Happy one year anniversary to us!

        One year ago today Jason and I got married on the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand. We were with our parents and siblings. It could not have been a more perfect day. I was not a bride hung up on the small details, all we cared about was that we were getting married. The very loud microphone that the preacher was speaking into could not change that. Actually, it just made us laugh. The fact that my father had to keep handing me a rag to wipe the sweat away could not change the fact that I was marrying my best friend. We laughed at that as well. All the small imperfections gave our wedding character. Sure, by time we took pictures all my make up had been wiped off and Jason's shirt was completely see through from sweat, but we didn't care. I look back on that day and it feels like yesterday but our lives have certainly changed. We have been living in Tanzania for a little over 6 months now. I am very proud of what Jason and I have accomplished in such a short time here. Jason is a pilot for a private airline and I have started my NGO, Walk In Love.

        We have been very busy but we are lucky because at the end of the day we have each other. If I did not have Jason to listen to my ramblings, my frustrations, and to make me laugh I think I would have packed up and gone home a long time ago. Life here is good but it is difficult. Just imagine if everything you thought made sense, didn't. It doesn't make sense to charge $550 to volunteer in Tanzania, it doesn't make sense to be tax exempt you have to be a religious organization, it doesn't make sense that if you are paying 2 inspectors $600/day for there expenses that you still have to pick up there $200/ night hotel room or they simply won't let you pass the inspection. I could go on and on, but I won't:) 

T.I.A.

1. A couple of days ago Jason and I were riding the motorcycle and a man on rollerblades grabbed ahold and we took him into town. I turned and said "Karibu" which means welcome, he just smiled:)

2. Our car broke down almost a month ago and we just got it back.

3. Nothing is made in Tanzania. Everything comes by truck from Kenya that is why it takes so long to get anything and why everything is so expensive.

4. You can buy a Range Rover here for $15,000 and buy the same one in the states for $4,000.

5. We see Masaai wearing all black with their faces painted white  with Ostrich feather in their hair on a weekly basis. They are going through circumcision and must dress like that for 3 months. They look terrifying but the Masaai are actually some of the nicest and funniest tribes.

6. I love it when the women make a high pitched noise while clicking their tongues on the roof of their mouths. It means they are happy:) 

7. Spending time with people in the villages makes me happy.

8. If Jason does not take off before 5:45 he has to spend the night in the Serengheti.

9.The milk here actually tastes like a cow and thats nasty.

10. If you import anything, including a package, the Tanzania government charges 48% of what they think it costs.

To see pictures of the white Masaai follow this ling:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8262578@N08/500275296/

My friend, Zulfa

My friend Zulfa is sweet, funny, outgoing, compassionate, optomistic and for reasons I cannot understand, happy. Zulfa is 8 years old and has been through more in those 8 years than most of us will go through in our entire lives. She has been traumatized, victimized and treated like no more than dirt found on the bottom of a shoe.

I met Zulfa a couple of weeks ago when I first started working with Golgotha, the school she attends. Zulfa hung out the weekend we were painting the classrooms as well. She told Jason that she loved him! The teachers and volunteers told me that she was normally terrified of men but she was really comfortable with Jason. It was so sweet!

The next week I was invited to take a field trip with the kids from Golgotha to Lake Manyara National Park. One of the volunteers had arranged and paid for all the kids from class 2 and 3 to go. On the first stop when we all got off the bus to see the hippos Zulfa came up to me and took my hand, the way she was smiling at me I already knew whatever she was going to ask I was going to say yes to, she asked me if I would call her up to sit on my lap when we got back on the bus. Of course, I did this immediately when we got back on the bus. How could I resist that sweet smile! Over the next 5 hours Zulfa sat on my lap. She took pictures, the ones above and below, we listened to music, pointed out all the animals, and drew all over my arms. She wrote “I love Aubree” on her arm and “I love Zulfa” on my arm.  About half way through the trip I had decided, and told the other volunteers, that I wanted to be a bigger part of Zulfa’s life than just the occasional visitor. I am in love with this girl!

Zulfa has only one living family member, her mother, Anna. Anna has done what she has had to do to make a living for herself and Zulfa. Unfortunately, this path has been a very traumatizing and dangerous one for both of them. I requested that Anna meet with me the day I was meeting with the widows. She came, much to my delight! I sat and spoke with her for some time trying to figure what Anna wanted to do and how we could help her and Zulfa have a bright future. During the interview Anna told me that she was taking classes to become a tailor before she got sick. I suspect the “sickness” is related to HIV/AIDs, but unfortunately, there is still a stigma attached to being diagnosed and Anna has so far refused to get tested.

With your help, I would like to send Anna back to school and take care of her and Zulfa’s basic needs while she is attending school. Anna has one year left of tailoring school and once she finishes WIL will hire her to make our products. It will cost $100 per month for Anna’s tuition, rent and food for her and Zulfa. Anna wants to change her life and make a better future for Zulfa, but Anna has not had the opportunities in life that most of us have. She has no family, no education, and has been on her own for most of her life.

If you would like to sponsor Anna or contribute to her education please email me at walkinlovetanzania@gmail.com and/or use the donate button that is located on our website www.walkinlovetanzania.com and on the blog walkinlovetanzania.blogspot.com. WIL is in the process of registering as an NGO in the USA and all donations are tax exempt for this years taxes.

"Is this my life now?"

    On Friday I got a text message from Jason that said "Do you want to go for a helicopter ride to the Serengheti this Sunday?" My response, of course, was "Oh hell yes!" I apologize for the language but it is what I said and I was that excited!! I did not realize it was going to be a photo shoot for Jason's company as well as a lodge that was chartering the helicopter but I am really glad it was. I got a call from Jason on Saturday while he was at work telling me that the helicopter ride was a photo shoot and we were leaving in a  couple of hours. Oh, I forgot, he also told me that I had to wear all white! I was pretty freaked out about all that! I am not a person that really enjoys getting their picture taken and especially if it is for a marketing campaign! I am very thankful for the "white" clothing package I had received from my mother last month after turning all my whites into yellows. So I put on all my whites and we were off to the airport.

Pictures from the our "intimate" photo shoot.

    When we got to the airport I was really excited. I had never been on a helicopter before let alone over the Serengheti. We all got in the helicopter and Jan started the engine. As I sat there looking around all I could think was "Is this my life now?". I was sitting in a helicopter surrounded by friends that I know one day will be like family. Jan was flying the helicopter with Jason seated next to him. I was in the back taking pictures of Hannah and laughing with Cecile. We were  all wearing white which made it seem even more surreal.
    We took off with one swift movement upward. I loved it! I loved take off and I loved every second of the flight. I did not think I could be any more excited until Jan tells me to look at him over the radio. I look up at Jan as he is giving me two thumbs up, which means Jason is now flying the helicopter!!! It got even better when Jan took back over for the landing. We were circling this amazingly beautiful crater. When I realized we were about to land on the edge I think my heart skipped a beat then it skipped another beat when Jan decided to have some fun and turn really sharply over it!
  When we found a place to land Jan dropped us off then took back off. We needed pictures of the helicopter so Jan got the chance to show off some by swooping down over us and flying off into the sunset. He also hovered right in front of us for awhile. It was all very amazing! Once Jan landed I informed him that if he did not get all the girls then he should!
   As soon as Jan landed we could see Masai in the distance running over the hills. Within 5 minutes we were surrounded by about 150 Masai. The day just got better!! I happen to love the Masai people and was absolutely thrilled they had shown up. The only problem was that we were supposed to be selling an intimate and romantic moment. We went ahead and took all the pictures and asked them to step back when they were too close. In the end we got some amazing pictures! It was not intimate or romantic at all but it was one of the best experiences of my life!! As a gift to the Masai we gave the elder the bottle of wine we had been sipping on for the shoot.

Video of us taking off

I guess the answer to the question "Is this my life now" is yes. Yes, this is Jason and I's life and we are determined to never take it for granite. Jason and I are living our lives to the fullest. We decided years ago to follow our dreams and move to Africa. We saved our money, we didn't go on a honeymoon, we weren't scared the unknown, we were only scared of not trying. It was good decision! We have been lucky but more than that we have been determined. We have also had unconditional support from our families. Most people thought we were crazy but from the beginning our parents told us to follow our dreams and that has made all the difference.

Jason's Birthday BBQ/Bonfire/Beer Pong Bash!

   If you know Jason very well then you know that three of his favorite things are BBQ, Bonfires and Beer pong (maybe more of a past favorite but he still enjoys it!). We had a great turn out for Jason's 26th birthday party. Jason and I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning preparing for it. While we were in town we decided to run by DHL to see if the package from my mom had made it, and it had! Jason was really excited about the velveeta and rotel! We even bought the expensive chips to dip in it.  Now, the dip was not for the party, we were going to eat all that ourselves another night! We bought several crates of good beer, soda and 4 kilos of potatoes! We ended up buying a lot of food for our 25 guests but the landlord supplied most of the meat. We bought all the American BBQ essentials such as hamburgers, hotdogs and steak. Michael, our landlord, bought half a goat! They brought in the goat to be trimmed and marinated. Luckily our friend Daniel had come over 2 hours early to help out. He had the privilege of trimming half a goat. The trimming includes getting rid of 2 legs, a tail, some intestines and kidneys. We then added my marinate and cooked for a couple house on there grill. While Daniel was doing take trimming I was preparing 4 kilos  of potato salad and making the cupcakes. We had tried to bake a carrot cake (Jan's amazing recipe) the night before but ended up with burnt sides and top and completely raw in the middle. It was one in the morning when we finally took it out so I just stuck in the in the fridge and decided to make cupcakes out of it in the morning. I also make chocolate netalla cupcakes with netalla frosting and, thanks to my mom's package, we had yellow cake with chocolate frosting! Jason made some great pasta salad with a little smoky gouda cheese and deviled eggs!

   

   This was going to be the first time I met Jason's bosses (Cecile and Johan) and I was pretty nervous! Luckily (sarcasm) they showed up while I was wearing an apron, kinda sweaty, skewing steak kabobs! I was so embarrassed but they are about the nicest people I have ever met. Jason has always spoken very highly of them and I knew he really like them but I was still surprised at how incredibly nice and fun the were. They also have the cutest little girl! Some of Jason's colleagues, Jan (helicopter pilot) and Eugene (pilot) and Sarah (pilot) also made it to the party. It is very comforting meeting people that I feel we could spend the holidays and special occasions with since we will be so far away from home.  We had a so much fun with everybody. We had the grill and bonfire going most of the night. When the meat would come off it would be passed around. The steak kabobs and goat were fantastic right off the grill! 

    

   After the bonfire had gone out and most of our guests had gone home we decided to teach some of our Tanzanian and English friends how to play beer pong! It was a great way to end the night! I can't wait to have everyone over again!

Lots of love,

Aubree and Jason

What has Captain Jason been up to?

What has Captain Jason's been up to?

Jason has been very very busy the past week. He has been flying a lot to get his hours up as well as putting in hours at the office. He usually leaves around 7:30am and gets home about 6:30, M-Saturday! His boss reassures him that all his hard work with pay off in the long run and we are very optimistic about Jason's future with this awesome company! I cannot remember the exact plane it is but I do know that Johan, the bossman, refers to one of the plans as "Jason's plane". It is a smaller plane but it is faster than the caravan and they expect to have a lot of flights. Things just keep getting better!

What has Aubree been up to?

I have also been busy this week! Most mornings I leave with Jason or leave shortly after. At 7:30 in the morning the Dalla dallas are bursting with people so I usually wait until about 9 so I won't be hanging on for dear life. Things have been very busy with Walk In Love and Neema House. Neema house now has 4 babies! Two new babies this week. WIL has officially started it's women empowerment working program. Merchandise will be for sale online this weekend!

Check my other blog at walkinlovetanzania.blogspot.com and/or check out my website at www.walkinlovetanzania.com

We have had virtually no social life because we have been working so much but we do try to get out every Saturday night. We met a nice American and have made plans with him this weekend. I am also trying to plan Jason's 26th birthday party! We have decided on a Mexican theme. That means margaritas, coronas, tacos and a piñata! We are very excited to have all out new friends over for the day. Wish me luck in finding presents because "good" things are few and far between here.


In other news, Jason is tired of me complaining about it taking almost an hour to get to Neema on the local transportation so he is going to teach me to drive the motorcycle this week! I'm excited and terrified:) Michael has found a back road between our house and Neema so we are going searching this weekend and hopefully it is motorcycle safe of I'll be on the road people. Exciting! Terrifying!
Thats all the news for now folks.
Lots of Love
Aubree and Jason

Babies, Babies, Babies!

Jason was again sent off to Dar for important meetings and to take his Tanzania commercial pilots test this past week. When I told Claire that Jason has to go to Dar she invited me to stay with her and the kids for the couple of days he was gone.  I happily agreed! Even at 29 I still love a good slumber party! I got to Neema House on Tuesday to catch the tail end of the interviews that Claire, Micheal and Mama Musa had been holding all day. They interviewed around 35 women for 7 nanny positions.  I only caught the last three but I wasn't sad about it. Claire, Micheal and Mama Musa seemed pretty worn out by time I got there.  They are conducting final interviews today so that when the baby arrived they are staffed and ready to take them in.


I will be interviewing some of the women that were not selected to be nannies but the have tailoring experience on Friday. There were several women that had many people depending on them and it will not be hard to find a women that will fit the criteria to be our first WIL women in the "Believe in me" working program. I will need the women to have tailoring experience so that she can start making some of the items we will be selling on our online shop. The more we sell the more women we can employ! To the right are the first fabrics we bought at the market. We will be making robes (for men, women and children) aprons (men, women and children) lounge pants (men, women and children) dresses and rompers for little girls to begin with. My idea is to have pictures of each item but the customer can then pick which material they would like there clothing item made out of. I am hoping to have some items up by next week so people can start ordering! Micheal will be returning late summer and has agreed to carry an orders back with him. Then my parents will carry orders back in early November. 


While staying at Neema House we got a call about a little boy, Frank, that had been abandoned by his mother. After meeting the grandfather that had been taking care of the little boy we decided that they did not really meet the criteria for staying at the orphanage but so far they have met criteria to be in WIL outreach program. The grandfather has taken very good care of the Frank but simply has no one to watch him during the day. He has tried for the last month to find someone to help him but he cannot work and keep Frank because he is just too young to be left by himself. It is sad that the grandfather's only option was to place his little grand baby in an orphanage. The grandfather even said that if we took him he would send what little money he had to help feed Frank. We will be visiting Franks home on Monday to see if they fit all the criteria. Most likely Frank will be our first child to have a daycare sponsor ($35 per month). I do plan on opening a daycare within the next year but that does not help Frank or his grandfather right now. I will update you on Frank and his grandfather after the home visit. 

Claire and I also met with a midwife this week. She contacted Claire because she had recently moved to the area with her husband and children and wanted to do some good work with the community. When Claire told me about her I immediately started thinking about all the knowledge and experience she could bring to WIL.  In our meeting I asked her how she would feel about going to the villages and teaching the pregnant women what they needed to do to keep themselves healthy throughout the pregnancy and after. She will also be doing basic health check ups on the women and babies once they are born. We will also be bringing food and prenatal vitamins to the women once a month once the program is funded and ready to go! I hope to launch this and all the programs in October.

Claire, Mama Musa, Monik (midwife) and I went to visit the NICU unit at the government hospital in town this week. Many babies, for one reason or another, are abandoned at this hospital. Some of the mothers just get up and walk out after delivery and others are brought by people who have found them on the side of the road, in a pit latrine, etc. Once the babies are healthy they will then be sent to an orphanage, like Neema House. While we were there Claire asked one of the nurses about a 1 lb 10 oz. baby that has been abandoned months before. The nurses led us over the Elizabeth, now 3 lbs. 4oz. It really is a miracle that these babies are able to pull through. Mt. Meru has a good survival rate despite the fact that the babies are not in incubators and they often run low on formula. The head nurse, Rose, said that once Elizabeth is up to 5 lbs. 8 oz she will give us a call and we can bring her to Neema House. I plan on volunteering at the NICU on a regular basis. I am going to ask the nurses if they will allow me to do some skin to skin therapy and/ or just hold the abandoned babies. Most of the babies mothers stay in a separate room right off the baby room. They feed and spend time with them everyday.Below are pictures of a few of the babies in the NICU unit. The nurse said they deliver an average of 35 babies per day. The very first picture is Elizabeth.

I also went to visit my old friends from Cradle this week. It was so nice to see and kiss on the babies! Here are a couple of pictures I took on my visit.

I also spend a lot of time with Franki and Meshack this week. They are both doing very well at Neema House. The doctor is very happy with their weight gain and overall health. Meshack is very strong and healthy but he does still have blood in his stool and cannot go back to the village until that has cleared up. We will be taking Bibi (grandma) back to the village as well as delivering formula for the remaining triplets in the village on Friday. 

Jason has had a really exciting week as well! He took and passed his Tanzania commercial pilots license!!! The day after he got the results he flew his first passengers into the Serengeti! Jason is a person that has proven that if you want something badly enough anything is possible! So proud of my husband:)

Peace and Quiet

A lot of things have been happening with Walk In Love these last 3 weeks! I haven't been great about updating my blog but please check out my website at www.walkinlovetanzania.com. We plan on having the Neema House open house on June 30 so this will be a busy month. Next week I will start to interview the women and do some home visits! I'm so excited to get "Believe in Me" off the ground and start changing some lives!




The house is pretty quiet except of course for the sounds of chickens, goats and random people outside, but the point is that the noise is not coming from the inside anymore. Its actually a little lonely now that we are "back to normal". I miss Nancy's high pitched, loud voice calling Jason "ki Cha!!"which means crazy in Swahili. I also miss B snuggled on my hip demanding kisses all the time! Selemani smile from across the room and his never ending imagination! As most of you already know, Jason and I took care of our good friends children for 2 weeks. It was pretty crazy going from zero kids to three under the age of 5 but we managed quite well. Jason and Joyce were my heroes for those two weeks. Jason dove right in and wasn't scared, well overly scared, of diapers, wiping a bottom or two, or just sitting and playing the evening away. Joyce came in at the exact right moments and offered to lend a hand in the kitchen, usually cleaning all the breakfast and lunch dishes. She kept me sane! Now, I'm not going to lie, when we dropped the kids off I did feel a little like Mel Gibson in Braveheard shooting FREEDOM!! But when we returned to the house and all the toys were gone and not kids were laughing and playing I did miss them, how easily we forget!

Playing in their bedroom
Hanging to out on the front porch, we spent a lot of time there.

 Joyce, B and snarling Nancy:)

 So cute!

 Love!

 Eating popcorn and watching some Peppa Pig

 Beautiful Nancy!!!

This collection of goodies are some of our favorite finds!! Yes, you are seeing correctly. Some of the things were have been most excited about buying are shoes, broom and pan!, rain boots, fabric softener, cheese grater, kitchen towels, laundry basket and a special board and rolling pin to make chapati and tortillas. Also in the mirror you can see my party new dress:)

We went to the clothing market this week and went a little crazy buying clothes. The market we buy our clothes at is really just  side street with huge wheel barrels full of clothing. I bough a Tommy Hilferger, Ralph Lauren, tons of Forever 21, American Eagle sweaters and long sleeve shirt for 500 shillings a piece! That's 30 cents ya'll! Jason bought, well a lot, but one of his favorites is an Abercrombie zip you sweat shirt for a staggering $1.80. This is a picture of all our buys after we washed them, immediately. I told you they were out of wheel barrels right.....

Jason has had a very busy three weeks. He finally got his Captains uniform from the states. I must say he looks quite handsome!! No, he looks down right hot:) He was very excited to get the uniform and all the things that go with it. (I can't remember what they are called but the stripes on the shoulders mean something and he has his wings with the company name on them.) On top of getting his uniform his company also felt he was capable of going to Dar, the capital, and presenting the last bit of information to the Tanzania Civil Aviation (board?) to finalized the licensing of the company. He was also supposed to take his test for his Tanzania pilots license but this is Africa, so of course they didn't have enough staff and cancelled. They only offer the test once per week so Jason will have to go back next week to take the test. Johan, Jason's boss and owner of the company, is trying to get Jason flying as soon as possible now that the office is up and running. They already have a lot of clients booked this summer and they are deciding on whether to buy another plane and helicopter! I hope they do!

This leads me to another subject that Jason and I discuss quite often. Adoption. Jason and I feel very strongly that adoption is something we will pursue in the future. Before watching the three kids the last 2 weeks I was quite confident that we could have at least 5, not I'm not so confident but don't write it off! I have fallen head over heals for a particular little guy named Ibra, but I think he looks like a Mac:) Mac Charles Packard anyone?:)  I would love to adopt Ibra in the future, when Jason and I are ready. I'm not saying that we are going to adopt him, but it is not out of the question. After watching the kids I would not be surprised if Jason falls for a little girl while I have fallen for a little guy. We always say we want twins! They don't have to be related:) I have a feeling that all of our girls WILL be daddy's princesses! Here are some of my favorites of Ibra over the last 3 months.