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A few people have asked for my typical week of training. Due to my injury my training has been all over the place since January but it has been for the best I think, I have found new ways to cross train and as you all know, found my love for triathlon which means incorporating all three disciplines into my training each week. I don’t really have a set training plan each week, many aspects are the same but some days I do what I feel like, for example if my ankle is a bit sore I won’t risk running on it or if I am tired I won’t push myself to do speed work or a super long session.
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I am not quite sure how to write this blog post without making it super long or boring. This trip was organised by our school and the charity Grassroots of which I think we are all eternally grateful for; it has been an unforgettable experience. On the 11th of July at 06:30 24 of us and 4 teachers left for Gatwick airport. We had a 3.5 hour flight to Istanbul, 2 hour wait, 7 hour flight to Dar Es Salaam, 4 hour wait, 1.5 hour flight to Mbeya. We finally arrived at the Karibuni centre (where we would be staying for the week) completely exhausted. We chilled for a bit before our first trip to the Grassroots centre. The walk there is something I will never forget; children came running out of school shouting and screaming mzungo (white person in Swahili) with excitement, they held our hands all the way to the centre where more children met us. Day 1 in Mbeya: We began the morning by visiting a secondary school. We attended a chemistry class where we had the chance to take part and talk to the children there; they learn in English which is very impressive so we could have a proper conversation with them. Most of them wanted to be a pilot, doctor, architect or engineer. When we arrived back at the Grassroots centre we played with the children before lunch. This is when I met my gal Maggie who I played with everyday whilst we were there. Nearly everyone made a strong bond with a child whilst we were there which made it even harder to say goodbye at the end of the week. After a 5* lunch of rice, beans and banana which we had every day with the odd variation of plantain, fruit or avocado too we headed off to our first feeding programme. This programme is run by Grassroots for the sponsored children, we helped the team with washing hands, serving food and washing up. The best part of this was seeing the joy and excitement on the children’s faces when they received their food. Day 2 in Mbeya: Started the day at the Grassroots centre playing with the children, Maggie came running up to me and I am still amazed at how good her English was. She taught me some Swahili, counted to 100 and can do the ABC faster than I can! We spent the day going to feeding programmes around the area and then finished off the day at the Grassroots centre learning some Tanzanian dance which was super fun. Day 3 in Mbeya: Rushing to church for a 10:00 start. We were welcomed by various dances and songs by different groups. The sense of community was overwhelming (even if we couldn’t understand much of the service) and I can definitely say that they love to worship after the 3.5hour service (by far the longest service I have ever attended). During the service there was various collections, one of which was for us, I think we all struggled with this because we know how little they have and how much we have but after a discussion in the evening it could be seen as maintaining their dignity. Trip to the market to get some Tanzanian football shirts ready for the England Vs Tanzania football and netball games that we were taking part in later. We came away with a double win #itscominghome. It was super fun to take part in the netball and it is fair to say it got dirty and competitive. After the netball we watched the boys perform very well in the football, also bringing home the win! Day 4 in Mbeya: The next three days were a carousel of visits, jobs and activities. My group started off with the milk programme which was for the younger children. We also gave each of the children a bobble hat and seeing their excitement on their faces was lovely, they all shouted “kofia, kofia” which means hat in Swahili. The rest of the morning was spent delivering eggs to families with a child with HIV. This was heartbreaking and really hit home because HIV is such a big killer in Tanzania. After lunch we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening registering children into the Grassroots programme. A group of my friends and I did the weights and heights of the children for their form. This was actually quite scary because some of the children were very malnourished. Day 5 in Mbeya: Second day of the carousel and we were off to the zoo. We took and group of children from the programme with us, they absolutely loved it! I spent the day with one little girl who was super cool. When we went to the snake enclosure she told me the story about why she hates snakes now. When she was younger a snake grabbed her around the ankles whilst she was outside with her family, luckily her mum rescued her before it bit her. This was sad and scary because although in England some people say they are afraid of snakes she had experienced something that has made her fear snakes. Whilst the children played in the playground we watched a snake kill and eat a hare, this was horrible but it is how the animals survive. Day 6 in Mbeya: Last day of the carousel and last day in Mbeya!! We were on chicken duty for our last morning. Bumpy ride into rural Mbeya which was gorgeous. Stopped off to watch a cow being milked (I had never seen this before) but it was sad to see how malnourished the cows were. Onto the chicken farm where we saw a chicken being dispatched (killed) before collecting our chickens to deliver in the village. A bumpy route with a chicken on your lap called for an interesting ride back into the town. Our last feeding programme before heading to a gig at the grassroots centre by one of the guys who had been with us all week (shoutout to Gwakisa). Time to say goodbye to all the children! I think this was the hardest part of the trip, especially because we had made some good friendships with the children and we will most probably never see them again or know how they are getting on. I think this really got to me in the evening and it is fair to say I got a bit emotional. Day 7:
05:00 wake up read to leave at 05:30 for the airport. The next two days were going to be spent on the beach in Dar Es Salaam reflecting on the week and our experiences. When we arrived at the beach I think we were all pretty blown away with how gorgous it was: the bright blue indian ocean, cabanas and exetensive sandy beach; it is fair to say we were all very excited. We spent the rest of the day in the sea and sunbathing before dinner and reflection on the week. Day 8: 06:15 wake up to watch the sunrise on the beach with the group. Some of us went in the sea too whilst the sun rose; I think this was a moment I won’t forget! Delicious breakfast after our swim: fresh fruit platter, followed by a cooked breakfast! Suitcases packed and out the room for 10:30am, we stowed the suitcases away for the day as we weren’t leaving for the airport until 10:30pm. Amazing day with an amazing group! I spent the majority of the day in the sea along with some sunbathing and reading. I don’t think I would have changed anything about the trip (unfortunately we didn’t have time but it would’ve been amazing to be able to visit the hospital. I think it would’ve been shocking and heart breaking but it would be reality that we need to be exposed to.) Even though we only got back two days ago I am missing it so much. I cannot explain how much I learnt from the trip, along with the friendships made with both the children and our group. I wish we could do it all over again! Swahili phrases learnt: Habari za asubuhi = good morning Jambo/mambo = hi Habari = hello/ how are you? Jina lako nani = what is your name? Jina langu ni… = my name is… Asante = thank you Asante sana = thank you very much Wow what a weekend it has been. Yesterday I went to pick up my race pack and practiced open water swimming with my friend from tri club (I had never raced in open water swim before). My family had a bit of a scare with my puppy who actually had to go to the emergency vet last night for blood tests and an intravenous drip. I was already nervous for today’s race + to see my puppy so ill was horrible.
4:25am Rise and shine! Porridge making followed by race prepping. 5am Time to leave. It was a gorgeous morning and as we were driving to Worthing the sun was rising. It wasn’t as quiet on the roads as I thought it would be though. |
RECIPES
RACE RECAPS TRAINING BESIDES RUNNING SELF CARE BACK TO SCHOOL OVERTRAINING THINGS I AM LOVING LATELY TRIATHLON NEW YEAR Month/year
August 2023
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