walk through the forest to reach the bottom of the waterfalls, they are pretty impressive. 

There are plenty of photo opportunities - a must on ACTT outings. The boys are the first into the water but in the end everyone is persuaded to paddle and Bruno even goes for a swim. To be honest even though the water is coming down off Kilimanjaro it doesn't feel that cold.

Another must have for ACTT trips out are drinks and snacks, which we have brought with us from Moshi. Everyone clearly enjoys the visit and it is a really lovely setting.

While we are sat having our snacks some local boys come for a swim. They go straight in with no hesitation.

Eventually Bruno decides it is time to leave and we walk back to the cars. There is a stop for a few more photos on the way. I am not sure we really needed a guide for our trip (though I think you have to have one) but Reginald was very good at taking group photos for us.

Just before we get back to the car there is a stop to sample some of the local banana beer. Pete and I have tried it before and so decline it on this occasion as do several of the others..... although ofcourse we are still made to pose for a photo. Bakari, Winnie, Mama Irene and even Bruno however seem to rather enjoy it.

Once everyone has had enough of the beer and we have given what is left to a local guy we drive to a bar on the far side of Moshi, where Bruno has arranged for a meal. This bar has really lovely grounds providing more photo opportunities.

Robert has now made it back to Moshi so Boni goes and picks him up. They get back just as the food is being served.

After the meal Bruno speaks to the staff about the challenges and the achievements of ACTT over the last year and then gets everyone to say what working at ACTT and being part of the team means to them. Bruno has also prepared some Certificates of Appreciation which are presented to everyone including us which is lovely.

They even got a frame for ours.

At this annual event Robert also gives out a couple of awards. This year the High Performance award goes to Boni and the Highest Sales goes to Winnie.

The evening finishes about 9pm although we then end up in a bar with Robert and a friend of his. Mama Diana arrives back from Arusha about 10pm so also joins us for a drink, so we don't get back to MTAD until gone 11pm. 

It has been a lovely day. I think these events are always great for moral and team building and we always feel privileged to be included in them by the ACTT staff.

Day 72

Today we are up a bit later than usual and when we get down to breakfast we find the terrace covered in large bags.

Millie explains to us that the bags all contain maize, beans, rice and tea. They are going to be donated to an adolescent HIV clinic at Mawenzi Hospital in Moshi. They have enough for 50 young people to have a bag each. This is all funded by donations to MTAD.

We spend the rest of the morning booking our quarantine hotel in London and trying to get a refund from KLM. Hopefully we have now achieved both. We also make a first attempt at sorting out our stuff for going home.

Robert picks us up about 4pm and we go to a bar for a drink and some food. We have some discussion about the future of ACTT and how things may progress over the next year. We also discuss how our visit has gone this year and what we might do on our next visit.

Once we have eaten we head back into town to meet up with Abdullah and Evodi. We have a drink with them and say goodbye to them as we may not see them again before we return to the U.K. 

Day 73

Today is Sunday and a lazy day for us. We get up and have a leisurely breakfast on the terrace. I then spend some time updating my school files on the computer.

Late morning we stroll into town, go to the bank and then stop at Mimosa Bar for a drink and lunch. It is mid afternoon by the time we leave and really quite hot so Pete suggests we walk back using some of the side roads which we haven’t been down before. We pass this roundabout before leaving the main road.

As we walk on we notice that grass has been planted like this on the side of the road. We guess the bags around the edge are to stop the soil being washed away when it rains. Maybe they will be removed once the grass is properly established.

Using the side roads turns out to be a good decision as these roads are a lot quieter and offer more shade.

These roads are also quite residential and we pass a variety of different houses. One thing we have noticed recently is the variety of different coloured roofs we see. Blue seems to be particularly popular.

We spend the rest of the day at MTAD.