Mabel has decided she does know us and is getting used to her "new" people.
The garden and woods are lush and green. The nasturtiums are still growing and hang down from the roof over the office window.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Finally feels nice to be back home. It was good to reconnect with friends on the weekend to look at pictures and talk about our time in Tanzania.
Mabel has decided she does know us and is getting used to her "new" people.
The garden and woods are lush and green. The nasturtiums are still growing and hang down from the roof over the office window.
Mabel has decided she does know us and is getting used to her "new" people.
The garden and woods are lush and green. The nasturtiums are still growing and hang down from the roof over the office window.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Catching up on a few details.
Due to the weak and intermittent internet access you have all heard so much about, we were unable to insert as many pictures as we could so here they are after the fact. First the school.
Here are the boys looking spiffy in their school uniforms although in order to obtain this picture, I had to contract with Simon that I would say the uniforms are ugly.
Here are the children lining up for morning assembly and the singing of the Tanzanian National Anthem.
Here is Sister Gwynneth and I on my penultimate day of teaching inside the pre-school compound where my classroom was located.
Here is Sister Gwynneth and I on my penultimate day of teaching inside the pre-school compound where my classroom was located.
Here are the boys looking spiffy in their school uniforms although in order to obtain this picture, I had to contract with Simon that I would say the uniforms are ugly.
This is the final layout of the penultimate game of Catan played Thursday night before Sally and I left. Note the red line across the board, my winning layout. At the time, I didn't know I'd have a chance to win again the next day!
Saying goodbye to Julietie and remembering the day at her house. We had some great laughs together although some of the Swahili words she taught me I won't be able to use in polite company.
Cloves from the spice tour on Zanzibar.
The beach on Bwejuu. A lot of activity relating to fishing in the morning and evening. On our first night we saw a man on a bicycle cycle down the beach just after dusk with a lit lantern hanging from a pool sticking out over his back fender. It was a beautiful photo but he didn't come the next night so I was unable to capture it with my camera. Later that first night, we saw lights out on the tidal flats and realized he was on his was to fish - pit lamping? This group was catching crab I believe.
I was careful not to take many pictures during my first few weeks at Holy Family School as I was unsure of the etiquette but the last week, with Sister G's consent, Sally and I brought our cameras to class and as you can see, the kids overcame their shyness (not!). They flocked to get their pictures taken but loved even more being able to see themselves on the screen. Getting them to stand still was not possible so there is not one picture of them fully in focus.
This is what the class typically looked like. The computers lined up along one wall with each one surrounded by children. In this class - Simon's Standard 5 - Sally is monitoring the end computer, Smon is helping with the next one and I am watching the two closest to me. For the most part it worked. Their mouse skills were so erratic that they would open applications unknowingly and suddenly they would be a click away from remapping the drives or connecting to a non-existent internet connection.
We will miss the road up to the school. It was a lovely way to start the day. The return trip was in full sun and the hottest part of the day so we don't miss it as much.
Saying goodbye to Julietie and remembering the day at her house. We had some great laughs together although some of the Swahili words she taught me I won't be able to use in polite company.
Cloves from the spice tour on Zanzibar.
The beach on Bwejuu. A lot of activity relating to fishing in the morning and evening. On our first night we saw a man on a bicycle cycle down the beach just after dusk with a lit lantern hanging from a pool sticking out over his back fender. It was a beautiful photo but he didn't come the next night so I was unable to capture it with my camera. Later that first night, we saw lights out on the tidal flats and realized he was on his was to fish - pit lamping? This group was catching crab I believe.
I was careful not to take many pictures during my first few weeks at Holy Family School as I was unsure of the etiquette but the last week, with Sister G's consent, Sally and I brought our cameras to class and as you can see, the kids overcame their shyness (not!). They flocked to get their pictures taken but loved even more being able to see themselves on the screen. Getting them to stand still was not possible so there is not one picture of them fully in focus.
This is what the class typically looked like. The computers lined up along one wall with each one surrounded by children. In this class - Simon's Standard 5 - Sally is monitoring the end computer, Smon is helping with the next one and I am watching the two closest to me. For the most part it worked. Their mouse skills were so erratic that they would open applications unknowingly and suddenly they would be a click away from remapping the drives or connecting to a non-existent internet connection.
We will miss the road up to the school. It was a lovely way to start the day. The return trip was in full sun and the hottest part of the day so we don't miss it as much.
Our first weekend with ALGS was a holiday at Peponi, a campground/resort on the coast south of Tanga and north of Pangani. The snorkelling trip out on to a sand island on a how was lovely. The Dhow crew set up temporary shade, the boys circumnavigated the island on their stomachs and we had a wonderful lunch.
The morning routine involved unlocking all the door and padlocks and chains, hauling the bikes outside, filling bottles with drinking water and securing water and food and school supplies to bikes. In general a mechanical inspection was required as nuts and bolts shook themselves loose, mud caked into fenders and rubbed against tires and chains fell off with predictable regularity.
On our last Sunday we attended a Lutheran Church Confirmation service where about 400 people from 3 parishes were to be confirmed. We were there at the invitation of our housekeeper Julietie and all dressed in our best clothes to attend as much of the 6 hour service as we could stand in the heat followed by a meal at her home. The couple next to Sally and I are Alex and Emily, doctors from the UK in Muheza for 10 months. Alex is working on a ward and Emily is working at the clinic in the Diana Centre. Lovely people.
Julietie and her family after the service. She is on the right in her choir uniform. Her son Paulo is the one with the garlands around his neck. His father and brother and other family members fill out the picture.
Here we are at Julietie's home. All the neigbours attended just to see us. I think we were all worried that our presence took away from Paulo's day but Julietie was clearly moved that we came.
Here we are at Julietie's home. All the neigbours attended just to see us. I think we were all worried that our presence took away from Paulo's day but Julietie was clearly moved that we came.
Sally using the wooden mortar and pestle to grind spices. She is sitting in a carved African chair which doesn't look particularly stable or comfortable but turned out to be the most comfortable piece of furniture in the room.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Home again, home again.
What a trip. We left Bwejuu, on the east coast of Zanzibar, at about 12:30 pm on Wednesday and arrived in Victoria at about 6pm Thursday. With the loss of 11 hours, travel time was about 40 hours. The sun is just rising as we write this and it feels like we are too quickly coming back to the Western world.
What a shock to arrive in Amsterdam and see Christmas decorations. And to come home to Mabel who wasn't immediately sure she knew us but has since decided that she does.
A hot bath before bed, a reasonably good night of sleep and coffee with fluffy milk in the morning and we are starting to feel a bit less like zombies.
I (Sal) am sitting at the computer looking out over the mossy green rocks, through the jungle of blooming nasturtiums that still hang down from the roof top garden. There is no grit on the keyboard, no sweat dripping down my back or mosquitoes bitting my ankles. Mabel is doing her annoying barking and whinning "get off the computer, play with me" routine (some things have not changed). I feel such sadness about letting go of so many of our experiences: the warmth from all the people in our lives in Muheza, the heat, the constant noises (call to prayer, the fans, the crickets, the throng of people going up and down the road in front of our house, the birds and the bats........even the moaning cow). But I am also enjoying letting in the love and friendship we have in our lives here, the forest, the cosy fire in the wood stove, and the quiet.
Although it was hard leaving Muheza and ALGS early, our five days in Zanzibar were enjoyable and the days on the beach gave us the chance to talk about the trip and what touched us, what brought us joy, what made us laugh, what we learned about ourselves, how our expectations of Tanzania differed from the reality, and just generally begin processing the experience.
And on a more trite note, we also shopped more! (I say this with full awareness of the irony of my statement. If I can describe with broad strokes the issues that this trip leaves me pondering, I would say that it is waste, excess, and stuff in general, with all its capitalistic baggage, that I will reflect on the most. Being raised Catholic - that may mean I will just feel more guilty when I buy stuff but I'd like to try a new approach. Rose)
We payed Wazungu prices wherever we went. Zanzibar is a lot more expensive than other places we've visited so far (and more touristy), but still a wonderful place to visit. It is fushion of Arab, Indian and African culture (including its own unique style of music called Taarab played in Zanzibar as early as the 1820's).
Looking forward to sharing our stories and news with all of you at home in the near future - expect a lot of vegetable curry, chapatis and powerpoints!
We plan on continuing the blog for ALGS and Rachel and other friends far away. We have both enjoyed the process of blogging and appreciated your comments and emails.
What a shock to arrive in Amsterdam and see Christmas decorations. And to come home to Mabel who wasn't immediately sure she knew us but has since decided that she does.
A hot bath before bed, a reasonably good night of sleep and coffee with fluffy milk in the morning and we are starting to feel a bit less like zombies.
I (Sal) am sitting at the computer looking out over the mossy green rocks, through the jungle of blooming nasturtiums that still hang down from the roof top garden. There is no grit on the keyboard, no sweat dripping down my back or mosquitoes bitting my ankles. Mabel is doing her annoying barking and whinning "get off the computer, play with me" routine (some things have not changed). I feel such sadness about letting go of so many of our experiences: the warmth from all the people in our lives in Muheza, the heat, the constant noises (call to prayer, the fans, the crickets, the throng of people going up and down the road in front of our house, the birds and the bats........even the moaning cow). But I am also enjoying letting in the love and friendship we have in our lives here, the forest, the cosy fire in the wood stove, and the quiet.
Although it was hard leaving Muheza and ALGS early, our five days in Zanzibar were enjoyable and the days on the beach gave us the chance to talk about the trip and what touched us, what brought us joy, what made us laugh, what we learned about ourselves, how our expectations of Tanzania differed from the reality, and just generally begin processing the experience.
And on a more trite note, we also shopped more! (I say this with full awareness of the irony of my statement. If I can describe with broad strokes the issues that this trip leaves me pondering, I would say that it is waste, excess, and stuff in general, with all its capitalistic baggage, that I will reflect on the most. Being raised Catholic - that may mean I will just feel more guilty when I buy stuff but I'd like to try a new approach. Rose)
We payed Wazungu prices wherever we went. Zanzibar is a lot more expensive than other places we've visited so far (and more touristy), but still a wonderful place to visit. It is fushion of Arab, Indian and African culture (including its own unique style of music called Taarab played in Zanzibar as early as the 1820's).
Looking forward to sharing our stories and news with all of you at home in the near future - expect a lot of vegetable curry, chapatis and powerpoints!
We plan on continuing the blog for ALGS and Rachel and other friends far away. We have both enjoyed the process of blogging and appreciated your comments and emails.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Queasy in Stone Town
Rose here. Sitting in an air conditioned internewt cafe in Stone Town AKA Zanzibar Town. Sal is doing some last minute sightseeing while I sit my queasy self down for a break.
As Sal thought, the last day was hard. The blur of 200 or so children separated into individuals with names - Samueli who wanted my address, the boy who thanked me for bringing computers to the school and said God Bless as I left, the wildness that emerged when the camera came out. I will miss that walk to school although my feet will never be the same again.
We spent Friday in rainy Tanga at the Mkonge Hotel playing games and reading and visiting and saying goodbye (I hope Simon remembers to record my second win in a row at Catan!). We arrived at the airport at the same time as Reverend Mattiya but I'll let Sal tell you about that. After he left, we hung around until it was time to say goodbye to ALGS. Good byes were hard.
The flight to Zanzibar was via Pemba Island, an island north of Zanzibar but part of the same archipelago. Zanzibar is much more urban than what we had seen so far with more money and more white tourists. Quite a shock coming from Muheza. Our first night's accomodation did not suit so we moved to a new spot the next morning - a bit upscale before embarking on a spice tour which took us into the outskirts of Zanzibar Town and beyond to old ruins and Plantantions where we were shown the various plants, roots and trees from which lemon grass, vanilla, cardamon, peppercorns, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and tumeric come from. Who knew tumeric was a root!
The trip included a lunch on one of the plantations which was touted as featuring many of the spices we'd been shown but it was a disappointment, We'd had much better similar meals in Muheza. And, within a few hours, it became clear to me that I'd eaten something bad for me. The evening and night were unpleasant and nausea continued into the next day.
We had booked a trip to Chumbe Island, a marine eco-resort for Sunday and I felt well enough to go so off we went. We met a couple from Halifax who had also been on the same spice tour and one of them had also had a reaction to the meal.
Chumbe Island was lovely and appears to be doing excellent preservation work primarily through education. We went snorkelling although my snorkelling was interspersed with retching. and Sally had her best meal in Tanzania while I retired to our Banda. In the afternoon, we were taken on a guided forest walk. The eco-system is Coral Rag Forest - the island was at one time under water and what is now exposed is dead coral. There is no soil and all the vegetation is the result of seed being deposited by birds.
We are just about to leave for the east coast of the Island to a place called Bwejuu where we will lounge for a couple of days before heading home Wednesday night arriving Thursday afternoon in Victoria.
Love to all and see you soon.
As Sal thought, the last day was hard. The blur of 200 or so children separated into individuals with names - Samueli who wanted my address, the boy who thanked me for bringing computers to the school and said God Bless as I left, the wildness that emerged when the camera came out. I will miss that walk to school although my feet will never be the same again.
We spent Friday in rainy Tanga at the Mkonge Hotel playing games and reading and visiting and saying goodbye (I hope Simon remembers to record my second win in a row at Catan!). We arrived at the airport at the same time as Reverend Mattiya but I'll let Sal tell you about that. After he left, we hung around until it was time to say goodbye to ALGS. Good byes were hard.
The flight to Zanzibar was via Pemba Island, an island north of Zanzibar but part of the same archipelago. Zanzibar is much more urban than what we had seen so far with more money and more white tourists. Quite a shock coming from Muheza. Our first night's accomodation did not suit so we moved to a new spot the next morning - a bit upscale before embarking on a spice tour which took us into the outskirts of Zanzibar Town and beyond to old ruins and Plantantions where we were shown the various plants, roots and trees from which lemon grass, vanilla, cardamon, peppercorns, cloves, nutmeg, ginger and tumeric come from. Who knew tumeric was a root!
The trip included a lunch on one of the plantations which was touted as featuring many of the spices we'd been shown but it was a disappointment, We'd had much better similar meals in Muheza. And, within a few hours, it became clear to me that I'd eaten something bad for me. The evening and night were unpleasant and nausea continued into the next day.
We had booked a trip to Chumbe Island, a marine eco-resort for Sunday and I felt well enough to go so off we went. We met a couple from Halifax who had also been on the same spice tour and one of them had also had a reaction to the meal.
Chumbe Island was lovely and appears to be doing excellent preservation work primarily through education. We went snorkelling although my snorkelling was interspersed with retching. and Sally had her best meal in Tanzania while I retired to our Banda. In the afternoon, we were taken on a guided forest walk. The eco-system is Coral Rag Forest - the island was at one time under water and what is now exposed is dead coral. There is no soil and all the vegetation is the result of seed being deposited by birds.
We are just about to leave for the east coast of the Island to a place called Bwejuu where we will lounge for a couple of days before heading home Wednesday night arriving Thursday afternoon in Victoria.
Love to all and see you soon.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Being in Africa & the US Election
Wow, what a day it was here yesterday. The phone texts were flying early in the morning. Went something like this: Graham - Ambrose - Griffin - Sal and Rose. The results have had a huge impact here. Rose told the teachers during their coffee break. We told all our classes. The response was immediate from everyone: faces lit up, two thumbs up. It is great to have been here for this incrediable event.
I had to say good bye to all the kids yesterday. It was hard. I have developed a relationship with many of them. I have gone from having the children plastered against me to see the computer monitor, to a stray hand grabbing a fold on my skirt or my hand, to having the girls drape themselves over me, link arms and snuggle. They're such demonstrative kids. We all took pictures of each other on Rose's and my cameras, with promises to mail them prints.
Today is our last day in Muheza. Rose went off to school with the boys - her last trip. Tomorrow the boys will miss school and we'll all go to Tanga with A&L. While they finish off their training conference, we'll hang out at the Mkonge Hotel pool until Rose and I catch our flight to Zanzibar.
I had to say good bye to all the kids yesterday. It was hard. I have developed a relationship with many of them. I have gone from having the children plastered against me to see the computer monitor, to a stray hand grabbing a fold on my skirt or my hand, to having the girls drape themselves over me, link arms and snuggle. They're such demonstrative kids. We all took pictures of each other on Rose's and my cameras, with promises to mail them prints.
Today is our last day in Muheza. Rose went off to school with the boys - her last trip. Tomorrow the boys will miss school and we'll all go to Tanga with A&L. While they finish off their training conference, we'll hang out at the Mkonge Hotel pool until Rose and I catch our flight to Zanzibar.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
8 c & cloudy in Victoria has some appeal
It is definately getting hotter. I did no think it was possible...but we are getting into the summer months. And th wet season, so it is alos humid. Leah ahd I have been comparing the most unpleasant feeling sweaty parts of our bodies (for more specicfics you will have to email one of us directly).
We had a lovely/exhausting day attending Julieti's son's Confirmation. We were outside under a lovely groove of trees. There were 3 local Lutheran churches combining their ceremonies. The children were welcomed and marched in with a great brass and drum band form Muheza (this appeasrs to be a multipurpose band in Muheza, as they also lead the world paliative care day celebration a few weeks back). The sermons were long and plentiful ( 3 ministers), but there was also choir music. We had to take a break part way through and go home and lie under fans, etc ,
but we came back just in time for the processional leading the kids out. Then on to the party. We walked to Juileti's home through a maze of pathways. She had organized a 'karibu' (welcome for us), and we were greeted in song by her friends and family. A ceremony for her son, Paulo, ensued, complete with rituals and a feast. We walked home along the railroad tracks just before nightfall.
I am holding down the homefront today, and am soon off on my second solo expedition to the market to buy produce and other supplies (it is much easier to have Griff along). A&L are in Tanga for the day, and Rose set off to school this morning with the boys.
I continue to work on the proposal with the OVC program (orphan and vulnerable children), which serves thousands of children in the may wards/villages in Muheza District - assessing kid's living conditions - shelter, nutrition, support. Many of the kids live with grandparents, older sibs, aunts/uncles - thankfully they do not take them out of their villages to an Orphanage, but support them to stay with their family. The program also provides education on HIV/AIDS and pays school supplies/fees. The proposal I am working on - thanks for your prompting, Ed - is for the older OVC aged 18 - 22, who have little happening in their villages. The proposal is for training in the production of materials from coconut trees - timber for furniture and bowls, leaves for mats and thatching for roofs and husks for crafts. We did some market research, and may have some luck with OXFAM.
We are savouring our last few days in this village in N/E Tanzania that has been our home for the past 6 weeks. We'll try to post something from Zanzibar.
Holding you all close to our hearts. S&R
We had a lovely/exhausting day attending Julieti's son's Confirmation. We were outside under a lovely groove of trees. There were 3 local Lutheran churches combining their ceremonies. The children were welcomed and marched in with a great brass and drum band form Muheza (this appeasrs to be a multipurpose band in Muheza, as they also lead the world paliative care day celebration a few weeks back). The sermons were long and plentiful ( 3 ministers), but there was also choir music. We had to take a break part way through and go home and lie under fans, etc ,
but we came back just in time for the processional leading the kids out. Then on to the party. We walked to Juileti's home through a maze of pathways. She had organized a 'karibu' (welcome for us), and we were greeted in song by her friends and family. A ceremony for her son, Paulo, ensued, complete with rituals and a feast. We walked home along the railroad tracks just before nightfall.
I am holding down the homefront today, and am soon off on my second solo expedition to the market to buy produce and other supplies (it is much easier to have Griff along). A&L are in Tanga for the day, and Rose set off to school this morning with the boys.
I continue to work on the proposal with the OVC program (orphan and vulnerable children), which serves thousands of children in the may wards/villages in Muheza District - assessing kid's living conditions - shelter, nutrition, support. Many of the kids live with grandparents, older sibs, aunts/uncles - thankfully they do not take them out of their villages to an Orphanage, but support them to stay with their family. The program also provides education on HIV/AIDS and pays school supplies/fees. The proposal I am working on - thanks for your prompting, Ed - is for the older OVC aged 18 - 22, who have little happening in their villages. The proposal is for training in the production of materials from coconut trees - timber for furniture and bowls, leaves for mats and thatching for roofs and husks for crafts. We did some market research, and may have some luck with OXFAM.
We are savouring our last few days in this village in N/E Tanzania that has been our home for the past 6 weeks. We'll try to post something from Zanzibar.
Holding you all close to our hearts. S&R
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The end is approaching - Rose
Belated Happy Halloween all. No pumpkins here and the heat just doesn't say Halloween to me.
Last week of school coming up. Plan for the last week of class is to show the children a bit more of what you can do with a computer and let them play - games, Paint, watch our Saadani pics.
We saw the Sunningdale group off this morning - AKA "the 10 Anglicans" - what a lovely group of people. Today we have a big day planned - Alex and Emily are joining us for a game of Settlers of Catan, dinner and the Simpson's movie! We are all excited!
Tomorrow we attend our housekeeper Julietie's son's confirmation at the Lutheran church. Apparently Elias is one of 400 being confirmed and it goes on for hours. There will be singing apparently and we are invited back to Julieti's for food in the afternoon. She seems quite moved that we will attend.
I am ready to come home and feel complete about my time here. I do think I would like to come back and would like to maintain some relationships with folks here. But I need to speak Swahili if I am to be of any use.
The one frustration I have is that I have been unable to convert the trial softare on the laptops to a final version and I am unsure why. I can send Sister the software from home but I would have preferred having it all sorted out before I left. I'm wondering if the problem is a Canadian laptop accessing either a UK or South African Microsoft site to download.
I was also unable to set up internet access on the laptops. There is no Future Shop here!
Sally and I head out on Friday the 7th for Zanzibar and 5 days on the ocean before flying home. Time has flown by and the final week will be busy with Leah and Ambrose in Tanga most days at a training.
Last week of school coming up. Plan for the last week of class is to show the children a bit more of what you can do with a computer and let them play - games, Paint, watch our Saadani pics.
We saw the Sunningdale group off this morning - AKA "the 10 Anglicans" - what a lovely group of people. Today we have a big day planned - Alex and Emily are joining us for a game of Settlers of Catan, dinner and the Simpson's movie! We are all excited!
Tomorrow we attend our housekeeper Julietie's son's confirmation at the Lutheran church. Apparently Elias is one of 400 being confirmed and it goes on for hours. There will be singing apparently and we are invited back to Julieti's for food in the afternoon. She seems quite moved that we will attend.
I am ready to come home and feel complete about my time here. I do think I would like to come back and would like to maintain some relationships with folks here. But I need to speak Swahili if I am to be of any use.
The one frustration I have is that I have been unable to convert the trial softare on the laptops to a final version and I am unsure why. I can send Sister the software from home but I would have preferred having it all sorted out before I left. I'm wondering if the problem is a Canadian laptop accessing either a UK or South African Microsoft site to download.
I was also unable to set up internet access on the laptops. There is no Future Shop here!
Sally and I head out on Friday the 7th for Zanzibar and 5 days on the ocean before flying home. Time has flown by and the final week will be busy with Leah and Ambrose in Tanga most days at a training.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
On the spot blogging from Sal
I am sitting in the sweltering heat at the Teule Hospital compter room. I do not have my glasses - which I seem to need more and more these days - so my spelling/grammer may be lacking here.
We have been a busy houshold these days - welcoming, feeding a group of 10 Anglicans from the UK congregation that supports the hospital, who have come to visit. They are lovely engaging folks. We have been without power since before their arrival - a transformer, apparently, so who know how long it will be till we get it back. Just like life in the Highlands! At least we have running water and a kerosine stove.
I have been helping Rose with her teaching - an hour walk up to the school, 5 or 6 classes between 9 and noon. The kids really enjoy it, and swarm us around the computers. It is very hot and sticky.
I have also been writing up a grant proposal for a community economic development project - the production of materials from coconut trees - for the OVC program. I have fallen back on the trusty Program Outcome Model as a framework. It has been intersting and enjoyable to work with the OVC program manager.
We have only a week and a half left - the time is going so fast. Both Rose and I are finding our time here to be peaceful and meaningful, and are already talking about when we'll come back. We are both well in every way.
Thanks to everyone for your love and support. It is wonderful to get news from you.
Love Sal
We have been a busy houshold these days - welcoming, feeding a group of 10 Anglicans from the UK congregation that supports the hospital, who have come to visit. They are lovely engaging folks. We have been without power since before their arrival - a transformer, apparently, so who know how long it will be till we get it back. Just like life in the Highlands! At least we have running water and a kerosine stove.
I have been helping Rose with her teaching - an hour walk up to the school, 5 or 6 classes between 9 and noon. The kids really enjoy it, and swarm us around the computers. It is very hot and sticky.
I have also been writing up a grant proposal for a community economic development project - the production of materials from coconut trees - for the OVC program. I have fallen back on the trusty Program Outcome Model as a framework. It has been intersting and enjoyable to work with the OVC program manager.
We have only a week and a half left - the time is going so fast. Both Rose and I are finding our time here to be peaceful and meaningful, and are already talking about when we'll come back. We are both well in every way.
Thanks to everyone for your love and support. It is wonderful to get news from you.
Love Sal
Saturday, October 25, 2008
This week's pics
Hope you can see this. It is one of the many surreal moments since we've arrived. While waiting with graham for his bus, two young Masai appeared and one joined a snooker game.
That’s why God made Wazungu! - Rose
Religion is both very present and a non-issue at the same time. We are surrounded by Christians doing good work who go to church and say God Bless You (Sister Gwynneth) and the sounds of imans calling the faithful to prayer at the Mosque five times a day yet Muslims and Christians attend school together and the Muslim shopkeeper greets us with Salaam Allechim and teaches us to respond Allechim Salaam and no one asks or seems to care what our belief system is.
It turns out being a Mzungu (singular of Wazungu) has a purpose. Everything we do is worth stopping and watching. Children come running yelling “Wazungu” or “Habari Wazungu” at us, repeatedly, even if we answer, repeatedly. Toddlers cry when we wave at them and head for their mothers. Stand up comics would envy the reactions we get when we attempt to expand our Swahili.
Thursday night we went to a Tanzanian bar/restaurant for Graham’s last night here. Mzungu moja (one European/white person) would be a draw but Wazungu saba (seven white folks) was a special added attraction. The owner was gracious and welcoming and we were successful in ordering beer (beer?) and food (chakula). We had a lovely evening and amused the owner and the other patrons no end as we danced our way out the door. That when I realized the real purpose of Wazungu – to bring laughter to the people of Tanzania!
It turns out being a Mzungu (singular of Wazungu) has a purpose. Everything we do is worth stopping and watching. Children come running yelling “Wazungu” or “Habari Wazungu” at us, repeatedly, even if we answer, repeatedly. Toddlers cry when we wave at them and head for their mothers. Stand up comics would envy the reactions we get when we attempt to expand our Swahili.
Thursday night we went to a Tanzanian bar/restaurant for Graham’s last night here. Mzungu moja (one European/white person) would be a draw but Wazungu saba (seven white folks) was a special added attraction. The owner was gracious and welcoming and we were successful in ordering beer (beer?) and food (chakula). We had a lovely evening and amused the owner and the other patrons no end as we danced our way out the door. That when I realized the real purpose of Wazungu – to bring laughter to the people of Tanzania!
Musings of a social worker - Rose
Our food and beverage habits have adjusted to the climate. Keeping enough water filtered for us all is a daily chore. We have two water filter units that we fill and empty all day long, collecting the water in water bottles and storing them in the fridge. We keep pop and beer cold and replenishing both requires a lot of trips to the market as you have to provide an empty that matches what you buy or pay an exorbitant deposit fee. Bottles have clearly been reused way more than they would be in Canada. In addition to the standards: cola, orange and sprite; there are a few interesting alternatives. My personal favourite is Sparletta, a citrus lemon-lime type soda. My favourite name is a ginger beer called Tangawizi. The bottling plant is not too far away on the road to Tanga.
Snacks are crisps (very hard and often stale potato chips), roasted peanuts or cashews sold by street vendors, oranges pealed and sold by street vendors, and sugar cane which Simon tried this week for the first time and says it was good. Chocolate bars are available and a luxury but getting them home without having them melt is the challenge.
We have ready access to a standard variety of vegetables and have had a number of delicious meals but food preparation and planning takes up a lot of time as, for the most part, everything has to be bought and prepared on the day of the meal. Refrigeration is limited and untrustworthy so there is no room for a large quantity of leftovers and what we do keep needs to be eaten soon. The fridge is only bar sized and in general, we keep it fairly full of liquids, yogurt, cheese and a few condiments.
The biggest industries appear to be the bottling plant, the Tanga cement factory, Tanga fresh dairy – where our milk and yogurt comes from, and the sisal industries – the lake we visited near Magoroto was in a Royal Palm plantation and the nearest village was built around a sisal manufacturing facility. There are several sisal factories around. Tanga used to be a major producer of sisal rope and although the demand has dropped, it appears to be on the rise again.
Costs vary and there are clearly two price scales: one for Tanzanians and one for Wazungu (white people). Food is cheap even at Wazungu prices – 10 cents for 3-4 tomatoes, 5 cents for a lemon. Fabric is also quite inexpensive but prices for electronics and many other non-food items are often comparable to Canadian prices and in some cases more than we would have to pay. Ink cartridges for Sister Gwynneth’s printer cost about twice what I would have paid in Canada. But the most glaring difference is in wages. Julietie and Hatibu earn the Canadian equivalent of 80 dollars a month. A program administrator at the hospital earns about 350 dollars a month. It’s difficult to know how much this amount of wage difference makes in people’s lives as there is so much about the lives of the people that we are not privy to. Almost all of our information is filtered through other Wazungu.
As we walk to school in the morning we pass many homes and many gardens and see people starting their day. The lifestyle appears based on self-sufficiency, a lot of hard work, and does not require or rely on electricity at all. People cook over charcoal or wood braziers in their homes. They grow food for their own consumption and if they have extra, they sell it. There is no vegetable processing and preserving that I have seen so crop failure or a drought would have serious consequences to a family’s ability to feed itself.
It is hard to say why some families have more than others but I suspect it is similar to Canada. The number of children to feed and the number of wage earners in the family would determine a family’s economic stability and illness, injury, or death of an income earner would have serious consequences. There are a number of half built homes around and when I asked Sister Gwynneth why they were empty, she said people receive a land grant and it is cheap to build the walls out of brick or concrete but they don’t have enough money for the roof and so the project is abandoned. I would like to know more and whether it is for want of the cost of a roof that some people stay poor.
Snacks are crisps (very hard and often stale potato chips), roasted peanuts or cashews sold by street vendors, oranges pealed and sold by street vendors, and sugar cane which Simon tried this week for the first time and says it was good. Chocolate bars are available and a luxury but getting them home without having them melt is the challenge.
We have ready access to a standard variety of vegetables and have had a number of delicious meals but food preparation and planning takes up a lot of time as, for the most part, everything has to be bought and prepared on the day of the meal. Refrigeration is limited and untrustworthy so there is no room for a large quantity of leftovers and what we do keep needs to be eaten soon. The fridge is only bar sized and in general, we keep it fairly full of liquids, yogurt, cheese and a few condiments.
The biggest industries appear to be the bottling plant, the Tanga cement factory, Tanga fresh dairy – where our milk and yogurt comes from, and the sisal industries – the lake we visited near Magoroto was in a Royal Palm plantation and the nearest village was built around a sisal manufacturing facility. There are several sisal factories around. Tanga used to be a major producer of sisal rope and although the demand has dropped, it appears to be on the rise again.
Costs vary and there are clearly two price scales: one for Tanzanians and one for Wazungu (white people). Food is cheap even at Wazungu prices – 10 cents for 3-4 tomatoes, 5 cents for a lemon. Fabric is also quite inexpensive but prices for electronics and many other non-food items are often comparable to Canadian prices and in some cases more than we would have to pay. Ink cartridges for Sister Gwynneth’s printer cost about twice what I would have paid in Canada. But the most glaring difference is in wages. Julietie and Hatibu earn the Canadian equivalent of 80 dollars a month. A program administrator at the hospital earns about 350 dollars a month. It’s difficult to know how much this amount of wage difference makes in people’s lives as there is so much about the lives of the people that we are not privy to. Almost all of our information is filtered through other Wazungu.
As we walk to school in the morning we pass many homes and many gardens and see people starting their day. The lifestyle appears based on self-sufficiency, a lot of hard work, and does not require or rely on electricity at all. People cook over charcoal or wood braziers in their homes. They grow food for their own consumption and if they have extra, they sell it. There is no vegetable processing and preserving that I have seen so crop failure or a drought would have serious consequences to a family’s ability to feed itself.
It is hard to say why some families have more than others but I suspect it is similar to Canada. The number of children to feed and the number of wage earners in the family would determine a family’s economic stability and illness, injury, or death of an income earner would have serious consequences. There are a number of half built homes around and when I asked Sister Gwynneth why they were empty, she said people receive a land grant and it is cheap to build the walls out of brick or concrete but they don’t have enough money for the roof and so the project is abandoned. I would like to know more and whether it is for want of the cost of a roof that some people stay poor.
Week 2 at Holy Family - Rose
Another school week and this week I introduced the mouse and touch pad using the Word program Paint for hands on practice. First morning went well and we were able to give about 80% of the 120 or so children we saw a few minutes each on a computer. Sister G brought her laptop to class for Wednesday and Thursday and with the three laptops and her desktop and no significant power outages, everyone was able to have a turn and sometimes two or more. Even with only a few minutes each per student, we could see improvement in most of them by the end of their second lesson. From the first lesson with the pencil icon scratching back and forth wildly over and outside of the page to using the rectangle and line and paint can to make the Tanzanian flag, houses and cars. They like pink ink.
Sights and sounds - Rose
We look out the back of the house over a beautiful valley dotted with small gardens including one in the backyard which has been cleaned up by a gardener over the past week. Corn, tomatoes, mchiche (a type of spinach or kale), and potatoes are planted in small plots all over and provide food for families or for sale. Coconut, papaya, mango, orange, lime, avocado and pineapple can be found in almost every yard. Water is carried in to the plots by hand from great distance. Plants are shaded by fallen broad leaves. There has been a lot of planting lately as the short rains are here (shoulder season to the rainy season) although we have been days without rain now after several hard rains.
In front of the house is the road between the Muheza open market and the Teule hospital. It is packed sand, rutted by rain and cambered quite severely to drain water into the ditches on each side. Based on the height of the cut on both sides, I would expect at least 2/3 metres of water in the ditches during the rains covering all but the very centre of the road.
We have cattle and pigs penned across the street and chickens are everywhere scratching in the ditches and yards. There is also the occasional cat and dog wandering by and a few Muscovy ducks.
Former residents of the house installed a stand pipe in the back yard for people to collect water and people start arriving in the pre-dawn hours to fill buckets or jerry cans for transport back to who knows where.
There is a steady stream of people up and down the road in front of the house at almost all hours: women carrying children on their backs, pedestrians, cyclists, cars driving too fast, some transporting patients to hospital and the odd Dalla Dalla (mini-bus) full to bursting with humans and cargo. The hospital has visiting hours at meal times and families bring food in for every meal.
Although we have seen a few donkeys here, the most common beasts of burden are people. Women frequently walk carrying things on their head: machetes, hoes, 10 gallon pails of water, bundles of wood. We have heard that neck fractures are not uncommon, not from compression but from loads shifting. Men carry enormous loads on bicycles and can often be seen pushing the bikes uphill with 5 jerry cans of water or enormous piles of fresh cut grass for penned cattle or huge bags of charcoal or furniture for sale.
Sometimes we hear keening and wailing when someone dies. We’ve heard many stories about people presenting at the hospital too late to receive more than palliative care and about people dying for want of diagnostic tests or treatment due to communication problems or lack of nursing staff.
Night sounds are extra special. In addition to the lowing of the cattle and the whining of what we think are locked up guard dogs, we have an insect or bird that sounds like the beep cars make when you leave the door open and a resident colony of fruit bats who chitter most of the night. The colony nests in the trees within a few houses of us and they chitter away at each other while roosting. They periodically fly into the air chittering more loudly in response to some unseen cue or threat. They sound a bit freaky in the night when you can’t sleep but fortunately the noise of the fan blocks a lot out.
Property crime is a huge issue we are told and the house has to be locked up tight every night and while we are away. We lock and padlock the sunporch door, double padlock with a chain a metal door between the sunroom and living area, padlock the front screen door and lock the inner door. We have a night guard who arrives at about 8pm and patrols outside all night. Cars are kept inside the gate at the hospital. It feels awkward to have to use so many locks but given the stories we have been told, we comply for the most part however we have stopped bringing the bicycles into the house from the secured sunporch at night even though Julietie and Hatibu, the night guard, say we should.
En route to school in the morning and on our other forays into town, we frequently encounter the students from the various state and private, primary and secondary schools in the area. They are identified by the colour of their uniforms. I don’t know what percentage of children go to school but the other group of children we see are those playing near their families’ stalls in the markets and the ones who come to the house to sort through our garbage for anything of value.
Temps are reaching 30 and climbing. So far, it hasn’t been that different from Ottawa in August but yesterday was 40 at one point on Leah and the boys’ cycle home from school. We have ceiling fans running virtually non-stop in the living room and bedrooms because of the heat but the locals haven’t turned on their fans yet as they say it isn’t hot enough. Many of the children wear wool sweaters to school so maybe this is cool for them.
In front of the house is the road between the Muheza open market and the Teule hospital. It is packed sand, rutted by rain and cambered quite severely to drain water into the ditches on each side. Based on the height of the cut on both sides, I would expect at least 2/3 metres of water in the ditches during the rains covering all but the very centre of the road.
We have cattle and pigs penned across the street and chickens are everywhere scratching in the ditches and yards. There is also the occasional cat and dog wandering by and a few Muscovy ducks.
Former residents of the house installed a stand pipe in the back yard for people to collect water and people start arriving in the pre-dawn hours to fill buckets or jerry cans for transport back to who knows where.
There is a steady stream of people up and down the road in front of the house at almost all hours: women carrying children on their backs, pedestrians, cyclists, cars driving too fast, some transporting patients to hospital and the odd Dalla Dalla (mini-bus) full to bursting with humans and cargo. The hospital has visiting hours at meal times and families bring food in for every meal.
Although we have seen a few donkeys here, the most common beasts of burden are people. Women frequently walk carrying things on their head: machetes, hoes, 10 gallon pails of water, bundles of wood. We have heard that neck fractures are not uncommon, not from compression but from loads shifting. Men carry enormous loads on bicycles and can often be seen pushing the bikes uphill with 5 jerry cans of water or enormous piles of fresh cut grass for penned cattle or huge bags of charcoal or furniture for sale.
Sometimes we hear keening and wailing when someone dies. We’ve heard many stories about people presenting at the hospital too late to receive more than palliative care and about people dying for want of diagnostic tests or treatment due to communication problems or lack of nursing staff.
Night sounds are extra special. In addition to the lowing of the cattle and the whining of what we think are locked up guard dogs, we have an insect or bird that sounds like the beep cars make when you leave the door open and a resident colony of fruit bats who chitter most of the night. The colony nests in the trees within a few houses of us and they chitter away at each other while roosting. They periodically fly into the air chittering more loudly in response to some unseen cue or threat. They sound a bit freaky in the night when you can’t sleep but fortunately the noise of the fan blocks a lot out.
Property crime is a huge issue we are told and the house has to be locked up tight every night and while we are away. We lock and padlock the sunporch door, double padlock with a chain a metal door between the sunroom and living area, padlock the front screen door and lock the inner door. We have a night guard who arrives at about 8pm and patrols outside all night. Cars are kept inside the gate at the hospital. It feels awkward to have to use so many locks but given the stories we have been told, we comply for the most part however we have stopped bringing the bicycles into the house from the secured sunporch at night even though Julietie and Hatibu, the night guard, say we should.
En route to school in the morning and on our other forays into town, we frequently encounter the students from the various state and private, primary and secondary schools in the area. They are identified by the colour of their uniforms. I don’t know what percentage of children go to school but the other group of children we see are those playing near their families’ stalls in the markets and the ones who come to the house to sort through our garbage for anything of value.
Temps are reaching 30 and climbing. So far, it hasn’t been that different from Ottawa in August but yesterday was 40 at one point on Leah and the boys’ cycle home from school. We have ceiling fans running virtually non-stop in the living room and bedrooms because of the heat but the locals haven’t turned on their fans yet as they say it isn’t hot enough. Many of the children wear wool sweaters to school so maybe this is cool for them.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Some pictures of our new home
Wazungu Alert! Wherever we go, the locals appear to see what we are doing.
The valley behind Hillview House
Muheza from the hill behind our home - Magoroto. You can see the boys school where Rose is teaching in the upper left corner above the tree.
I'm a data entry clerk!
Sally here: We have had a good week in Muheza, with many adventures. I am now an official volunteer with the Orphan Vulnerable Children Program, doing – you guessed it – data inputting! I may also work on a grant proposal for them. The program is in the process of doing an inventory of orphaned and vulnerable children in all the small villages in the region, and providing school supplies/fees, food, and HIV/AIDS education to youth. They are funded through AIDS Relief, but the program seems to be taking place on a national scale. I have also become Rose’s teacher’s assistant, and am helping her to teach the TZ IT curriculum for children. It is a blast – the kids are so enthusiastic and curious, and very cute.
Leah and I have been having cycling adventures in our efforts to find a circular loop. We were out for 2 hours under the mid day sun on one of these trips because our path took us to the next village. We ended up taking the nasty main road for part of the return trip, but returned home safely. Today we found a shorter loop, all on the paths, that was lovely. Rose, Leah and I also had a walking adventure, again looking for a circular loop home. We were crossing the valley in front of the house but could not find a way over the creek. We were about to turn back, when a group of children who had been watching us called out to us and proceeded to take us to a narrow fallen tree, and held our hands while we crossed it. The valley in front of the house is very lush and full of small gardens growing lots of veg. There are also lots of mango and papaya trees. Avocadoes, coconut, bananas..........it is wonderful to eat all of these locally.
We had an unexpected day off on Tuesday (day commemorating the anniversary of the death of the much loved first TZ president). We were invited to join Ben and Sally on a trip to Magoroto, one of the nearby hills. We all crammed in a Toyota rover 4X4: Sally and Ben in the front, Rose, Sal, Leah and 4 month old Pippin in the back seat, Ambrose, Graham, Griffin, Simon, Zacha, Maxi (Ben and Sally’s 2 older boys) in the back. On our way to the car in the hospital parking lot, we saw what we think was a monitor lizard, almost a metre long, crossing the compound.
We drove 35 km up this extremely rough road full of switchbacks. We walked to a lovely manmade lake (town’s water supply) and walked around; then to a beautiful view point over the city and as far as Tanga and the Indian Ocean; finally to Magila where the first Anglican missionary in Tanzania was established and the Teule hospital was first located. We visited a beautiful old Anglican Church, convent, school, and graveyard. Drove back with a full moon rising.
Yesterday we zipped over to Tanga in a borrowed hospital vehicle. We bought supplies, and Rose and I finally got our own bike! Driving to Tanga takes about 30 minutes. It is pretty terrifying to drive here, but Ambrose does a great job. Saturday the hospital had a daylong event to celebrate ‘’international palliative care day’’. The day began with a procession with singing and dancing, which we partook in. In some ways, I think it was an HIV/AIDS march, with many people – mainly women – being out and proud. What followed was four or so hours of speeches, songs, dance, AIDS education theatre pieces. It was long, but quite spectacular.........so much to take in. Many funny and poignant moments. I sat up at the front with A&L and 2 UK docs as one of the celebrated guests....I think it was a case of mistaken identity...poor Rose and the boys were at the back. We finally had some lunch from a bottomless pot that served at least 100 people.
Books, my IPod and knitting are my main sources of opting out when the realities here are too overwhelming. It is so much to take in on so many different levels. The culture shock continues to be significant. Poverty, housing, access to power, clean water are all issues here. The provision of health is also a struggle. Sounds like people arrive to the hospital with really advanced disease. The health care providers here are amazing, especially the nurses, people doing great work in very difficult situations. Yet there are many things that link our lives: the similarities that run throughout humanity, I guess. I also see the impact of our privilege on other countries; the crap we export; the complexity of the issues and the shades of grey that exist.
Leah and I have been having cycling adventures in our efforts to find a circular loop. We were out for 2 hours under the mid day sun on one of these trips because our path took us to the next village. We ended up taking the nasty main road for part of the return trip, but returned home safely. Today we found a shorter loop, all on the paths, that was lovely. Rose, Leah and I also had a walking adventure, again looking for a circular loop home. We were crossing the valley in front of the house but could not find a way over the creek. We were about to turn back, when a group of children who had been watching us called out to us and proceeded to take us to a narrow fallen tree, and held our hands while we crossed it. The valley in front of the house is very lush and full of small gardens growing lots of veg. There are also lots of mango and papaya trees. Avocadoes, coconut, bananas..........it is wonderful to eat all of these locally.
We had an unexpected day off on Tuesday (day commemorating the anniversary of the death of the much loved first TZ president). We were invited to join Ben and Sally on a trip to Magoroto, one of the nearby hills. We all crammed in a Toyota rover 4X4: Sally and Ben in the front, Rose, Sal, Leah and 4 month old Pippin in the back seat, Ambrose, Graham, Griffin, Simon, Zacha, Maxi (Ben and Sally’s 2 older boys) in the back. On our way to the car in the hospital parking lot, we saw what we think was a monitor lizard, almost a metre long, crossing the compound.
We drove 35 km up this extremely rough road full of switchbacks. We walked to a lovely manmade lake (town’s water supply) and walked around; then to a beautiful view point over the city and as far as Tanga and the Indian Ocean; finally to Magila where the first Anglican missionary in Tanzania was established and the Teule hospital was first located. We visited a beautiful old Anglican Church, convent, school, and graveyard. Drove back with a full moon rising.
Yesterday we zipped over to Tanga in a borrowed hospital vehicle. We bought supplies, and Rose and I finally got our own bike! Driving to Tanga takes about 30 minutes. It is pretty terrifying to drive here, but Ambrose does a great job. Saturday the hospital had a daylong event to celebrate ‘’international palliative care day’’. The day began with a procession with singing and dancing, which we partook in. In some ways, I think it was an HIV/AIDS march, with many people – mainly women – being out and proud. What followed was four or so hours of speeches, songs, dance, AIDS education theatre pieces. It was long, but quite spectacular.........so much to take in. Many funny and poignant moments. I sat up at the front with A&L and 2 UK docs as one of the celebrated guests....I think it was a case of mistaken identity...poor Rose and the boys were at the back. We finally had some lunch from a bottomless pot that served at least 100 people.
Books, my IPod and knitting are my main sources of opting out when the realities here are too overwhelming. It is so much to take in on so many different levels. The culture shock continues to be significant. Poverty, housing, access to power, clean water are all issues here. The provision of health is also a struggle. Sounds like people arrive to the hospital with really advanced disease. The health care providers here are amazing, especially the nurses, people doing great work in very difficult situations. Yet there are many things that link our lives: the similarities that run throughout humanity, I guess. I also see the impact of our privilege on other countries; the crap we export; the complexity of the issues and the shades of grey that exist.
I'm a teacher!
Rose here. On Monday am I arrived at Holy Family Primary School, a Catholic School run by the Rosmini order of nuns, an order I had never heard of before but their mission is education. Sister Mary Gwynneth Dyer is the principal and founder of the school and has built it from the ground up over the last 6 years or so.
Primary School education has only been mandatory in Tanzania since 2001. The school currently has room for Standards 3-6 but the Standard 6 (Griffin’s) class is over 40 students and needs to be split but there is not enough classroom space or teachers.
Sister Gwynneth is a woman with a vision (Ottawa readers – think Joan Gullen in a wimple!). She started with a pre-school then the primary school and is currently breaking ground for a new building to house enough classrooms to accommodate another Standard 6 and the addition of Standard 7 next term.
The school has about 400 students in total and includes a mix of Christian and Muslim students. The socio-economic status of the students ranges from children of “peasants” (saw this on one child’s birth certificate) to the child of an MLA. About 40 are orphans living with extended family. School fees are about the equivalent of 110-120 Canadian dollars per term which includes a uniform and lunch every school day (the only meal many of them receive in the day). Many families cannot pay the fees and are subsidized by the Rosminians.
Many people asked about sending money before I went and if you would like to donate to the school’s building fund or fees for children to attend school, email me with the amount you would like to donate at roseandsal@gmail.com and I’ll make a cash donation to Sister Gwynneth and collect from you when I return.
So Monday am I started my new career as a primary school IT teacher. I taught each class in Standards 3-6 two half hour lessons each for a total of 14 lessons. By the end of the last class Thursday noon, I was exhausted but I loved it. English is their second language but their English is way better than my Kiswahili.
On Monday I learned not to reference typewriters and calculators when introducing computer concepts as most of the children have never heard of either. Most have no power at home let alone any technology. Although many have built concrete houses with metal roofs, some still live in wattle and daub huts with thatched roofs.
My first lesson was the history of and theory relating to the basics of computing. My language became simpler with each class until I was telling them that a CPU was like your brain and a keyboard is how you talk to the computer and tell it things you want it to remember for you and a monitor screen is how the computer talks to you and gives you answers to your questions. In the second class, I introduced the keyboard and had them each type their name using upper and lower case letters and the space bar and the backspace key.
Figuring out what terminology to use and what to teach was one part of my learning curve. The other was classroom management and after a couple of chaotic classes, my instructions have become clearer and order is being restored! Even the chaos was fun though as it occurred with the youngest grade who all wanted desperately to get as close to the computers as possible and touch them for as long as possible. Not knowing the children well, I didn’t recognize them when they took extra turns typing their name but I did note a lot of Agapes in one class and sure enough when I saved the names, Agape and a couple of other children had typed their names four times each instead of once!
Frida, on the other hand, is barely a metre tall and wears a red sweater in 30 degree heat. She positions herself beside the computer for the entire exercise and her little hand darts in whenever someone makes a mistake or can’t find a letter while whispering instructions in Kiswahili to the child trying to type their name.
Any thoughts I had at home about teaching computers being a bit trivial given what I had imagined about the African context have dissipated. The children are sponges for knowledge and their enthusiasm for learning about this technology is boundless. When I asked my last class what they wanted to do on the computer, the first suggestion was write an English poem (this from the “girl’s side” of the room). There was no buzz in the class at this suggestion compared to the response when games were suggested! So, next week’s lessons will introduce the mouse and touch pads using games for practice. However, I can’t explain the rules of minesweeper, hearts, chess, or solitaire in Kiswahili so we will have to use Inkball and Purble Pairs! I’ll introduce text entry including poems next week.
I have had the luxury of having Simon and Sally assist me this week and realized that for the classes where the children are on hands on, I can’t monitor all three computers at the same time (2 laptops we brought and a desktop of Sister G.’s – Windows 98 platform) so Sally will be helping me as much as her commitments allow.
The trip to school is a 50-60 minute walk along sandy roads and paths. It is not too hot if I start out at 7am. So far, I have been fortunate to get a drive back each day either from Sister G going to town or by A & L picking us up to go to Tanga, the nearest bigger town on the coast, to shop for groceries.
Due to a shortage of beds this week with Graham visiting, Sal and I have been staying at a local Hoteli about a 15 minute walk from Hillview House. The walk home at night gives us a chance to see the village after dark when it transforms in the cooler temperature and after market close. Restaurants and bars open up. Music, live and canned, blares from behind walls made of sewn together plastic bags. Food vendors cooking over charcoal sell food on the street. Last night we bought chicken skewers, chips (french fries) and deep fried plantain to take home to our hoteli. It was very tasty.
Today we experienced a bit of post-colonial atmosphere with an afternoon at the Mkonge Hotel, a leftover relic of the British colonial era. We lounged by the pool under palm trees, watched monkeys playing on the lawn and ate a delicious lunch before returning home at sunset. A lovely day.
Primary School education has only been mandatory in Tanzania since 2001. The school currently has room for Standards 3-6 but the Standard 6 (Griffin’s) class is over 40 students and needs to be split but there is not enough classroom space or teachers.
Sister Gwynneth is a woman with a vision (Ottawa readers – think Joan Gullen in a wimple!). She started with a pre-school then the primary school and is currently breaking ground for a new building to house enough classrooms to accommodate another Standard 6 and the addition of Standard 7 next term.
The school has about 400 students in total and includes a mix of Christian and Muslim students. The socio-economic status of the students ranges from children of “peasants” (saw this on one child’s birth certificate) to the child of an MLA. About 40 are orphans living with extended family. School fees are about the equivalent of 110-120 Canadian dollars per term which includes a uniform and lunch every school day (the only meal many of them receive in the day). Many families cannot pay the fees and are subsidized by the Rosminians.
Many people asked about sending money before I went and if you would like to donate to the school’s building fund or fees for children to attend school, email me with the amount you would like to donate at roseandsal@gmail.com and I’ll make a cash donation to Sister Gwynneth and collect from you when I return.
So Monday am I started my new career as a primary school IT teacher. I taught each class in Standards 3-6 two half hour lessons each for a total of 14 lessons. By the end of the last class Thursday noon, I was exhausted but I loved it. English is their second language but their English is way better than my Kiswahili.
On Monday I learned not to reference typewriters and calculators when introducing computer concepts as most of the children have never heard of either. Most have no power at home let alone any technology. Although many have built concrete houses with metal roofs, some still live in wattle and daub huts with thatched roofs.
My first lesson was the history of and theory relating to the basics of computing. My language became simpler with each class until I was telling them that a CPU was like your brain and a keyboard is how you talk to the computer and tell it things you want it to remember for you and a monitor screen is how the computer talks to you and gives you answers to your questions. In the second class, I introduced the keyboard and had them each type their name using upper and lower case letters and the space bar and the backspace key.
Figuring out what terminology to use and what to teach was one part of my learning curve. The other was classroom management and after a couple of chaotic classes, my instructions have become clearer and order is being restored! Even the chaos was fun though as it occurred with the youngest grade who all wanted desperately to get as close to the computers as possible and touch them for as long as possible. Not knowing the children well, I didn’t recognize them when they took extra turns typing their name but I did note a lot of Agapes in one class and sure enough when I saved the names, Agape and a couple of other children had typed their names four times each instead of once!
Frida, on the other hand, is barely a metre tall and wears a red sweater in 30 degree heat. She positions herself beside the computer for the entire exercise and her little hand darts in whenever someone makes a mistake or can’t find a letter while whispering instructions in Kiswahili to the child trying to type their name.
Any thoughts I had at home about teaching computers being a bit trivial given what I had imagined about the African context have dissipated. The children are sponges for knowledge and their enthusiasm for learning about this technology is boundless. When I asked my last class what they wanted to do on the computer, the first suggestion was write an English poem (this from the “girl’s side” of the room). There was no buzz in the class at this suggestion compared to the response when games were suggested! So, next week’s lessons will introduce the mouse and touch pads using games for practice. However, I can’t explain the rules of minesweeper, hearts, chess, or solitaire in Kiswahili so we will have to use Inkball and Purble Pairs! I’ll introduce text entry including poems next week.
I have had the luxury of having Simon and Sally assist me this week and realized that for the classes where the children are on hands on, I can’t monitor all three computers at the same time (2 laptops we brought and a desktop of Sister G.’s – Windows 98 platform) so Sally will be helping me as much as her commitments allow.
The trip to school is a 50-60 minute walk along sandy roads and paths. It is not too hot if I start out at 7am. So far, I have been fortunate to get a drive back each day either from Sister G going to town or by A & L picking us up to go to Tanga, the nearest bigger town on the coast, to shop for groceries.
Due to a shortage of beds this week with Graham visiting, Sal and I have been staying at a local Hoteli about a 15 minute walk from Hillview House. The walk home at night gives us a chance to see the village after dark when it transforms in the cooler temperature and after market close. Restaurants and bars open up. Music, live and canned, blares from behind walls made of sewn together plastic bags. Food vendors cooking over charcoal sell food on the street. Last night we bought chicken skewers, chips (french fries) and deep fried plantain to take home to our hoteli. It was very tasty.
Today we experienced a bit of post-colonial atmosphere with an afternoon at the Mkonge Hotel, a leftover relic of the British colonial era. We lounged by the pool under palm trees, watched monkeys playing on the lawn and ate a delicious lunch before returning home at sunset. A lovely day.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Muheza Update: Hillview House, October 10, 2008
We’ve been here a week now and have fallen into a routine of sorts. Up at 6-6:30 and boil water for coffee (we buy the coffee from the market and roast it ourselves). Breakfast is by 7. How we boil water and what we eat depends on whether we have power. Boys cycle to school with Leah. The boys’ school is a 45 minute plus walk along road and trails or a 30 minute cycle which includes a fair bit of pushing bikes up hills. Once we get a bike, we’ll probably take turns accompanying the boys to school.
Ambrose and Leah go to the hospital. The housekeeper, Juliete, arrives at 8. Juliete makes lunch, washes the floor and does laundry by hand every day plus washing windows, sweeping the yard, cleaning shoes and many other chores she performs on a schedule known only to her. She also teaches us Kiswahili.
Hillview House is on the hospital grounds and only a few hundred yards from the main building. From dawn until the late evening, there are streams of people walking up and down this road to seek medical services or bring food to a family member. Ambrose and Leah come home for breaks and lunch as do Alex and Emily, 2 lovely UK doctors, also volunteering at Teule Hospital. Ilsa, a doctor from the Netherlands who also lives at the house usually comes home for lunch also.
Leah cycles to school with the boys and she and/or Ambrose cycle/walk to school to meet the boys and bring them home at 3. We joined them on Tuesday. It was a long hot walk, but beautiful. It is a lovely area with valleys and hills, and gorgeous tress and flowering shrubs. It is not usual for Mzungu to cycle and also not common for children to have bicycles so there is a fear the boys will be mugged for the bikes if they are not accompanied by adults on the trip.
Most of the Muheza we see is market – woodworkers, vegetables, grains, eggs, dairy, soda pop, clothes, shoes, sisal rope, fabric (kangas and katangas), fundi (repair places), general stores, hardware, phone cards.... Due to the small size of the fridge, the frequent power interruptions, and the heat causing food to spoil quickly, food is purchased close to the time it will be used so there is usually one trip to the market everyday if not several.
It is unusual for Wazungu (Europeans/White folks plural of Mzungu) to cycle so there are often comments as we cycle by. The bikes are a blog unto themselves. They are either poorly build or poorly assembled or not suited for this climate and terrain as parts fall off/shake loose on a regular basis. There have been many trips to the fundi. Fortunately the cost is rarely more than 50 cents a visit.
Most afternoons or evenings the boys and Rose and sometimes Ambrose play a game called Settlers of Catan which Sal and Rose gave Simon for his birthday. It is a great game and changes every time we play.
Every day we filter litres and litres of water for drinking. Apparently giardia is common.
Hillview is the biggest house on the hospital compound so it hosts the Wazungu dinners every Wednesday night. The intention of the weekly dinners was to provide a place where the medical students could check in to ensure they were managing the emotional impact of being here.
We have begun to do some volunteer work ourselves. A doctor from the UK named Sally (who has been providing ob/gyn for over 6 years) asked us to compile and price check the hospital’s next drug order. This involves checking prices on-line and inputting the information onto a spread sheet of drugs to be ordered. Given the unreliability of the internet connection, it has been a bit of a challenge, but we are almost done.
Rose has met with Sister Gwynneth at the local Catholic School (which includes Muslin students as well) and will be introducing the United Republic of Tanzania Information and Communication Technology Primary School Syllabus to Standards 3-6 starting next week for 2 half hour sessions a week per class. Griff and Sy are threatening to call in sick, take long bathroom breaks etc during their new IT teachers time slot as we will be starting with – “This is a computer.”
Sally will probably do some reading with students as well. She also hopes to meet with the program leader of a group providing services to orphaned and vulnerable children in the region, to see if there is anything she can do with this program.
We have also successfully done a few shops on our own at the market. Lots of smiling and pointing. We’re starting to get a few basics – greetings, “how much?”, numbers, but still draw a blank a lot too!
Yesterday was Leah’s Birthday. We helped make a nice b-day dinner, including butter tart slice TZ style, and a nice bottle of South African wine.
It’s just after 4pm. We’ve returned from the market with fixings for dinner. The boys are outside playing marbles. We will go to the hospital computer room and try and get access to the internet. (We didn't get access until the morning of the 11th)
Kwa heri (goodbye) for now
Ambrose and Leah go to the hospital. The housekeeper, Juliete, arrives at 8. Juliete makes lunch, washes the floor and does laundry by hand every day plus washing windows, sweeping the yard, cleaning shoes and many other chores she performs on a schedule known only to her. She also teaches us Kiswahili.
Hillview House is on the hospital grounds and only a few hundred yards from the main building. From dawn until the late evening, there are streams of people walking up and down this road to seek medical services or bring food to a family member. Ambrose and Leah come home for breaks and lunch as do Alex and Emily, 2 lovely UK doctors, also volunteering at Teule Hospital. Ilsa, a doctor from the Netherlands who also lives at the house usually comes home for lunch also.
Leah cycles to school with the boys and she and/or Ambrose cycle/walk to school to meet the boys and bring them home at 3. We joined them on Tuesday. It was a long hot walk, but beautiful. It is a lovely area with valleys and hills, and gorgeous tress and flowering shrubs. It is not usual for Mzungu to cycle and also not common for children to have bicycles so there is a fear the boys will be mugged for the bikes if they are not accompanied by adults on the trip.
Most of the Muheza we see is market – woodworkers, vegetables, grains, eggs, dairy, soda pop, clothes, shoes, sisal rope, fabric (kangas and katangas), fundi (repair places), general stores, hardware, phone cards.... Due to the small size of the fridge, the frequent power interruptions, and the heat causing food to spoil quickly, food is purchased close to the time it will be used so there is usually one trip to the market everyday if not several.
It is unusual for Wazungu (Europeans/White folks plural of Mzungu) to cycle so there are often comments as we cycle by. The bikes are a blog unto themselves. They are either poorly build or poorly assembled or not suited for this climate and terrain as parts fall off/shake loose on a regular basis. There have been many trips to the fundi. Fortunately the cost is rarely more than 50 cents a visit.
Most afternoons or evenings the boys and Rose and sometimes Ambrose play a game called Settlers of Catan which Sal and Rose gave Simon for his birthday. It is a great game and changes every time we play.
Every day we filter litres and litres of water for drinking. Apparently giardia is common.
Hillview is the biggest house on the hospital compound so it hosts the Wazungu dinners every Wednesday night. The intention of the weekly dinners was to provide a place where the medical students could check in to ensure they were managing the emotional impact of being here.
We have begun to do some volunteer work ourselves. A doctor from the UK named Sally (who has been providing ob/gyn for over 6 years) asked us to compile and price check the hospital’s next drug order. This involves checking prices on-line and inputting the information onto a spread sheet of drugs to be ordered. Given the unreliability of the internet connection, it has been a bit of a challenge, but we are almost done.
Rose has met with Sister Gwynneth at the local Catholic School (which includes Muslin students as well) and will be introducing the United Republic of Tanzania Information and Communication Technology Primary School Syllabus to Standards 3-6 starting next week for 2 half hour sessions a week per class. Griff and Sy are threatening to call in sick, take long bathroom breaks etc during their new IT teachers time slot as we will be starting with – “This is a computer.”
Sally will probably do some reading with students as well. She also hopes to meet with the program leader of a group providing services to orphaned and vulnerable children in the region, to see if there is anything she can do with this program.
We have also successfully done a few shops on our own at the market. Lots of smiling and pointing. We’re starting to get a few basics – greetings, “how much?”, numbers, but still draw a blank a lot too!
Yesterday was Leah’s Birthday. We helped make a nice b-day dinner, including butter tart slice TZ style, and a nice bottle of South African wine.
It’s just after 4pm. We’ve returned from the market with fixings for dinner. The boys are outside playing marbles. We will go to the hospital computer room and try and get access to the internet. (We didn't get access until the morning of the 11th)
Kwa heri (goodbye) for now
Monday, October 6, 2008
Muheza and Peponi
Written on the spot in sweltering heat at an Internet Cafe in Tanga before we lose the power again - hopefully! I had better try to let go of my need for proper punctuation and spelling.
We travelled up from Dar by bus - not a dalla dalla mini van which are death traps - to Muheza. it was an interesting trip through the shanty towns on the outskirts ofDar, small villages and fields. It was Eid, the first day of celebration after Ramadan, so there were lots of people travelling. still lots of call to prayer. We were met at Muheza by our dear friends Ambrose and Leah. It was not proper for us to hug in public, but we did briefly. Those 'wuzungus' (whites)!
They have a lovely house for visiting doctors working at the hospital. lots of people have stayed here over the years. a woman from Holland is doing research on malaria and infants has been here almost one year. we are slowly figuring out the daily activites and errands. Sally has been cycling with leah and griffin on the many paths around the village. not too many wuzungus cycle, and it makes tz smile. everyone greets us.
we had barely arrived at Muheza before we headed off to the ocean for a holiday! Not that we needed one but the doctors we went with did and it was a great weekend on the ocean, swimming, snorkelling and games.
Rose focussing on getting more reliable internet. current access is satellite at hospital which depends on power. hydro is not tht reliable so trying to get access via cell network which may work when local power is out. We shall see.
This week we hope to find out where we will be useful - had our first offer this morning, to organize the hospital's drug order and do some research on best prices. Hope to touch base with the school this week too and see what sister gwynneth has for us.
love to all at home and thanks for all your support.
We travelled up from Dar by bus - not a dalla dalla mini van which are death traps - to Muheza. it was an interesting trip through the shanty towns on the outskirts ofDar, small villages and fields. It was Eid, the first day of celebration after Ramadan, so there were lots of people travelling. still lots of call to prayer. We were met at Muheza by our dear friends Ambrose and Leah. It was not proper for us to hug in public, but we did briefly. Those 'wuzungus' (whites)!
They have a lovely house for visiting doctors working at the hospital. lots of people have stayed here over the years. a woman from Holland is doing research on malaria and infants has been here almost one year. we are slowly figuring out the daily activites and errands. Sally has been cycling with leah and griffin on the many paths around the village. not too many wuzungus cycle, and it makes tz smile. everyone greets us.
we had barely arrived at Muheza before we headed off to the ocean for a holiday! Not that we needed one but the doctors we went with did and it was a great weekend on the ocean, swimming, snorkelling and games.
Rose focussing on getting more reliable internet. current access is satellite at hospital which depends on power. hydro is not tht reliable so trying to get access via cell network which may work when local power is out. We shall see.
This week we hope to find out where we will be useful - had our first offer this morning, to organize the hospital's drug order and do some research on best prices. Hope to touch base with the school this week too and see what sister gwynneth has for us.
love to all at home and thanks for all your support.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Reflections on being in Africa
It feels early to be writing about this...... making sense of the internal journey of this trip, but it is impossible not to be impacted by this continent. Being in a country like Tanzania holds up a mirror of all that is right and all that is wrong in this world. It holds up a mirror to ourselves. We have such privilege in our lives. Astounding privilege. It is very humbling.
Saadani Day 3 - Ungulates Galore!
We opted for a second safari on our last day. This one was quite different that the day before and we went to an area more suitable for grazing herds and probably lions although we didn’t see any sign of lions. At one point, we saw herds of as many as four different animals grazing together plus a few warthogs for good measure.
Altogether we saw Impala, Wildebeest, Greater Kudus, Waterbuck, Hartebeest, Steenbok and Common Reedbuck. 
We returned for breakfast and were enjoying watching a s
mall monkey hanging round the restaurant when it suddenly leapt up to our table and grabbed a piece of toast. See previous entry about the possibility that they are pests! Very cute pest. We realized the servers were using slingshots firing wine corks to keep them at bay.
Our return flight was on a larger air taxi, a Cessna C208 (Rose thinks she may have just recently been working on a report about one of these.) The flight was uneventful and free of all those time consuming lectures about using seatbelts and location of emergency exits and stowing your gear safely in the event of an emergency! Nothing about safety. Nada! Zilch!
We returned for breakfast and were enjoying watching a s
mall monkey hanging round the restaurant when it suddenly leapt up to our table and grabbed a piece of toast. See previous entry about the possibility that they are pests! Very cute pest. We realized the servers were using slingshots firing wine corks to keep them at bay.Our return flight was on a larger air taxi, a Cessna C208 (Rose thinks she may have just recently been working on a report about one of these.) The flight was uneventful and free of all those time consuming lectures about using seatbelts and location of emergency exits and stowing your gear safely in the event of an emergency! Nothing about safety. Nada! Zilch!
We were met by our Saadani contact in Dar who ensured we hooked up with our pre-paid taxi driver for the trip back to our hotel in Dar. (Rose has been on roller coasters that were less scary than this trip!) Traffic was very busy possibly because of the coming holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan. Each time we stopped, hawkers would walk by with stuff to sell – car chargers for cells phones, CDs, water, apples, nuts, stuffed toys, hazard signs(!), aerosol sprays of some sort and comic books that appeared to feature Sadaam Hussein. What market research are these guys using and where does this stuff come from? And who buys it? We might have seen one sale. The hawkers walk in and out of traffic that stops for no one and accelerates from 0 to 60 in seconds.
Our driver agreed to stop by the Scandinavian Express Bus Station so we could try and get tickets to Muheza for the next day. No luck unfortunately but we were able to get tickets for Oct 1st. Front row, semi-luxury!
Back to the Harbour Suite (We are looking at a building this time but if we look sideways, we can see the harbour.) and a pizza, beer and bits of B movies on TV.
The day was hot and it poured this morning so we spent the day catching up with the blog and resizing and adding photos. This afternoon we walked to a local artisans market we had heard of fending off three more ''touts'' along the way, two of them twice. We are getting better at getting rid of them faster however we had nowhere to go but up. I was about to claim we were on our way to meet husbands who had warned us not to speak to strange men and Sal had just told one she couldn't remember where we were saying when we decided we would just put it right out there that if they were looking for money they would be disappointed. It worked.
Saadani Day 2 - Monkeying around!
In the morning when the tide is low, men and women from the local village ar
e out with their nets fishing for prawns. They would wade in the water, dragging their nets, and a few hours later they would walk by with the nets over one shoulder and a bag of prawns over the other. Occasionally we heard some singing.
We were up before our 5:30 alarm to head out on a land cruiser at 6am. So nice of them to have coffee ready before we left. The morning was beautiful and the surroundings so different that that alone would have been enough. We didn’t see any animals for quite awhile but I wasn’t surprised as I had heard that from another group who went out a couple of days before us. But then we saw bush pigs, common water bucks, Hartebeests, monkeys, then a long break before we saw a group of giraffe, zebras and a poacher!
We travelled slowly through what appeared to be elephant land with no luck. Our guide seemed more disappointed than we were. Scattered throughout the 3 hour drive were single and groups of monkeys, birds and more common water bucks and a couple of warthogs. I was reminded of Phillipe Baud visiting at Christmas a few years ago and wanting to see deer. We see deer regularly at home, sometimes several a day but if I went looking for them, I would likely have no luck at all. It is amazing that we saw anything but I’m sure many tourists come expecting to see hordes of the big five on demand.
Swimming in the Indian Ocean is like swimming a large bathtub. The water is incredibly warm! And full of salt – huge salt chunks line the high tide mark – so not much paddling was required to keep ourselves afloat.
Afternoon winds from the southeast were a daily occurrence. The Dhows (sail boats used for fishing) would head out to sea at quite a clip. The high tide would churn up the sand and crash against the shore.
At the end of the afternoon, we were visited by a swarm of Vervet monkeys. They may be the African equivalent of pigeons or seagulls or squirrels or raccoons, but they sure were cu
te. One sat up on the furniture on our deck and picked up our cribbage board and then touched one of our metal water bottles. A mom with a baby clinging to her belly came by with a few very young monkeys. They seemed quite at home until a baboon appeared and there was some hissing and they all moved on.
There is a star house and a tree house at the lodge. The star house is open to the night sky but you didn’t need to go there to see the
stars. Star gazing is something else here.........even for novices like ourselves. So bright, so close, the Milky Way forming a huge arch overhead.
The tree house was covered and overlooked 2 watering holes. It was a quiet shaded place to watch for animals and journal on the laptop.
e out with their nets fishing for prawns. They would wade in the water, dragging their nets, and a few hours later they would walk by with the nets over one shoulder and a bag of prawns over the other. Occasionally we heard some singing.We were up before our 5:30 alarm to head out on a land cruiser at 6am. So nice of them to have coffee ready before we left. The morning was beautiful and the surroundings so different that that alone would have been enough. We didn’t see any animals for quite awhile but I wasn’t surprised as I had heard that from another group who went out a couple of days before us. But then we saw bush pigs, common water bucks, Hartebeests, monkeys, then a long break before we saw a group of giraffe, zebras and a poacher!
We travelled slowly through what appeared to be elephant land with no luck. Our guide seemed more disappointed than we were. Scattered throughout the 3 hour drive were single and groups of monkeys, birds and more common water bucks and a couple of warthogs. I was reminded of Phillipe Baud visiting at Christmas a few years ago and wanting to see deer. We see deer regularly at home, sometimes several a day but if I went looking for them, I would likely have no luck at all. It is amazing that we saw anything but I’m sure many tourists come expecting to see hordes of the big five on demand.Swimming in the Indian Ocean is like swimming a large bathtub. The water is incredibly warm! And full of salt – huge salt chunks line the high tide mark – so not much paddling was required to keep ourselves afloat.
Afternoon winds from the southeast were a daily occurrence. The Dhows (sail boats used for fishing) would head out to sea at quite a clip. The high tide would churn up the sand and crash against the shore.
At the end of the afternoon, we were visited by a swarm of Vervet monkeys. They may be the African equivalent of pigeons or seagulls or squirrels or raccoons, but they sure were cu
te. One sat up on the furniture on our deck and picked up our cribbage board and then touched one of our metal water bottles. A mom with a baby clinging to her belly came by with a few very young monkeys. They seemed quite at home until a baboon appeared and there was some hissing and they all moved on.There is a star house and a tree house at the lodge. The star house is open to the night sky but you didn’t need to go there to see the
stars. Star gazing is something else here.........even for novices like ourselves. So bright, so close, the Milky Way forming a huge arch overhead.The tree house was covered and overlooked 2 watering holes. It was a quiet shaded place to watch for animals and journal on the laptop.
Saadani Day 1 - Wami, How I love ya!
We left the lodge at 8am for a 17km drive to the Wami River for a boat trip. We passed through a couple of villages on our way and saw monkeys, warthogs and bush pigs along the road. As we neared the ocean south of Saadani, we drove through salt fields where workers were shovelling and bagging sea salt. What back breaking work, standing in the hot sun, raking and shovelling salt.
The Wami River is an old river full of deep bends that snake back and forth. W
e had hardly rounded the first bend when we came upon our first group of Hippos. A quarrel broke out amongst them, and we soon saw the size of these creatures, including their huge mouths. We wended our way up this leisurely river, seeing lots of hippos, including some babies! We saw mainly ears and eyes, but some stood up on the shore now and then. (They can hold their breath under water for up to 15 minutes.)
We also saw several crocodiles: small, medium and large. Seeing them move on land is quite impressive...............they look quite prehistoric a
nd appear to move awkwardly (but I would not want to race one!). What really stood out though, was the number of beautiful birds. We saw tons of them! Lots of Kingfishers (including the tiny Malachite Kingfisher), storks, birds of prey.....just an amazing array of calls and colours. We also saw a couple of Colobus monkeys.
The Wami River is an old river full of deep bends that snake back and forth. W
e had hardly rounded the first bend when we came upon our first group of Hippos. A quarrel broke out amongst them, and we soon saw the size of these creatures, including their huge mouths. We wended our way up this leisurely river, seeing lots of hippos, including some babies! We saw mainly ears and eyes, but some stood up on the shore now and then. (They can hold their breath under water for up to 15 minutes.)
We also saw several crocodiles: small, medium and large. Seeing them move on land is quite impressive...............they look quite prehistoric a
nd appear to move awkwardly (but I would not want to race one!). What really stood out though, was the number of beautiful birds. We saw tons of them! Lots of Kingfishers (including the tiny Malachite Kingfisher), storks, birds of prey.....just an amazing array of calls and colours. We also saw a couple of Colobus monkeys.Fish guts on our shoes
We awoke at 5 am on Rose's 55th birthday to the call to prayer from the nearby mosque resonating over the city via loudspeakers. One of those moments that brings home the fact that you are in another culture.
We have been befriended by a couple of ‘touts’ as they are called in the guide book. Our second ‘friend’ was Simba whom we met first on the first day and again the second day twice. On our first encounter
, he showed us his artwork which was quite beautiful. Lovely colourful oil paintings of Masai people and animals scrapped and painted onto canvas. On the second meeting, he walked us around the fish market where fish is smoked and sold along with fruits and vegetables and other merchandise and then took us to the harbour where the fish is gutted, cleaned and auctioned. Without him leading us we would never have seen as much.
Later that day, we flew up the coast over Bagamoyo, a town on the coast, and over large rectangular areas that we learned the next day were salt fields. Zanzibar was visible in the distance. Our pilot was an Argentinian woman and the plane was the smallest one on the tarmac, seating at most 5 passengers. Lined up beside the other air taxis, it looked like a giant mosquito!
We have been befriended by a couple of ‘touts’ as they are called in the guide book. Our second ‘friend’ was Simba whom we met first on the first day and again the second day twice. On our first encounter
, he showed us his artwork which was quite beautiful. Lovely colourful oil paintings of Masai people and animals scrapped and painted onto canvas. On the second meeting, he walked us around the fish market where fish is smoked and sold along with fruits and vegetables and other merchandise and then took us to the harbour where the fish is gutted, cleaned and auctioned. Without him leading us we would never have seen as much.Later that day, we flew up the coast over Bagamoyo, a town on the coast, and over large rectangular areas that we learned the next day were salt fields. Zanzibar was visible in the distance. Our pilot was an Argentinian woman and the plane was the smallest one on the tarmac, seating at most 5 passengers. Lined up beside the other air taxis, it looked like a giant mosquito!
We landed on a sandy airstrip near the lodge where we were met by Conrad, one of two managers. During the short drive to the lodge we saw several monkeys which we would soon come to realize are everywhere. We were met by Sofia and other staff bringing cool wet facecloths and cold juice, welcome after the hot trip.
The rooms are delightful as is the whole set up. Grass mat roofs on pole construction frames. Bathrooms with sand and rock floors and an open shower. Beds with mosquito netting. The breeze off the ocean fills the room and the ocean at high tide is 50 feet away. We are screened from neighbours by palms and guarded by Masai.
The rooms are delightful as is the whole set up. Grass mat roofs on pole construction frames. Bathrooms with sand and rock floors and an open shower. Beds with mosquito netting. The breeze off the ocean fills the room and the ocean at high tide is 50 feet away. We are screened from neighbours by palms and guarded by Masai.
The place runs on solar power and a generator. There is no cell phone signal, at least not on our phone, no internet, and no land line.
Dr. Johnson wouldn't approve!
We should have bought stock in Purell! Our travel physician recommends it for everything almost up to the point of washing food in it. He was full of dire warnings about eating food abroad and by our last visit, we were convinced he was not himself a traveller.
Our hotel in Dar Es Salaam serves a continental breakfast. On the first morning we arrived to find coffee, individual yogurts, bread products and fruit and sliced meat on plates. We looked at the meat and fruit and agreed that Dr. Johnson wouldn't approve! And we took his advice and steered clear.
Our hotel in Dar Es Salaam serves a continental breakfast. On the first morning we arrived to find coffee, individual yogurts, bread products and fruit and sliced meat on plates. We looked at the meat and fruit and agreed that Dr. Johnson wouldn't approve! And we took his advice and steered clear.
Snoop Dogg and entourage
Journalling online is new to us and we realized we missed a few things the first time around. First, we want to express our appreciation to all the people who helped out in the days before we left and especially the day we left.
Second, we queued in the Amsterdam airport to check our luggage. When you reached the head of the line, a KLM agent directed you to take a place in line in front of at least 16 agents with counters split evenly between the left and the right side of the baggage check area.
Rap musician Snoop Dogg and his entourage were en route to a concert that night in Ireland (we googled his tour dates later to see where they were headed and to confirm it was him.). They were in the queue behind us. His manager was trying to have them all go to one agent together and was holding up the queue arguing with the KLM staff about this while people went ahead of them. The KLM agent said they should go to the last line because they were blocking the way for everyone else. In all fairness, there was no centre aisle open that would allow them to go through to the last pair of counters and there was no room for those already lined up to make way for them.
The entourage proceeded with the manager making loud disparaging comments about the airport organization. When he could proceed no further than about the middle of the area, he proclaimed ‘’there is no last line’’ and directed the entourage to disperse and pick a line. (There was a last line, in fact there were two last lines, one on the left and one on the right.)
The entourage seemed unclear on the concept of queuing and a couple of them proceeded to line up parallel to us for the same agent going around the far side of a large poorly positioned square post right in front of our agent. The people ahead of us had a hard time getting their baggage cart out because of them and they arrived at the agent at the same time as us at which time I informed them they had queued in the exit line for our agent. They took it well and backed out.
Second, we queued in the Amsterdam airport to check our luggage. When you reached the head of the line, a KLM agent directed you to take a place in line in front of at least 16 agents with counters split evenly between the left and the right side of the baggage check area.
Rap musician Snoop Dogg and his entourage were en route to a concert that night in Ireland (we googled his tour dates later to see where they were headed and to confirm it was him.). They were in the queue behind us. His manager was trying to have them all go to one agent together and was holding up the queue arguing with the KLM staff about this while people went ahead of them. The KLM agent said they should go to the last line because they were blocking the way for everyone else. In all fairness, there was no centre aisle open that would allow them to go through to the last pair of counters and there was no room for those already lined up to make way for them.
The entourage proceeded with the manager making loud disparaging comments about the airport organization. When he could proceed no further than about the middle of the area, he proclaimed ‘’there is no last line’’ and directed the entourage to disperse and pick a line. (There was a last line, in fact there were two last lines, one on the left and one on the right.)
The entourage seemed unclear on the concept of queuing and a couple of them proceeded to line up parallel to us for the same agent going around the far side of a large poorly positioned square post right in front of our agent. The people ahead of us had a hard time getting their baggage cart out because of them and they arrived at the agent at the same time as us at which time I informed them they had queued in the exit line for our agent. They took it well and backed out.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
And the journey begins...
So glad we took a couple of days in Amsterdam en route to Africa (Thanks Barb M. for the encouragement). What a cycling city! More people on coaster bikes than pedestrians and cars put together it seems.
And although bike theft is apparently high, the other end of the spectrum is bikes returning to nature, they have been so long in one place.
After some initial disorientation on Rose's part, we found our way around the city fairly easily taking the train to and from the airport and the canal and city buses to get to and fro as well as a lot of walking. Rose now fully appreciates the importance of laptop weight when buying laptops.
Day 1 was devoted mostly to jet lag. Day 2 was museum day with a visit to the Van Gogh and Rijkmuseam as well as an external visit only to Anne Frank Huis - the line was way too long and it was enough to just to see where she was hiding as both of us had been moved by her diary.
Day 3 was a day of travel - 12 hours on a plane, 2 sitting on the tarmac at Kilimanjaro Airport in the dark so we couldn't even see the mountain. But the views from the plane of the Alps and the North African desert were spectacular.
Day 4 finds us in Dar after pretty good sleeps. Our hotel is downtown with a view
over the Bay.
After some initial disorientation on Rose's part, we found our way around the city fairly easily taking the train to and from the airport and the canal and city buses to get to and fro as well as a lot of walking. Rose now fully appreciates the importance of laptop weight when buying laptops.Day 1 was devoted mostly to jet lag. Day 2 was museum day with a visit to the Van Gogh and Rijkmuseam as well as an external visit only to Anne Frank Huis - the line was way too long and it was enough to just to see where she was hiding as both of us had been moved by her diary.
Day 3 was a day of travel - 12 hours on a plane, 2 sitting on the tarmac at Kilimanjaro Airport in the dark so we couldn't even see the mountain. But the views from the plane of the Alps and the North African desert were spectacular.
Day 4 finds us in Dar after pretty good sleeps. Our hotel is downtown with a view
over the Bay.It's hot. Lots of people. We walked around town this morning and will venture out again to buy a cell phone later today. While we have seen other mzungu (white folks), we are few and far between.
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