Habari!

I am happy to have internet and electricity so I can give you a brief update for Read With Me, Arusha!.  I have been in Tanzania for one month now.  I was in Arusha for only two days.  I was able to go to St. Margaret's Academy to see the grade three students to exchange the penpal letters from Colton, Washington students.  Zanzibar was the next stop.  I spent 4 weeks at State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) in intensive Kiswahili language study.  It was challenging but it is very rewarding to be able to communicate, even very basically, in Kiswahili.  I have just returned to Arusha and will begin working at the school and with both Samaritan Village Orphanage and Karim Children's Care Centre.  I will be using my new language skills to describe the importance of encouraging the children to read the books in the new libraries and to use the solar lights allowing the children to read in the evenings.  I hope that I can help them to understand how increasing reading time and exposure to many books will help their children do better in school ultimately increasing their chances for a strong future.