Our last week in Moshi

After saying our goodbyes to both the secondary school and Sarah's school, as well as numerous goodbyes to mzungu friends who were going home for Christmas, it was finally our time to leave Moshi - the little town we had been calling home for the past eleven weeks.

This town is so amazing - you walk down the street and see such a huge array of bizarre sights- you'd stop and stare if you were anywhere else, but in Moshi it's just normal. Some of our favourites include men pushing enormous wooden wheelbarrows of fruit, brass bands playing whilst jammed into the back of trucks, people carrying absolutely anything on the back of their push bikes or on their heads, Maasai people walking through town carrying huge knives or spears or simply dancing and singing in the street and of course the infamous dalla dallas, rammed with so many people that all an outsider can see is various body parts squashed against windows.

On our last day we went to say good-bye to Sara, Malchiory and Armstrong. We knew saying good bye to them was going to be difficult as we'd become such good friends over the last few months. When we arrived Sara had prepared some traditional Tanzanian snacks for us as a way of saying thank you. It was great to sit in their newly decorated front room chatting and laughing about all the things we had done together. The time came for us to leave but before we went on our way Malchiory asked us to join hands so that he could say a prayer for us. His words were so genuine and from the heart, they were really moving. He thanked God for sending him us as friends and for blessing us with such supportive friends and family. He then thanked us and the other volunteers for all the help and hard work we had put into their home and school. He promised that he would never let what we had started die and that he would do his best to help it to grow and grow. He explained that lots of people come through Tanzania help and then leave, but the work we have all done together is everlasting. By the end of the prayer three of us (Adam doesn't cry!) were in tears.

Hearing Malchiory's words and seeing the completed schoolroom has made us realise just how much support and effort has been given by so many people. Without this help none of this would have been possible so could we just take this time to say a huge thank you to all of you!

After this emotional goodbye we walked back to our old house to say bye to our Mafrican friends who had been living with us. We'd bought Tanzanian football shirts for our gardner and Maasai watchmen which they loved. For our cook and cleaner we'd bought material which they had had made into skirts and tops to wear on Christmas day. They all proudly showed off their new attire and posed for photos. Just as we were about to leave Eliza (the little girl who's mother has died) came home from visiting her Grandmother. We'd bought her a little outfit which she ran and put on, strutting up and down as if she was a model. It was so good to see her again before we left but resulted in another tearful goodbye with lots of promises of letters.

We have had an amazing time in Moshi. We've met people and experienced things that will remain with us for ever. If the next part of our journey is half as good we're going to have a fantastic year!