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!