Swearing In Speech

So here's the speech that a bunch of us wrote for our Swearing In ceremony and that Marshall and I read in English and Swahili. I'd say we did a much better job of writing it then I actually did of giving it, so here for your reading pleasure:

"We stand before you now at the dawn of our Peace Corps service. We arrived in the night, and in spite of our preparations we were still in the dark about what to expect. Many awoke to an unfamiliar noise- a beckoning call to prayer. We rose to the burning expectations of the African sun, full of exciting uncertainties.
From the outside looking in you could never understand the jam-packed buses, roosters before dawn, and survival through child-like communication- sema tena pole pole (say it again slowly). Or the traditional healers, bats in the choo, and cross-cultural exchange. From the inside looking out, you could never explain it. These are things at first we might have feared but now we have come to appreciate and embrace.
In this dawn of service we have been welcomed into unique families. Each hosting village came together to guide and protect us. With lessons in culture, life skills, and survival we became kakas and dadas (brothers and sisters), children to Tanzanian parents who held tightly to our hands. They have shown us one path that can lead us to overcome challenges and then another to follow safely back to their homes.
Through the efforts of our government working amicably towards improved quality of life at home and abroad, we have this unique privilege. Working with our counterparts on the front line of this grassroots movement, we will strive towards sustainable change.
If our claustrophobic peers can survive daladalas, if our vegetarian friends can make it through preparing a chicken, if the germaphobics can tolerate public choos, and if each of us is willing to readjust to exams and schoolbells, then surely we are capable of more than we know.
Today is the first day of the most fulfilling job we may ever know. We are embarking on an experience we are sure to love which will challenge us in new ways we could never foresee.
E.E. Cummings once said, "It takes true courage to become who you really are." We would not have the courage, nor the skills and abilities to begin our service without the guidance and support of the entire Peace Corps staff here in Tanzania. We would like to thank them for their patience, understanding, acceptance, and support. These qualities which they have so generously shared with us we hope to extend to our future villages.
To our fellow trainees- In a short period of months we have gone from strangers to family. Thanks to this shared experience we now have a unique bond, not only to each other but also to a large and diverse Peace Corps family. We will walk these days of service together with a unifying desire to accomplish our Peace Corps mission. It is our hope, that through our service, we will be able to contribute to sustainable growth and the continued prosperity of the people of Tanzania."