A Job for Everyone – by Shannon Lundquist
Monday, January 13, 2014 
Hujambo! The team awoke this morning after our first night at Kilema Visitor Centre to roosters, church bells, and for DG Valarie Wafer, an up close and personal inspection of her mosquito net. She recovered quickly with a bold marketing maneuver: she had brought along a few pounds of Tim Horton’s coffee! Cleary she is going to need perseverance to live up to the Rotary Four Way Test with me as her roommate for the next 10 days…
The facilities here are magically situated 5000 feet up Kilimanjaro. As we were enjoying the tranquil scene of the mountain at sunrise, we were greeted by the smiling faces and joyous laughter of uniformed students on their way to class. [Un]fortunately for them, today was a holiday!
Team 1 visited Nganjoni Clinic this morning – Judy, Maria and Kate accompanied Sister Mathilda to inspect the recently arrived materials and equipment. Kilema Rotary Club gets the job done! Although the shipment arrived just three weeks ago, everything was already organized and the community celebrated the improvement of local healthcare services with tea, peanuts and fried bananas.
Although Team 1 has been on the ground for some days, it was Team 2’s first opportunity to put in some sweat equity and Rotary Kisaluni Hospital House will never be the same. The Kilema team of Rotarians, engineers and local skilled labourers have done a top notch job at renovating the housing facilities for vocational laboratory students and hospital/nursing staff over the last few months. Under Sharon’s forewomanship, she and Stephen enjoyed some casual painting inside the cool shelter of the guardhouse, while directing the gruelling tasks of the DG, Madeline, Theo (aka Beth) and Shannon. In total, their chain gang-like efforts in the 35C hot sun produced 28 holes for the planting of shrubs tomorrow.
Bill, Roger and John undertook an audit of the ongoing projects and exploring additional initiatives for 2015 and beyond. Needless to say, a nourishing lunch provided by onsite master chef Alex (a gem) was followed by a well-deserved siesta.
A number of us trekked up Ngangu Hill this afternoon, taking the weaving red sand roads and paths through the lush forest. It is amazing to think that over 250,000 people live in this maze of banana and avocado trees, hills and streams. The view from Ngangu Hill is spectacular – looking north east towards Kenya, this spiritual site was dedicated to the last Chief of Kilema by the church, and is a cherished place for pilgrim and tourist alike. We were guided on our journey by Camille, a local 17 year boy who we met after a fortuitous wrong turn at the fork, and were greeted on our way back down by numerous chuwas, young men on motorbikes, and a woman who gifted us with the largest avocados I have ever seen (for those who know me, this is definitely the highlight of my trip thus far). The generous nature of the people here combined with the constant song of children laughing, have me wondering about our western definition of “progress”.
As we have limited connectivity at Kilema this week, the team sends much love to family and friends back home. [Note to MRG: definitely 2015] XO
Good to see that you are all working hard and also enjoying the hazy lazy days of Kilema. Wish we were there.
Kim, Nate and Kenz
Hey looks like u guys r having such a good time im so jealous lol. Your blog is so good! ya so i gtg keep posting and see ya when u get back 🙂