Random sampling of pictures from different projects

Hello Everyone!
Below is a random sampling of pictures from a few of the different projects i've worked on here. I have many more to share with you, but they will have to come in other blogs as it is a very long process of uploading pictures and computer time is expensive :) Please tell me how you like the pics and if you have questions or want to know more about things!!

This is me and some fine folks of the Tanga Rotary Club. We are in Pongwe, at a school for the blind, hanging mosquito nets. The Tanga Rotary was part of a project distributing and assembling the mosquito nets to area boarding schools and I was lucky enough to participate ;)

Ahhh...Bagamoyo boys! These are 2 artists from Bagamoyo- there is a group of about 20 guys that are all artists from Bagamoyo (where the only arts college exists in Tz) and theyr'e known by everybody in the arts industry here as the Bagamoyo Boys. I attended the 27th Annual Bagamoyo Arts Festival to recruit and evaluate the artists there for our project in Kizimkazi. This is Kitebo in front, he is a musician- he has been recorded and his songs are often on the radio here in Tz! Behind him is Lumelezi- who does painting and other types of art. Both of them work in a children's group that teaches drum making, drum playing and traditional dancing to area children. Hence, they are being employed at the Kizimkazi Culture Music Festival to head our children's program! So, next week I will be doing a training workshop with them, and Asha, who you will see in another post, to do the programs we want during the festival and also to help with stage design and the artwork to be displayed at the festival!

This is another picture for the greeting cards to send to Toledo,Oh. I thought this was very interesting because religion here is very important to EVERYBODY- regardless of which particular religion you practice, the fact that you MUST practice one, and dilligently, is something this culture really believes in. So, many people are Christian, many people are Muslim, and the rest are just considered "pagani" or pagan if you are someone that doesn't go to church or the mosque...witchcraft is also ever-prevalent here. I hear many many stories but have only witnessed a few instances of it. This is a pretty sensitive subject here- withcraft- and what is happening with albino killings on behalf of witchcraft rituals is extremely scary- but its another topic that I wish not to get too deep into- please read and research it though- its very interesting and may give you a perspective you havent thought about...ever

This is me reading and looking at some of the drawings done by the boys at the boy's orphanage.
Nassarro is the boy across from me and Omary is next to me and Ally is standing behind him.

This is a picture of one of the girls in Madam Kurwa's Form 2 English class...she is drawing a picture to put on the front of a greeting card to send to the Early Start Highschool in Toledo, Ohio (as soon as i get the address). This design is one that is usually used in piko- or henna art- a type of temporary body marking that is done on the body- usually the hands and feet and back for wedding ceremonies here. it is most common among the indian culture for weddings here but many people use it and the style is very prety. There is a group of women in Zanzibar who are piko and henna artists and they have started transferring the designs onto canvas- something that hsa not been done yet in African art- and it looks so nice...the different styles and colors contrast and compliment one another and really stand out on canvas

Here I am stamping books that were donated to area schools- INCLUDING TOLEDO SECONDARY SCHOOL!!!!!!!! by the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and USAID- the stamp says "a gift from the american people" in english and in swahili...the books chosen were very nice and the students have enjoyed them so much!!

These are the boxes full of books that were donated...i took lots of pics of this because books are very VERY rare here, during the period of socialism all the book publishers were banned from Tz. the effects of this period are still seen here today...

This is a HUGE spider- this picture is taken in my room and i did not sleep for two nights because i didnt have anything big enough to hit this spider with that would impair it for long enough for me to find something else to kill it- honeslty- the heel of any shoe could not conquer this beast- i know it doesnt look all that big from the pic cuz theres nothing next to it to guage its sixe from, but if you think i could get that close...ohhh, it was terrifying...and embarassing. i was living at the boys orphanage at the time and i would wake the boys up early in the morning for exercise and they were told before i moved in they had better behave because i had army training...so, i couldnt exactly run from my room at night in fright from a spider...so id go to my room and just keep the lights on and tuck in my mosquito net and read and not let the spiderout of my sight. eventually i asked one of the boys to come check on something and i pointed out the spider and they used a broom to sweep it out and catch it and then they took it outside...

Here I am dancing with some of the boys at the orphanage before they take their showers and brush their teeth!

This pic is taken at the playground of the Tanga International School! I am with three boys from the orphanage, Omary on the far left, Nurdini in the red and blue and Eliyah on the right. the other boys are neighbor kids that play there too!

This me working on schoolwork with Sarafina and Masaaidi at the girls orphanage in the study room.