We have lift-off...

Dear All,

We have lift-off, so to speak!

The Zanzibits course has, yesterday, really started! The first class was given this tuesday, with Rukia, our head trainer and Hashil, our administrator, in the spotlights! Good going, guys! I think it is something to be really proud of, as we have really worked hard, these past few months!

And for that, I would like to thank the following people, in particular:

Carina, for her great decoration skills, Hidde, for his time and patience, hard work and dedicated input (Hidde, I am still waiting for that bill so that I can repay you), my parents, for their great support and helping with the auction, NCDO and Wilde Ganzen, who have trused me from the beginning, Hester S., who has been with the project and helped out where she could from the beginning, Charly & Noestige Norbert, whose help was invaulable, all the guys from JUST, Wilson, Rukia, Anne and Geoffrey, the greatest Nairobits gang one could ever wish for, who have worked with passion and great proffessionalism, and without whom things would never have worked out so well on a local level, Mahmoud Komboo, for his moral support and good views, Andreas, for his help with the auction, Otto, for being the best auction master around, Marie, who, from kenya always gave me a listening ear while I was being stressed or depressed (again ;-)), the girls from BW, and Ien in particular, who has helped a great deal, and who gave the greatest tips, Marthe van Rijswijck foundation, for being the first ones to put their trust in me, Anita, for her support with finding a suitable building, Dre, for his always welcome advice, all the dutch companies and shopkeepers who have helped out over the past year (check our zanzibits sponsors for a complete list), Mr. Hashil, Mr. Aziz, and Mr. Suleiman for being the best local staff Zanzibits could hope for, all the local craftspeople in Stone Town, for their work creating desks and chairs, paining of the logo, fixing of the AC units, installation of the computers, fixing the backup system, all the poeple who have made such generous bids during the auction in January, Nicolas Negre, for the moral support and the great big bed, before and during the hardships of the Kilimanjaro Marathon, and, well, everyone else who has been, in some way, positively linked to the launch of Zanzibar and Tanzania's first center for film and multimedia!

Congratulations!