Jen Middletons Last email from Africa
Posted by Michelle Biro
"There honestly is nothing more amazing in this world then to visit Africa, especially when you have outstanding Rotarians to receive you and take care of you on the other end." Middleton
I have a sad hello, don´t want to leave Africa.
It is our final full day here before we catch a plane and head to Europe. Time really does fly by and we feel as though we haven´t even scratched the surface here.
I do however have some EXCITING news to tell everyone! At the Rotary meeting last Thursday the fish pond and orphanage were proposed and ACCEPTED!!!! The fish pond will start when we are gone and I have gained support from the Rotary Club of Chimoio to be the eyes on the ground and to do all the work that cannot be done from Canada to start a Let Kids be Kids orphanage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will need a partnership with Brantford Rotary before this can go further. A Rotarian already found 15 or 50 hectares of land for the orphanage, the people here are unbelievable in the work that they do. I cannot wait for everyone to come to Africa with me next time!!
Not sure if everyone heard about the strike/violent protest that happened in Maputo last week, but things are back to normal and we ourselves had a strike right here in Chimoio on Friday. 7 people were killed, it is very tragic to hear gun shots and to hear about the results to those shots. The strike only lasted the day everything was closed no one went out so we spent the day with family and friends. On Monday we had the opportunity to go to TWO grand openings of water holes that the Rotary Club of Chimoio did earlier this year. The second water source was at a school with 2000 students, imagine not having a clean water source at a school that has 2000 students...Now they will never have to worry again. When we arrived the children had prepared a celebration with singing and dancing it was truly amazing to watch. They had a ribbon cutting and sprayed champagne over the top of the tap. This was both Matao´s and my first ribbon cutting event!
I have to cut this short because we still have to pack and we are heading out for dinner soon. We are definitely sad to say goodbye. There honestly is nothing more amazing in this world then to visit Africa, especially when you have outstanding Rotarians to receive you and take care of you on the other end. I look forward to sharing the pictures, videos and stories with everyone when we return.
Lots of love from Africa,
Jenny
It is our final full day here before we catch a plane and head to Europe. Time really does fly by and we feel as though we haven´t even scratched the surface here.
I do however have some EXCITING news to tell everyone! At the Rotary meeting last Thursday the fish pond and orphanage were proposed and ACCEPTED!!!! The fish pond will start when we are gone and I have gained support from the Rotary Club of Chimoio to be the eyes on the ground and to do all the work that cannot be done from Canada to start a Let Kids be Kids orphanage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will need a partnership with Brantford Rotary before this can go further. A Rotarian already found 15 or 50 hectares of land for the orphanage, the people here are unbelievable in the work that they do. I cannot wait for everyone to come to Africa with me next time!!
Not sure if everyone heard about the strike/violent protest that happened in Maputo last week, but things are back to normal and we ourselves had a strike right here in Chimoio on Friday. 7 people were killed, it is very tragic to hear gun shots and to hear about the results to those shots. The strike only lasted the day everything was closed no one went out so we spent the day with family and friends. On Monday we had the opportunity to go to TWO grand openings of water holes that the Rotary Club of Chimoio did earlier this year. The second water source was at a school with 2000 students, imagine not having a clean water source at a school that has 2000 students...Now they will never have to worry again. When we arrived the children had prepared a celebration with singing and dancing it was truly amazing to watch. They had a ribbon cutting and sprayed champagne over the top of the tap. This was both Matao´s and my first ribbon cutting event!
I have to cut this short because we still have to pack and we are heading out for dinner soon. We are definitely sad to say goodbye. There honestly is nothing more amazing in this world then to visit Africa, especially when you have outstanding Rotarians to receive you and take care of you on the other end. I look forward to sharing the pictures, videos and stories with everyone when we return.
Lots of love from Africa,
Jenny