Halfway House

Wow, how are we at the halfway point already. Terrifies me to think that a month today will be our very last day in Mtwara. The last six weeks have been challenging but so rewarding. It's strange to think that in a months time our team will probably never all be together again. Anyways rather than dreading the future let's live for the present....

My hair cut from Monday evening got a whole range of reactions, the being from Lydia who just didn't recognise me. Many people are now saying I look like a US Marine so are calling me Sergant Street, not sure if that is better than been described as an arms dealer?!? As I previously said the haircut was probably the most terrifying moment of my trip so far. It somehow took an hour, involved three different people trying to cut my hair, many locals filming it and an argument over the price. I now genuinely look like a goat in my opinion.

Tuesday and Wednesday were packed full of teaching with us covering the topics of Good and Bad work habits and also personal development and understanding your characteristics. With the language barrier teaching can be challenging as it's safe to say my Swahili is not quite fluent yet. However, with Musa and Evaline's help Jess and I manage to battle through. However Musa did have to bollock a class on Wednesday as they really weren't paying attention.

On Thursday we headed to Lindi for a career fair. Lindi was a good 3 hours bus ride away so it was a 4am start, because what journey here wouldn't involve many hours waiting around. Many people took the opportunity to sleep on the bus, not sure how as I was more concerned in checking we weren't about to crash. Anyways we survived, the Career fair was a success and it was great to catch up with the Lindi Volunteers. At the Career fair Jess, Irene and myself ran a Graduate Masterclass for the students to ask former graduates questions about careers. This went very well and was very popular. However as ever many areas for improvement for this weeks career fair in Mtwara.

On Saturday we held a Community Action Day at a local school. The topic was Early Pregnancy. Amazingly this day was attended by 140 people. Such a great way to spread a vital message. Following this we celebrated Asedi's birthday at a bar called Mantaray, had lunch at our new favourite restaurant Ginger and Garlic ( I had rice and beans for the equivalent of 70p) and then spent the afternoon chilling on the beach planning many UK reunions when we are back.

Basically right now life is pretty damn sweet!!