Does this make me the Village Voice?  

Sitting in Sakila in the late afternoon with Kilimanjaro behind me and the villagers gathered for the afternoon “kahawa” (coffee) time in front of me. I can hear them laughing and joking, talking about the news of the day and getting ready to then go home to dinner.  A great time of day here in Sakila.

Kind of a surreal setting.  I found a wireless spot about twenty yards away from where they are having coffee.  This has been a long week, much was accomplished in many areas.  People were here from Tanzania, Kenya, Congo, Rwanda, and the USA (Godwin, Eliudi’s son and me).  Such vision for what needs to be done among them for their countries, and such courage and lack of fear to continue on with what they are doing (which to most seems impossible).

They are waving at me to say HELLO to you, so…HELLO from your brothers and sisters in Sakila, Tanzania!

On Monday Eliudi and I will leave for South Africa via Nairobi, Kenya, then Johannesburg, and then on to Cape Town.  I’m not sure what all is awaiting us,  but it is not time to stop now…MBELE!  Thanks for your comments and encourgement!

James R. Smith