Overload

That would be the perfect would to describe what I am feeling right now. My entire body is over-loaded with stimuli that I have yet to process from my first week here in Tanzania.

We returned to Mairowa earlier this week to visit the schools, build several chicken coops, and meet more sponsor child families. Visiting the bomas where the children live is very hard to explain. I can remember growing up and seeing commercials on television to sponsor starving children in Africa. Usually, the commercials would show images of children in rags with flies all over their faces. I had held the misconception that these commercials were hyped up; sort of "Hollywood-ized". I learned earlier this week that that is not the case. After visiting three separate bomas, and witnessing first hand the deplorable living conditions, I can attest that there is a solid reality in Mairowa that mirrows what I had seen on TV. There was quite a bit to take in from that visit and to be honest, I have not even begun to process it. I sort of feel like a sponge--I am continuing to absorb more and more but I know that at some point, I will need to wring myself out.

One thing that was facinating that I loved about Mairowa was the night sky. It too was beyond description. There were millions of stars; so bright that the sky shimmered like I had never seen before. The stars seemed to be dancing. And the Milky Way...we could see it in the evening sky. It formed a band of white across the blanket of stars. I could easily lose myself in the night sky had it not been for the fear that a lion might attack me while I stood and gazed upward.