This post features student writing.

Hey there Putney families! It’s Alex here with the Tanzania blog for Monday the 15th, and believe me when I say we have had huge amounts of story-worthy experiences during these past two weeks. Whether it was our bus getting stuck on the first night, the chaos of the Maasai Market, the waterfalls, or getting surrounded by kids, everything we’ve gone through so far has brought us whole new varieties of wisdom and somewhat tolerable clothing.

As of now, the administrative building is nearly finished, except for the roof (photos coming soon). All else is peaceful here in Maji Moto, especially with the local kids, who I’m sure you’ve all heard by now seem to always be able to have a smile on their faces. But if there is one thing that excites the kids more than anything else we’ve tried on them, it’s always the soccer balls we’ve been bringing to the school. It’s like a child magnet, especially with the field right next to the school. It’s always the most popular thing to do. Every time. Which gave me the idea, given I play a lot of soccer at home, to use the sport as my independent project. I thought, what better way to get to know the kids than to show them what I knew besides a little bit of Swahili? The hardest part, of course, was mobilizing the armies, but after that step was done, everything else worked itself out. It was a pretty even game if I have to say, but it wasn’t the game itself that made it so amazing. Being able to make plays with the kids, learning how they played, scoring goals, it made us feel like we had all the chemistry in the world, even if it only lasted 45 minutes. Even Will, who usually doesn’t play soccer, joined in and shared the experience with us. We were covered in dirt by the end of everything, but it was completely worth it, even with the goals being made of branches and the ball being completely deflated. It made me see the village and its people, not only its kids, in a whole new way. Anyway, that’s my story for today. We all hope every friend and family reading this is having a great day! Another blog will be on the way as soon as possible!

Yours truly,

Alex S-H