Haven of Peace Academy

Last Friday, the Haven of Peace Academy (HOPAC) held a small jump rope competition between the school's “houses” - Black, Green, Yellow, and Blue, which are the colors of the Tanzanian flag. The event took place during a 30 minute lunch break, and students from all four houses competed in two events: Last-Person-Standing, and a Best Trick competition. Results are pending, but everyone had fun cheering for their house. Here's one of the pictures from the event. You can visit the "Photos" section of the website - http://www.oneworldonerope.org/ - for more.

The kids there have been great: so enthusiastic about jumping and always ready to try new skills. Many of the kids are jumping on their own at home – some every day. Several students were able to master the Toad, 360, and Double Under Cross. The P.E. teacher there, David Taylor, is a first cousin of U.S. Grand National Champion Liz Lyons, who jumps for the Kangaroo Kids in Maryland. David has been extremely helpful in classes, and has gotten to be a pretty good Double Dutch turner.

On Saturday, I performed for about 200 kids involved with a church group in Ubungo. Special thank you to Victor from HOPAC for arranging the show.

I've been working with the kids at Dogodogo on combining the skills they know into sequences, which can then be formed into a routine. This clip of Amisi is the only one I've had a chance to film so far, but Athumani and a few others have put together some nice combinations. Look for those soon.

I leave for Morogoro on Tuesday! I really can't wait to see the kids at M.I.S. again, and begin teaching in some of the local schools I visited last January. It's been almost nine months since my first visit. I know it's going to be hard saying goodbye to the kids here, but now I can look forward to coming back.

Mike