Ok! So, we got done making the pizza and sliced it to feed 38 people and served it with their regular dinner of black beans and rice and water. The girls prefer the regular meals and do not especially like change much, even things that are big treats are so rare that they do not know how to react at first. The younger girls just stared at their slices and watched what the older girls did. Fatouma, Shufak and the others that helped ate theirs right away, and as i looked around the rest of the room at the girls, they were all waiting to see how the older girls reacted. The older girls took ownership of their hard work and encouraged the other girls to eat it, had they not participated in making the pizza, it would have all gone to waste...this is a vital example of how to run a non/profit or n.g.o. Without the help of the community, without local people becoming empowered by the responsibility invested in them, all the work and all the money in the world will not yield success! As the older girls urged the younger ones to try it, they all looked to me and Simon to see if we were watching...I sure as heck was but Simon kept his head down and the older girls looked at me and smiled as the younger ones were trying it and making funny faces. Sme of them really enjoyed it, others picked the cheese and tomoatoes and onions off and ate only the bread, and others gave theirs to the older girls. But for the most part...it was a huge success. Teaching the older girls something new, a different way of cooking, letting them try it on their own, entrusting them to carry out these tasks, and then letting them turn around to teach the younger girls these skills will be a great responsibility for them. So, my next job is to figure out all the necessary proportions for the dough machine and then formulate specific directions for the running of the bakery. Once I have all of that worked out, I will be able to teach each of the older girls and then watch as they pass it along to the younger girls! Vera and I may also be working at the Central Bakery here in Tanga to see exactly how they do it there...like an internship at the local bakery : )
The English classes are now running more smoothly. I have been able to assess each of the girls and what their skill level is and thus have broken them down into smaller groups for more one on one instruction. This has proved to work out much better and we have already reached sentence construction in one of the classes and prepositional phrases...which I have made fun by constructing a game where we pass the basketball outside but you are only allowed to pass it if you formulate a correct sentence with a prepositional phrase! It is really fun and the girls are very bright and sooooo eager to learn and try new things!
Last night at 4am i awoke to a very strange sound and thought Dan just kept flushing the toilet over and over again...but as soon as i checked out the bathroom, it was evident that something had gone really wrong...there was steam coming out and the bathroom was flooding! Dan had left on the water temp. heater and all day the water must have been heating up and then a pipe burst...it wasnt the fact that the water heater was on, that should not have caused a problem...its just poor plumbing and bad pipes!!! So hopefully someone will come fix it soon, in the meantime, we do have an outside shower...which kind of sucks, but hey, its a shower at least!
Last night we had friends over for dinner and it was quite an experience learning how to cook here and thank you Dad for the leatherman knife or we would have not been able to prepare anything for our guests!! Our friend Emelius from the TAYODEA tourism office came over. He will be attending one of the best universities in Tanzania for Wildlife Resources and tourism. He had us over for dinner the other night and he is a good cook and we wanted to return the favor! We made pasta, mixed vegetables, garlic and onion green beans, and Dan made some type of sausage and Carbonera sauce. I thought it was delicious and Emelius even took home leftovers so I hope he genuinely enjoyed it and didnt do that just to make us feel good, either way, it was nice of him! We also had over our freind Boris who is from Zimbabwe but grew up in Capetown, South Africa. He currently manages a lodge in Mambo and he has degrees in Wildlife management and tourism planning and is getting his master's in Environmental science. Both of them are great company and we all had a great time!!
Boris took me to Peponi, about an hour away from Tanga where there is a really nice quiet beach! We had a really great time and I got to take some great pics! Luckily he had a four by four or we would not have made it, the road was so rough that we were off our seats most of the time...bouncing and hitting our heads on the roof!There are little crabs all over and when the tide comes in they hide in these little holes they've dug and then when the tide goes out the pop out, crawl around, and then return to their holes. It is really neat to watch! Boris has invited us out to his lodge to stay for a weekend and his main job is guiding wildlife photography tours, so I think I may go see what that's all about.
Today, Samuel, the headmaster at the Toledo Secondary School took us to the Amboni Caves, its much like the Ohio Caverns, but it is dry and the stalagtites and stalagmites are no longer wet looking like in a cavern. It was a funny tour because it's not structured like an educational or historical tour rather it is more entertaining like 'look here, this rock looks like an elephant' or 'look at this formation, it resembles the female anatomy...' yea, it was pretty funny!!
Well, i must go now. i hope everyone reading this is doing well. i had some good meetings this past week that i will blog abt in a day or so. thank you for reading!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Lost in Time...
I have so much to say and so little time to say it...but you all MUST know what is going on here!!
Christiana took Dan and Simon and I out on Sunday. First she had us over to her house for breakfast and wow does she have an exquisite house. It is decorated in African style and very nicely done and she has loads of pets around. Dogs, cats, monkeys, HUGE turtles...you name it! Just sitting on her porch is like getting a free view of a zoo!! And we had the freshest fruit you could imagine...just fell off the tree! She explained to us the way the system here works and how things have come to be the way they are. In all honesty, mismanagement of aid and structural adjustment programs and NGO"s seems to be the bulk of the problems. It is very interesting hearing it from someone who has watched it all happen time and time again. After breakfast she tok us to a convent where the nuns there sell her fish at half price so the children in the orphange get fish at least once a week. We arrived at the convent and the view was one that cannot be described! The back door of this place was literally the ocean. Many people come to the monastery for spiritual retreat and we actually met one of the girls that works there through our friend Dharmish. She is not a nun, but she lives there and we ran into her.
Christiana and I sat and just watched the ocean and talked about what is going on in that area right now...We could see all the dhow boats out and the fisherman doing their work and I asked Christiana what the average income of a fisherman might be as there are so many resources for fishing and the market is good. The story is a sad one though, the Tanzanian govt gives much of their contract work to Japan and China and in return, they allow open fishing right up to their coast. So, most of the income that could go to local fisherman is actually ging to fishing industries in Japan and China, robbing the local fisherman of a living wage...talk about offshoring jobs...
Then we discussed how beautiful the scenery was...another sad tale...Bush has recently been here and some tpe of agreement was reached to where oil tankers will soon be taking over the harbors...in the EXACT spot we were sitting in...she said that in about ten years...nothing will lok the same and the beauty that exists now will be no longer...the regin will be overcme with oil and the local ecosystems will parrish...its hard to digest and its so depressing...
On a lighter note...
Simon accompanied me to the bakery at the Stehmann House for our first day of bread baking!! IT WENT WONDERFULLY!! The oven worked! Going in to twn for all the necessary ingredients was irksome because it takes so long to get anything here...its not like a quick stop into the Kroger for all your grocering needs...any other day i would have been delighted to spend the day in the market...but we had bread to bake and making dough is not a quick task!! We decided to make a pizza that would feed all the girls! We bought onions and tomatoes and garlic for the sauce and used the leftovers as toppings, as well as mozzarella cheese! We had the older girls, Fatuma, Shufak, Suwma, and Nuru help us. Delegating the tasks such as slicing the vegetables and making the preparatins so they could learn and teach the younger girls as soon as we have an exact process down. While they were working on that, Simon showed me how to make the dough his way from scratch, without the machine. As soon as I learn how to use the machine and find the correct proportions, I will be teaching the girls. So, we made the dough, kneaded it, rolled it and put it on the pan and the girls came in to help with the rest and they had such a god time and were very inquisitive and eager to learn new things... We all sat by the oven the entire time to watch the pizza bake and we were so excited! We even had enough dugh left over to make bread...so I used my past baking skills and taught them how to braid the bread and then we put raw sugar on top and baked that too!
When the pizza was finally done...cutting it to feed 38 ppl was rugh...but we did it...im out of time now but i have so many more details and i want to tell you exactly what all the girls thought of it and how it went...so im sorry to leave you hanging...but it will be a good next read!!
Christiana took Dan and Simon and I out on Sunday. First she had us over to her house for breakfast and wow does she have an exquisite house. It is decorated in African style and very nicely done and she has loads of pets around. Dogs, cats, monkeys, HUGE turtles...you name it! Just sitting on her porch is like getting a free view of a zoo!! And we had the freshest fruit you could imagine...just fell off the tree! She explained to us the way the system here works and how things have come to be the way they are. In all honesty, mismanagement of aid and structural adjustment programs and NGO"s seems to be the bulk of the problems. It is very interesting hearing it from someone who has watched it all happen time and time again. After breakfast she tok us to a convent where the nuns there sell her fish at half price so the children in the orphange get fish at least once a week. We arrived at the convent and the view was one that cannot be described! The back door of this place was literally the ocean. Many people come to the monastery for spiritual retreat and we actually met one of the girls that works there through our friend Dharmish. She is not a nun, but she lives there and we ran into her.
Christiana and I sat and just watched the ocean and talked about what is going on in that area right now...We could see all the dhow boats out and the fisherman doing their work and I asked Christiana what the average income of a fisherman might be as there are so many resources for fishing and the market is good. The story is a sad one though, the Tanzanian govt gives much of their contract work to Japan and China and in return, they allow open fishing right up to their coast. So, most of the income that could go to local fisherman is actually ging to fishing industries in Japan and China, robbing the local fisherman of a living wage...talk about offshoring jobs...
Then we discussed how beautiful the scenery was...another sad tale...Bush has recently been here and some tpe of agreement was reached to where oil tankers will soon be taking over the harbors...in the EXACT spot we were sitting in...she said that in about ten years...nothing will lok the same and the beauty that exists now will be no longer...the regin will be overcme with oil and the local ecosystems will parrish...its hard to digest and its so depressing...
On a lighter note...
Simon accompanied me to the bakery at the Stehmann House for our first day of bread baking!! IT WENT WONDERFULLY!! The oven worked! Going in to twn for all the necessary ingredients was irksome because it takes so long to get anything here...its not like a quick stop into the Kroger for all your grocering needs...any other day i would have been delighted to spend the day in the market...but we had bread to bake and making dough is not a quick task!! We decided to make a pizza that would feed all the girls! We bought onions and tomatoes and garlic for the sauce and used the leftovers as toppings, as well as mozzarella cheese! We had the older girls, Fatuma, Shufak, Suwma, and Nuru help us. Delegating the tasks such as slicing the vegetables and making the preparatins so they could learn and teach the younger girls as soon as we have an exact process down. While they were working on that, Simon showed me how to make the dough his way from scratch, without the machine. As soon as I learn how to use the machine and find the correct proportions, I will be teaching the girls. So, we made the dough, kneaded it, rolled it and put it on the pan and the girls came in to help with the rest and they had such a god time and were very inquisitive and eager to learn new things... We all sat by the oven the entire time to watch the pizza bake and we were so excited! We even had enough dugh left over to make bread...so I used my past baking skills and taught them how to braid the bread and then we put raw sugar on top and baked that too!
When the pizza was finally done...cutting it to feed 38 ppl was rugh...but we did it...im out of time now but i have so many more details and i want to tell you exactly what all the girls thought of it and how it went...so im sorry to leave you hanging...but it will be a good next read!!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Passion comes in a fruit/fluke
Hello! So- the past few days are indescribable- but i am going to try as that is the point of this blog :)
We met Christiana, the German lady from Eckinforde (another sister city of Tanga), and she runs a very impressive orphanage here that is known by the locals as a respectable establishment...and from my first step onto the grounds of the Stehman House (the girls orphanage), I could tell that working with this lady and these girls was going to be amazing! Orphaned dogs come up to greet you and all the girls come running out to greet you and help you carry anything they can! One of the girls, Suwmu, took my hand right away as we walked around the place! Christiana houses 35 girls in the Stehman House ranging from 4 years old up to 19 years old. They are all enrolled in local schools but she has asked me to structure English classes for the girls while they are not in school. The medium of education here has changed from being taught in Swahili to now being taught in English because the National Exams are given in English. The girls do quite well in school but they need to learn English and become proficient in the next months that I am here or they will not be able to understand what is being taught to them when school starts back up. I am also in charge of the bakery!! Christiana has purchased a nice baking oven and an industrial dough mixing machine and has asked me to run this area and teach the girls to make different types of breads and eventually pizzas that we will try to sell at the market here!! I am very excited about both of these opportunities!! Vera, a lady from Kenya, also works at the orphanage and she lived in Germany for a while and now she works here and is very involved with the girls' education and general upbringing at the orphanage. She is really wonderful to work with and she has told me so many amazing stories about the local culture here, the girls in the oprhanage, and other interesting things...she is a fountain of knowledge!!
Christiana also takes in dogs that have been abandoned and she currently has three that are in a sad state but getting better! And as coincidence would have it- the man who administers the medication to the dogs is Julius- our local contact for the Toledo-Tanga Sister Cities Committee and he is also on the City Council. He runs his own private business of livestock and animal husbandry consultation. There are also many cats, kittens, goats, chickens and other animals that Christiana has taken in!
We are staying at a Guest House currently and I cannot even explain how nice this house is... It is HUGE!!! And gorgeous! It has an immaculate garden, a mango tree, other citrus trees, monkeys and meerkats in the front yard, a gatekeeper, and an overall peaceful air about it that cannot be put into words. She has furnished it for us and has done so much for us that it is hard to even believe!!
I will tell you more about the wonderful girls in another blog- there is too much to say for one blog entry! There is also a boy's home that she runs where Dan will be working. He will be teaching English there as well as doing recreational games with the boys and just being a positive male influence in their lives. Simon, the guy writing his thesis on HIV/AIDS that we met in Dar is visitng and he likes it so much that he may come to live for awhile! He taught English in Kenya and has expressed an interest in helping out at the boy's orphanage as well! He also has a brother that runs a very good pizza business in London and is going to get me some tips and good information on how to make delicious pizzas so that the bakery runs well :)
Today was the day we moved into the Guest house and Christiana took us around to get us all the necessary furnishings for our place! It was very interesting to see how the city is mapped out- like how the streets are laid out and how one navigates through town and does business.
After we moved in we had a meeting with Julius & George. Both of them are on the Tanga-Toledo Sister Cities Committee and the City Council. This meeting was PHENOMENAL!!! We talked about different types of social programs that they are interested in starting with our help for organizational purposes. We discussed at length the different types of educational programs in the U.S. that provide self-empowerment and leadership structure among youth. They were most interested in drug prevention programs and young entreprenuer(sp?) programs. We told them about the models of the DARE program and DECA and Junior Achievement and they are very interested in us further researching these models to help them establish these programs in the 90 primary schools in the 23 different villages of Tanga! What a HUGE opportunity!! We also discussed setting up student volunteer programs, mentorship programs and environmental action programs. They were very dedicated and motivated towards getting these programs established and into the schools! Dan had the great idea of using the Toledo Secondary School as sort of a pilot for these programs- which will benefit the Toledo Secondary school, the City Council, the Toledo-Tanga Committee here in Tanga and in Toledo, as well as the sister school in Toledo!! One of the programs we talked about was the environmental clean up project- starting environmental clubs at each school whose mission would be to have the new student government designate a time and place each week where the students would pick up the trash and the garbage that litters the streets here. Since afterschool programs and sports teams are very expensive, this would be an activity that is costless and keeps kids off the street and away from the drug problems, while at the same time cleaning up the city!! Having the children doing this visbly in the community may also affect the adults in the community and change their perception in a way that will promote more environmentally friendly behavior! These are all just ideas at this stage but Julius and George seemed very interested in making them realities and so next week once Dan and I have it all in an outline form, we are presenting these ideas to the rest of the city council as well as the mayor!!
Dan and David from TAYODEA met yesterday and the meeting went well. We will be meeting with David again to hopefully solidify exactly how we can help him and establish a relationship in which he can be more direct with us pertaining to what his needs are to better TAYODEA!
All around the orphanage little ripe passion fruits fall. The girls always bring them to me to eat! Yesterday I was eating one and just thinking to myself- how funny is it that when I came here I was so passionate about something that didn't work out the way we expected- but by pure chance we have fallen into something different that I have always been passionate about- and falling all around me are these passion fruits!!
My perspective on everything has changed here. I used to be so certain about things that i am no longer certain about- and things i once thought were impossible- are the norm here! So each day i am learning and really experiencing things- and it has already changed me!
I hope to have pictures up soon. I hope you are all well and thanks for reading :)
We met Christiana, the German lady from Eckinforde (another sister city of Tanga), and she runs a very impressive orphanage here that is known by the locals as a respectable establishment...and from my first step onto the grounds of the Stehman House (the girls orphanage), I could tell that working with this lady and these girls was going to be amazing! Orphaned dogs come up to greet you and all the girls come running out to greet you and help you carry anything they can! One of the girls, Suwmu, took my hand right away as we walked around the place! Christiana houses 35 girls in the Stehman House ranging from 4 years old up to 19 years old. They are all enrolled in local schools but she has asked me to structure English classes for the girls while they are not in school. The medium of education here has changed from being taught in Swahili to now being taught in English because the National Exams are given in English. The girls do quite well in school but they need to learn English and become proficient in the next months that I am here or they will not be able to understand what is being taught to them when school starts back up. I am also in charge of the bakery!! Christiana has purchased a nice baking oven and an industrial dough mixing machine and has asked me to run this area and teach the girls to make different types of breads and eventually pizzas that we will try to sell at the market here!! I am very excited about both of these opportunities!! Vera, a lady from Kenya, also works at the orphanage and she lived in Germany for a while and now she works here and is very involved with the girls' education and general upbringing at the orphanage. She is really wonderful to work with and she has told me so many amazing stories about the local culture here, the girls in the oprhanage, and other interesting things...she is a fountain of knowledge!!
Christiana also takes in dogs that have been abandoned and she currently has three that are in a sad state but getting better! And as coincidence would have it- the man who administers the medication to the dogs is Julius- our local contact for the Toledo-Tanga Sister Cities Committee and he is also on the City Council. He runs his own private business of livestock and animal husbandry consultation. There are also many cats, kittens, goats, chickens and other animals that Christiana has taken in!
We are staying at a Guest House currently and I cannot even explain how nice this house is... It is HUGE!!! And gorgeous! It has an immaculate garden, a mango tree, other citrus trees, monkeys and meerkats in the front yard, a gatekeeper, and an overall peaceful air about it that cannot be put into words. She has furnished it for us and has done so much for us that it is hard to even believe!!
I will tell you more about the wonderful girls in another blog- there is too much to say for one blog entry! There is also a boy's home that she runs where Dan will be working. He will be teaching English there as well as doing recreational games with the boys and just being a positive male influence in their lives. Simon, the guy writing his thesis on HIV/AIDS that we met in Dar is visitng and he likes it so much that he may come to live for awhile! He taught English in Kenya and has expressed an interest in helping out at the boy's orphanage as well! He also has a brother that runs a very good pizza business in London and is going to get me some tips and good information on how to make delicious pizzas so that the bakery runs well :)
Today was the day we moved into the Guest house and Christiana took us around to get us all the necessary furnishings for our place! It was very interesting to see how the city is mapped out- like how the streets are laid out and how one navigates through town and does business.
After we moved in we had a meeting with Julius & George. Both of them are on the Tanga-Toledo Sister Cities Committee and the City Council. This meeting was PHENOMENAL!!! We talked about different types of social programs that they are interested in starting with our help for organizational purposes. We discussed at length the different types of educational programs in the U.S. that provide self-empowerment and leadership structure among youth. They were most interested in drug prevention programs and young entreprenuer(sp?) programs. We told them about the models of the DARE program and DECA and Junior Achievement and they are very interested in us further researching these models to help them establish these programs in the 90 primary schools in the 23 different villages of Tanga! What a HUGE opportunity!! We also discussed setting up student volunteer programs, mentorship programs and environmental action programs. They were very dedicated and motivated towards getting these programs established and into the schools! Dan had the great idea of using the Toledo Secondary School as sort of a pilot for these programs- which will benefit the Toledo Secondary school, the City Council, the Toledo-Tanga Committee here in Tanga and in Toledo, as well as the sister school in Toledo!! One of the programs we talked about was the environmental clean up project- starting environmental clubs at each school whose mission would be to have the new student government designate a time and place each week where the students would pick up the trash and the garbage that litters the streets here. Since afterschool programs and sports teams are very expensive, this would be an activity that is costless and keeps kids off the street and away from the drug problems, while at the same time cleaning up the city!! Having the children doing this visbly in the community may also affect the adults in the community and change their perception in a way that will promote more environmentally friendly behavior! These are all just ideas at this stage but Julius and George seemed very interested in making them realities and so next week once Dan and I have it all in an outline form, we are presenting these ideas to the rest of the city council as well as the mayor!!
Dan and David from TAYODEA met yesterday and the meeting went well. We will be meeting with David again to hopefully solidify exactly how we can help him and establish a relationship in which he can be more direct with us pertaining to what his needs are to better TAYODEA!
All around the orphanage little ripe passion fruits fall. The girls always bring them to me to eat! Yesterday I was eating one and just thinking to myself- how funny is it that when I came here I was so passionate about something that didn't work out the way we expected- but by pure chance we have fallen into something different that I have always been passionate about- and falling all around me are these passion fruits!!
My perspective on everything has changed here. I used to be so certain about things that i am no longer certain about- and things i once thought were impossible- are the norm here! So each day i am learning and really experiencing things- and it has already changed me!
I hope to have pictures up soon. I hope you are all well and thanks for reading :)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
We have been in Tanga now for almost a week ands things are surely different than what we thought! Dan and I are finding other areas to work in as our original plans are not as solid as we had hoped for.
There is a lot of corruption here but it is hard to see it as a newcomer to the area. We have been meeting many helpful people and one of the Malaria Dr's has informed us of scandals that happen quite often here with volunteer organizations and "orphanages." He said that often times, a volunteer group will start up here and charge people to come and then not have jobs for them once they get here and they end up wandering around the city with nothing to do. Some, NOT ALL, of the orphanages here are just a building with no one in it and when visitors come or when volunteers are lined up- they will just bring in local children and have them stay there so it looks legitimate! Then whoever was running it pockets the money and the money keeps coming. There have been no visible efforts made for sustainable development- sustainable meaning the local people are empowered with jobs and contributing to the improvement of their community and lifestyle. It's extremely frustrating to know that there is a lot of money coming into this area and it is being mismanaged in a way that is not developing the people by training them with job skills or education or their community for long- term success.
One of the Malaria Dr's had this to say in response to my frustration with the lack of sustainable development "the sun goes up, the tide comes in, the sun goes down, the tide goes out." Meaning, most of the people here are happy living day-to-day and do not see the impetus for improvement. Why make a better tomorrow if today is alright? The whole mind set is totally different. So, the best advice we have received was to just sit back and watch the way things work. Watch the local people, interact, have a good time and see how life moves here- then when we find the legitimate organizations to work with- we will know how to work within the current framework in order to improve things.
We are making good contacts thus far and meeting people who can really help us but the pace here is so relaxed and slow- it doesn't work to just have someone's contact info and call them up- you have to be introduced by whom they know or you won't be taken seriously. We are currently waiting to meet a lady who has a tourism center all set up in this region and she is very dedicated towards sustainable development from what we have heard. We are also waiting to meet the former President of the Rotary club who has some projects and we are also waiting to meet with the lady from the reputable orphanage here who also helps with another organization here. But presently, we are living the way of life here and gathering an understanding of how things work...an ethnographic study of sorts...
In the meantime, the local people have been taking us out to view the city in different ways. We have gone to very good and cheap places to eat right on the water and the food is delicious! We have gone to some of the local hot spots at night and it has been much fun. Touring the city and taking pictures of everything and documenting what is going on at each location, where the restaurants are, where the hotels are etc. is what we are currently doing so that we can take all of this information and compile it into brochures to place in the tourist office. So, hopefully these next few days we see and document as much as possible- which is a fun way to see the city!
Well, when we have further information as to what exact projects we will be working on- I most surely will let you know! This week when our friend Simon from Dar gets here, we will be going to the Lushoto region to tour the mountainside and talk with the guy who runs the agricultural plot there and also the guy who runs a carpentry center.
I hope you are all doing well!
There is a lot of corruption here but it is hard to see it as a newcomer to the area. We have been meeting many helpful people and one of the Malaria Dr's has informed us of scandals that happen quite often here with volunteer organizations and "orphanages." He said that often times, a volunteer group will start up here and charge people to come and then not have jobs for them once they get here and they end up wandering around the city with nothing to do. Some, NOT ALL, of the orphanages here are just a building with no one in it and when visitors come or when volunteers are lined up- they will just bring in local children and have them stay there so it looks legitimate! Then whoever was running it pockets the money and the money keeps coming. There have been no visible efforts made for sustainable development- sustainable meaning the local people are empowered with jobs and contributing to the improvement of their community and lifestyle. It's extremely frustrating to know that there is a lot of money coming into this area and it is being mismanaged in a way that is not developing the people by training them with job skills or education or their community for long- term success.
One of the Malaria Dr's had this to say in response to my frustration with the lack of sustainable development "the sun goes up, the tide comes in, the sun goes down, the tide goes out." Meaning, most of the people here are happy living day-to-day and do not see the impetus for improvement. Why make a better tomorrow if today is alright? The whole mind set is totally different. So, the best advice we have received was to just sit back and watch the way things work. Watch the local people, interact, have a good time and see how life moves here- then when we find the legitimate organizations to work with- we will know how to work within the current framework in order to improve things.
We are making good contacts thus far and meeting people who can really help us but the pace here is so relaxed and slow- it doesn't work to just have someone's contact info and call them up- you have to be introduced by whom they know or you won't be taken seriously. We are currently waiting to meet a lady who has a tourism center all set up in this region and she is very dedicated towards sustainable development from what we have heard. We are also waiting to meet the former President of the Rotary club who has some projects and we are also waiting to meet with the lady from the reputable orphanage here who also helps with another organization here. But presently, we are living the way of life here and gathering an understanding of how things work...an ethnographic study of sorts...
In the meantime, the local people have been taking us out to view the city in different ways. We have gone to very good and cheap places to eat right on the water and the food is delicious! We have gone to some of the local hot spots at night and it has been much fun. Touring the city and taking pictures of everything and documenting what is going on at each location, where the restaurants are, where the hotels are etc. is what we are currently doing so that we can take all of this information and compile it into brochures to place in the tourist office. So, hopefully these next few days we see and document as much as possible- which is a fun way to see the city!
Well, when we have further information as to what exact projects we will be working on- I most surely will let you know! This week when our friend Simon from Dar gets here, we will be going to the Lushoto region to tour the mountainside and talk with the guy who runs the agricultural plot there and also the guy who runs a carpentry center.
I hope you are all doing well!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Earth Day here in Tanga!!
Today was the community celebration of Earth day!! It was very interesting and fun! We went with David, the director of TAYODEA and Samuel, the headmaster of the Toledo Secondary school. We got there at 10:00am when we thought it started but it didn't actually start until a little after 11:00- as I've noticed, it is much more relaxed around here and there is no rush for anything! It is refreshing and much different than what I am used to. This concept of time is more my style, as you know, I will be late to my own funeral (as my mom always used to say :)
So, the celebration was held to recognize community members who have done significant work to help the environment in some way and the Toledo Secondary school won an award for how they have worked towards improving the environment here in Tanga! With the award, prizes were distributed in the form of tools- a shovel, a wheelbarrow and some other materials were given to the school! Part of the celebration included traditional African dance, drums, songs, and other forms of entertainment performed by the children from the primary and secondary schools! It was so awesome! The children were so happy to dance and sing and they were really good at it! I was able to take lots of photos and some video of the event! Hopefully I will find the resources to start posting pictures soon!!
After the ceremony we went with the headmaster, Samuel, to tour the Toledo Secondary school! I was so impressed with what they have done with such little resources- it was very astounding. The teachers were so informative and dedicated to the students and their learning. They teach all subjects in English because the National Graduate Exam is given in English. The English teacher is also the environmental teacher, the net ball coach and the head of the English department! They told us that motivating the students to learn English is hard because the students come from primary school where only Swahili is taught. They were excited about the relationship between their school and the Toledo Early Start school for many reasons- but one of them was so that they could reward the students who do best in English by sending them to Toledo in an exchange program! I thought that was pretty amazing! Another tool they use to motivate is a disciplinary act of making a student wear a shirt that says "Speak English To Me" if they are caught speaking Swahili during the school day! I got a picture of the shirt and it is pretty funny! There is a significant lack of resources in the school that is almost heartbreaking.The headmaster gave us a list of books that they need because right now the ratio is one book for 64 children! The physics and science teachers are having to draw bunsen burners and test tubes on the chalkboards to be able to teach! The lack of resources is really eye-opening because their level of dedication is not hindered at all by what they do not have! Of course they are trying very hard to find the resources, but in the meantime- the students are still learning because these teachers care so much that the students are educated!
Building this relationship between the Toledo Secondary school here in Tanga and the Toledo Early Start school will be highly beneficial for both schools! During the conference Dan and I will be attending there will be some work done at the school and in my work with TAYODEA I will be at the school volunteering. I really enjoyed this experience today!
Most people here do not privately own cars so after we were done at the school, the headmaster gave us rides back on his scooter!! It was SO FUN! i'd never been a passenger on a scooter before...let alone riding with a headmaster in Tanzania!! We went over bumps and hills and it was just so fun...I was laughing hysterically most of the time because Dan was right behind us riding with another guy from the school on a scooter- and a 6 foot 4 inch beefy white guy hunched over on the back of a tiny scooter looks really funny- especially when all of the little children we passed came out of their homes and ran after yelling "Mizoongo!!" which means "white person." HAAHAHA...it was so fun!
I have been learning more Swahili and I hope to be able to conversate soon! Everyone I have met has been so helpful and generous and some people will write down words for me and explain things very well! The people here are so friendly that it is shocking!
We met a contact from Louis, Dharmish is his name. He was born and raised here in Tanga and knows all the good places to go...we went out with him last night to hear live music! The venue was phenomenal because it was outside and you had to go through these metal doors to get in- the front of it looked like a butcher's shop and someone was cutting meat- ut that was actually where we bought our tickets to get in- who knew? So we go in and on stage was a full band, drum set, bongos, bass guitar, lead guitar, electric and acoustic and a keyboardists and great singers! And one look up at the sky and you're blown away here- I have never seen so many stars!! We are meeting Dharmish again tonight and he said he will take us to a local spot on the water that's really nice!
I hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for reading!
So, the celebration was held to recognize community members who have done significant work to help the environment in some way and the Toledo Secondary school won an award for how they have worked towards improving the environment here in Tanga! With the award, prizes were distributed in the form of tools- a shovel, a wheelbarrow and some other materials were given to the school! Part of the celebration included traditional African dance, drums, songs, and other forms of entertainment performed by the children from the primary and secondary schools! It was so awesome! The children were so happy to dance and sing and they were really good at it! I was able to take lots of photos and some video of the event! Hopefully I will find the resources to start posting pictures soon!!
After the ceremony we went with the headmaster, Samuel, to tour the Toledo Secondary school! I was so impressed with what they have done with such little resources- it was very astounding. The teachers were so informative and dedicated to the students and their learning. They teach all subjects in English because the National Graduate Exam is given in English. The English teacher is also the environmental teacher, the net ball coach and the head of the English department! They told us that motivating the students to learn English is hard because the students come from primary school where only Swahili is taught. They were excited about the relationship between their school and the Toledo Early Start school for many reasons- but one of them was so that they could reward the students who do best in English by sending them to Toledo in an exchange program! I thought that was pretty amazing! Another tool they use to motivate is a disciplinary act of making a student wear a shirt that says "Speak English To Me" if they are caught speaking Swahili during the school day! I got a picture of the shirt and it is pretty funny! There is a significant lack of resources in the school that is almost heartbreaking.The headmaster gave us a list of books that they need because right now the ratio is one book for 64 children! The physics and science teachers are having to draw bunsen burners and test tubes on the chalkboards to be able to teach! The lack of resources is really eye-opening because their level of dedication is not hindered at all by what they do not have! Of course they are trying very hard to find the resources, but in the meantime- the students are still learning because these teachers care so much that the students are educated!
Building this relationship between the Toledo Secondary school here in Tanga and the Toledo Early Start school will be highly beneficial for both schools! During the conference Dan and I will be attending there will be some work done at the school and in my work with TAYODEA I will be at the school volunteering. I really enjoyed this experience today!
Most people here do not privately own cars so after we were done at the school, the headmaster gave us rides back on his scooter!! It was SO FUN! i'd never been a passenger on a scooter before...let alone riding with a headmaster in Tanzania!! We went over bumps and hills and it was just so fun...I was laughing hysterically most of the time because Dan was right behind us riding with another guy from the school on a scooter- and a 6 foot 4 inch beefy white guy hunched over on the back of a tiny scooter looks really funny- especially when all of the little children we passed came out of their homes and ran after yelling "Mizoongo!!" which means "white person." HAAHAHA...it was so fun!
I have been learning more Swahili and I hope to be able to conversate soon! Everyone I have met has been so helpful and generous and some people will write down words for me and explain things very well! The people here are so friendly that it is shocking!
We met a contact from Louis, Dharmish is his name. He was born and raised here in Tanga and knows all the good places to go...we went out with him last night to hear live music! The venue was phenomenal because it was outside and you had to go through these metal doors to get in- the front of it looked like a butcher's shop and someone was cutting meat- ut that was actually where we bought our tickets to get in- who knew? So we go in and on stage was a full band, drum set, bongos, bass guitar, lead guitar, electric and acoustic and a keyboardists and great singers! And one look up at the sky and you're blown away here- I have never seen so many stars!! We are meeting Dharmish again tonight and he said he will take us to a local spot on the water that's really nice!
I hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for reading!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Food Market Continued
I have reached Tanga this afternoon and met the people I will be working with and went to the TAYODEA office. I will blog more about this later but I want to finish the blog about the market...
So we saw all sorts of raw vegetables and fruits that were very good looking and the method of displaying them was so interesting as well. Some were kept in crates, some were just laid out on cardboard, some were in huge burlap sacks and others were still hanging off the bicycles they rode in on. There were people sleeping next to their produce which was hard to understand but when I asked later the policy in Tanzania on theft is quite severe and no one would dare think of stealing something from the market which is what I was told. But the noise and the smell alone was so pervasive that I would think sleep would be hard to catch in the market! There were rows and rows of all different colors and shapes of beans, peas, potatoes, yams, and other vegetables and each vendor had similar produce but priced differently. We reached the end of the fruits and vegetables and turned left and that's when the smell of decay hit me pretty hard.
There were chickens and hens stuffed into small cages and people were sleeping next to them as well. The smell of the feces- both human and animal- consumed me and I thought I was going to be sick but I knew there was no room for me to vomit or I'd be spoiling someone's source of income...and as I looked down, there was a large puddle and trail of blood coming from an overflowing drain stuffed with feathers. Simon said that if we stuck around long enough we would be able to see the slaughter. We promptly left.
It was quite an interesting experience. Even though I felt sick to my stomach- it was quite the learning experience and has made me realize not to take food for granted!
Later that afternoon we met a guy from Tanga in Dar es Salaam and he took us to a book vendor to see if there were any good Swahili books. We started walking and I noticed some bubbling coming from underground spurting some water up in a steady stream and I asked him if it was an underground water source. He informed me that the chicken slaughter was one street over and all the feathers get crammed into the drain and clog it and then it backs up the sewage which compunds the exisiting plumbing problems... It seems to me that most of the basic issues here are compunded by the lack of knowledge of the consequences of one's actions- much like in the U.S. and this commonality is striking to me!
So we saw all sorts of raw vegetables and fruits that were very good looking and the method of displaying them was so interesting as well. Some were kept in crates, some were just laid out on cardboard, some were in huge burlap sacks and others were still hanging off the bicycles they rode in on. There were people sleeping next to their produce which was hard to understand but when I asked later the policy in Tanzania on theft is quite severe and no one would dare think of stealing something from the market which is what I was told. But the noise and the smell alone was so pervasive that I would think sleep would be hard to catch in the market! There were rows and rows of all different colors and shapes of beans, peas, potatoes, yams, and other vegetables and each vendor had similar produce but priced differently. We reached the end of the fruits and vegetables and turned left and that's when the smell of decay hit me pretty hard.
There were chickens and hens stuffed into small cages and people were sleeping next to them as well. The smell of the feces- both human and animal- consumed me and I thought I was going to be sick but I knew there was no room for me to vomit or I'd be spoiling someone's source of income...and as I looked down, there was a large puddle and trail of blood coming from an overflowing drain stuffed with feathers. Simon said that if we stuck around long enough we would be able to see the slaughter. We promptly left.
It was quite an interesting experience. Even though I felt sick to my stomach- it was quite the learning experience and has made me realize not to take food for granted!
Later that afternoon we met a guy from Tanga in Dar es Salaam and he took us to a book vendor to see if there were any good Swahili books. We started walking and I noticed some bubbling coming from underground spurting some water up in a steady stream and I asked him if it was an underground water source. He informed me that the chicken slaughter was one street over and all the feathers get crammed into the drain and clog it and then it backs up the sewage which compunds the exisiting plumbing problems... It seems to me that most of the basic issues here are compunded by the lack of knowledge of the consequences of one's actions- much like in the U.S. and this commonality is striking to me!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Stock Market
We walked through the dusty streets of Dar talking and joking with SImon on the way to the market. I really had no expectations but I had been to markets in Prague and Budapest and the array of colors of the fresh and dried fruit, the spices, and the intricate detailing of how the pastries were set out was an actual work of detailed artistry. I took many pictures in those markets of fruits I had never seen, spices I would not know what to do with and cheeses of all shapes.
The experience at the market was somewhat different. I wish I could have taken pictures but there is a sincere feeling of shame for me knowing that I have struggled to save enough to make it here when what I have is more than some people here can even dream of- taking photographs would be an insult and to show that I can even afford a camera would embarrass me and welcome danger. So, I will try to paint you the picture with words...
Walking up to the market you can see just tons of people standing and sitting around it- nothing to do, nowhere to go and no money to buy what's being sold- but everyone looks lively and interested. We walk in and on the first floor there are bicycles and old electronics circa 1990, like the pink ghetto-blaster radio my sister used to put in the basket on the front of my strawberry shortcake bike when we would ride around the block, playing Paula Abdul mixed tapes:) There are all sorts of housewares items, old fashioned foot-pedal sewing machines, hoses, oil funnels, just a lotof miscellaneous stuff. The second floor was full of agricultural tools- chemicals, seeds, sowing materials, scithes, wheels, pesticide sprayers and different types of those items. No one really haggled us in there too badly and it was quite a nice walk through to learn about all the different things used here.
Right down the street was the food market and that's where it got interesting...and pretty shocking. I had not yet expereinced culture shock until we walked through the food market.
Huge burlap sacks were filled with rotting sardines and flies buzzed incessantly around them. Next to that was the millet in burlap sacks and rice and dried foods, all heaping over the folded down sacks. It was a sea of food and edible items...After the dried goods was the semi- dried fruit that did not look like it had been dehydrated- it looked as though it was rotting... Then was the fresh foods which looked quite appetizing...not the perfect shiny version of the genetically enhanced and chemically sprayed American fruits and vegetables, more organic and raw- like real food. The carrots were delightfully orange and the tomatoes were ripe and fresh. Women were snapping open pea pods to display and men were anxiously looking for buyers- it was obvious how hard these people had worked to grow these foods- relying on their sell for their income...
i'm running out of time and must finish for now but i will pick up where i left othe most interesting part is to follow...
The experience at the market was somewhat different. I wish I could have taken pictures but there is a sincere feeling of shame for me knowing that I have struggled to save enough to make it here when what I have is more than some people here can even dream of- taking photographs would be an insult and to show that I can even afford a camera would embarrass me and welcome danger. So, I will try to paint you the picture with words...
Walking up to the market you can see just tons of people standing and sitting around it- nothing to do, nowhere to go and no money to buy what's being sold- but everyone looks lively and interested. We walk in and on the first floor there are bicycles and old electronics circa 1990, like the pink ghetto-blaster radio my sister used to put in the basket on the front of my strawberry shortcake bike when we would ride around the block, playing Paula Abdul mixed tapes:) There are all sorts of housewares items, old fashioned foot-pedal sewing machines, hoses, oil funnels, just a lotof miscellaneous stuff. The second floor was full of agricultural tools- chemicals, seeds, sowing materials, scithes, wheels, pesticide sprayers and different types of those items. No one really haggled us in there too badly and it was quite a nice walk through to learn about all the different things used here.
Right down the street was the food market and that's where it got interesting...and pretty shocking. I had not yet expereinced culture shock until we walked through the food market.
Huge burlap sacks were filled with rotting sardines and flies buzzed incessantly around them. Next to that was the millet in burlap sacks and rice and dried foods, all heaping over the folded down sacks. It was a sea of food and edible items...After the dried goods was the semi- dried fruit that did not look like it had been dehydrated- it looked as though it was rotting... Then was the fresh foods which looked quite appetizing...not the perfect shiny version of the genetically enhanced and chemically sprayed American fruits and vegetables, more organic and raw- like real food. The carrots were delightfully orange and the tomatoes were ripe and fresh. Women were snapping open pea pods to display and men were anxiously looking for buyers- it was obvious how hard these people had worked to grow these foods- relying on their sell for their income...
i'm running out of time and must finish for now but i will pick up where i left othe most interesting part is to follow...
Just Dar-ling
Jambo! I tried to blog yesterday and had a complete post done when the internet went down :( So- i will try to recreate it!
We reached Dar es Salaam safely! However, the airport lost our luggage. We have spent so much time and money trying to track it down- having to pay for Taxi's to and from the airport each day is costly and it is extremely frustrating to inquire about our luggage only to be redirected elsewhere all day long until we have been shuffled through the entire system, talking to about 15 people per day only to have it end in them giving us phone numbers to talk to different people- and then it turns out the phone numbers are phony (no pun intended :) But a look around the city gives me a reality check- lost luggage is really not a problem compared to what these people live through everyday. How can I except lost luggage to be taken seriously when most of this city does not have clean water? It is a real eye-opener and I look back on all the things I have taken for granted with remorse...knowing that I have been so fortunate. The cost of my ticket and the contents of my luggage alone probably cost more than the average income here of some. But despite their poverty- they are very happy, friendly people. I can truly say that there is no comparison to this expereince, what I have seen in the past five days cannot be read about in a book or taught in standard education, it is invaluable.
Despite the lost luggage, we have been very fortunate! We have met many people that have been immensely helpful. There is an Irish lad, Simon, who studied HIV/AIDS in W. Kenya for a year then came down here to finish writing his master's thesis and he has been living in Dar for quite sometime, staying at the same hotel we are at. His knowledge of HIV and the medical treatment of it is astounding and quite controversial [look up pre-exposure profilactics...worsens the post infection exponentially]. He knows the city inside and out and has taken us to eat, see the city, and meet new people! He has a similar sense of humor as Dan and I so we find ourselves walking around the city a lot- joking and having lots of fun! He also knows some of the locals and has helped us find reliable Taxi's, given us directions and opened our eyes to things we may not have taken note of! He is a vegetarian as well so he has been helpful in food choices :)
We were also fortunate to meet a French couple who have done much volunteer work and are now working with ACTED (a non-govt org) in the Congo on water resources, wells and different types of logistics. They had the same situation with lost luggage and so we shared taxi fares and many insightful conversations about volunteer work. Here's an interesting story; they were working on a well with the local people and they had read all of the instructions and had help from engineers and pipe-fitters but when the well was turned, the piping was leaking from the sides. Samuel said that he checked the instructions again and became so frustrated because he had done everything right and could not find the explanation for the leak. Finally, he consulted someone who told him that it was because the well had been created without the summoning of spirits or any sort of blessing ritual. So, he collected the money for the materials for the blessing and the local people then had their ceremony for the success of the well. He said that many UN documents on instruction for community projects have specific directions to ensure budgets are set to include these sorts of rituals or the projects will turn out to be failures. I thought that was interesting! Luckily- when we get to Tanga, the support of the local rotary, TAYODEA, and the city council will be supporting us so we will have the community involvement which is vital.
At night we went out to eat at Chef's Pride...it was pretty good! We met up with Doa, a friend of Simon's from Burundi who has studied Conflict Resolution and provided us with much information on the current situations in Rwanda and Burundi. He was extremely intelligent and talking with him was very entertaining as well! After dinner we went to a local bar where they had a small selection of drinks, the name of the bar was "Protein Pub" and when we walked by it earlier in the week I made special note to stop in later to find protein supplementation, little did I know it was a bar :)
My next post will be about our expereince in the market....wow!
I hope you all are well- thanks for reading my blog!
We reached Dar es Salaam safely! However, the airport lost our luggage. We have spent so much time and money trying to track it down- having to pay for Taxi's to and from the airport each day is costly and it is extremely frustrating to inquire about our luggage only to be redirected elsewhere all day long until we have been shuffled through the entire system, talking to about 15 people per day only to have it end in them giving us phone numbers to talk to different people- and then it turns out the phone numbers are phony (no pun intended :) But a look around the city gives me a reality check- lost luggage is really not a problem compared to what these people live through everyday. How can I except lost luggage to be taken seriously when most of this city does not have clean water? It is a real eye-opener and I look back on all the things I have taken for granted with remorse...knowing that I have been so fortunate. The cost of my ticket and the contents of my luggage alone probably cost more than the average income here of some. But despite their poverty- they are very happy, friendly people. I can truly say that there is no comparison to this expereince, what I have seen in the past five days cannot be read about in a book or taught in standard education, it is invaluable.
Despite the lost luggage, we have been very fortunate! We have met many people that have been immensely helpful. There is an Irish lad, Simon, who studied HIV/AIDS in W. Kenya for a year then came down here to finish writing his master's thesis and he has been living in Dar for quite sometime, staying at the same hotel we are at. His knowledge of HIV and the medical treatment of it is astounding and quite controversial [look up pre-exposure profilactics...worsens the post infection exponentially]. He knows the city inside and out and has taken us to eat, see the city, and meet new people! He has a similar sense of humor as Dan and I so we find ourselves walking around the city a lot- joking and having lots of fun! He also knows some of the locals and has helped us find reliable Taxi's, given us directions and opened our eyes to things we may not have taken note of! He is a vegetarian as well so he has been helpful in food choices :)
We were also fortunate to meet a French couple who have done much volunteer work and are now working with ACTED (a non-govt org) in the Congo on water resources, wells and different types of logistics. They had the same situation with lost luggage and so we shared taxi fares and many insightful conversations about volunteer work. Here's an interesting story; they were working on a well with the local people and they had read all of the instructions and had help from engineers and pipe-fitters but when the well was turned, the piping was leaking from the sides. Samuel said that he checked the instructions again and became so frustrated because he had done everything right and could not find the explanation for the leak. Finally, he consulted someone who told him that it was because the well had been created without the summoning of spirits or any sort of blessing ritual. So, he collected the money for the materials for the blessing and the local people then had their ceremony for the success of the well. He said that many UN documents on instruction for community projects have specific directions to ensure budgets are set to include these sorts of rituals or the projects will turn out to be failures. I thought that was interesting! Luckily- when we get to Tanga, the support of the local rotary, TAYODEA, and the city council will be supporting us so we will have the community involvement which is vital.
At night we went out to eat at Chef's Pride...it was pretty good! We met up with Doa, a friend of Simon's from Burundi who has studied Conflict Resolution and provided us with much information on the current situations in Rwanda and Burundi. He was extremely intelligent and talking with him was very entertaining as well! After dinner we went to a local bar where they had a small selection of drinks, the name of the bar was "Protein Pub" and when we walked by it earlier in the week I made special note to stop in later to find protein supplementation, little did I know it was a bar :)
My next post will be about our expereince in the market....wow!
I hope you all are well- thanks for reading my blog!
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