'Tis the Season

Season's greetings, dear readers!!  I hope everyone has been having a wonderful winter thus far.  I am still in New York, delayed slightly by some admin tasks that require my attention before I can return to Moshi.  The weather has finally turned and it is fuh-reezing here!!  I cannot wait to get back to Kilimanjaro and feel some of that equatorial heat.  'Course once I've been there a couple weeks, I'll be lamenting frizzy curls and sweaty backs of legs, but the grass is always greener, si ndiyo??

Anyhoo, I've been busy with preparations for my return, which include everything from running around picking up school items from Vumi's wishlist to shutting down the NYC apartment and making sure the Moshi house will be in working order for my arrival to stuffing a suitcase full of skincare products, turkey jerky, and Luna bars to take with me.  It's always a big job making sure I have everything before I go since I won't be back until the Fall.  This year, however, I have a little extra assistance because my Momager (recently retired mother) is coming to TZ for a whole month to stay with me and help out with the Project!

It's all very exciting (not just because of all the extra swag I can stow in her travel bags) but because if this little experiment works out, it could be the first of many years to come that she joins me in Moshi with Toa Nafasi.  She has already been invaluable here in NYC and DC, planning the events, weighing in on decisions regarding the website and marketing materials, and using her big Momager mouth to publicize the Project to anyone who will listen.  Yeah, it's a little embarrassing at times but her enthusiasm keeps my energy up, and her incessant blabbing has produced some real results -- Ambassador Mulamula at the TZ Embassy, anyone....?!  It's good to have Carla on my side.

In addition to my mom coming, a good friend of the family and newly minted Toa Nafasi board member will also be spending some time nyumbani kwangu.  Barbara Finkelstein, who hosted the "friend-raiser" in Washington this year, is joining us for ten days to see the Project and a bit of the country.  Barbara is one of my mother's best friends and former colleague at the University of Maryland.  So it will be great to have two enthusiastic educators on-hand to see the Project, provide advice, and give support.  The Vuminator will be thrilled.

So, the three of us are gearing up to kick off what I hope will be a great 2015.  Last year was good, but hard, and I am hoping that this year will be slightly less stressful.  I just check the Toa Nafasi post office box this morning and found the booty pictured below inside, so I'm hoping all those envelopes are gonna help alleviate that anxiety!!

Thank you donors, thank you friends, best wishes for the new year, and love to all.

Fa la la la la, la la la la!!