The Notes ‘n Totes was a HUGE success. 600 kids at 10 different schools in California and Arusha, Tanzania. Ages 11 – 17. The children in Africa were thrilled to receive their tote from America, and to have a new pen pal.
There were some things that I did not anticipate due to cultural differences. For instance the kids in Africa could not figure out their pen pals gender from reading the name of the US student. The names in Africa are so different from our names. The kids in Africa got a huge giggle from one letter giving the names of the boys pet chickens. In Africa chickens are not pets. They loved the notes that had photos and or drawings attached. Their classrooms had no books, or colored papers or any materials available for them to use in creating their notes as compared to the classrooms in California that are creative hubs of activity. Many of the boys wanted to be penpals with girls in the US and many of the girls in Africa wanted boys for penpals. That surprised me. All the students in Africa felt acknowledged for their caring for the environment and were very curious to learn the different ways in which their pen pal was working for a better world too. Next I will take the letters from the African kids to their pen pals in Santa Barbara. I will give another update once that is done. A video is being made about the project but will not be finished for about a month. Thank you again for all the teachers and students and others who collected totes, organized their classes to write notes, and donated money to make this project such a success. I plan to repeat the project on my next trip in August.
This photo is a hyena eating a wildebeest.
Between you all I got about 900 totes and reached my goal of $500 in donations. You guys are THE BEST. AMAZING. Thank you Renee, Carol, Pippa, Chris, Karen, Barbara and Tribal Trust, Nancy, Josee, Judy, Jane Ann, Jackie, Marius, Susan, Danyel, Mikki, Becky, Merrill, Virginia, Elizabeth, Frances, Hildy, Holly, Alex, Sandy, Brittany and Hills of Africa, Michael, Randi, Steve, Connie, Shauna, Trish, Nancy, Amy, Bridget, Grace, Ann, Angie, Kim, Caro, Suzanne, Janey, Denise and Montecito Yoga, Sothebys, Santa Barbara Yoga, Penny, Kathi, Paula and Eco-Nest. I leave on Wednesday to take your collection to the women and kids in Tanzania. They are already thanking you and sending lots of love from Africa. ASANTE SANA (Kiswahili for Thank you very much)
Thank you. thank you, thank you to all the teachers, and kids who collected totes and wrote notes to the kids in Africa to set up a pen pal. In one week all the notes and totes (300 of them) will be traveling by plane to Tanzania. I am so excited to see the faces of the children there when they see the notes ‘n totes. They will feel all the time and love that went into this project here and i will bring back notes from them full of their love. 
THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU WHO MADE THIS HAPPEN. AND THANK YOU FOR THE DONATIONS OF MONEY. Here are a few photos. I hope to have a short video of the entire project when I get back in February. 
During my August safari to Kenya we will visit these cats with the Ewaso Lion Project. There is one spot left for this journey. Get more information 
While watching my plastic bag clean up program this child wanted me to see his solution:
I look around for sign boards, other tourists, a path leading to the river. But there is nothing. Then out of the bushes the boy in this photograph appears holding a stick with an attached poster board with large letters that say, “The Source of the Nile”. He jams the stick into the dirt and motions for us to form a semi circle around him and his prop. After a couple of minutes of historical fact telling he apologizes for not having any cokes for us to drink.”When my family gets money we will be serving cold cokes,” he tells us, “and building a proper cement parking lot, and platforms for viewing so more tourists will come see the source.” When he points to the ripple in the river I imagine John Speke discovering this source back then almost exactly like it remains today. As we drive away the boy yanks his stick out of the ground and disappears into the bushes and I secretly hope his family will never get the money to ‘develop’ this significantly simple spot.