"Hi Beth,
How are you? We just got back from our safari which was fantastic! We saw giraffes (with birds taking a ride on their backs), elephants - a big herd passed about 5m from us!, hippos, lots of different types of birds which Pete was going crazy over, baboons (one jumped on the table and stole my banana, then came back and had a go at Pete's lunch before the guide chased it away!), vervet monkeys, zebras, warthogs and some stunning scenery.

The project is going well, too. It's been really fun heading up every day, it's a nice walk, about 45 minutes, through villages on the edge of town. We've had good variety of work, though our focus has been building a farm that will raise money for the school to continue to improve, do repairs, train teachers, sponsor students etc. We've been working a lot with one particular fundi who has been really friendly and helpful. Some of the other ones have been a bit trickier, I think they are paid by the job and we're actually there slowing things down, so I can understand their frustration, if I don't necessarily like it. They all love Giles, our leader, he does a great job interacting with everyone and getting people on side.

The actual work we've been doing, to build the farm, has been carying sand, rocks, big poles, wood, water, cement, and anything else that needs carrying. Then sawing and hammering wood into the shape of the different animal pens, pulling chicken wire into place, building and hanging doors, mixing cement... It's all great fun, and has been really satisfying to see a tangible achievement at the end of each day (well, almost every day...)

It's lovely walking back at the end of each day through villages where the kids at school live. All the families wave and say hi, and often we have a group of kids walking, skipping, singing their way back to town with us. We've dubbed a spot on the way 'mandaazi corner' where we take it in turns to buy morning tea from the mandaazi lady, and sometimes chai and chapattis on the way as well.
 
We've been doing swahili lessons each day with one of the teachers, and all of us are coming along with it which is fantastic, and has helped around town and in the market. We've enjoyed going to the market and buying dinner ingredientss, and Dezzy, the interpreter, is a great guy who loves a laugh and is very friendly. It seems to be a nightly contest of what we managed to get for free by making the market ladies laugh at us.

We're getting to know more of the kids at the school, too, and often have a group of kids watching us while we work. They love singing with us, and regurlarly try to pull us into classroioms to either chase them around or teach them english. I prefer chasing!
Hope you're well and it's not too cold in London."
Sam Sutherland, Tanzania 2008

We would be happy to pass on contact details of past volunteers for you to get in touch with and find out what they really thought of their time with QUEST. Just contact Beth on 01444 474744