The Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean

I am going back to Africa.

For how long? Indefinitely. As many of you know, Africa stole my heart with my two trips to Uganda. I always thought that’s where I would go again for a longer period of time but I also didn’t want to limit where I would go.

Where am I going this time? I am going to Tanzania. I will be working in a village called Chamwino, which is 25K East of Dodoma (the unfinished capital of Tanzania), which is Central Tanzania in East Africa.

What will I be doing? A lot. This is still being figured out but it looks like I will be overseeing development projects, learning Kiswahili (Swahili), teaching English, help with avoiding financial corruption, and numerous other tasks.

How did this come about? Well, I met a 75 year old woman who has fallen in love with Tanzania and knows they could use some help. Her church has partnered with a church in Chamwino and they would like to help expand the educational opportunities there. In the village people have their tribal language and they also know swahili (it’s learned in Primary school) but not many know English. One would learn English in Secondary school but many have not had the opportunity to get that level of schooling. In Africa there are a lot of primary (elementary) schools but a lot less secondary (high) schools. This has made it extremely hard on the people to get out of poverty.

What is the hope? Well, I would be taking the place of a man named Kedmon. In March he is coming to Seattle to get his doctorate and then return to his home village. The hope is to have education from preschool to doctoral studies within a closer area. Kedmon could come back after his studies to teach at the University of Dodoma or somewhere else close by. My understanding of it all is to have all levels of education within a certain amount of kilometers to make it easier on the people in the area.

Why do I say I could be there indefinitely? Kedmon’s doctorate could be 2-5 years. Would I stay that whole time? I don’t know. Would I be needed that whole time? I don’t know.

Right now, I am working to pay off my student loans so I will have no financial debt when I leave. I downgraded in cars so I no longer have car loans. I think I can be out of debt sometime in early 2009 but I am looking to be in Tanzania by July 2009.

This position is NOT paid. I have to have enough money set aside for an unknown amount of time. I am hoping to raise my support (initially for a year) and have people, once again, be a part of my trip.

What are the total costs? I want to be completely honest so here is the breakdown for a year:
Monthly living expense:

$100 A MONTH FOR HOUSING. $7 A DAY FOR FOOD, INCLUDING WATER AND SOFT DRINKS, CANDLES AND FIRE WOOD (EST. $200 A MONTH). TRANSPORT TO DODOMA PERHAPS TWICE A MONTH AND PERHAPS ONCE A MONTH TO DAR COULD BE ESTIMATED AT $40 A MONTH AND CELL PHONE CHARGES PERHAPS $20 A MONTH AND OTHER GENERAL EXPENSES PERHAPS $40 A MONTH (SOAP, BASIC MEDICINES, ETC.).
A TOTAL OF $400 A MONTH

Overall costs:

1. INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT PLUS VISA $3,000
2. Shots $500 +/-
3. LIVING ALLOWANCES $5,000
4. EXTRAS $500
A TOTAL OF $9,000 FOR THE YEAR.

Depending on how much I can set aside after paying off my debt I am looking to raise about $6,000 or less. I think I should be able to set aside a good chunk of money…

There are a few options to raising support. Please consider one of the following:

1) make a one-time donation to help get me there and other related costs. This can be done by sending a check, made out to me, to 1881 NE 169 St., Shoreline, WA 98155. Or by sending money through PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2119186)

2) Commit to making a monthly donation each month. This will open up the possibility of me being able to stay longer. Once I am gone the easiest way will be through Paypal.

3) Throw an Acholi Beads house party (the proceeds help me to get to Tanzania and the women of Uganda and you get great jewelry!)

If you are able to help in any way (financially, prayerfully, or opening your home to gather) that would mean so much to me.

Thank you for being a part of my life.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask.

Karl