Well, I tried to dream, at least. I actually slep very badly – overtired and, just as a final glorious hour of slumber seemed to be on the cards, people began knocking loudly on the door of my room which, it seems, had been allocated the store room for all our bags!
I arrive at breakfast to find it’s all been hovered up, so I have to make do with some pineapple slices and coffee strong enough to make warriors weep. Not a great start to what turns out to be one of the most memorable days of my life.
Bizarrely, I can’t even bring myself to explain exactly why today’s so great. In summary, we visited the school (Laishene Primary in Tamzania) where the money we raised will build classrooms and teacher accommodation. Miles out in the boonies, it’s a run-down, rickety handful of buildings where 500 kids are educated – kids who walk 5kms cross-country each day just to get to school.
As we walk towards the school with some of the kids tagging along and playing ball, we hear the sweet sounds of the children singing their school song for us. A lump appears in my throat, tears well in my eyes, something indescribable takes hold of my heart – and there they all stay for the next few hours.
We give them presents of balls, pens, games…they return the compliment with locally made gifts of necklaces, bracelets and keyrings. We take their photos and they giggle in amazement at their own images on our digital cameras.
The women of the village perform traditional songs and dances for us.
On the football pitch – a rocky crop of ugly land with goals made from sticks and crossbars of rope – a select Gulf 4 Good XI gets a lesson from the Laishene Primary School
I’m still unable to go into more detail than that. Maybe one day I’ll be able to talk more openly about this day. Probably not.
The kicker..? That as we boarded our bus to head for Kilimanjaro, it was the children and teachers that thanked us..? It was the wrong way around. Unless you’ve done something like this visit yourself, nothing I say will help you understand. Never have I felt more privileged than to be welcomed in by the people of Laishene school and village.
The return to the hotel was quiet. Lunch was quiet. The journey from Arusha to Kilimanjaro was quiet…till, out of nowhere, SHE appeared, “as wide as all the world” as Hemingway described her, majestic and snow-capped. She draws all of our gazes. “Me and you,” we all silently tell her, “we’ve got business…”
We arrive at the beautiful Marangu Hotel (in a former life, it was a coffee plantation – now it’s a hotel comprising of many different byuildings sat in lush gardens) and grab lovely, warm showers – imagine how good the shower upon our return will feel.
We have dinner, do some team building activities and a couple of us watch the remaining quarter-finals with a Kilimanjaro or Serengeti beer in hand, hearing the tales and advice of those who are on the reverse leg of their journey. Tomorrow, it begins...
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