T.I.A.

Katie posted yesterday on her blog the MKLM assignments that she and Christopher have received for when they move to Mwanza, Tanzania in December. Here is a snippet from the post.

So, the back story is that in order to get Tanzanian visas we have to list our job title and job description. None of the other 5 countries that MKLM serves has to do that. So most missioners won't know their job until they're in the country, can tour the job sites, and get a feel for where their education, talents and interests will best fit. I think there's positives and negatives to both ways of doing it, but I certainly appreciate knowing ahead of time what my job will be! So, we sat down with our Regional Coordinator on Thursday of last week and hashed out where we'll be working. I am thrilled to say that it sounds like both of our jobs will be perfect fits!

I will be working at the Catholic Diocese of Mwanza in their Women's Programming Desk. I'll be working with a native Tanzanian woman who's been the "lone ranger" in the office but she doesn't have enough time to get all the work done. The programs they run include: Gender and HIV/AIDS, Gender and Inequality, Supporting Women in Civic Engagement, Support for Single Mothers and Women and Agriculture, to name just a few. So, needless to say, I'm totally stoked and I feel like it's all coming full circle. This is the exact type of work that I wanted to do and my skills and education will certainly be utilized in this job.

Chris will also be working with women, but in a different capacity and through a different organization. His job will be assisting an NGO with women's cooperatives. His job will be a lot more nebulous because it's basically just sitting with women in the area and finding out what kinds of things they'd like to start, and then helping them start them. There are already a few coops already started, one of which is a womens' singing and drumming group. He's totally psyched about that!

Time will tell what these jobs will really look like, but at this point we feel very positive about it and can't wait to get started!

I am excited for them! Yet, I am also sad, since their departure is drawing nearer and nearer. But mostly, I am inspired.

I've been trying to do some research on Africa, its troubles, and some organizations that are trying to make a difference. Here are two of them:

The Voice Project. Trying to help tell child soldiers that it's ok for them to go home.

The Voice Project from The Voice Project on Vimeo.

You can spend all day on their website watching these amazing music performances here. Especially this Andrew Bird one. And this one from MS native Garrison Starr. Or all of them, really.

One.org  Trying to stop the famine in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.

And for fun, here's the video for K'naan's T.I.A. It makes me want to dance.