...on our way out of town...

Friends,

Today is Saturday and here is the recap of the week;

Sunday: Our team joined with the people here at IEC (International Evangelism Center) in Sakila, Tanzania for church and relaxed for the day.

Monday: We went to the IEC Orphanage to visit with the children. The orphans were between the ages of 4 and 8, and many of them are orphaned due to AIDS.

Tuesday: We went to WAMATU which is an AIDS awareness/support system near Arusha. There we were able to see some of the programs that are helping to prevent AIDS in the region as well as see some of the programs that are designed to help those already infected with the disease get along with life. After we left WAMATU we went over to an infant orphanage called Craddle of Love. There we found 38 children ages 1 month to 3 years. We spent the next few hours (which seemed like a few minutes) with the children. We held them, played with them, changed them, and fed them.

Wednesday: We revisited the IEC orphanage in Arusha. This was a bittersweet experience. We got to play with the kids all day, but had to leave them for good in the evening. It is tough doing that to kids especially after forming such an instant bond with them.

Thursday: IEC had its 25th anniversary celebration. Our team sat as honored guests at their ceremony and ate a beautiful lunch with them.

Friday: Safari! We went to Arusha National Park for a day safari trip. We saw zebra, giraffe, water buffalo, water buck, flamingo, lizard, dik dik, bush buck, and a slew of different birds. It was amazing!

Well I think that is it for now. We will be going back to Cradle of Love tomorrow, and then be leaving for Nairobi on Monday. In a few minutes we are headed to Arusha to shop in the market.

Kwa heri!