My visit to Itete on safari was wonderful. There was no way that I could visit there and not love it. The Father at the mission was really friendly and encouraged us to stay longer. One of the things that I have always thought would be nice to do since I started dreaming about this trip to Africa was to live in a village for a little while and get to know the people. And here was my perfect opportunity. I started to think about staying within hours of getter there. Woody and Jason probably would have bet on it, except that neither one thought I would leave. I did leave, however, but before going asked the Father if I could return and if he could put me to work if I did. He said yes.

At the same time, Jason was plotting a way to get solar power to the mission. I wasn't sure how serious he was about this until I heard him and Woody discussing details on the last night of the safari. Less than two days later the three of us were at a solar power store pricing out equipment. (Well, Jason and Woody were. I was just trying to figure out what the all the parts were.) Shortly after this, I found myself eating a nice lunch while the boys were drawing diagrams of how I would be assembling everything...

So, the plan currently is that I will soon be returning to Itete. Once I get there I will be studing Swahili, helping out however the Father asks, and getting the answers to a long list of questions regarding the electricity and water situation in the village. In the meantime, Jason is doing research into what needs to be done, how much everything will cost, and is working on getting funding. Once we know what we need and have the money, Woody is going to make sure that I understand everything I need to know about electricity, he and Jason will buy the appropriate parts, and Woody will ship them out to me. When all is said and done, their should be enough electricity to power the water pump and the dispensary.

What this means is that I will be heading to Itete, probably in a week or two and staying until the end of the project; I'm guessing that I will be there at least a month, quite probably longer. There is no phone reception (let alone e-mail) in Itete, so I will only be able to communicate with you all sporadically, although I will do my best. (You all should keep e-mailing me and commenting on the blog though. I really love hearing from everyone.)

And I sort of hate to do this, but... If you want to help out or want more info on the Itetle Mission Solar Power Project, e-mail itete@wildthingsafaris.com