April 2006: The latest group of eight volunteers has now left Emau Hill, bound for extra trips in various parts of E Africa. The schools benefited enormously from their enthusiasm and they will be missed. Below are excerpts from their final entries in the Visitors' Book at Emau Hill.

Will: Where have the three months gone? Emau Hill has become like home and it will be odd leaving. The people in Tanzania have made my stay so memorable.

Charlotte: Having been back twice to Emau, it clearly has some sort of magnetic attraction for me! I love the place, I love the people and I have loved every minute of teaching.

Henry: If someone had told me six months ago that every morning I would get up at 6.30 am, eat purple porridge (uji), teach hundreds of children the English language and then come home and wash my boxer shorts in a bucket, I would have told them they were insane. Perhaps, not surprisingly, doing all this at Emau was nothing but a pleasure. To be surrounded by so many kind and wonderful people just made it that much more special.

Kate: We have been so warmly welcomed at Emau Hill that it has felt like home for the last three months. I will never forget my stay here and hope to return one day if possible. Vincent and Rosa helped make our stay all the more enjoyable with their wonderful cooking. I will actually miss uji, which is nice with honey! I will miss the people as well as this very special place.

Megan: It has been an absolute pleasure spending time in such a warm and welcoming community. The kids were a joy to teach, so much fun and they worked so hard. Caroline - our wonderful TEFL teacher - prepared us so well in the art of controlling hundreds of children! Also a big thank you to Stephen and Pia. So much good work is going on and you give people like me the opportunity to come to Emau and be part of that. Finally, thank you to the staff for looking after us so well. Special mention must go to Rosa and Vincent who made sure we were never hungry! Even if you had a bad day, Vincent managed to put a smile on your face.

Steph: To Stephen and Pia - a little mad and very wonderful. To Caroline - only a fantastic teacher like you could have taught me to be a half decent one. To Vincent and Rosa - great friends forever. To Emau - a little heaven and my little home.

Claire: The teaching has been amazing, the kids were too and it was so enjoyable. I'm really going to miss it and them. At Emau everyone has helped me have such an amazing time by being always so kind and welcoming. Vincent and Rosa for their cheeriness and chakula! John for always taking us everywhere we needed to go despite the conditions; the washing girls for working so hard on our clothes; Mama Maji for traipsing up and down the hill with all the water for us every day; Mzee Abedi and Mzee Jango Fua - I don't know how they cope with seems like no sleep. Then Caroline, without whose guidance the children would never have learnt half as much from us. And, of course, Stephen and Pia for everything else!