Tanzania bound; school supplies needed

4 mins read

I decided I wanted to begin the year of 2010 with something a little more exciting than a hangover. So I chose Tanzania. With college behind me and no desire to find a real job I actually had the chance to think about how I wanted to spend all of my newly discovered time and energy and, best of all, where I wanted to spend it.


Amber Kapiloff

As it turned out, that was a much bigger task than I had anticipated. The summer was an agonizing indecisive struggle; I suddenly couldn’t even figure out what I wanted for breakfast, let alone the next few years of my life. Our family calls it Decision Making Disorder (DMD) and I definitely showed severe symptoms of having it.

Eventually things did start falling into place. I was rejected from several jobs and an internship, I kept meeting people that had spent time in Africa and then, at last, I randomly stumbled across a Couch Surfer from Tanzania who desperately needed volunteers at his elementary school. His name is Simon and he was the final sign that I needed to choose Tanzania.

So now it’s almost January and all I can think about is sunshine. Lots and lots of sunshine. So much sunshine that I need SPF 10000. I’ve been e-mailing with Simon since August and will be living with he and his family for three months in Kibaha. His class of 4- and 5-year-olds is immensely excited that I’ll be with them for a little while and I can’t wait to get going with it all.

But there are things I’m worried about. I am nervous that I will miss my flight and mistake it as a sign that I shouldn’t go. I am nervous that I won’t know what to pack when the time comes. I am nervous that I’ll get malaria or that I’ll wake up with a snake on my pillow. But to be honest, I’m mostly nervous that I’ll get there and be overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy.

My goal is to do the most I can for the school and the children but what if my ‘most’ isn’t enough to help them in any substantial way? I already know that they will be grateful for whatever I can offer, but I’m nervous about that one day when everything will click into place and I’ll finally see the big picture as something I am very much not, and at this point (with my Western lifestyle), can’t be a part of.

But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. 2010 could be a very interesting year.

Editor’s Note: If you are interested in donating school supplies, books or money to Amber’s elementary class of Kibaha, Tanzania, please contact Amber at triceratopkapiloff@gmail.com. The drop-off deadline for donations is Jan. 1. For more information, visit www.inkibaha.blogspot.com

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.