Back to Arusha and St. Jude's

Thursday, July 8th. On our way to the Serengeti airstrip we saw two
female lions with four cubs between them. It is interesting how little
attention the lions pay to the cars. Moses says they will react to
people on foot but are used to the safari trucks. They walked along
the road, crossed right in front of us, and stopped a few feet off the
road, giving us a great close-up view of the cubs. I unfortunately I
forgot to take a picture with my phone but we got some great shots of
them with the camera.

Both Monica and I felt sad with a bit of underlying anxiety about
leaving the Serengeti. It was hard not to think that we might not
make it back, wondering if we saw and did everything we wanted to on
safari. After a tearful goodbye to Moses at the Serengeti "airport",
we boarded a small plane for Arusha.

We arrived at St. Jude's in the afternoon and were taken on a brief
tour. After the tour we boarded one of the buses with the children who
were headed home for the day. Grades 1-3 go home every night, grades
4-7 go home on the weekends, and the secondary school kids go home
once a month.

Traveling through the neighborhoods where these kids live, including a
smoldering dump site, was heartbreaking. The school is truly
impressive (more detail in a future post) and the contrast to their
homes was striking. The kids at St. Jude's were chosen for their
drive and intellect (testing and interviews), and qualify only if they
are in extreme poverty. It is immediately clear what a profound
impact admission to the school will have on these kids' futures, and
probably the futures of their entire extended families for generations.

After our bus ride, we had a nice time visiting with a group of
Australian teachers, volunteers, and visitors at a small cinderblock
"bar" right outside the school gates. The kids had a soda and then
played with a couple of local kids while we had a few beers and
learned everybody's story on how they ended up at the school. When
Monica told the PE teacher tha we had brought soccer balls with us he
hugged her.

We are very much looking forward to our day at the school tomorrow and
to meeting more of the kids.