After traveling up north, and then spending a whole day in Dar, it was finally time to come to Hanga with my dad! We traveled with two cars. Br. George drove one, and Br. Justin drove the other. There was also another Italian Veterinarian volunteer named Francesca who rode with us. It was a long journey, as always, but we made it to Hanga in just enough time to catch the end of dinner and meet everyone in the dining room.
After we ate, Charlie, Anne, and Lennart had a surprise for us! We celebrated our arrival in Hanga by having a bonfire in the courtyard of our hostel and roasting hot dogs and "stick bread." It was a blast. and a great way to relax after a long journey.
The next day we took a tour of Hanga. We saw just about everything. The workshops, the schools, the banana trees, Hanga lake, and of course the village and the monastery.
We even had a pretty in depth tour of the dispensary from Br. Lucius.
Here is my dad in the doorway of a hut that one of the monks built out of nothing but mud! This is used as a chapel to pray the rosary.
We went down to the hydro power station, too. This is the damn in the background, and the channel for the water running to the turbine. Unfortunately, it wasn't running at this time because there hadn't been rain in a few days, so there wasn't enough water for 24 hours of power.
Here is both of us on my motorcycle! I have been helping fix this up so I can learn to ride it, and use it to teach at another nearby pre-secondary school that the monastery runs. You be the judge, who looks cooler on the bike?
After a full day of touring Hanga, we decided that we should get some work done! One of my recent ideas was to have a ball box to store all of the balls for the kids to use at St. Laurents. Right now they are just sitting in cardboard boxes in the teachers office. So, I asked my dad to help me come up with a plan, then we took it to the wood shop, and Br. Guido and his workers were kind enough to help us prepare the lumber, cut it, and start putting it together!
Here is Br. Guido with one of the workers who helped us all day in the construction of the box.
The clamps really helped when we were nailing the pieces together! Nice to have the right equipment.
Finally, after a full morning, and most of the afternoon of work, the main structure of the box was complete! Unfortunately, there was no electricity in the afternoon, so we couldn't run the machines, so we could not complete the top and bottom parts of the box while my dad was there. But it was a great start! And since he left, it has been completed! Check back in future posts for pictures of the final product. It is already being put to good use!
Here is a picture of the box at the end of our work day. The other monk in the picture is Br. Cassian (standing between my dad and me).
So, after two short days in Hanga, it was already time to return to Dar Es Salaam. We could have stayed one extra day, but then we would have been traveling on Sunday, and we would have had to ride the crowded loud bus instead of riding in a car with the monks! (There were some monks who had appointments in Dar so we just hitched a ride with them).
Since it was my dad's last night, we of course had to have a party for him in the hostel! The festivities were organized by Br. Odo (pictured here giving cheers to my dad).
Here is the rest of the crew celebrating a good stay.
And finally, the two of us with my headmaster Br. Kastor. It was great to be able to show my dad my new home here in Hanga, and especially great to be able to introduce him to everyone I know in Hanga! I am also happy that we were able to get at least a little work done :)
Though our travels in Hanga were done, there were still three more nights left before my dad would return to America. check back again tomorrow for pictures from Zanzibar!
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