Janet my Fundi

  This is Janet's measurements book for all of her customers. They describe to her what they want, and then she draws it out with the measurements. This was the "blueprint" for the first dress she made for me.

The rest of the pictures are not edited for sake of time, but I'll share them with you so you can get to know my friend Janet a little!

                                                                  New sticker books and toys!

        Janet is my dress-maker. She is fantastic at what she does! Often times I would stop at her house on my way to or from the post office just to visit. She would teach me Swahili as she sewed away on her cute little sewing machine and I would teach her English as we would both try to communicate :) She is such a beautiful lady! Her mother, and 7-year-old daughter live with her in a house that is smaller than my dorm room. They have a "living room" and a bedroom behind that they all share and a kitchen arend squat pot out back. Whenever I would approach her house, I would hear her call "Karibu Betha!" (pronounced Baytha..that's my Swahili name) She always invited me in and served me something! Sometimes a mango, sometimes tea..
Before I left she had me over for a special goodbye meal. It was lovely! Her niece was living there with them at the time too so I gave the girls some goodbye gifts and we all enjoyed chakula! (food)

                                                                The cat outside climbing the tree
                                                                       ...si jui kwa nini

                                     As soon as I gave little Janeti her stuffed animal, she tied it on her back with a blanket like all the ladies do with their babies. It was really cute.

   The girlies and their candy (you can see Janet's sewing machine in the background...the one that made all of my wonderful African dresses :)

 A neighbor boy took this picture for us before I left. The window on the left is Janet's house and the window on the right is a shop that Janet's friends own. These are some of my many genuine and wonderful local friends that made my Tanzanian experience all the more meaningful! I miss them!