I spent today at the beach in zanzibar today. White beaches warm water and more!!! I may go diving soon which would be great since it has been a long time since I've been underwater like that and you know how much I love diving!! Even if not, this is going to be a great part of vacation just relaxing and figuring things out beofre taking the next step whereever it leads!
I will check in soon and try to do photos later but many issues have come up with that and it is not easy to do on slow internet etc.
Hope all is well...write some notes and keep me informed!!!
Bye
Monday, June 29, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The Infamous and Invisible Mount Kilimanjaro
So I walked 7 kilometers yesterday to go to the hotel outside of Moshi which the great Lonley Planet of my friend said had a great view of the mountain. Of course I was concerned already as from town this great mountain could not be seen and, well, it should have. We walk and walk and finally reach there, the waiter at this empty and overpriced outdoor restaurant pointed to where Kili was supposed to be.............nothing but clouds. So sadly I expected that maybe I would have come all the way to Tanzania and to the town that Mt. Kili supposedly "hovers over" (Lonley planet) and yet never see the thing....luckly and ironically we return to our hotel I look off the 3rd floor balcony and wow...there is the peak just showing itself over the clouds. We went to dinner and then returned and then i saw a little bit more. I can now say I have seen the snows of Kilimanjaro. Do you remember that short story? I don't either exceot for its title...maybe I should read that one again.
Hopefully this evening will bring another short viewing of the mountain, but before then, I will be looking around, maybe shopping (I know I really must have lost my mind if I talk about shopping) and enjoying an avacado milkshake. If you have never had one, wait until I return, I love them!!
I will be leaving tomorrow to head to Dar es Salaam for a few days before heading to Zanzabar for a really relaxing few days.
Loving the posts...they make my day. Keep them up. I want to hear from all you followers about life and everything else!
I just figured out how to do this thing with pics ...it takes forever but...now you can see them!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Arusha Safari and Moshi
Just another quick one.
I went on a safari in Arush...I arrived on Thursday night at 1:30am (or Fri morning) after a long 15 hour bus ride...Arusha is fine...unexciting. It really is only a hub to go on safaris etc.
We left Sat morning to go to Lake Manyara National Park. We saw lions lazily sleeping in trees. Giraffe sleeping on the beach, thousands of Flamingo, elephant, hippos, buffalo (not that kind!) and more. It was great! We slept in a tent for the night and after a long day on the road...it was great sleeping.
We woke up the next morning and went to Ngorongoro crater---hyena, a whole prode of lions (cubs and all)...wildebeasts, hippos, elephant, another cool kind of wild cat, zebra, and the crater itself was beautiful! many pictures!
TIme is running out but I wanted tyo keep you updated..
hop[e all is well and I'll give more details soon!!!
Bye
Seeing Kilimanjaro tomorrow
I went on a safari in Arush...I arrived on Thursday night at 1:30am (or Fri morning) after a long 15 hour bus ride...Arusha is fine...unexciting. It really is only a hub to go on safaris etc.
We left Sat morning to go to Lake Manyara National Park. We saw lions lazily sleeping in trees. Giraffe sleeping on the beach, thousands of Flamingo, elephant, hippos, buffalo (not that kind!) and more. It was great! We slept in a tent for the night and after a long day on the road...it was great sleeping.
We woke up the next morning and went to Ngorongoro crater---hyena, a whole prode of lions (cubs and all)...wildebeasts, hippos, elephant, another cool kind of wild cat, zebra, and the crater itself was beautiful! many pictures!
TIme is running out but I wanted tyo keep you updated..
hop[e all is well and I'll give more details soon!!!
Bye
Seeing Kilimanjaro tomorrow
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Umwa Sana
Well...right now I am writing a blog in between runs to the choo (toilet) to allow my body to expell something by whatever means necessary!
It came on rather quickly...I hope it leaves that quickly too!
There is little else to say really...I will be fine and it's not malaria so haina tatizo (no worries), but I could really go for some saltines and ginger ail right now!
It came on rather quickly...I hope it leaves that quickly too!
There is little else to say really...I will be fine and it's not malaria so haina tatizo (no worries), but I could really go for some saltines and ginger ail right now!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Almost Vacation
I am currently in Njombe for 2 days of training and check-in before my vacation begins on Wednesday. These few days here should be quick and easy and then I am off to Arusha in the North of Tanzania where I hope to go to the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater. Then I will go to Moshi and see Mt. Kilimanjaro...I do not believe I will climb it, but the sight should be pretty spectacular. I will then head to Dar es Salaam and Zanzabar to lounge on the beach for a few days and nitapumzika (I will relax!)
This will probably take about 2 weeks or a little more so I will be much more reachable by email and reading the blog and writing on the blog so check in more often and keep in touch!
I hope all is well at home and everyone is doing well.
I look forward to hearing from you all!!!
Off to do a little work and then Lions and giraffe and zebra and...tutaona (we will see)
I'll keep you all informed!
This will probably take about 2 weeks or a little more so I will be much more reachable by email and reading the blog and writing on the blog so check in more often and keep in touch!
I hope all is well at home and everyone is doing well.
I look forward to hearing from you all!!!
Off to do a little work and then Lions and giraffe and zebra and...tutaona (we will see)
I'll keep you all informed!
Monday, May 25, 2009
6 Weeks of Crazy Village Information
I am so sorry that I have not blogged or written but I have been in village for 6 weeks without internet or any semblance of society. I first would like ot say how much I miss you all and hope all is well back in the States!
Village has been...village. it has its ups and downs and I have leanred a lot about myself, Tanzanian culture, and foreign financial aid as a means to progress in this part of the world! I will try and explain more as we go!
1. The GOOD:
I live amongst crazy animals. The chickens and roosters which defacate all over my courtyard (or TZ equivalent of a courtyard), the cow which angrily moos all the time (Unhappy cows come from tanzania), lizards which fall from the roof of my house into the living room, giant poisonous spiders that inhabit the choo (bathroom) and come out at night, and my personal favorite, my dog. Take the word "my" with a grain of salt as he is not really mine, but one day he just started following me all around village and 1 hr and 45 mins away to a seminar etc. He is tri colored Black tan and white and has true dredlocks (sp.) in his tail. He is a real character and we are great friends now. He picks random days to hang with me, but we have gone on adventures into the hospital and to school etc. everyone thinks he is mine which is not a problem until in the middle of one of my seminars on HIV/AIDS he runs after a chicken and almost kills it. Just imagine 80 face turning to the "owner" of that pup...ooops! (Chickens are obviously rather important here, eggs, food etc)...So the animals are fun.
I have figured out ways to make tortilla chips and salsa or as close as I will get here which is a highlight from the beans and rice, or potatoes and rice, or beans and potatoes, rice and rice or..I think you get it!
For 3 of these 6 weeks I worked alone. My partner had to go home to fill out applications for college and loan forms which was supposed to take 4 days...3 weeks later, he pops up! As difficult as it was to try and explain, HIV transmission, vyungo vya uzazi (sexual organs of man and woman), puberty, sperm, and eggs, where babies come from, and why we grow hair in our "special places" all in Swahili...I succeeded and ran a lot of classes, seminars, meetings, etc all by myself. My Swahili, needless to say, has improved a lot, and I am a lot more confident now knowing my abilities in the language and working with people in the community.
THE BAD:
The leadership of Lugarawa, as I believe I have written about, is very uncooperative and unhelpful. Not only do hey show up to every meeting at least 1 hour late, but after that meeting, there is little achieved. Overall there is an apathetic nature to so many of these people. Of course they are extremely poor, living day to day, working hard harvesting whatever they can grow and making whatever money that can from that, if not just using it to feed their families, so can you blame them...but there is a lack of coorolation here between hard work and dedication and success and this ultimatley has resulted in people relying on begging. As one of 3 internationals living in Lugarawa ward, we are seen as banks. Everyone begs and everyone wants money. we offer seminars and education, but they want money. It is engrained even in the children as they see me and beg for candy or balloons, for year olds yell "Mzungu, naomba....White man, I beg for...". What is so difficult to come to terms with is that these children will have an extremely difficult time getting out of this cycle that has established itself in the village. The education system is entirely flawed. In Secondary School all classes are in english. I have begun teaching an English class, Form 3 (out of 4 at this school) and I was supposed to teach phrases like "Although, Unless, In order to..." but I quickly realized, these students do not know how to make a simple sentence Subject Verb Object. They don't know what a noun is a verb, adjective, adverb...So I started over. I began teaching the basics....sadly when exam week came around...last week, the teacher put on all the info I had not taught. I told him not to as they needed to review basics, but he did it anyway. Of my 150 students maybe 10 passed, I had scores like 6%, 2% 16%...teahers in this school give their notes to students to write on the board and then go get a beer. They show up late or never. There are 5 permanent teachers for 600 students. I walked into school one day and more than half we in line waiting to received their punishment...a beating on the butt or hands. That continued through the first period of class and all students watched. Of the 600 students in my school 1% may move on to form 5 and 6, but even that is unlikely, as all national exams are in English.
It is very disheartening to be faced by people who don;t want to help themselves. I have learned, we can send so much here, money people etc, but if they have no drive to even learn to be healthy, can we actually succeed in helping them. I realize how I must sound...when someone said something like this to me before I left, I thought he was a prick (excuse my language). How dare he say that about people who are in such need and are struggling every day! Seeing it, which is what I told all of you I wanted and why I was coming, defiantely changes your perspective, then trying to help, changes it again. To realize your help is ignored is the hardest lesson of all. I have come to terms that, due to the failures of SPW's program, I will not be leaving any huge mark and any program I start is unlikely to be sustainable. So I have changed my perspective again. Help one person. Help one person and if I can help 10 great, but the small successes are what will keep me sane. The disdain of the general population and village leaders is something I must take into account, but I must focus on helping those students so maybe one more will pass the exam, and break the cycle.
Sadly the same issues that I face in village, failed communication, poor organization, apathy, and laziness are qualities found in my direct contacts of SPW, so with HUGE program changes coming half way into our placement and failed promises coming regularly, it is hard to see how an organization like this could combat larger problems than poverty and HIV--apathy towards fixing those problems.
I do not mean to sound cynical, angry, or sad. I am coming to terms with the facts surrounding aid to the developing world. I saw an interview with an author who wrote Dead Aid. My mom bought the book and I look forward to reading it. It is about the crisis surrounding the Western World pouring money into the developing world and how it has actually caused more problems than help. Call my mom or look into it too. I think this will be one of the biggest things I discuss upon my return; In my plays and work at Emerson I criticize apathy on the part of the Western World---so the new question is, how do we combat apathy in those toward whose problems we are apathetic.
I hope this blog starts a great debate in the comments section. I want to hear your perspective on this issue.
This is probably hard to hear, especially for those who were generous enough to donate to this organization. I can't thank you enough though because this experience has been and will continue to be a great lesson for me, and i hope you too can be more than satified with helping even one person.
Village has been...village. it has its ups and downs and I have leanred a lot about myself, Tanzanian culture, and foreign financial aid as a means to progress in this part of the world! I will try and explain more as we go!
1. The GOOD:
I live amongst crazy animals. The chickens and roosters which defacate all over my courtyard (or TZ equivalent of a courtyard), the cow which angrily moos all the time (Unhappy cows come from tanzania), lizards which fall from the roof of my house into the living room, giant poisonous spiders that inhabit the choo (bathroom) and come out at night, and my personal favorite, my dog. Take the word "my" with a grain of salt as he is not really mine, but one day he just started following me all around village and 1 hr and 45 mins away to a seminar etc. He is tri colored Black tan and white and has true dredlocks (sp.) in his tail. He is a real character and we are great friends now. He picks random days to hang with me, but we have gone on adventures into the hospital and to school etc. everyone thinks he is mine which is not a problem until in the middle of one of my seminars on HIV/AIDS he runs after a chicken and almost kills it. Just imagine 80 face turning to the "owner" of that pup...ooops! (Chickens are obviously rather important here, eggs, food etc)...So the animals are fun.
I have figured out ways to make tortilla chips and salsa or as close as I will get here which is a highlight from the beans and rice, or potatoes and rice, or beans and potatoes, rice and rice or..I think you get it!
For 3 of these 6 weeks I worked alone. My partner had to go home to fill out applications for college and loan forms which was supposed to take 4 days...3 weeks later, he pops up! As difficult as it was to try and explain, HIV transmission, vyungo vya uzazi (sexual organs of man and woman), puberty, sperm, and eggs, where babies come from, and why we grow hair in our "special places" all in Swahili...I succeeded and ran a lot of classes, seminars, meetings, etc all by myself. My Swahili, needless to say, has improved a lot, and I am a lot more confident now knowing my abilities in the language and working with people in the community.
THE BAD:
The leadership of Lugarawa, as I believe I have written about, is very uncooperative and unhelpful. Not only do hey show up to every meeting at least 1 hour late, but after that meeting, there is little achieved. Overall there is an apathetic nature to so many of these people. Of course they are extremely poor, living day to day, working hard harvesting whatever they can grow and making whatever money that can from that, if not just using it to feed their families, so can you blame them...but there is a lack of coorolation here between hard work and dedication and success and this ultimatley has resulted in people relying on begging. As one of 3 internationals living in Lugarawa ward, we are seen as banks. Everyone begs and everyone wants money. we offer seminars and education, but they want money. It is engrained even in the children as they see me and beg for candy or balloons, for year olds yell "Mzungu, naomba....White man, I beg for...". What is so difficult to come to terms with is that these children will have an extremely difficult time getting out of this cycle that has established itself in the village. The education system is entirely flawed. In Secondary School all classes are in english. I have begun teaching an English class, Form 3 (out of 4 at this school) and I was supposed to teach phrases like "Although, Unless, In order to..." but I quickly realized, these students do not know how to make a simple sentence Subject Verb Object. They don't know what a noun is a verb, adjective, adverb...So I started over. I began teaching the basics....sadly when exam week came around...last week, the teacher put on all the info I had not taught. I told him not to as they needed to review basics, but he did it anyway. Of my 150 students maybe 10 passed, I had scores like 6%, 2% 16%...teahers in this school give their notes to students to write on the board and then go get a beer. They show up late or never. There are 5 permanent teachers for 600 students. I walked into school one day and more than half we in line waiting to received their punishment...a beating on the butt or hands. That continued through the first period of class and all students watched. Of the 600 students in my school 1% may move on to form 5 and 6, but even that is unlikely, as all national exams are in English.
It is very disheartening to be faced by people who don;t want to help themselves. I have learned, we can send so much here, money people etc, but if they have no drive to even learn to be healthy, can we actually succeed in helping them. I realize how I must sound...when someone said something like this to me before I left, I thought he was a prick (excuse my language). How dare he say that about people who are in such need and are struggling every day! Seeing it, which is what I told all of you I wanted and why I was coming, defiantely changes your perspective, then trying to help, changes it again. To realize your help is ignored is the hardest lesson of all. I have come to terms that, due to the failures of SPW's program, I will not be leaving any huge mark and any program I start is unlikely to be sustainable. So I have changed my perspective again. Help one person. Help one person and if I can help 10 great, but the small successes are what will keep me sane. The disdain of the general population and village leaders is something I must take into account, but I must focus on helping those students so maybe one more will pass the exam, and break the cycle.
Sadly the same issues that I face in village, failed communication, poor organization, apathy, and laziness are qualities found in my direct contacts of SPW, so with HUGE program changes coming half way into our placement and failed promises coming regularly, it is hard to see how an organization like this could combat larger problems than poverty and HIV--apathy towards fixing those problems.
I do not mean to sound cynical, angry, or sad. I am coming to terms with the facts surrounding aid to the developing world. I saw an interview with an author who wrote Dead Aid. My mom bought the book and I look forward to reading it. It is about the crisis surrounding the Western World pouring money into the developing world and how it has actually caused more problems than help. Call my mom or look into it too. I think this will be one of the biggest things I discuss upon my return; In my plays and work at Emerson I criticize apathy on the part of the Western World---so the new question is, how do we combat apathy in those toward whose problems we are apathetic.
I hope this blog starts a great debate in the comments section. I want to hear your perspective on this issue.
This is probably hard to hear, especially for those who were generous enough to donate to this organization. I can't thank you enough though because this experience has been and will continue to be a great lesson for me, and i hope you too can be more than satified with helping even one person.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Village and Lake Nyasa/Malawi
Hi everyone! I am back to civilization from village and can use the internet so here it goes.
Lugarawa is a beautiful village surrounded by amazing mountains. As the rainy season comes to a close, the village is all mud all the time. The main road down the village is dirt and when it rains which so far is everyday for a few hours, that path becomes the equivalent to a slip and slide. My house is great! I am living in a brick house with a kindergarten teacher named George, originally from Kilimanjaro. He is a great guy and a pretty good cook, or as good as one can be with rice and mboga (a tomato based (sometimes) sauce with potatoes to meat which we never have or some vegetables).
I have started the programs in my three schools, 2 primary and a secondary school. We share the secondary school with the other volunteers from Mdilidili so there are 4 of us in that school. Some people were happy to see us, others, not so much. It seems a few people including the teachers at one of our primary schools are angry at the way certain topics of the Sexual Reproductive Health curriculum were covered. We have had a few issues with attendance of the Village Executive Officer (VEO) to the meetings we schedule with him. We had 4 scheduled and he did not show up to any! The appointment is a concept that is rarely if ever utilized in my village and much of Tanzania, according to many sources, including the Peace Corp Volunteer in my village who will be a great resource as we begin to face the challenges we encountered in the Situational Analysis (these last2 and a half weeks).
The kids are great and I am excited to begin working with them regularly. We have a lot of work to do with them as many (according to a question box for anonymous questions we used to answer initial questions about SRH) do not know what HIV/AIDS is or sexual reproductive Health. We have a lot of challenges to face. One primary school does not want us to teach about puberty to kids who are 11-14, the kids going through it now. The IRC in my village(Information Resource Center where people have access to books about health) closed since the last volunteers left as the books were stolen. The main goal that my partner and I are working toward is sustainability of the things we are starting or re-starting in Lugarawa. It is an exciting challenge which I am excited to attack when we return . We have to work hard to get the people involved and excited to work toward what Alex and I have planned based on what we have been asked to do by the community and leaders we were able to meet with. Even in two weeks my eyes have been opened to many of the challenges that face the development/NGO world and its workers, but now refreshed from a short break (read about below) and with more perspective from the distance and stories from fellow volunteers, I am ready to get back to work.
I am now in Mbeya. We just returned from Matema Beach on the shores of Lake Malawi/Nyasa. It was amazing and was a great release from the rather difficult first few weeks of village. We swam in warm lake water with waves...it is the second largest lake in Africa on the boarder of Tanzania (where it is called lake nyasa) and Malawi (obviously who call it lake malawi). We are heading back now to Iringa where we have Top-Up Training before we dive into the five months ahead of us!
Lugarawa is a beautiful village surrounded by amazing mountains. As the rainy season comes to a close, the village is all mud all the time. The main road down the village is dirt and when it rains which so far is everyday for a few hours, that path becomes the equivalent to a slip and slide. My house is great! I am living in a brick house with a kindergarten teacher named George, originally from Kilimanjaro. He is a great guy and a pretty good cook, or as good as one can be with rice and mboga (a tomato based (sometimes) sauce with potatoes to meat which we never have or some vegetables).
I have started the programs in my three schools, 2 primary and a secondary school. We share the secondary school with the other volunteers from Mdilidili so there are 4 of us in that school. Some people were happy to see us, others, not so much. It seems a few people including the teachers at one of our primary schools are angry at the way certain topics of the Sexual Reproductive Health curriculum were covered. We have had a few issues with attendance of the Village Executive Officer (VEO) to the meetings we schedule with him. We had 4 scheduled and he did not show up to any! The appointment is a concept that is rarely if ever utilized in my village and much of Tanzania, according to many sources, including the Peace Corp Volunteer in my village who will be a great resource as we begin to face the challenges we encountered in the Situational Analysis (these last2 and a half weeks).
The kids are great and I am excited to begin working with them regularly. We have a lot of work to do with them as many (according to a question box for anonymous questions we used to answer initial questions about SRH) do not know what HIV/AIDS is or sexual reproductive Health. We have a lot of challenges to face. One primary school does not want us to teach about puberty to kids who are 11-14, the kids going through it now. The IRC in my village(Information Resource Center where people have access to books about health) closed since the last volunteers left as the books were stolen. The main goal that my partner and I are working toward is sustainability of the things we are starting or re-starting in Lugarawa. It is an exciting challenge which I am excited to attack when we return . We have to work hard to get the people involved and excited to work toward what Alex and I have planned based on what we have been asked to do by the community and leaders we were able to meet with. Even in two weeks my eyes have been opened to many of the challenges that face the development/NGO world and its workers, but now refreshed from a short break (read about below) and with more perspective from the distance and stories from fellow volunteers, I am ready to get back to work.
I am now in Mbeya. We just returned from Matema Beach on the shores of Lake Malawi/Nyasa. It was amazing and was a great release from the rather difficult first few weeks of village. We swam in warm lake water with waves...it is the second largest lake in Africa on the boarder of Tanzania (where it is called lake nyasa) and Malawi (obviously who call it lake malawi). We are heading back now to Iringa where we have Top-Up Training before we dive into the five months ahead of us!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)