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.
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