News

Apologies for not updating sooner! There have been a lot of great developments the past weeks at Kisampa. The first, and most exciting one, is a new project that I am pioneering in the village of Matipwili.

The main idea that I am working with and hoping to implement is a tree project. The only source of fuel in the village is charcoal, which requires cutting down precious indigenous trees. I have seen so many trees cut down in my few months here, that it breaks my heart. The men and women I have spoken to would all like to do something about the charcoal cutters, but they lack the resources. I am hoping to raise enough money to buy hardwood trees (eucalyptus) and start a "tree farm" for the purpose of charcoal cutting and harvesting. I am hoping for up to 5 acres of village land to do this. The second component of the project is to replant indigenous trees, a process I have already started by collecting seeds and germinating trees in my own banda. So far I only have 6, but I am hoping to plant 20 more seeds this week. I have been around all of the flowering trees on my hands and knees collecting seeds- it has been very funny! Eventually, I hope to have someone germinating indigenous trees in the village, as well as running the tree farm. My project would not only help the environment, but bring much needed jobs to the community.

I have the full support of Rob and Jackie, and the rest of the Kisampa team in this project, now I just need to raise money! If you are interested in hearing more about the tree project and how you can get involved, please email me at cbaccich@gmail.com

I will also continue to update my blog with the progress of this new initiative. I have gotten a really positive response from the men and women I have discussed it with in the village.

In other news, we also had a member of Tanzanian parliament and his wife stay at the camp for the night. I wore my African dress to meet them at the river, then drove to the village with them and Rob. They had a meeting with Matipwili, which was all in Swahili, so at the break, I left and went to go look for Nema, the dressmaker.

I found her by her house, and she was squeeling with excitement! She was so happy I was wearing her dress and very pleased with the way that it looked. She then took me by the arm and paraded me through the whole village. The women at the market, selling tomatoes and onions, made me twirl around, clapping their hands and expressing their approval of the dress. Young girls in their secondary school uniforms told me how much they liked it…it was very fun.

Nema was a sponsored student, through the Kisampa charity. Unfortunately, she had to drop out of secondary school because she got pregnant. The family that was sponsoring Nema did not want that to be the end of it, and when she expressed an interest in sewing, they bought her a machine. She is now a pro-dressmaker! I ordered another dress for her, and am happy to order dresses for people back in the US to give her some business! The total for the dress and fabric is about 16 US dollars- but it’s worth the price! I have never had a dress made specifically for me, its great, and I wear it all the time.

Other news: I found a snouted night adder in my banda, which is mildly poisonous. We captured it, got some pictures and videos, and I released it again.

We celebrated Halloween a day early. I was a Roman goddess, Jackie and Sarah were witches, and James was a pirate. Not quite the same as America, but it was nice to introduce the children to Halloween.

We are building a Maasai hut for James, so he can finally live as a Maasai. Every afternoon, I mix mud, and help him with his hut. It is so funny that I am in Africa actually building a mud hut. We have about half done, it’s quite the project.