Monday, June 28, 2010

It's the circle of life!

Angora Gora crater, before descending

Last week, while walking down the street in Ngaramtoni, a little girl wearing a green chequered dress, no older than three and no taller than three feet came up to me and in English said,

“Good morning, how are you?”

Surprised by how good her English was for her age, I did not attempt to respond in Swahili as I normally would have, but instead answered,

“Fine, how are you?” to which she responded,

“Pleasant, thank you very much,” and skipped off.

It took all the restraint I could muster, not to take off after her and scoop her up into a huge hug. One thing I have discovered living in Africa, is that no matter how rough of a day it has been, or if things do not go entirely as planned with the project, the people here, especially the children always manage to put a smile on my face and make everything worthwhile.

As far as the project goes, nearly everything is in place. We have a perfect location, near the market and beside government offices for only 100 000 shillings per month, the equivalent of about only $85, and the owner has agreed to clean out the location, paint and provide fix-ups upon receiving first months rent. In addition, all of our equipment is on hold ready to be purchased and last week we had a particularly productive and encouraging meeting with the Mamas in Ngaramtoni. They showed up on time, prepared and enthusiastic to start the project. They even came up with a name for their women’s group; Nasarin, meaning blessed ones.

Unfortunately, just as everything seemed to be coming along exactly according to plan, we encountered a major roadblock. The funding we had been promised from a local foundation which is approximately $16 000 to cover start up costs and a year’s worth of monthly costs may not come through. It is frustrating that the yearly costs of opening a business can be so low in comparison to costs in North America, yet so difficult to come by. Emily and I have spent the last week trying to revise the budget, and come up with a revenue analysis to prove the project is in fact profitable and deserves the start-up funding. Until we find out if the full funding in fact comes through however, there is not much else we can do. Still, it is difficult to stand by and wait to hear about funding while we are in danger of losing our location unless we pay first month’s rent soon.

On a lighter note, last weekend Emily and I had the opportunity to go on a safari to the Serengeti and Angora Gora crater. We got paired with a lovely young couple from Sweden, and lucked out with a fantastic guide, who, upon every encounter we had with an animal, proudly stated its lifespan and gestation period. When a pack of elephants crossed the road right in front of our car, he informed us that,

“Elephants have the longest lifespan of any animal in the Serengeti; forty-five to sixty years, the exact same as a human’s.”

I was slightly saddened by his comment, as it is indicative of the significantly lower life expectancy here in Tanzania. Still, the trip was incredible, with major highlights being watching the sunrise in the Serengeti and later at breakfast having baboons dart through our campsite, having an elephant approach our site in Angora Gora crater, and seeing a pack for five lions about two feet from our car. While the animals in the Serengeti were incredible, the view of the Angora Gora crater was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Before we descended we were practically in the clouds, and once we got to the bottom of the crater it was lush and filled with animals. Although the crater was freezing, and camping that night was even colder, for me, it was the highlight of the safari trip.

So, as our first month in Arusha is coming to an end, Emily and I are preparing to move out of our homestay in Darajab Mbili and into a modest one bedroom apartment on the other side of town. Although the experience of living with a family in a small village has been incredible, it will be nice to live somewhere with full security, and privacy when we need it. Our new place is slightly farther from town, about a half hour walk in the opposite direction, however it is fully furnished with a small kitchen and washroom. It is part of a complex of apartments that hosts mostly international students and volunteers, which this summer, happen to be mostly from Duke and Harvard. Emily and I have been very fortunate to have already developed a great network of both local and international friends. It makes such a difference to have a support system who can relate to many of the challenges that come with volunteering, working or studying abroad in a developing country. It is funny though, we have only lived in Darajab Mbili a month, but it is kind of sad to be leaving this village. We have grown accustomed to the dirt roads and tiny shops and fruitstands.

It has definately been an incredible experience so far.

Now for some pictures from safari!

Emily and I outside of our tent in the Serengeti







The sunrise
Our Swedish friends, Oscar and Lina standing with us in front of a hippo pool

Look closely and you'll spot an elephant in the backgroud!

Monday, June 14, 2010

From Yogurt to Football


I know I keep saying it, but if anything bad ever happens to me during my stay in Arusha, it will not be from Malaria, or not eating properly, or contaminated water, it will be from a motor vehicle accident. I have been in Africa for one month now and I still cannot get my head around how atrocious the driving is here. Today, as Emily and I were struggling to cross the street without the aid of stoplights or crosswalks, a local standing in front of us attempted to cross prematurely, nearly getting hit by a daladala. The angry driver stopped the daladala, jumped out and started to smack the pedestrian who had tried to cross! I had never seen anything like it before. Later in the afternoon, my observations about Tanizanian driving were confirmed as, while waiting to speak with a lab technician at the hospital about potentially culturing the probiotics, I came across an article on how motor vehicle accidents were one of the leading causes of death in the developing world.

Top right picture: Our house in Darajab Mbili

Aside from my newly developed fear of crossing streets, the more time I spend in Arusha, the more I love it. Although the weather is unpredictable and often cool, Arusha is a beautiful city. From Darajab Mbili, where Emily and I are living it is about a fifteen minute walk into town, which is characterized by a roundabout and a clocktower. On our walks into town we pass by a beautiful market where they sell everything from woodcarvings to clothing and if the sky is clear you can see Mount Meru stretching far into the clouds. Compared to Mwanza, Arusha is cleaner and more touristy. While it was rare in Mwazna to see other mazungus in the streets, in Arusha it is far more common. The town caters to the tourists, which is evident in some of their restaurants and cafés, such as a very Starbuckesk Africafé that is constantly packed with Westerners awaiting their 3000 shilling Latés. Thanks to Emily’s fantastic sense of direction we are able to navigate our way all around town. As we weave our way through the crowds of people, our most used phrase is hapana asante, meaning no thank you, as everywhere you turn someone is thrusting either a newspaper or a banana your way, hoping to make a sale.
Middle Picture: Me in downtown Arusha in front of the clock tower.

We were forced to learn our way around quickly, because upon our arrival we immediately began working on getting the kitchen up and running. Since I have neglected to describe the Arusha project in detail I’ll quickly give an update of where we stand. The Mondo Foundation is funding the project in Ngaramtoni, with their primary group being the Hope Kimondo Foundation. Although Ngaramtoni is far, and Emily and I have to walk forty minutes to the daladala stop, followed by a half hour trip on the daladala and another twenty minute walk once we get off, it is nice that we get to experience working and living in three different areas. Unlike Arusha, which, like I previously mentioned is a center for tourism, Darajab Mbili and Ngaramtoni, both being more rural and secluded are similar villages. The houses range from fully furnished to mud huts and little shops line the streets with people selling vegetables, fruits and Tengas, the material worn as skirts and dresses by Mamas here.
Left picture: Cute little boy waving at us on our walk into town from Darab Mbili.

Middle Picture: Emily walking down the laneway just outside our house.













A few days ago we met in Ngaramtoni for the third time with the Mondo Foundation and Hope Kimondo representatives, however this time we also had the pleasure of meeting with six excited yogurt Mamas who are eager to be part of the project. The Mamas were tasked with looking into potential kitchen locations in town, so hopefully when we meet again with them tomorrow we will be able to finalize the location and start buying equipment. Currently our biggest barrier challenge is finding a lab and a lab technician to culture the probiotics. Last night, we met with Dr. Mhando, a well-renowned physicisian in Arusha, who has offered us his lab and who may be able to help us find a technician. Unfortunately, as of now his lab does not have the proper equipment to culture the probiotics, so we are working through that barrier with him. Having already met with him earlier in the week at his office in a very professional setting, when he invited us over to his house for our second meeting we were expecting to sort out work related matters and likely head home soon after. It was a pleasant surprise to arrive at his home with this entire family there to greet us. In between Fanta and coffee we discussed the project, and were invited to stay for dinner and to watch the football game afterward. Before we knew it, we had spent the entire night at the Mhando house, and it was one of our most enjoyable evenings yet. Being at their house which was bustling with people coming and going all night reminded me of my lovely, hectic house back home. It was nice to be in such a warm, family oriented environment. Not only is their entire family extremely successful, but they are friendly, humble and a treat to be around.

Dr. Mhando’s oldest daughter Neema, I especially admire. As their family lives in the same neighbourhood as Emily and I, she walked us home and ended up staying over for another hour or so for tea. At thirty-five years old, she is one of the most empowered women I have ever met. Still completing post-grad work, she is unmarried and entirely devoted to her education. Being thirty-five never having been married, and not being in any rush to find a man takes guts in Tanzania and her determination to hold off on marriage until she finds someone who views her as an equal, rather than merely a woman, and who supports her ambitions makes her incredibly strong. I feel so lucky to have met such lovely family, and maintaining a relationship with them will make my stay in Arusha all the more amazing.

In between work for the yogurt kitchen, Emily and I have been trying to follow the world cup. All of Africa is engaged and during game time every local place that has access to television is airing the match. A few days ago Emily and I spotted some other international students at the gym where we have been attempting to squeeze workouts into our already packed days. I noticed that one of them was reading Three Cups of Tea, which I had just finished, so I figured that was reason enough to strike up a conversation. It turns out one of the girls was from Canada and a student at Queen’s and the others were from the States. Having already been here for a month and consequently being more familiar with Arusha, they invited us to watch the England versus USA football game at a place called the Greek Club, where all the international students were headed that night. The place was packed! Emily and I, deciding that England needed some support chose to side with them, and ended up getting our faces painted by a young man draped in a British flag. It turned out that almost everyone there were Law students from all over America and a few from Canada who were here on an internship. We met some really interesting people, one of which was a fellow Canadian studying international law and working with the UN for her internship here in Arusha. My desire to pursue international law was definitely reignited that night and I am looking forward to learning more about their fields of study.

Emily and I have also managed to make many local friends this week. Yesterday as we were walking down the street, a young man stopped us and asked if we had recently arrived from Mwanza. Slightly confused we responded that we had in fact been living in Mwanza before Arusha, to wish he burst into laughter and embraced us. Able to tell from our faces that we had no idea what was going on, he explained that the south African family we had met in Mwanza had mentioned we were coming to Arusha and that he had been looking for us all week. I had forgotten that back in Mwanza I had received this man, Bariki’s number as a credible reference. Sure enough, he was the first contact number listed in my phone. Tomorrow, evening, after we meet with the Mondo and Hope Kimondo groups in Ngaramtoni, Bariki and out other local friends and are heading to a place in Darajab Mbili to watch the big Ivory Coast game. The upcoming week is going to be a busy one, but combining work with football makes the days fly.

I’ll do my best to keep you all updated as things with the kitchen progress!
Fun Fact: I’m writing this blog in mine and Emily’s room and a gecko just scurried down from the ceiling and crawled behind a picture hanging on the wall.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

18 Hours and a Dead Goat Later

After a successful orientation in Mwanza with the Arusha team, Emily and I, excited to get the project moving in Arusha, embarked on what we thought would be a twelve hour bus ride. After spending most of the night packing, we groggily awoke after only a few hours sleep, to our 430am alarm clock and the sound of pouring rain; the first major rainfall since my arrival. As our taxi pulled into the bus terminal we were swarmed by people selling plastic bags to put our luggage in. Having been told that luggage gets filthy sitting in the bottom compartment of the bus, among the dust and dirt from the road, we each bought two, and pushed our way through swarms of people onto an already packed bus. Thankfully, Boniface and the Mamas from Arusha were there to escort us, because as we got on the bus a heated argument immediately erupted about Emily and I being in the wrong seats; so heated in fact, that a local policeman had to come aboard and sort things out. After determining that Emily and I were in the right seats after all, we started the bumpy trip.

As I have mentioned before, vehicles in Arusha stop for nothing, and as I stared out my window, captivated by the landscape that grew more lush and mountainous the closer we got to Arusha, a goat trotted onto the street a fair distance from the bus. The bus clearly had no intentioned of compromising its route, and continued to speed down the road running over the goat! Shocked and taken aback I think I let out a scream, and an ``OH MY GOD!,`` which was followed by shrieks of laughter from the locals.

Stopping only twice, once for a washroom break at the side of the road, where Emily and I were forced to relieve ourselves in an open field with no trees or bushes, and the other for a quick lunch, the ride was going surprisingly quickly. I was too preoccupied by our passing of Mount Meru and the deep valleys that characterized the trip, that I was pleasantly surprised when Mama Matei, who was sitting to the right of me announced that we were only a few hours from Arusha. Having already been in Africa for three weeks, I should have known that a prompt arrival was too good to be true, and only forty kilometres from Arusha the bus broke down, as if making a statement that it too would only adhere to “Tanzanian time”. Whereas in Canada a tow truck or mechanic, as well as another working bus would have been sent, here, as the bus groaned to a stop, the driver himself and a few other passengers got out their tools and set to work on repairing it. Five hours later still sitting in a broken down bus in the surprisingly cold night, Emily and I huddled together in shorts and t-shirt sharing a towel for a blanket. Just as we were getting particularly cranky, having spent from 6am until midnight on this bus, the driver gave up and sent for another bus to finish the trip to Arusha.

When we finally arrived, Laurent, a representative of the Youth Self Empowerment Program (YSEP)who we have been working closely with these past few days was there to greet us and take us to our homestay. As we pulled into the Darajab Mbili area, where Emily and I will be staying for the next few months we were greeted by an enthusiastic middle aged Mama Stella, who welcomed us inside. Although it was already one in the morning, we had barely eaten and were filthy from the dirt and dust of the roads. So, after introducing ourselves we were served some of the pilau (spiced rice) she had prepared for us earlier and were offered a shower.
While I wish I could claim that from the start I recognized the value of experiencing life without running water, and the daily necessities that are so commonplace in Canada, for the first time in Africa I went to sleep on the verge of tears. Having spent three weeks in a fully furnished apartment in Mwanza, with a cold, but fully functioning shower, stove and private washroom, although it was a squat toilet, at the home stay in Darajab Mbili I truly experienced culture shock. That night I had my first bucket shower, ate my first meal cooked on small kerosene stove and used a washroom with no door.

The next morning, awoken by the sound of a rooster just outside the house, I stepped outside the room, and as I wandered to the doorless toilet, I had to laugh. Though still slightly discouraged by the significantly colder climate in Arusha, after a breakfast of hot mandazis and chai I was already warming up to the prospect of spending the next three months living a lifestyle completely alien to me. It is incredibly humbling and I must say that I am even enjoying the challenge of making one small bucket of water last long enough to wash my hair, body and feet, which, since Mwanza, seem to be stained permanently black from the dirty.

While the past three days have been long and tiring, yesterday’s meetings starting at 9am and not finishing until around 8pm, the enthusiasm shown by local government officials and prospective women’s groups is encouraging and the project is moving quickly. Tomorrow at 830am we meet with Dr. Mhando, the man who will be making the probiotic culture for us in his lab followed by a trip to the Garabatoni region, where groups have also shown interest in the project. By Friday we hope to have a location for the kitchen secured.
While I wish I could describe Arusha more thoroughly now, it is getting late and a few quick sentences will not do the city justice. So, more on Arusha later! Usiku muema! (Goodnight!).

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Good morning Mazungu!

Last week was a long one. With the Arusha team coming to Mwanza to see the community kitchen today, much of last week was spent sifting through a massive file cabinet of important documents and sorting through online documents, in an attempt to comprise a manual for their visit. With some documents in Swahili and some in English, translating was a tedious process. While I sat at the dining room table with my laptop and a daunting stack of papers, Steph and Kathryn, the nutrition students, and Aria and Yolanda, our Dutch friends who are medical students, were making mass batches of yogurt in the kitchen; Steph for an upcoming sensory evaluation and Aria and Yolanda for a study on the benefits of adding maringa to the probiotic yogurt. As I comprised documents of budgets, inventory, summaries of the project and contact lists I witnessed batch after batch of yogurt go bad for the interns in the kitchen due to bad milk. They spent the entire day with the only tangible outcome being a cup of hot coco for all.

That day was actually fairly productive for me, going with Esther to view hotel options to accommodate the Arusha team and managing to comprise most of the manual and itinerary. Still, it is hard to be indoors when it is so nice out, and after a full day in the apartment we all needed a dinner out, followed by ice cream at Salama’s corner, a favourite spot of ours.

The next morning I realized that I was missing the chart of measurements that needed to be included in yogurt making process for the manual, so I accompanied the others to the kitchen to copy down the information I needed. While they stayed for the morning in their second attempt at the yogurt I returned home to finalize things for the Arusha visit. Even though I have done the walk to and from Mabatini where the kitchen is located I still love hearing the children who, regardless of what time of day always squeal, “Mazungu! Good morning, how are you?!” It can be evening and it is still always good morning. They’re very cute and they’re always shocked if you respond in Swahili, often erupting in giggles. The laneway of Mabatini is always bustling with people selling mostly clothes and food, though I recently discovered that for only 1200 shillings you can have a CD of ”bongo flava” music burnt for you. I love that there is always music playing along the streets, and I find the mixture of “bongo flava” and famous American hip hop and rap quite amusing.

Over the weekend I took a spontaneous trip to a national park called Rubondo Island with one of our local friends, Major, who owns a shipyard in Mwanza, and a group of international students from France, the Netherlands and Germany. The other interns from Western could not come because they were busy with their sensory evaluations, but having finished my work for the week, I decided to go anyways, making me the only native English speaker in the group. Having made a last minute decision to go on the trip I did not know much about it, including the fact that it was over a seven hour trip to get there! It was well worth it though because the scenic drive was incredible and the final destination more so.

With eleven people between two cars, seven of us plus our food for the weekend crammed into the one I was driving in, we drove an hour to a ferry which took us across a small stretch of Lake Victoria. As we continued the long drive after the ferry, two of the men fiercely sucking back cigarettes in the front despite my warning that if they keep this up they’ll be dead by twenty-five, I couldn’t help feeling like I was in an Indiana Jones movie, driving along a dirt road that only got more rural and remote as we drove on. While Mwanza is a relatively big city, with apartments, or houses with tin roofs, the villages along the road we were driving on were far more primitive. I was so fascinated by the dramatic change from Mwanza that I kept my eyes glued out the window as we drove by mud huts with straw roofs and cows, chickens and goats roaming freely along the side of the road. Even the occasional monkey would dart across the road. We all got a good laugh as the roof of the car in front of us popped open going over a bump and two live chickens popped out. We swerved to avoid them and they simply strutted off to the side of the road unharmed.

A good indicator of how far we had ventured outside of the city, was peoples reaction our group of eleven Mazungus, especially the children. As we drove the kids would shriek of laughter and even run alongside the car pointing. It made me realize that it would be extremely difficult to assimilate into Tanzanian culture or ever be considered a local, if one chose to move here. Our friend Jacque best exemplifies this thought. As a native South African, who has been living in Tanzania for over five years, he is fluent in Swahili, dresses like all the other men here, and follows many cultural practices. Still, because he is white he is immediately marked as a Mazungu wherever we go. It is a strong contrast from Canada, which in comparison is extremely diverse and multicultural.

After six hours of travel, we arrived in a tiny local village, where we parked our cars and took about a forty minute boat ride small fishing boat to Rubando island, where we saw a pack of hippos as we drifted into shore. From the shore we piled into another jeep and drove deeper into the forest, stopping occasionally to get a better look at the monkeys, birds and deer, or bushbugs as they call them here, that lined the tiny path we were driving along. We finally arrived at the cabins we were staying at and the view was incredible. It looked out onto the vast water of Lake Victoria, where hippos were once again swimming. Since our cabins were truly surrounded by the jungle, we would see massive lizards and more monkeys whenever we looked closely. Since it was late by the time we got in, we lit a campfire and struggled to come up with a song that, between the four different languages we spoke, all knew to sing. We were left with slim pickings, consisting of a few Beatles songs, some Queen and a bit of the Temptations. It was fun to be with such a multicultural group.

The next day was spent on the boat fishing and sightseeing. On his first cast Major caught a 22 kilo fish, which back on shore I took on the task of gutting.


We ate fish for lunch and dinner both days and still only got through half of the fish. In terms of sightseeing on the boat the wildlife was incredible. I was especially shocked when a group of three crocodiles waddled into the water only a few meters ahead of us as we pulled into a bay. We ended the weekend with a three hour hike through the forest before the long trip back home.

Unfortunately the excitement we were all still feeling on the ride home after having such an incredible weekend was damped but a disturbing drive home. Only about an hour away from home as I was looking out my window, I spotted what looked like a dead man laying on the side of the road and another body about twenty feet ahead. They had clearly been hit by a car, however I still don’t know if they were dead or severely injured because we just kept driving. Despite my pleas to stop the car, Jacque explained that because the judicial system is so corrupt, if we stopped we would likely be implicated in the accident and thrown in jail. I supposed that was why no one had already stopped, but the fact that two bodies lying on the side of the road was taken so lightly, and seemed to be commonplace here upset and disturbed me. It was a rude awakening to the corruption that is so rampant here. Similarly, as we drove through the roundabout only a couple hundred meters away from our house there was a man who had been severely beating and robbed just sitting in the middle of the road, as if begging to be hit by a car. Again, the fact that Jacque refused to stop for similar reasons, I had trouble accepting.

On a lighter note, I went to greet Emily at the airport the next morning and it is so nice to finally have her here! Since the Arusha team is coming today, Emily’s introduction to Mwanza was slightly more compressed than mine and we got straight to work. We were still able to take her to the kitchen and run the usual errands of exchanging currency and buying a cell phone, and yesterday we were even invited to a Sukimo tribe dance by some of the people I went away with last weekend. It was a lot of fun and the dancers were extremely energetic. One of their dances that was traditionally performed after yielding a good harvest involved a massive boa constrictor that happened to slither a little too close for my liking.
As we hurried home from the show, Emily and I eager to finish our business plan that we had put on hold to attend the dance, we arrived only to realize that we had locked ourselves out of the apartment, accidentally having taken the wrong key. Luckily our housekeeper Margret has a copy of our key, and thankfully Puis, our lovely taxi driver knew where she lived. It actually turned into quite an adventure, trecking it up to her house located on top of the huge hill that surrounds Mwanza. Whenever I walk to the kitchen I am always amazed by the way little houses are woven into the rock, but I had never actually been on the hill. The houses were much smaller than I expected and mostly made out of cement, but they were well kept. After finally making our way up the hill to Margret’s house she ended up not being home. After waiting outside of her house for about half an hour however, she came home, laughing hysterically at us when we told her our predicament.

When we finally got into our apartment, Emily and I had a late night ahead of us. Our excitement clouded our fatigue however, and it was not until we hit the sheets and immediately fell asleep that we realized how tired we had been. The late night paid off though because we are ready for visit! Karibu Mwanza Arusha team!