Coming Home

Hello!!

I am not sure if anyone has read this in awhile- but I thought I would let you know that I will be coming home for good January 10th!! I have not had the money to come use the internet and I live in a village outside of Arusha now but have been travelling for the Kizimkazi Cultural Music Festival to gain sponsorship and do promotions for the event. Please check out our website which is finally complete at www.kizinoor.org to see what exactly it entails. I worked on it last year and this year I am the Project Manager. The job that I originally came back for was definetly too good to be true, meaning most of the promises were false and rather than spend the last of the little I have waiting for a permit that may never come, I had better just take a shot at coming home and trying to find a job in the U.S. during these difficult times. Wish me luck!!

CONGRATULATIONS to Renee and Pat for the new McComb addition...How is Logan?? Thank you for sending the pictures!! I hope all is well and that you two are getting a little sleep at least and that Tyler has adjusted well to the changes!

Tim, how's Germany?

Well, I can't use all my time typing because I have some sponsorship stuff to work on for the festival. I will see you soon when I am back in January! I hope you are all doing well!

Rachel

Hello! I have safely reached Tz, had a one night layover in Ethiopia and as soon as i got here i joined the TIYO (Toledo International Youth Orchestra) in Zanzibar for their tour and to ensure the logistics I had planned were all set. Of course there were a few problems- but everyone including the doctors from the medical mission who did not go onto Malawi should be home safe and sound now! The tour was very exciting, the performances went amazingly well, the medical mission was highly successful and everyone remained healthy and safe- which were my main concerns. If it had no been for David, my friend from Tanga who organized much of their tour, it would have been a mess. I hope everyone is doing well now back home!

On the topic of this tour, my previous posts were all censored and p.r. friendly to ensure that none of the parents or other tourists worried about their journey here. I purposely left out a lot of what was happening to me personally in order to make sure it was diplomatic and did not damage any relations or make anyone about to travel here fearful of the unexpected.

In coming here originally, I was mislead about numeorus things. Luckily though, and with the help of many good people here and support from those of you at home with which i am close to, I made it through and actually on top now that j have secured a paying job! After finding out what I know now and from watching the actions of select individuals during the tour- i can see that i was way too trusting and naive. This error on my part will not happen again and I do not wish to facilitate those who are interested only in their personal gain.

From henceforth- i will be posting interesting stories, cultural interactions, new adventures, and general information about how i am doing here and how working here is different from volunteering! These posts will be straightforward and uncensored- letting you know how it really is and how i am doing! I expect that it will be much more interesting and entertaining than my previous posts!

I must say that while I was home- I was most fortunate to spend valuable time with my family and friends! I enjoyed sitting and talking with my mother over my favorite meal- grilled cheese and tomato soup, going to wal-mart together and for walks at the lake! I had an awesome time with my dad and driving to Washington, D.C. to make my flight- almost running out of gas like a previous adventure we had together! Spending time with my sister in Cinncinatti and getting to visit with her and my nephews Tobi and Oliver was the highlight of my brief time home! My sister is superwoman and her two children are more full of life and excitement than any other kids I've met to date!!

Tim, Pat, and Shannon- I had so much fun with you guys in Charlottesville!! Seeing Pat's police officer's badge and his stories of the Dallas ghetto beat, Shannon's intense job at Walter Reed and how she's an amazing nurse, and Tim with his stories of the adventure club he is in, kayaking, rock climbing and the journey to Germany were all great times I think of often!

Seeing Renee and Tyler and Maureen and Samantha was too short!! We only got to see each other for a few hours, but it was so nice to see their children growing and happy! I love hearing stories about life in Texas- I will surely come for a visit next time I am home and maybe we can compare the safari there to the safaris here :) I hope everything is going well with you guys as you are very busy!!

Salvatore- Listening to how grad school is was awesome. im so happy your challenging yourself and your new work is a testament of your progression! I was so happy to meet Erica and talking with you was too short!! We will have to keep emailing each other :0

Dijson- Thank you so much for coming to visit me in Cinci- walking and talkin with you was so nice and the depth of your words hits me deep- thanks for your email.

Dan- I better see you here soon! Thanks for the Buju Banton cd, i'm rocking it here!

Stevie- i hope it's getting better for you and that the stressful times will soon be over! I hope ben had a nice birthday!! It was great to see you and I hope I get to see you again soon ;0

Dale- words dont cut it...im glad we get to txt...hope your shoulder is feeling better soon and that work isnt giving it to you too hard.

My time on the puter is up. heading to nairobi today then UAE later. I will post in the next few days!! I hope you are all well and doing good!!! I MISS YOU

Rachel

For your perusal

Brandi Barhite, the reporter from the Toledo Press who was more than patient with me in getting back to her (for which I am most appreciative) has inspired me to change the style of my posts henceforth. You can check out the article at

www.toledofreepress.com/2009/02/20/ut-grad-living-in-african-sister-city-tanga/

Thank You!!

Let's try a new style

Hello!

First the shout-outs; Maureen- CONGRATULATIONS on your healthy and i'm sure happy and beautiful new girl!!!! I hope your health has recovered well and its all smiles for the Manbeck's!
Stevie- thanks for commenting! I can't wait to see the kids! I cant even imagine how tall Ben is now- and as ornery? :) and how beautiful is Adyson Grace?
Dan- I knew you wore the spandex!
Raza Visram- Thank you very much for your comment- your positive and encouraging words are much appreciated!
Elisabeth- For SURE!!! I'm not sure what type of work you were doing- but I was in Machame for awhile for a project with tree nurseries and indigenous speciation recovery What part of Moshi were you in? You would enjoy Tanga I'm sure! lots to love there...

It is emotionally and mentally draining to think through everything that has happened in the past months- and so i have decided to write in a different style so it's not just me tryin to hash over, edit and censor everything so its pleasing- also, because I am coming back to an 8.5% unemployment rate when i desperately need a paying job- i want to e able to stockpile as many stories as possible so that when someone says to me "so, what was Africa like?" I can reply "Well, i'd love to share with you if you would please give me a dollar"
an experience for a greenback- in addition to selling plasma i think i'll be able to get by :)

Here's the new format- I was inspired by Brandi Barhite's expert and professional reporting for the Toledo Free Press so there are two characters;
1. the journalist (played by Rachel Dove)
2. Rachel Dove (starring Rachel Dove)

RE- reporter
RD- Rachel Dove

RE- So, what's it like to work on an isolated eco-island?
RD- i often find myself staring into the deep blue while lying in an observation hut at the end of the island...listening to the numerous species of tropical birds serenade me, watching the skinks, geckos and crabs scurry around, smelling the salty spray as it hits me when the waves crash...sometimes i find myself singing simon and garfunkel "I am a rock." Then sometimes I am awakened from my dream reality only to find it's time to go to work and snorkel around the coral all day long- explaining the different types of coral and fish to students that come...i often wonder if there is any way to replicate the colors of the clams as the sun's rays hit the luminous colors, making the green and purples radiate and undulate...
today i felt adventurous so i swam to another island nearby...but it was all covered in coral rag- the real sharp rock- and the dangerously jagged solidified mussels that have collected over time...as i was trying to balance and pull myself up through the waves, my flipper slipped and i cut myself a bit- but im ok- doesn't that sound like the narrative of a mermaid??

RE; What is it with you and islands?
RD- I know, right? When I was staying in Dar I swam to an island off kigamboni- it took four and half hours of dodging jellyfish and trying not to get swept into the current with the tide...Sasha- my friend from Belarus accompanied me. By the time we had gotten to the island it was too dark to swim back without risk getting hit by a barge or freighter....so we swam a bit to get the attention of a fisherman...we negotiated with him in swahili that if he were to give us a ride back we would give him 30,000tsh when we got back- he left us...an hour later he showed up with a slightly bigger boat (think the inside of a tree trunk hollowed out so two ppl can fit with their knees up) so, there i was, scooping out the water leaking into the boat with an old oil jug...sasha was using his hands, and the fisherman only had one oar- against the waves and the current- we all struggled our darndest but we were too much for our craft- we capsized...twice. sasha ended up swimming behind the boat- half steering it and keeping it afloat- i scooped out water furiously and the fisherman paddled rigorously...
we made it back fine, paid the man for a job well done (it's not really his fault he didnt have a boat with a motor- who expects to pick up stranded people on an isolated island hours aways from other land?) and we treated him to a soda

RE: What's your favorite soda?
RD- I normally just drink water or mango/passion fruit juice....but if there is neither of those- i get this drink called "Stoney Tangawizi" written in old-fashioned 40's -style yello lettering- its a drink made from ginger and reminds me of my long lost love from toledo- 60% cocoa with crystallized ginger available for purchase at the Anderson's

RD- I'm sorry to cut it short- but I really have a lot i must get done...
RE; No problem, but uh, next time could you please post some pictures?

RD- I'd love nothing more than to do that and luckily- thanks to Sadiq- my camera was fixed in nairobi. but my computer is still broken- which means if i try to download the pics, they will be lost and deleted due to problems in my computer beyond the understanding of everyone i have taken it to...im sorry. i am going to try to find another location to do it!

RE: Thank you!
RD- Good night- thank you all so much for your comments! I really appreciate it- tell me if you can think of any other interesting style which would make this more enjoyable reading!

Hello! It's been almost two months since my last post!! I was shocked when i saw the date of my last post- i am very sorry- I am sure I have lost my audience at this point. But my mom requests that I make a new post anyways!! So here's to you, Mom! I hope you are feeling better soon and getting over the scarlet fever! I miss you!

What have I been up to lately? Well, the first annual Kizimkazi Cultural Music Festival was a success. We did not have the expected turnout, and it rained the first day- ruining the speakers and sound system, then the generator blew, but besides those major problems, it was good! And now we have learned what not to do and how to prepare better for next year's festival! The land in Kizimkazi where Kizi-Noor Cultural cafe will be established has almost been closed on and as soon as Sadiq (the director of the festival) meets with the lawyer again, we will have it finalized. Then I am supervising the construction of a small wall to be built around the circumference of the area, working with the last construction crew I had when we were building additional bars for the festival! Then the rainy season starts so I will be going to plant trees on the land as it is that season!

Now, i am currently working for Chumbe island (www.chumbeisland.com) as a volunteer for their environmental education program which teaches kids to swim, teaches them about environmental education and conservation (not stepping on the corals, not dropping anchors on the corals, why marine life and biodiversity is necessary and how unsustainable fishing practices affect the economy and livelihood of Zanzibar etc.) and then I take the children snorkeling to view the coral park! You can check out pics on Chumbe's website!! I also write grants and search for donors to fund this unique environmental education program. I really enjoy writing grants but it is next to impossible here because of the internet, lack of electricity, and lack of research materials!!

I am also now working with the Dept of Urban Planning and the Dept. of Waste Management to effectively manage the waste dumping site here which has spiraled out of control and the city is so littered it will soon affect tourism (of which comprises 25%+ of Zanzibar's income) if it is left in its current state! SO...me and Akiza, the waste site manager (who also worked closely with me on the Kizimkazi festival), have come up with plans! I have copy and pasted the objectives of our program from a grant i recently applied for;

The overall objective of this program is to formulate a coalition of NGO’s, non-state actors, grassroots level orgs, regional, district, and national government institutions, private/public sector, local initiative based groups and private individuals motivated to effectively and sustainably manage the current solid waste and water pollution problem through collective action resulting in effective ownership.

· Assessment of current and mobilization of new Environmental Clubs and community involvement for environmental conservation with focus on activities pertaining to waste management of dumping site in Jiambi (20 km south of Stone Town), water pollution management of coastal area, and establishment of tree nurseries with planting in collaboration with APPE (Abeche Palms Planting Enterprise) and Dept. of Urban Planning and CHICOP (Chumbe Island Coral Park), and JAMABECO

· Effective management of waste dumping site, Jiambi, through initial implementation of trash receptacles from SASS (Strategic Advanced Service and Solutions), collection scheme in collaboration with Dept. of Waste Management and Dept. of Urban Planning, recycling of materials; broken down into sustainable revenue groups (selling of plastics, ground materials into digester, etc)

· Renovation, landscape design, effective management of existing personnel and resources, beautification and maintenance of Victoria Gardens and Botanical Gardens (5km west of Stone Town), in collaboration with Dept. of Urban Planning, Stone Town World Heritage Committee, SASS, and APPE.

· Cultural enhancement activities to include artists’ collaboration from Bagamoyo Arts Center, and Zanzibarian artists for educational programs to include art made from recycled materials, art and music festivals with environmental conservation themes of waste management, sanitation, water pollution, etc. to be held in the gardens after renovation in addition to Jambiani (with JAMABECO) and Kizimkazi (with Kizi-Noor Cultural Cafe) with % of proceeds allotted for the establishment of common markets to include freezers for long-term storage of fish to decrease waste of surplus and other % towards items deemed necessary by sheha’s and village members

· Educational classes given to teach local fishermen about sustainable fishing practices, waste management, water pollution and construction cooperatives using recycled materials, while teaching women sustainable cooking methods using clay cooking device (jiko bora), heat from biogas, cooperative farming techniques for sustenance and capacity building for marketing of surplus

· Baseline study on mariculture potential in previously earmarked locations of Jambiani and Jozani with subsequent set up (if environment is conducive) of fish farms for repopulation of depleted resources with women’s groups as entrepreneurs. This study will be performed by; Tanzania Fisheries Research Institute and University of Dar Es Salaam Aquatic Department.

All of these activities are sustainable through the actions we will be taking pertaining to the management of the waste site- such as making brickets, turning organic feedstock into biogas through a digester to sell alternative energy, selling off compost, plastics, etc. and the revenue gained from the taxation of collection and disposal will go to the employees at the waste site and the employees performing the services of collection and disposal.

So, most of my days are spent working with Chumbe or working on this private project! Let me know what you think! If you have any ideas for me, let me know! I am making a visit to the trash dump soon to put together the plans for a house that will be built there out of all recycled materials (think water bottles cut in half and nailed spanish roofing-tile style for the roof) which will be my office and home as soon as we have done a soil test to make sure there has not been toxic or radioactive dumping.

I am supposed to return home in March, but with this project and funding pending, it is next to impossible! And i have more work to do on the logistics for TIYO coming over and now doing THREE performances!! So, hopefully I can extend my ticket long enough to have some of the objectives achieved and then i will come home for a little while- but i know I will be back here after a few months as Akiza and I have long-term goals for the waste management and Sadiq and I have long-term goals for the Kizi-Noor Cultural Cafe!!

Let me know how you all are doing!! If Renee or Maureen are reading this... I want to know how its going!!! Tim, if you read this, please call me and let me know what's up with the exciting txt you sent me. Dale- im sorry i missed your call, i was on Chumbe Island and there is no phone reception out there! Dad, Mom, Sarah, Tobi, Oliver, Matt- I MISS YOU!!! Jodi, how the heck are you?! Dan, Dan, and Caroline...is it like an episode of "Three's Company" now that you are roommates? Who wears the hot spandex that Susanne Sommers used to wear? Dijson, can we still arrange for the member-ship in my organization?

PLEASE LEAVE ME COMMENTS!!! Sometimes I feel like I have lost contact with the outside world...let me know how you are!!

Random sampling of pictures from different projects

Hello Everyone!
Below is a random sampling of pictures from a few of the different projects i've worked on here. I have many more to share with you, but they will have to come in other blogs as it is a very long process of uploading pictures and computer time is expensive :) Please tell me how you like the pics and if you have questions or want to know more about things!!

This is me and some fine folks of the Tanga Rotary Club. We are in Pongwe, at a school for the blind, hanging mosquito nets. The Tanga Rotary was part of a project distributing and assembling the mosquito nets to area boarding schools and I was lucky enough to participate ;)

Ahhh...Bagamoyo boys! These are 2 artists from Bagamoyo- there is a group of about 20 guys that are all artists from Bagamoyo (where the only arts college exists in Tz) and theyr'e known by everybody in the arts industry here as the Bagamoyo Boys. I attended the 27th Annual Bagamoyo Arts Festival to recruit and evaluate the artists there for our project in Kizimkazi. This is Kitebo in front, he is a musician- he has been recorded and his songs are often on the radio here in Tz! Behind him is Lumelezi- who does painting and other types of art. Both of them work in a children's group that teaches drum making, drum playing and traditional dancing to area children. Hence, they are being employed at the Kizimkazi Culture Music Festival to head our children's program! So, next week I will be doing a training workshop with them, and Asha, who you will see in another post, to do the programs we want during the festival and also to help with stage design and the artwork to be displayed at the festival!

This is another picture for the greeting cards to send to Toledo,Oh. I thought this was very interesting because religion here is very important to EVERYBODY- regardless of which particular religion you practice, the fact that you MUST practice one, and dilligently, is something this culture really believes in. So, many people are Christian, many people are Muslim, and the rest are just considered "pagani" or pagan if you are someone that doesn't go to church or the mosque...witchcraft is also ever-prevalent here. I hear many many stories but have only witnessed a few instances of it. This is a pretty sensitive subject here- withcraft- and what is happening with albino killings on behalf of witchcraft rituals is extremely scary- but its another topic that I wish not to get too deep into- please read and research it though- its very interesting and may give you a perspective you havent thought about...ever

This is me reading and looking at some of the drawings done by the boys at the boy's orphanage.
Nassarro is the boy across from me and Omary is next to me and Ally is standing behind him.

This is a picture of one of the girls in Madam Kurwa's Form 2 English class...she is drawing a picture to put on the front of a greeting card to send to the Early Start Highschool in Toledo, Ohio (as soon as i get the address). This design is one that is usually used in piko- or henna art- a type of temporary body marking that is done on the body- usually the hands and feet and back for wedding ceremonies here. it is most common among the indian culture for weddings here but many people use it and the style is very prety. There is a group of women in Zanzibar who are piko and henna artists and they have started transferring the designs onto canvas- something that hsa not been done yet in African art- and it looks so nice...the different styles and colors contrast and compliment one another and really stand out on canvas

Here I am stamping books that were donated to area schools- INCLUDING TOLEDO SECONDARY SCHOOL!!!!!!!! by the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and USAID- the stamp says "a gift from the american people" in english and in swahili...the books chosen were very nice and the students have enjoyed them so much!!

These are the boxes full of books that were donated...i took lots of pics of this because books are very VERY rare here, during the period of socialism all the book publishers were banned from Tz. the effects of this period are still seen here today...

This is a HUGE spider- this picture is taken in my room and i did not sleep for two nights because i didnt have anything big enough to hit this spider with that would impair it for long enough for me to find something else to kill it- honeslty- the heel of any shoe could not conquer this beast- i know it doesnt look all that big from the pic cuz theres nothing next to it to guage its sixe from, but if you think i could get that close...ohhh, it was terrifying...and embarassing. i was living at the boys orphanage at the time and i would wake the boys up early in the morning for exercise and they were told before i moved in they had better behave because i had army training...so, i couldnt exactly run from my room at night in fright from a spider...so id go to my room and just keep the lights on and tuck in my mosquito net and read and not let the spiderout of my sight. eventually i asked one of the boys to come check on something and i pointed out the spider and they used a broom to sweep it out and catch it and then they took it outside...

Here I am dancing with some of the boys at the orphanage before they take their showers and brush their teeth!

This pic is taken at the playground of the Tanga International School! I am with three boys from the orphanage, Omary on the far left, Nurdini in the red and blue and Eliyah on the right. the other boys are neighbor kids that play there too!

This me working on schoolwork with Sarafina and Masaaidi at the girls orphanage in the study room.

this is exactly why

so- i hardly ever take a long time on the computer- like this last blog i posted took abt 40 mins with the pics...i dont often spend much time on the puter as you well know- for this very frickin reason...i finished my post and someone came in and asked me if i rode a bike. i said yes. he said- it was just stolen.... my phone was stolen last week in dar. now the bike.

it wasnt my bike. it was the orphanages'

thats tanga for ya!