Today we visited a number of the social enterprise initiatives at the eco boma. The pig raising facility has shifted to chickens - there was a health issue with the pigs so the community has pivoted and is now beginning to raise chickens. The chickens will provide eggs for the students at the school and the community. We also spied the bee hives - keeping our distance since they're not known to be the happiest of bees. The bee hives are adjacent the former water source. A large area was previously damned and nature filled it with water when the rains came - sadly the elephants discovered the water source and destroyed one side of the dam. Finding a solution is important for the community - and managing elephants isn't a realistic option. Fortunately they don't like bees so perhaps some more bee hives will help save the day once the dam is repaired.
​In the afternoon some of the team did a few hours of community head washing. Lack of water and soap lead to some issues with fungal and other infections. The group washed some heads and provided soap and instruction to some of the families for future care.

Today we started with a chance to experience a prototype of a Warrior Walk. We started off at 6:30 am when it's still cool and walked throughout the area with our warrior guides as protection. Clamian introduced us to many plants, identified for us the numerous animal tracks, and introduced us to the small 5 insects - Elephant Shrew, Ant Lion, Rhinoceros Beetle, Leopard Tortoise; and Buffalo Weaver.

The community came together today to celebrate the opening of the Bohach Maasai Cultural Centre that Adrian and I funded. A procession, dancing, speeches and a community meal. The love was palpable and we are so honored to have been accepted into this community. The ceremony was videoed and is below in consecutive videos - I hope. There are a bunch of photos from the event as well. A real honor for our family and Adrian and I were super excited to be able to share the event with Jamie, Noah and Cael. 

Today is our first of two safaris while we're here. The group was split into two groups - so that we'd all be comfortable in our vehicles. Friends Jeff from Alberta and his wife Irene from Uganda joined the group yesterday. The Ngorongoro Crater never disappoints. So much fun to travel as a group and visit this amazing place and it's wildlife. We stopped an orphanage that kressa has supported over the years as well. 

Cael bravely went off to join a grade 6 class at the Nashipay School today. We went on a walk into town with some of the warriors as our escorts. We were on a mission to buy some more soccer balls for this afternoons game. Noah, and Cole participated in the soccer game with Adrian acting as referee and Jamie, Cael and I watching and talking to the kids while they played. The kids all wanted to play with our phones and sunglasses.
Cael had a great morning in school - he learned very quickly that the students here are further ahead than the same grade levels at home. He was very impressed!

Today is our first full day the Boma. We started by visiting the Nashipay School which is supported by the Eco Boma. Each morning the children assemble at 7:30 am for music, movement and dance to start their day. It's an amazing way to get the kids ready for their day. After our school visit we had breakfast together. The rest of the day we spent getting settled. Visiting the school playground, and soccer field. Exploring the permaculture area - each class is responsible for a section of the vegetable gardens, trees and plants. This afternoon Adrian and I met with Clamian to discuss the communities priorities going forward. All decisions are made by the community by consensus and the Elders always choose the projects and their priority. The community has a strong sense of self and an incredible wisdom about their future. It's a refreshing system of real democracy compared to our own.
Noah and Cael joined in on an afternoon soccer game and Jamie and I hung out with some of the kids. Cael's been using his Maasai stick to learn some moves and spent some time with Cole showing him what he's learned. Gorgeous sunset ended a fabulous day.

We spent last night in Arusha and after breakfast in our hotel we joined Kressa and her team -  travelling together, via school bus, from Arusha to Makuyuni.
Upon arrival at the Eco Boma we were all treated to a wonderful local welcome, with dancing, and jumping. Afterward the Elders presented each of us with our very own Maasai Shukas. The presentation was made in the new dining room - of which we're so very proud. This afternoon we briefly visited the school and the playground and meeting the kids. What a genuinely warm welcome! It's good to be back!

We arrived safely in Amsterdam early this morning and met up with Jamie, Noah and Cael. We also met up with another group of Canadians, long time volunteers and some newbies also headed to the Makuyuni Maasai Eco Boma. Happily we were all on the same long flight. Adrian and their team lead Kressa have done numerous trips together. Their group included Kressa, her daughter-in-law, Vanessa, grandson Cole and team members, Aimee, and Laynah. Upon landing at Kilimanjaro Airport we all travelled together to Arusha to spend the night.

Today we were up at 2:45 am for our first flight of our trip  to Tanzania. After a long day in Toronto we finally boarded our KLM flight to Amsterdam where we will catch up with Jamie, Noah and Cael so we can all carry on to Kilimanjaro Airport together. We were very lucky to get business class seats.

So much fun - we decided to join Colin, Tina, Eva, Amber and Connor at this years Sommo Festival - a  two day celebration of food and music in Cavendish, PEI.