Adult trip 2022

In addition to the youth trips, we also organized a trip for adults in 2022. The following participants have participated on this trip:

  • Eveline Meester
  • Marja Mooten
  • Peter Smit
  • Gerrie Hoogveld
  • André Hoogveld
  • Coby Jansen
  • Jacques Jansen
  • Nellie Sloot
  • Alex Sloot
  • Tilly ten Broeke
  • Albert ten Broeke
  • Myrna Hummelink
  • Rinus Hummelink
  • Wilma Hoogveld
  • Lambert Hoogveld
  • Harold Veens
  • Elly Veens
  • Clementine Nouws

Eveline Meester, Marja Mooten

It’s been a while since we made our trip to Tanzania, postponed by Corona, with a group of 18 adults. It is still fresh in our memory and we are happy to report on it in the Village newspaper.

The reason for the trip was an idea of Andre Hoogveld. He has been to Tanzania many times with former students of the St. Willibrordus School in Herveld. This school has been actively raising money for a number of school projects in a certain region of Tanzania for many years. MOV (Mission Development and Peace) has been committed to projects in Tanzania for years, the St. Willibrordus School in particular for education.
Young people are sponsored by FOTAS (Fonds Tanzanian Students) to enable them to study. We have been able to see everything with our own eyes and are impressed by what has been achieved.

The great commitment of 3 priests on site is impressive. We visited 4 schools, namely a school for the deaf, a school for children with a physical or mental disability and two secondary schools. These schools provide beds, water storage tanks, laptops, toilets, etc.
There is also care for Albinos. These people have a hard time in Tanzania, are under threat and are unable to provide for themselves. It was very nice to see how the priest, who also visits and keeps an eye on this group, is loved by the population.

A large project that was almost completed is a Health Center (small hospital, especially for mothers and children) that was officially opened when we were in Tanzania. This was a big happening where ‘major figures’ from Tanzania were present. This was necessary to obtain the correct permit from the government. For the local residents it was a holiday with free food and drinks. They often walked around in beautifully colored clothing.

Our group traveled for 21 days with the priests. It was also a holiday for them and they were also our guide, our drivers and, above all, enthusiastic, pleasant and committed travel companions.
Much of what we have seen of Tanzania has made a big impression on us, eg;
• The homes of the people. Very simple, no separate bedroom, no kitchen, no tap water, no toilet. Sometimes not even an outside door, but a curtain in front of the opening.
• The way of life, mostly outdoors.
• The roads of red sand with huge potholes.
• Children and women who have to walk two kilometers a day to fetch water. We also got to do it 1 x, but honestly with less than a half full bucket back.
Wherever we were, we were welcomed by very warm people who had arranged a whole program for us. Often also with food and even presents.

After visiting the projects for 9 days, we continued our journey and went with the priests to another part of Tanzania. That journey started with a night boat trip across Lake Victoria. Just to clarify; this lake is as big as the Benelux. We will not soon forget this adventure with the banana boat. It took hours before the whole boat was loaded with a lot of bananas and avocados. Our cars were first loaded with a crane, on top of that the rest of the load!

The other period was a holiday as you read in brochures from travel organizations.
The contrast from first sleeping in simple accommodations with sometimes no running water, to hotels or luxury tents with a super shower and hot water, was great. But very honest; one was not inferior to the other. In the first 9 days, apart from our group, we did not see any white people. We only noticed this when we continued our journey in the more touristy areas.

Our Lake Victoria retreat, Speke Bay Lodge, was beautiful! Sleeping in beautiful sturdy tents with the luxury of hot showers, real toilets and delicious food with a Dutch touch (ice cream, cheese, yogurt). In the evening we heard the hippos roar and during the day we went by canoe to a fishing village further on. Spotted and heard beautiful birds and saw a crocodile.

Our two day trip to Serengeti was very beautiful. It remains special to see zebras, lions, hippos, hyenas and buffaloes (both close to our tent), impalas, gazelles, a leopard, ostriches, wildebeest, aardvarks, bucks and not to forget, elephants and giraffes, in the wild walk.

The roads through the Serengetti were horrible. Not suitable for the cars we were transported with. But we were always in good hands, because we had our priests with us. Although… the first day we drove around some extra exciting hours being lost. They don’t know any road signs here and it gets dark early!
Completely shaken up we arrived at our tent camp after more than 12 hours of driving and that made up for a lot.
Viewed crater Ngorongoro from a distance and drove past several Masai settlements.
We spent the last 3 nights on touristy Zanzibar.

Finally, some “did you know”;
• Everything in Africa goes at a slower pace “polo polo”
• You need at least 19 days to cross the entire Serengeti with a land rover
• There are many types and sizes of bananas; plantains, candy bananas…..
• The Masai (Nomadic people) wear sandals made from car tires
• We have seen the most beautiful starry sky ever
• Fried grasshoppers taste good as a snack
• Up to 100 children are taught in a classroom
• You can also wear jeans the other way around
• The clove tree is the ‘King of trees’ of Tanzania
• The cinnamon tree is the ‘Queen’ of Tanzania

The Tanzania trip made a big impression on us.