An End of 2011

Hello all!

I hope that you are well and thriving in your respective places. I want to share a brief update with you about my time in Tanzania recently.

In late October my Poppie passed away after a long and full life. I made the trip home for the funeral and stayed for a total of four days. It was important that I was there, though it was a painful experience in a myriad of ways. He will be missed.

On December 5^th our two new community-mates, Cait and Beth, arrived in Dar! We spent a great two weeks orienting them to life in Mabibo and showing them the ropes while our out-going community-mate, Gretchen, bid farewell to her two years here. Gretchen left on the 17^th and the next day we headed to retreat with the eight other JVs in Tanzania. The next two and a half weeks were spent with all eleven TZA JVs at retreat in Tanga, in Dar for Christmas, and in Moshi for the New Year. We had a great time together forming a larger sense of TZA JV community!

An important event happened in Dar while we were out of town on retreat. A devastating flood swept through Mabibo and the surrounding areas over the course of a few days, leaving homes, schools, roads, and many other structures devastated or ruined. Two hundred people lost their lives. Gonzaga (the school that I work at) received extensive damage including loss of all computers and administrative equipment, loss of stores of food  and school equipment (pens, pencils, notebooks, etc.) that had been bought for the coming year, destruction of parts of the structure of the building and surrounding compound, formation of layers of mud within every inch of the school compound, etc. I visited the school the day after Christmas and it was difficult to see what had happened to our beautiful school a week after the floods had occurred. Many of my friends and co-workers were also affected by the floods, and have had to leave their destroyed or devastated homes until what was lost can be rebuilt. The start of the school year was originally going to be this coming Monday, December 9^th. However, due to the state of the school, we have decided to push back the start date one week, the 16^th of December. We have been busy trying to get the school back in shape to host our students again. If you desire to contribute to our reconstructive process through monetary or itemized donations, feel free to email me at ckeatingtza10@gmail.com. Any and all help will be much appreciated. Money can be sent to my parents who will then send it my way at the following address:

Mary and Jerry Keating

3120 Devon Terrace

St.Cloud, MN 56301

Also, prayers and healing energy sent this way will also be equally appreciated!

Thank you all so much for reading. I hope that you have a wonderful Saturday.

Love,

Cat

The following is a picture of two of my co-workers standing near a pile of ruined books at the entrance of Gonzaga. If you look closely at the windows of the school, mid-way up the wall you can see the water-line. Scarily high.