It Takes A Village...

To raise a child, as the phrase usually goes.

And also to gut, remodel, repair and prepare a building in Tanzania to be acceptable for living in just two months’ time. 

In the first few months of this year, Teddy learned that the abandoned building next door to Stella Maris, which has been an eye sore for several years, was available to rent.  Teddy met with the family that owned the building and with her savvy business skills, she negotiated the acquisition of the building for the next TWENTY years. She really is remarkable, I tell ya. 

The vision for the new building is as follows: it would become the ‘little sister’ to the Stella Maris Lodge AND it would serve as a community center.  The first floor would be renovated and used for community-identified needs, such as a library, adult education center, computer lab, etc and the second floor would be cut into thirteen additional rooms for Stella Maris guests. The rooms would be of the same quality as the lodge, but would be geared towards a slightly different clientele:  long term volunteers, volunteer groups, larger groups coming for safari or climbing Kilimanjaro or individuals that are looking for a little more cost efficient accommodation. The price of staying in one of the Annex rooms would be about $15 - $20 less than The Lodge and would have a few minor differences: no air-conditioning, smaller hot water heater and no balconies off of rooms. 

Recently, the new building has been named Stella Pointe Annex.  The name is very fitting as the ‘Stella’ in the new building’s name connects it to Stella Maris Lodge, BUT the separate name also demonstrates a clear distinction between The Lodge and The Annex.  Since Stella Pointe Annex is geared more towards groups, the name is also appropriate because many groups of the groups we host come to climb Mount Kilimanjaro – and there is a location called Stella Pointe during the climb right before you reach the top of the mountain, Uhuru Peak.  

Acquiring this additional building means many great things for Stella Maris.  Firstly, it means that we are able to host more guests daily (with the additional thirteen additional rooms – many of which are suite style and thus can hold four people).  More guests = more revenue = more money for the school. J Secondly, it means that large service groups that stay with us, which happens a handful of times a year, can have their own space at Stella Pointe Annex– as opposed to the current situation where volunteer groups and regular clients of The Lodge share the same building, which can, at times, be less than ideal.  Thirdly, Stella Maris would be better able to serve the Mailisita community, particularly the adults, through the resources, businesses, etc that will exist on the first floor of the Annex and be available to the community.

This all sounds dandy, however, the previous state of the building was an absolute mess.

View of the building from the road. 

Building before the roof had been added. 

What the first floor common area began as. 

Building the stairs and the hallway to the second floor.

A former long-term volunteer, Adam, has been planning to bring a large group (27 people) from the States to Stella Maris to visit and to help assist in the building of the school’s new kitchen.   His group was scheduled to arrive mid-July, which meant that Teddy had two months to turn Stella Pointe into an inviting, clean, safe space for Adam’s group during their time in Tanzania.

Now, before I continue, I must explain how construction usually goes in Tanzania to give some context for what an immense task Teddy had at hand.  Usually, workers are paid based upon how long the project takes to finish – not the amount of work produced.  As you can imagine, with this sort of system, workers take their sweeettt time finishing a project and thus, it has become the norm that building anything takes an extremely long time.  There was a building about half of the size of Stella Pointe that was ‘under construction’ for the ENTIRE time I was here last time (seven months).  I was pleasantly surprised to see that the construction of that building had finished when I returned.  Conversely, though, there is another building not too far down the same road that simply had the frame of the building completed when I left two years ago and is currently still in the exact condition.

Finishing up the roof!

When I arrived in early June, the workers had just begun.  There was a great deal of remodeling that needed to happen first: many walls had to be taken down and likewise put up to create the needed floor plan for the second floor and to ensure that the building had enough support to remain standing (it was a little questionable before) J.  Oh, and an entire new plumbing system and a roof had to be installed.  All of this work was finished with one week left in June. 

That left the workers about three weeks to turn what was now a safe and functional building into an actual living space.  All electrical wiring needed to be completed.   Tiling, painting, installment of light fixtures, toilets, water heaters, sinks, etc had to be taken care of.  Then there were the smaller items that each room and bathroom would need: wardrobes, mirrors, towel racks, toilet paper holders, curtains, curtain holders and on and on. So much work and so little time.  But, Teddy transitioned into ‘boss mode’ and made it happen.  Walls began to be painted, electrical wiring came together and fixtures were placed to cover the dangerous wires.  Tiles began to cover the concrete ground and toilets, sinks, and shower heads were installed. 

Tiling beginning. 

First room completely tiled.

With about ten days left before Adam’s group arrived, the thirteen bedrooms were complete – except for those final decorations like curtain hangers, curtains, wardrobes and all of the bathroom decorative items.  It was now time to clean those rooms and move onto the tiling, painting, electrical work, etc of the two, larger common spaces and the massive balcony that surrounds the common space.  Even with all of the incredible work that had been – and so quickly – it seems like the work was never ending.  And, Adam’s group was arriving in just a few shorts days.

Amazing what tiles and fresh paint can do to a room. 

Can't beat that natural light. 

And, we have toilets!

Satellite is up and the gate has arrived!

About a week before the group arrived, Teddy learned that some of the tasks she was planning to take care of after Adam’s group had come and gone – exterior gate, outdoor lights, generator, wifi, etc – needed to be available for Adam’s group.  With all of the other work that was going on, it was difficult for Teddy to add these items to her plate, but like always, she made it happen.  She worked nonstop.  She hired more workers to build the foundation for the gate and got it installed.  She hired more electricians to get strong, outdoor lights placed on the exterior of the building as well as the pathway from The Lodge to The Annex.  She bought a generator and had a room built around it to decrease the noise guests could hear from it when in use.    And, she got pneumonia. L

But, she kept working.  And so did the workers –25 of which were at the building at any given time.  With just a handful of days left before Adam’s group arrived, Dave, one of the Board of Directors of the Mailisita Foundation arrived for his annual visit.  Tiles were still being laid for the outdoor balcony and on the stairway from the second floors where guests would stay to the first floor entrance of the building.  All electrical wiring had not yet been finished in the common rooms.  Beds were being assembled in each of the rooms. The fundi (mason) who was going to build the wardrobes had just visited to take measurements to begin building the wardrobes.  Understandably so, Dave was concerned that all of these final tasks would not get finished in time.  For a moment, based upon the amount of progress that still had to be made in a short period of time, there was a question of whether the group should move to a different location for their visit.  However, as someone who has lived in Tanzania for an extended period of time, I’ve seen crazier things happen and expected that this was how things would go.  We would work down to the wire –  to the absolute, very last second.  But, Teddy said it would be ready, and I would happily bet all of my money in favor of Teddy any day. J

Beginning to assemble the beds. 

With two days left, Teddy’s housekeeping staff went into massive cleaning mode.  I helped hang the curtains in the rooms while the women cleaned all around me.  The final tiles were placed on the second floor and the men started tiling the stairs to the entrance.  The gate was secured along the fence that ran along the perimeter of the land.  The outdoor lights were installed and shone brightly. A TV was installed in the common area.   The man who was installing the mirrors, towel racks and toilet paper holders was working hard to get those items assembled in every bathroom. 

Finishing touches on one of the common areas. 

All of the rooms were cleaned about four times. 

TV installed and floor complete in one of the common rooms - now time to clean!

The group was scheduled to arrive on Sunday.  Naturally, it was a madhouse over at Stella Pointe for all of Saturday.  Teddy never sat down and she still had pneumonia.  Dave and I painted the staircase from the second floor to the first floor for the ENTIRE day – 10 hours. Women continued to clean. At 6pm on Saturday night, the waiters from The Lodge started moving extra furniture from The Lodge over to the Annex for the common areas. Also, right around 6pm, the fundi who made the wardrobes delivered the thirteen wardrobes for each room.  Teddy told the men that they were not going home that night until all of the wardrobes were assembled in each room – no matter what time it was. So Saturday night was a family affair: all staff of the Lodge and I swept, washed, arranged furniture and did all of the final preparations into the early hours of Sunday morning. A long day for sure, but it also was a very rewarding one being surrounded by my Tanzanian family and seeing all of the hard work of two months come together. 

Before.

10 hours later. 

Covered in paint and thankful to be finished!

Sunday finally arrived! Adam’s group would arrive in a few hours. The women washed one final time.  A final coat of paint was applied to the stairwell from the first floor to the second floor.  I brought some smaller items I had in my room, deck of cards, a few books, etc to The Annex to give the common area a home-y feel.  We brought over a few pots of plants from The Lodge as well to liven up the place.  We placed name tags on the doors of the rooms.  Teddy and I anxiously awaited their arrival.

The curtains and accent wall really bring the rooms to life.

Wardrobe that appears in each guest room. 

Common area!

Adam’s group has been staying at Stella Pointe Annex for exactly a week now.  Things have gone well.  We worked out a few kinks – one day there was a minor problem with the water and one day the electricity was acting weird – but such things are expected with a new building.  The rooms are spacious, bright and inviting.  The wardrobes are unique and add a bit of character to the rooms.  The group has an entire building to call their own, which, as expected, is a definite advantage for a large group.

June 1st, 2016.

July 10th, 2017. 

Before.

The same room - after!

The woman, the myth, the legend!

The hard work of the last two months came together and like always, I am so proud and impressed with Teddy.  It was really quite fun to be here to watch (and assist with) the progress of The Stella Pointe Annex.  Good things continue to come for the Mailisita Foundation and most importantly, the children!