We hope to use this page as way to keep those who are interested up to date on our current activities as well as the progress of the building project.  In addition we hope that visitors will post comments or questions so they can feel connected to the project.  We promise that we will update the page as often as we can or when we have something new and interesting to share with you.  This is a great page to track our progress as well as where we are in the world and what we are doing.

Click on the link below to read updates of Colleen's most recent trip to Tanzania. www.brickbybrickonline.blogspot.com

December 26, 2005—Safari Njema (Good Journey)

Our journey begins today. Kari and I will be leaving Minnesota and Chicago respectively and traveling to Nairobi, where if all goes well we will stay overnight and then jump on a shuttle to Tanzania the next morning.

The purpose of our journey is to do a bit more research on St. Dymphna School. While we have already said we would help, we wanted to go and assure ourselves that the whole ordeal is on the up and up. We want to make sure that completing the building is in fact possible. We want to make sure that before we ask any of our friends and family for money that we can honestly and whole-heartedly say that this school is something worthwhile to contribute to.

We will post updates along the way, to let you know how the whole process is going. So, until then, safari njema.

December 28, 2005—Arrival in Arusha

We arrived in Arusha today sans Kari’s luggage.  Kari has handled it like a trooper and is currently donning my “Karibu Tanzania” t-shirt and my favorite Capri’s.  While it is by no means the first highlight that I wish to share with you, it is a reality of traveling and has made our first two days here interesting and stressful as any good journey begins.

Our goal for the day is to visit the site of St. Dymphna and see what it looks like now as well as to gain a sense of what Mary hopes it will look like in the future.  Both Kari and I are excited to see what is already there as the last time we were here it was nothing but a plot of land.

We are about to eat our first African meal.  It will undoubtedly consist of rice, beans, greens and fresh mango.  While it sounds rather dull, both Kari and I are looking forward to our first meal, it is an honor and a privilege to be welcomed into Mary’s family home and served a feast that someone has been working to prepare all day long.  It takes some getting used to—letting others serve you—and neither Kari or I enjoy it or feel okay with it, but it is part of the culture and as such it would be rude to refuse.