Safari Day 1: Village Water Story

Our safari tour in Tanzania began with a day trip to the Arusha National Park. Our foursome piled into Warrior Trails Land Cruiser with Jackson at the wheel.

Our ride

The gorgeous park scenery and wildlife gave us a taste of what was to come in the following days. 

We were also intrigued by glimpses of daily life & culture we saw along the roads. 

Beautiful Masai boy 

One thing that caught our eye was the countless women and many children transporting water in buckets, either carried on their heads or in donkey-powered carts. 

We queried our guide, Jackson, about it while picnicking at lunchtime.

Jackson telling us Village Water Story. From left: Bob, Karen, Lou, Jackson

He explained that fetching water was a daily task for most village and low-income women & children. Until 5 years ago, this included his own mother who lives in the village where he grew up. Thanks to a client who didn't like that Jackson's mom walked miles daily for water, the woman funded a contract to provide running water to the entire village.  The impact was huge: Not only did it make life easier, but it freed up the village kids to attend school. I asked Jackson what the project cost. He told me it totaled $5000.00 US dollars.  Our minds reeled that such a small monetary investment could so dramatically improve lives & futures of an entire village.

Jet-lagged and restless that night, I pondered Jackson's story. Perhaps I could apply my artistic & online marketing skills to create an income stream for high-impact projects like this "Village Water Project."  Sharing the idea with Karen over breakfast, she immediately committed to partnering up with me to make this happen.

Breakfast at Arumero River Lodge

As we set out for day 2 of our safari tour, Clamian joined Jackson in the front seat of the Land Cruiser,

Clamian Kitesho, founder of Warrior Trails Safari Tour

and we asked if we could stop by a public school to drop off a gift of sports equipment the Schrey's had brought with them.  This visit fueled our passion for our new endeavor.   

School headmaster, Sanyo, is flanked by my husband Lou (left) on the other side by

 Bob, me, & Karen 

I'll detail that visit to Makayuni Primary School in my next post.