Nico with the Bishop’s niece and nephew, both orphaned due to HIV, who now live with the Bishop. Jeanine and Nico were welcomed with open arms by the family and treated like royalty during their stay. 

While in Dar es salaam, Jeanine and Nico stayed with Bishop Mgullu and his family for three days. Pictured here is his wife, Desola, preparing the evening meal. 

In the evening, the TunaHAKI kids performed at the hotel using skills they acquired while training with the Cirque de Soleil in California last year. 

One of the volunteers made contact with a California elementary school and set up a pen pal program. Jeanine and other volunteers assist the children as they prepare their letters of introduction. 

The TunaHAKI children ending their yoga session with namaste. 

One of the many wild and ferocious animals that Jeanine and Nico encountered on their adventure. I was pleased to see that Nico remembered how to adjust the camera for macro photography. 

The children of TunaHAKI enjoying some of the gifts brought by the volunteers. 

Susan, fellow writer and friend of Jeanine. Thanks to her posts, we were able to stay up to date with what was happening in Africa while the Calabria’s were out of phone contact. Link to Susan’s blog.  

Scott Fifer, Director of the TunaHAKI Foundation, and the man who made this trip possible. He promoted the idea of taking yoga off the mat and to the children of the orphanage who enjoyed it immensely according to Jeanine. 

Doria and Jennifer, fellow volunteers at the orphange, enjoy a cold Coke, a drink everyone craved in the swealtering heat of the Tanzanian summer. Nico had to self impose a two bottle limit to allow for sleep. 

This mini-bus provided transportation for the group taking them to Moshi for shopping and to the TunaHAKI orphanage. 

While in Tanzania, both Nico and Jeanine joined a yoga retreat with friend Susan Reynolds. They enjoyed morning and evening classes held in this hut.  

After travelling for more than 18 hours, Jeanine and Nico arrived in Tanzania and stayed first at the Kilimakoyaro Mountain Lodge. When the clouds cleared, they had a great view of Kilimanjaro. 

Later in the day, Maya attended the Craft Fair at church with her grandmother while my father found his way to the Concord Public Library, returning with no less than a dozen books he purchased at the fair being held there. 

Natalie rocked on bass and Dave kicked in with vocals and guitar. 

Alex was tight on drums. 

Seth was great on vocals. 

Kyle did not seem the least bit nervous and the band sounded really good. 

Today the band Kyle is in performed their first paid gig at the Bar Mitzvah of a close friend. They still do not have a name and continue to reject my excellent suggestion of the Dirt Bag Orphans.  

Maya delights her grandparents with her reading ability this morning. I played two hours of footsol (indoor soccer played on a hard surface with a smaller and less bouncy ball) with the Concord over 50 team. I will be eligible to play for them next spring and they have asked me to join the team. It is hard to believe I am approaching the half century mark but I can honestly say it has been a great ride so far. This perspective may have been favorably enhanced by playing against guys who are on average 5 years older than I, rather than 5 years young as I have for the last few seasons. This evening I attended Kyle’s coming of age meeting at the church where parents read letters to their children about what they valued and admired in them and what advice they wished to pass along. It was a very emotional experience and I only wish Jeanine could have been there as well.