opening ceremony

well, this is our last day in Tanzania for a while. The coffee is perked, the bags are out, my actions are being heavily supervised (scrutinized). I kid, I kid, I need direction. We have most of the day to pack before we meet our friends for Tuesday Frisbee, pool swimming at C&S's, and then a send-off dinner.

I'm also downloading the videos that were shot at the grand opening of J's project on Friday. We drove out there (about an hour from Dar) to find dozens of students, medical staff (including the happiest doctor I've ever seen), teachers, and local government officials.

The project, carried out by a local entrepreneur in a partnership with e4e, provided solar panels to the local school, teacher's homes, and hospital. Oh, I know it sounds weird that teacher's homes would have power but it actually is a big deal. Without it there is no place to charge their phones (there aren't land lines) or plug in a radio. Therefore, many teachers will opt to choose many miles away so they can be on the grid. This really impacts teacher absenteeism.

The schools can now run a computer (for print-outs) and a photocopier (once they get the money for one). The hospital now has a fridge so they can do something as simple as run fans and provide cold water to patients. They can also run a centrifuge and some other instruments with long names.

The opening ceremony was late (we are on Tanzanian time, after all) but not terribly long. There was a dj and kids dancing while they waited for the adults to get their stuff together. There were speeches by many different stakeholders, even the kids. J also spoke and, with help from GM, managed to put together her speech in Swahili. It was well received and, I got the sense, a  bit of a rarity for a mzungu to go out on a limb and speak in Swahili. The kids also put a skit together to emphasize how much their lives would be changing with the addition of a few solar panels. But, as J wanted to say in her speech but was assured the humour would be lost in the translation: the foundation provides the power, the children provide the energy.