Monday, August 25, 2008

The Road Less Traveled








I have written this blog entry many times and cannot finish it without crying. I have less than 3 days left and I find myself anxious to get home and see my family and friends and sad that I have to say goodbye to people that I have fallen in love with. The saying goodbye takes on a new dimension because I know that most of these amazing human beings I will never see again in my life-time. How does one say goodbye then with that knowledge? The Tanzanians deal with it with a sense of calm and peace and they say, “God Willing Mama Kel we will see each other again.” Myself, I cry uncontrollably.

I think of:
Sarafina, who lost her father to AIDS and whose mother is sick with the virus. She wants to finish her education, but knows that it may be cut short because she may have to take care of her younger siblings if her mother gets too sick or succumbs to the disease.
Gloya, (who cooked for me regularly) who is raising his three children on his own and has to choose between leaving them for great lengths of time to finish his education or stay with them and not improve his standard to living.
Elesante, who also want to continue his education, but his family can’t afford it.
Marcelin, who watched his father killed by the Hutu at age 8 and later came to Tanzania to go to university not speaking any Swahili nor knowing where to study n order to improve his families (mother and two sisters) life back in Rwanda when he finishes his studies.
Josiah, (my co-teacher, whose sarcastic wit kept me laughing all day.) from Kenya and is working on becoming a minister. He wants to return to his wife and child and spread the word (along with his humor) to others.
These are common stories not exceptions.
I think of all of the children that I met many of them with former presidents names like; Nixon, Regan, Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, Johnson and Lincoln.
I think of all the Tanzanians that I have met some that are HIV positive, that live daily with the threat of typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, and the Nairobi fly, and yet giggle at the simplest things and love to hug and be hugged.
I think of the laughing and singing everywhere on the mountain. I think of the Vistas, which are breathtaking and the walks through the jungle. I think of all the animals and how fragile life is for all of them.

I will miss the greetings and the hand holding. The appreciation and laughs at my attempts at Swahili (the little kids were the best teachers) and the gentle corrections.

I will miss the patience of the people.

I will miss the hospitality of strangers who have become family. I will hearing, “Hi Teacher.”, “Hello Kitchenee Mama.”, “Madame Kel, how did you sleep.”

I have given away all my leftover food, my raincoat and umbrella. I shared my toiletries with the girls (they are very curious about the deodorant and the crème rinse) My tennis shoes and flip-flops went to kids that had none and my first aid kit went to Rosemary (Queen LaTifa of Meru Peak Schools)

My socks were coveted and I had to give these away in secret for I did not have enough for everyone.

My days move quickly now that it is almost over and my feelings remain mixed. I want to get home badly, but there is so much work to be done here.

Every hug brings tears to my eyes. I say goodbye to my students and sing Skid-a-ma-Rink with them one last time.
Saying goodbye to Headmaster Joseph was especially hard. He is 68 (well above the 55 life-expectancy) and we both new the odds of ever meeting again were slim. He is a very formal man and to receive a hug from him was one of the best gifts of all.

UAACC through me a party, complete with drums, dancing and a cake. It was awesome. After the party Marcelin escorted me back up the mountain for one last tour. He wanted to stop at his church to say a prayer for me. His prayer was in the form of a song on the piano. (He plays by ear) It was beautiful. I cried the whole time. He also sang me a song in his native Rwandan. I have never been so touched.

We then walked back to UAACC where he and my co-teacher Josiah (along with a driver) took me to the airport. We all hugged and cried, including the driver, one last time and I walked inside.

Tanzania and the wonderful people of East Africa are now part of my soul and I am a better person for it. I have become part Tanzanian and am proud.

God willing I will meet my friends again.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Mountain and its People Sing

Life on the mountain is a challenge everyday. I swear I walk up hill everywhere I go. (Pole; sorry for your burden) (Asante sana; Thank-you for caring) I hear these two expressions everywhere because people are caring (usually women on their heads) everything they need to survive: water, firewood, crops, food, rocks, cement and even saw a stack of lumber carried like this. People say it to me too when I am carrying my bag with my school supplies.
My morning begins with children singing (usually hymns) at 6:00 a.m. I lay listening to them,smiling. i then hear the sounds of sweeping. The children clean the campus of the school by sweeping the dirt with branches. The collect the paper and sticks and throw them into one of the perpetual fires used for cooking or heating water for washing. Sometime I wash my clothes, a few articles at a time. This is done in a bucket and you rinse in a differnet bucket (you must choose wisely the order in which you wash) The straining the water out is the hardest part.
When I am up I open the door to my room so I can see. If it is too cold I will light the kersene lamp to eat my breakfast by. The children have porridge (watered down ugali) they don't get fruit, ever, because it is too expensive for the school. I have dinner with frineds some nights and one night I bought: 2 eggs (they are not refridgerated and you buy one at a time, not by the doze) a cucumber, 2 onions, 3 carrots and 2 oranges and it cost me 80 cents. This tells you how poor most people are here. The kids never complain about the food and in fact most seem to enjoy it. They have never known anything different so they are content with what they receive.
Some of the gilrs beathe in the morning, too cold for me! The water they use is different from what I receie. There's comes from a shallow well (large hole) where runoff water and waste water seep. Their water is not heated and they fetch it them selves. My water is brought to me everynight, and it is rain water and it is heated. They treat guests as if they were royalty. Many people here have housegirls, that take care of the chilrden, cook and clean. When I told them that very few people have "maids" in America they were suprised.
My first class is at 8:00 a.m. My classroom is so dark I don't know how the children see the front of the room. Some days it is worse because the children sweep the room (with the same branches they used on the campus) and the dust is so thick I have a harcd time seeing the chaulk board and I am writing on it.
My classes range from 40 to 80 minutes and I never have enough time because of all the copying requierd. The children work hard, but they sit so close that it is raelly hard not to use your partner's brain. I devised 2 forms of a quiz for them to take and instructed everyother person to either answer the questions on the left side of the board or the right side. It threw them for a loop. They performed very poorly. Tanzania is a communal country by nature, they do many things together. eventhough they see themseles as free individuals that is not the same as being independent from eachother.
Tanzanians are very dependent on eachother for food, transportatioin, medical help, help with children, laundry, cooking and encouragement. They work together to solve most of their daily needs.
After my morning class I walk up to UAACC and teach two English classes (one beginner, and one advanced) I work with an amazing group of volunteer teachers that live around the mountain and they help translate what I am trying to say to my students. This can be rather funny sometimes because of all the idioms and metaphors I tend to use in my everyday speech that I wasn't even aware that I do. We have great conversations just surrounding what I am trying to say that isn't technically part of the English lesson. Like, "Ok we are now going to shift gears" none of these people have even driven a car.
I eat lunch with the theachers everyday and we have develped quiet a friendship. During lunch (ugali and beans or mcandy which is corn and ugali) they watch music videos or African soap operas. It is hilarious to watch them get into these day dramas.
The teachers love to practice their English and they will ask me what certain words mean or how to prounounce them. Sometimes they will ask, "Are you sure it is pronounced that way?" This is when it is hard for them to say. Their sense of humor is really fun.
After classes-which end around 4:30 I am either playing basketball or reffing a football game.
Watching the young eople try and learn to play basketball is like watching someone learn to downhill ski for the first time.
Sometimes the ball dribbles them. There is not much in their daily life that lends itself to dribbling, passing, catching or shooting. They are also not used to running on a conrete slab(slightly covered in dirt, which make stopping in the flat bottomed flip-flops difficult) Sliding becomes part of the game. They listen to every direction I give and try to exedute the drills I provide with adandon. Some are becoming pretty good. I just have to convince them the Kobe Bryant is that all that and a box of rocks too. What these peole lack in basketball skills they make up for in mad soccer skills even in inadequate footwear; a field that hs rocks (large ones) on it to hold the cows ropes that graze there; the piles that the cows leave behind; not to mention the cows themselves. All this they have to navigate around coming down the field.
Two days a week I go to an orphanage further up the mountain and work with a young many who is having trouble learning to read. I am using my dyslexic training and hooked on phonics to help him. He loves the one on one. He is learning to blend the sounds and feels so good when he can say the words himself. His smile and hugs when he sees me coming are amazing. He yells, "Teacher, my teacher." I can get hime to focus for about an hour and a half every session.
I get back to my room around 6 p.m. and my "shower" is waiting for me. It is a bucket of hotish water. The school moms give me rain water to shower with (the softest water I have ever felt) I try to use as little as possible and share the left over with the girls. I am really glad that I cut all my hair off before I came. The girls rotate on who gets my leftover water. The girls use cold water from the "well"
Dinner is late around 8:00 p.m., this part I don't like, but I have adjusted. I have learned not to eath the meat (I will never complaong about school food again) so in the evening my diet is usually rice and regydrated spinach--yum. I use lots of hot sauce to give the food a lift. Before and after dinner I am with the students helping them with their studies. This is done in the classrooms, three of them, with lights from the generator. We have a lot of great discussions about the misconceptions regarding the US to kids back home and how they behave.
The generator makes a noise (surge) when it is about to run out of petrol and all the kids scatter to their dorms. The girls dorm is adjacent to my room and at night their whispering sounds like the buzzing of a great bees nest. It is that sound that carries me off to sleep.
On Fridays they sing. The children actually have organized a choir complete with a director. They are preparing for their church service on Saturday (which is all day)
On Saturdays I quietly make my wat to town. The biggest town nearby is Arusha. It is hard to gage the size of it because I only see part of it. I get up in the morning and have my usual breakfast of bananas, organes and passion fruit and walk down off the mountain, about 7 km. This takes a good hour and on my way I am greeted by everyone I see on the road. I get to USA (pronounced oooosu) and catch a smoosh mobile (a dali-dali) into Arusha. This takes another 30-50 minutes depending on how many stops we make, which is determined by how mnay people are standing by the side of the road and give the signal to get picked up.
In Arusha I get a cup of coffee at a little coffee house first and have a bite to eat. T then visit one of the upsacle hotels ( a trick I learned from Jessie) to use their bathroom and stroll their grounds.
I then shop or visit a museum or pick a new place to try for lunch. Sometimes this is a trek. I then eat lunch and begin my safarri back to Meru Peak. I take a Dali-Dali back to USA River and walk back up the mountain. I hear musci everywhere I go. They love Bob Marley, Celine Deon, and Dolly Parten (I know) they also play their African gospel and hip-hop, and soul music. I have danced with many people up and down the mountain, everyone loves to dance. The walk back up the mountain takes longer and is very steep in places. but is feels so good to walk it. I views are beautiful. I always look forward to Saturdays.
Sundays I would wash clothes, clean my room and play more soccer. The kids and I would sing songs and just enjoy eachothers company.
My days are full and I am fulfilled.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

A Panther in Africa

Being a math teacher I actually enjoy probabilities. So, when I sat down to try and calculate the odds of:
1. going to Africa
2. picking Tanzania at random
3. finding Meru Peak Schools on the internet out of the thousands listed
4. discovering within amile of the school is a community center ran by an ex-black panther and his wife from Kansas City living in political exhile.
Ok, I know those of you who know me are thinking of course you would pick this place because that is karma and a black panther and Kelly Kitchen go hand in hand.
Well as it turns out you are right. Whatever power brought me here the probabilities are astronomical and therefore i have to leave it to energy outside my understanding.

Mama C (Charlotte) and Pete O'Neil have lived in Tanzania for about 30 years because Pete fled the US when he was charged with a crime he did not committ and knew he would be convicted, because of his work in the black panther movement, and later was convicted in abstentia. They have built a community center on the mountain brick by brick where they have teachers that teach English classes to the locals for free. They also teach computers, art, guiding (on safaris), dance and music classes (they have their own studio and produce CD's) all for free to the locals. They are supported by groups of students coming from the states and Europe that arrange for African immersion experiences. There was a group of University of Michigan students here for a such an experience while I was here.

Pete (still an imposing figure at 68 with dread locks down his back)and Mama C's(an angel to everyone that meets her and a spirtual presence that rmeinds me of a shamen) compound is a haven equipped with internet (it is what I use to type my blog) classrooms, dorms for the visitors, a wounderful staff of volunteer teachers and a basketball court.
I teach two English classes a day and play basketball with the locals every chance I get. Some of the girls are developing a nice jump shot and the boys are beginning to understand what a proper lay-up is. It is amazing coaching a foreign sport to someone that doesn't speak the same langauge as yourself I have learned so much from these young people, mostly humility.
cC
The students I have at UAACC (United African Alliance Community Center) are mostly adults. Some are housewives, some farmers, some are preachers and some are young people looking for a way not to end up in the streets. They are all open-hearted very attentie students who love have an American teach them anything. They clap spontaneously in the middle of a lesson when they feel they really grasp what I am teaching. It is amazing. They also tell me after every class that they love me and are so happy that I share "The English" with them. Africa sees English as the language of the future.
They work so hard trying to expand their vocabularies and trying to figure out subject verb agreement as well as those pesky irregular verbs. I never appreciated English as my natie langage before, but I do now.
Their hard work and loving nature brings tears to my eyes frequently. I have been humbled by this country and the people in it.
The students are many at UAACC and they come everyday. Some are fed lunch and are expected to work hard at their studies. They are so thankful to Pete and Mama C for providing this opportunity for them. Their lives are enhanced daily just for participating in UAACC and the family that is there.
The teachers are all volunteers and many of them are students at the University of Arusha, up the mountain further, and live in the area. Many teach during their breaks from school. I am the only native English speaker here currently and all the teachers love to talk to me to practice English and work on their pronounciation.
UAACC also teaches art and music classesand they have a pretty cool music studio. The sales of their music goes to the students that create them.
The art gallery is equally as impressive their batiks, purses,jewelry, and clothing is beautiful.
Pete and Charlotte have made a have in the middle of abject poverty, and the share their love of people and community builidng with those around them.
One of Pete's friends, Geronimo Pratt is also here. He was convicted of a crime he did not commit and spent close to 30 years in prison for it. His conviction was overturned and the government had to write him a check. He brouhgt that money to Tazania and is now living his life with his lovely wife in the mountains of Tz. He was instrumental in helping Pete put in a deep well where people in the area can get clean drinking water without flouride (a huge problem here)
I hope I get to take a dance class and drum class before I leave.
Pete retains his Black Panther attitude and his angst is refreshing. It is that tenacity that got everything accomplished that he has here and his growl makes me smile because his heart is pure gold. They are opening an orphanage (living center) soon. I hope to continue to support their efforts in the future.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Hamna Shida (no worries)

There comes a time when you are in a developing country that your American arrogance takes over and the frustration level gets so high you want to burst.
I think when you are trying to assimilate into a foreign country there is part of you that constantly fights the process. This is where the frustration comes from. The American, puritan ethic, in me kept fighting against the TZ culture. It hit a head at about 2 weeks in. This is when I met Jessie (my roommate for a week before she went back to Kansas, funny I know) and to be able to talk to another American (English speaker) that shared the same frustrations was cathartic and gave me an interesting mirror in order to look into.
The frustrations were many, but I'll only list a few:
The drivers here are horrible, not just don't use blinker lights horrible,but dangerous horrible. I thought I was going to die on my 18 hour (I thought was 7) bus trip to Mbea. We had to travel through the mountains to get there. Isaw more overturned semis on this 36 hour trip to and from Mbyea than I have my whole 48 years traveling through out the US. Anyone of those semis could have taken my bus out. Not that the bus driver was lacking any opportuniyt to take us out himself driving down the mountains.
Tanzanians have a different sense of time. When they say 'soon" they mean about 3 hours. When they say now they mean within the hour. The wait patiently for everything. The bane of American's existence.
The Tz also will say "God Willing" for everything intheir lives. Most are deeply rleigous and their hard lives make them accept (without question) the things that happen to them. One of our students died at the school I was at and no one knew why, not even the doctor. It was just his time for God to take them, a perfectly healthy 7 year-old.
I had a deep desire to fix everything I saw that was not working well, from broken doors to filling in a walk way with sand so the children didn't continually trip. Learning to let this go was very difficult for me.
I was pulling water up from the well and noticed there was a hole in the bottom of the bucket. When I got the bucket to the surface it was only half full. When I inquired about this I was told thatsome people are careless and if they replaced the bucket it would just happen again so they leave it. Ugh!!


I did fix the bathroom door because it had no handle and you had to grab the wood plank with your fingertips in order to lock it. Trying to shut it was an act in futility. I also fixed my door because the locking mechanism was falling off.
Jessie and I commiserated about our perception of the Tz inability to problem solve or goal set.

It was later that I refelected that I was imposing American values and standards onto a country that is still struggling with feeding their countrymen. Life and death are very precarious in Tanzania. Malaria, HIV and Typhoid are rampant as are unemployment, poverty and lack of education. There is no municipal trash pick up and sewer and lean water services are scarce. I suppose the fact that you have to grip the wood plank on a door to shut it is really not that big of a deal to them.

After you are here for a while longer you begin to assimilate and your frustration level drops, and you don't mind being stopped by everyone you see on the path you are on to see how you are even if you are suppose to be somewhere. After all you told your friend you would be there soon.

Monday, July 21, 2008

School: the life-raft with a hole in it

Schools in Tanzania are broke into primary (standard 1 through 7) and secondary (Form 1 through Form 4). There is also Form 5 and Form 6 which you have to pass an exam in order to get in and IF you can afford it and IF you pass then you might be able to go to University. The NBA holds better odds.
School is a privilege and you have to pay to go. Schools cost around $800.00 a year = $800,000 shillings. This is impossible for some families, especially with multiple children. The average person (if they can find work) make about $6,000.00 shillings a day or six dollars. Many children do not go to school. Or they do not pass primary and do not continue. The children that get to go to school work ery hard and look forward to any extra help they can get. I have upwards to 15 kids in my room when the generator comes on to do homework, get help, read, draw, anything. There is such a need both educationally and psychologically with the children here it is almost overwhelming.
There are schools everywhere, public and private (so it seems) and the chidren that attend them walk miles or ride a bus long distances everyday to get to school. Many children are borders (especially the orphans that are lucky enough to get into a bording school) In one of the schools that I teach in the children sleep two or three to a single bed. Some have nets some do not. I brought 20 with my and it made a dent. From my understanding the children are in school 10 months out of the year with two breaks in between semesters.
most of the children in school are away from their families for long periods of time. The orphanes (a whole subject in and of itself) livein orphanages which are more prevelant than schools. Some visit extended familiy a few times a year.

The one school I teach at is both a primary and a secondary school. The school has no electricity and they get their water from in inadequate well (to shallow for clean water) and they use rain water to drink. They do not drink a lot of water here, especially compared to Americans. Dehydration has got to be a problem.
They run a generator at night for a few hours and there are a couple of rooms that have a bulb so the students cram into them to do their homework. This is quite a sight. It would make a teacher fill with awe. It did me.
Classes start at 8:00 a.m. and run until 3:30 with a couple of breaks and lunch (ugali and beans) Most of the younger kids fallout before 3:30 gets here. The kids stay in the same classroom and the teachers rotate.
My classroom is in the middle of the compound (fenced in) and gets very little ambiant light. My class starts at 8:00 am everyday and it is usually overcast, making seeing the chalkboard from the back of the room very difficult. The class i teach is form II math (algebra and geometry) my students ranged in age from 15 to 22. I had 36 of them in one room.
The room is dark and damp, there is a large(old) chalkboard in the front of the class. I have 2 sticks of chalk and a form II book (an excercise book with a few examples and practice problems, fewer answers in the back) There is no teacher's edition. I have three of the thirty-six that also have a book. That is it. No other materials.
The children copy everything down into their exercise books (blank bound paper) The write their own text book. This process takes a looooong time and we only have 40 minute classes. This was frustrating for me because we had very little time to dialogue about math. The books they use in math are all skill books, little application.
In spite of the challenging environment and the schools some times closing for days, weeks months because of lack of teachers or foods, the childdren learn and many of them crave more.
When young Jessie was here we shared a dorm room and that is where the students would come for extra help. I observed this one young man about 12 years ole have an indepth conversationwith Jessie (19 from Kansas) about irregular verbs. This young man was trying so hard to wrap his head around them. Other kids were copying English-Kswahili dictionerys to learn new words. To watch this scene was very powerful, to participate in it was life changing. The conversations that take place and the thirst for knowledge these young people have would make any jaded teacher cry.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

I am called "Mzungu"




The people in Tanzania do not see many white people. In the tourists area they see many more and for the most part try to get those folks to buy their art, or visit their sister's shop. When you travel away from the tourists streets of Arusha and go into the neighborhoods, or if you travel into the mountains (where the schools that I am teaching are at) then the presence of white people gets fewer and fewer.The people in these areas view seeing and meeting a white person as good luck and love to stop and talk with you. The Tanzanians are very demonstrative people. Boys and men will hold hands and touch each other frequently. Little girls will walk together in a small ball. The children will yell "Mzungu, Mzungu." They love to hold my hand and walk with me. The parents enjoy watching their children with me and are not fearful or threatened by you interacting with their children. In fact they will let you walk away with their children in tow and know that their children are safe and will be home sooner or later. The Tanzanians are very open hearted, loving, passive people. The children are a giggling mass of love. I did meet some children who had never seen a white person before and they were actually afraid of me. They would stare and drop whatever they had in their hands and not move. I think if I had made a run at them they would have died of a heart-attack. I took my responsibility as an ambassador seriously though and only smiled and said, "Jambo toto." Meaning "Hello children".
If the people of the world could have a little of the Tanzanian loving spirit within them the world would be a better place.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Hard Living On Clay Street


-Arrivig in Kiliminjaro Airport is a glimpse of what is to come. There are no directions on what to do or where to go. I got in the mob that was headed for the Visa booth. There were no roped lines to keep us in order, no structure, no system in place.... Welcome to Tanzania.
after getting my Visa it was very late at night and the officials weren't really paying attention so I walked past customs with my bags and out the front door.
I met William who is the "tour guide" for the next several days.
The first thing that is different when we got on the road, other that the fact at how nice these people are and extremely polite, is that there are people walking every where, at all hours of the night. The other thing that was notable was the speed bumps.
We arrived in Arusha late and when I got to William's house I couldn't see much of the environment. The "road" to Willy's house was very narrow and had a surface like large bubble wrap. This is I think due to the poor (none) drainage and the rainy season.
We entered the compound (we don't have these in the US) through an iron gate, I had to stoop to get through. Willy's apartment is one of 8 and you enter into a square cement pad. The apartments all face this pad, two on each side. This is like their courtyard. This is where all the cooking (on a kerosene burner), washing of clothese (out of a bucket) and playing of the children occurs. We went to Willy's door where upon hearing us arrive his 4 year old daughter,Miriam (aka princess) came pealing out, eventhough it was very late. When she saw me she screamed for joy and ran into my arms and gave me the biggest hug I have ever had. Wow welcome to Tanzania.
I slept under a net for the first time, slightly clausterphobic but you get used to it. The TZ people are very generous people. The do not have a lot, but they share everything they have. They wait for the guest to serve themselves first, everytime and they tell you to take as much as you want. TZ folks eat a lot of food (starch). The fruits and veggies are amazing. I became a vegetarian while here (the meat is not too good and one can only eat so much rice and ugali (corn powder mixed with water to make a thick paste)
The next morning we explored Arusha. I wasn't quite ready for what I saw especially the contradictions.
First do not where pants that drag on the ground even a little,trust me on this.
Second if you plan on staying a while and washing your own clothes (in a bucket with a bar of orange soap, the white bar is for your "showers") do not bring: jeans (they take forever to dry and are a bear to wring out and they do not shrink back into shape), sweatshirts (see previous), anything white, or t-shirts. Bring: flip-flops (do not go bear foot), old tennis shoes, boots, mudboots (if the rainy season), cotton clothes that are easy to wash and dry quickly, layers of clothes (it is cold in the winter), matches (TZ matches will frustrate the hell out of you, fingernail clippers, lotion, tape,scissors or knife, flashlight, and a leavermen (they have few tools and you will find you need them) Learn some basic Swahili or go with a local when shopping so you don't get ripped off. Shop owners will respect you more and will give you a better deal even if you know a little. They will all help you with the pronounciation.
The TZ love to greet you, and most of them (especially the children) love white people. Whitepeople are called, 'Mzungu.'
When I left Willy's we walked through his neighborhood and it is exactly as you see a developing country portrayed. Women working over buckets or pans, either cooking or washing clothes. Many of these women have children on their backs while they work. There are stray dogs and errant chickens everywhere. Waste water from dishes, clothes and cooking is running down the streets (paths), the children play on mounds of dirt (and there are children everywhere).
Most of the roads are unpaved and very rocky. People have to walk to a local water pipe to get their water, this is done several times a day. The 5 gallon buckets are placed on the heads of women and children as they carry that water home. I am sure there are homes that have water in them (maybe not), but I never saw one,nor did any of the people I talked to know of one. The only place you will find running water inside is in the big hotels (where I used the bathroom several times while in Arusha just to have a Western style toilette) or the restaurants that cater to tourists. The everyday TZ does not have that luxury.
The mom of the family I stayed with busy making lunch when we came home. She was sitting on the cement pad with a bread board in front of here kneading bread that would then be fried to make a flat bread. They have no ovens so most of their food is fried or cooked as a stew. She then made ugali which is corn powder stirred into boiling water. This takes great strength to stir in the final stages, it gets very thick. They use aluminum pans because of how they conduct heat and they are light weight, they don't know about the Alzheimer connection and I didn't tell them.
Most TZ eat very late at night, just before bed. I had a hard time with this and it is one reason that the women get progressively larger as the years go by, that and the fact that their diet consists of primarily starch. They eat a lot of starch, either in the form of rice, fried potatoes, or ugali. The men don't gain weight like the women because their work involves more cardio and they travel further from home.
Going to the market can take all day. You have to walk from you neighborhood to where the Dali-Dali road is, then you either wait or walk toward your destination. A Dali-Dali will be along and they will pick you up if you extend your hand. The vans they use for this are all old Japanese vehicles, many in disrepair. There were several times that people jumped out of the Dali-Dali (you must have at least 11 on board for them to leave) and helped push it so the driver could pop the clutch. Many more have horrible exhausts and spew CO into the air. You ride the Dali-Dali until you get close to the market and you pay your 50 cents (no matter how far you ride) and get off by climbing over everyone in front of you. You then walk the rest of the way to the market (a very big place) and buy what you need for that day and maybe the next since there is little refrigeration. People can't afford the electricity and if they can afford the electricity they cannot afford the refrigerator. They then take their purchases (hopefully) not forgetting anything and do the whole route backwards. Remember this is with a child on their back and possibly more in tow. There is no daycare here, although neighbors help out a lot. I watched my house mom keep track of the whole square of children.
Most TZ do not wear their shoes in the house and you will see a stack of shoes and flipflops outside of every door. The reason for this is the mud and the bathrooms. The bathrooms are a separate (closet) away from the house, sometimes connected sometimes not. It consists of a hole in the floor that drains to a holding tank somewhere (I think) there is no toilet paper and no sink for washing (yeah, I know) You use a bucket of water that is kept handy, sometimes, to wash down what you don't make down the hole. This takes some practice and skill. Enough said about that, only my leg and butt muscles are now much stronger.
I took my showers in the morning in Arusha and learned the hard way when they say, "Your shower is ready", you should not delay, because your shower is a bucket of water and it cools down fast. The shower is taken in either a different concrete closet or in the toilette closet. You learn to conserve water and be quick about the scrubbing because it is cold in the mountains.
The people of Tanzania have life hard according to our standards, but yet they love life and each other. There is a special place in their culture for children. They consider them a blessing and they are.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

One Tin Soldier Rides Away

I am set to leave Monday, June 30th and am filled with anxious excitement. I am sure the long air flights will help to alleviate some of the adrenalin spikes. I fly from Detroit to Amsterdam where I will have a 5 hour lay-over. To all my former high school friends this does not mean what it seems to mean. I then leave for my second leg of my journey to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
I have purchased my emergency evacuation insurance; I bought this on-line since my insurance agent doesn’t sell it. I also, upon my agent’s suggestion suspended my insurance on my vehicles for the month that I will be gone. (I didn’t even know you could do that) This will save me a little money while I am away.
I have my deet, wet wipes, tooth brush, self generating flashlight, camera, and sunscreen. I think that is all I need. I also am taking quite a bit of hikers’ food (apparently they eat a lot of porridge type meals)
My friend John is working on a solar panel for generating electricity for the XO laptop which I may take with me to see how it works. This is very exciting technology with crazy potential.
I have made copies of all my documents for my family with the addresses and phone numbers of the contact people at the school.
Next stop……Africa.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Pit Stop: Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic:
A fledgling democracy next to a totalitarian regime, Haiti; A paradise with a garbage problem; A place where people speak four languages with ease, but have little access to education unless you are wealthy; A place where people work hard period. In other words, the Dominican Republic is a living oxymoron.
I went there with 9 other people intent on learning to dance meringue from the people who invented it. The experience left me with a lot more than the wonderful memories of dancing Cuban Son with the old timers in Santa Domingo.

Impressions:
  • People are people no matter where you are in the world.
  • Racism exists even in predominantly “black” countries (why is that?)
  • People can carry more things on a moped than I ever imagined. (from goats to washing machines)
  • Gravity can be defied if you know how to pack a truck including the people on top.
  • A country with poor drinking water (more about that later) and a large tourist trades needs a recycling plant.
  • Love occurs everywhere in the world.
  • Middle Aged women with “perceived” means are treated as queens, not to mention sex objects (great ego boost)
  • Tourists are treated differently than locals (travel with locals always)
  • Dive masters are cool people to hang out with.
  • Even though the coffee pots are next to the sink in the resorts, that does not mean you should make coffee out of the tap water. DON’T. I had to take Cipro to get rid of the parasites in my digestive tract when I got home. 150 mph diarrhea has no conscience, nor respect for humility.
  • Teachers are valued.
  • Chidren yearn to laugh and learn.

Going back to the D.R. would be a wonderful experience, especially if it was to teach English to the children “for free” in the summer while encouraging businesses to adopt a recycling stance. This would be a great summer excursion for anyone. It has been added to my list of possible retirement options.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

2nd Times a Charm

It was time to go back to the travel clinic for my one remaining vaccinations: yellow fever and pick up my prescriptions for malaria and an antibiotic.
I did not take careful enough notes the first time because apparently I was suppose to bring my vaccination card with me…..I don’t remember ever getting one. This time the nurse was pressed for time and everything was a blur. I remember getting the shot for yellow fever and tasting it in the back of my throat for a while. I had to sit in the hall to make sure that I didn’t have an adverse affect to it, I don’t know what “adverse” meant since I left all my literature at home and the nurse was real busy. So, as I waited I tried to pay attention to everything that was going on inside of my self and at the injection site incase I noticed anything “adverse”. Apparently I was fine because the nurse came back out and looked at me and said my time was up and I could leave. I guess adverse means that she would be able to tell by looking at me from 20 feet away (adverse must be bad!)
I then left feeling slightly invincible since now I am immune to yellow fever, typhoid fever, malaria (sort of) Hep B and Hep C. I still had to watch out for Dengue fever and the rogue lion, but that I think is manageable.
In conversation with my dad he was inquiring what my out of pocket costs were going to be, he still is a little perplexed by all of this, but he has always supported me even during the crazy times. I told him my plane ticket was costliest and it getting costlier as gas prices continue to soar. The school also asks that I help offset food costs by kicking in $10.00 per week for food. When I told my dad this there was a pause on the other end of the line and then he said, “Kelly that’s a lot of ants.” I really don’t think I will be eating ants, but it did get me thinking about what I would be eating……..

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Nothing but Net.

During March Madness as I was watching my team (Michigan State University) get drilled, I also was responding to an email from the Olyset Company regarding their mosquito nets. They were very helpful in directing me to the proper vendor for purchasing these nets. I initially tried to buy a mosquito net here in the US and the only ones I could find were the polyester ones that you had to spray the insecticide on yourself. The ranged from $20.00 to $45.00. Apparently the nets that have insecticide put into them during the manufacturing process are hard to get a hold of in the US. I read one site that said the FDA has not approved them for sale here, but I could not verify that. The Olyset company asked where I would be traveling and the route I would be taking and I gave them a brief itinerary and they sent me back an email address of a retailer in Arusha, Tanzania. They also forwarded my email to them. I heard from Divyesh Ramanandi in Arusha within a couple of days asking how he could help me. I told him when I would be in Tanzania, kinda/sorta dates and I was looking for a mosquito net. He sent me their sizes and price list and when I did the Tanzania shilling conversion to American dollars these state of the art nets would cost me about $8.00. It pays to shop around. This will work out better buying the nets in Tanzania because they do take up some space in the luggage and when I leave I can just leave it with the school. The best part is that I am also helping the local economy by buying the net there. That is a win-win.
Here are the websites for Olyset Company:

http://www.sumivector.com/content/view/18/37/

A new Olyset joint venture in Arusha opens in 2008
http://www.olysetphotos.com/Documents/Arusha_Pressrelease.pdf

Here is another way to help, ironically by the same name of what inspired this page in my blog.
http://www.nothingbutnets.net/


It is very exciting to use new technology that is being made in Tanzania by Tanzanians for the betterment of their country. Now I have to decide, how many nets do I buy? MSU could have used a few extra nets tonight.
Peace.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Travel Clinic, prepare for information overload

Going to the MSU Travel Clinic was a mixed bag of great information and an overwhelming appreciation for how amazing our life is here in the United States since we found sanitation. I received three shots while at the clinic the day I went and left with quite a bit of reading material. I am beginning to develop quite the folder of information.
The nurse that I say that day new her stuff and she was able to answer most of my questions I had about traveling to a third world country. The clientele she gets there goes to many other places of Africa, especially Ghuana, I told her I purposely chose not to go to Ghuana because of all the attention and assistance that they are getting currently. I think that has more to do with my personality as wanting to operate under the radar rather than follow the mainstream than anything.
There are lots of things to be wary of in Tanzania and she had colored maps of what diseases were prevalent there, most of these maps were darkened. I won’t be in the TB belt though; it looks much like our snow belt in Michigan on a map although it describes the incidence of TB rather than lots of snow. Her phrase to me over and over was if you can’t peel it (there is a special to do this too), cook it (for a very long time) or open it (from a sealed container, like beer/wine/water) don’t eat or drink it. She also had the sage advice to ask the locals that I became acquainted with (if I couldn’t find an English speaking person that had been in country for a while) where in town I should not eat. She said if it made the locals sick to eat then it would for sure make me really sick. She also said that don’t let the looks of the place deceive me. Just because it is a fancy hotel doesn’t mean the folks that work there practice impeccable hygiene and that is what is required in a third world country in order not to get TD (tourist diarrhea). The last advice she offered, as far as avoiding getting sick (I felt like I was Luke Skywalker talking Obi-Juan Kenobi) was to keep a lid on my bottled water at all times and to place my tooth brush in a container so flies didn’t land on it. It is their feet and where they have been walking through is what you need to be concerned about.
The conversation then turned to safety and the advice is pretty much like it is in Detroit. Don’t go anywhere at night unless you are with a large group, don’t go into the “bad” neighborhoods and don’t take anything to eat or drink from a stranger because it could be drugged. Apparently you can make eye contact with folks though. Good to know.
We talked about bug spray (Deet, you don’t need 100%, in fact she advised against it because it is pretty toxic) and spray for our clothes (Permethrin, you can spray this on and it will last through several washings, I think that means it could last through my entire 7 week stay since I don’t know how often I will be washing my clothes)
She also said the things I kind of knew: where a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses; sunscreen (put the Deet over the top of it not the other way around); carry copies of your documents at all times and keep the originals some place safe and make copies for my family before I leave and the last advice was to procure “emergency evacuation insurance”. I will check to see if Farmers Insurance can get me a rider for this, but she also provided me with some names of places that provide this, sort of the Triple A of international travel, instead of providing you with a wrecker to take your car to a shop they provide you with a plane to get you to a “real” hospital.
With my head buzzing from the crazy amount of information she gave and my shoulders were hurting from the: Polio booster, Hepatitis A shot, and a flu shot, I left with my two prescriptions (one for my typhoid vaccine and the other for antibiotics to take in case of TD). I paid for the visit and made my next appointment for my Yellow Fever shot and to pick up my malaria medication. There were three choices for this and the prices vary by hundreds of dollars.
With another hurdle jumped I now have to make it "real" by buying my ticket.

Time to Dream and a Time to Work

After the dream how do you decide where to go? When I began having “my dream” I knew the population I wanted to work with; children and women affected by AIDS. I also knew that I wanted to work within a setting where I could have some autonomy in what I taught and how I taught. The last criterion I operated from was I did not want to go with a “tourist/volunteer organization. After looking into several of them it appeared to be less about the people you were there to help and more about making money from the Americans/Europeans that they could get to sign onto the tour. I wanted to become part of the place that I was working without it costing me more money than I could truly afford. Safety was an overarching theme as well so I didn’t even explore opportunities in some countries; I’ll save that for the young ones.
I found this amazing site called www.idealist.com and began my search. This site has a wealth of information on all types of places and organizations that are making a difference in this world in which we live. From this website I found Meru Peak School.
I contacted Scott Morgan and within days he had sent me back an excited email and telling me about the school and the people that run it.
I contacted many other schools and orphanages, but it became clear that Meru Peak was going to be the best fit for me.
I have included several websites that help explain and describe Meru Peak School.

http://www.changemakers.net/en-us/node/4078

http://www.volunteermatch.org/orgs/org80590.html

http://www.huntingdogsafaris.com/

http://mopfa.org/MPS%20Final%20Draft.pdf

Now I needed to figure out when I was going and how was I going to get there…..

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

On The First Day There Was Fright, and it was good.

The next step in getting to the dream is to get a Passport and Visa.
The passport I had, the Visa I didn’t. I have to check and see if I need a letter from the school in order to get the Visa, Tanzania is getting more selective in who teaches in their country now.

I am fortunate that I live near a major university, my Alma Mater, Michigan State University. Within MSU they have a travel clinic which assists travels in being current on their vaccines while traveling to different parts of the world.

Their website was very helpful. http://www.travelclinic.msu.edu/beforeappt/index.html
It also has links to the Center for Disease Control, CDC, website which has all of the agonizing details and hazards of traveling to a third world country.

Wow is there a lot of material. Did you know the Traveler’s Diarrhea as an acronym? TD, who knew?

In summary what I have learned so far about visiting a third world country is: Don’t eat anything that hasn’t been cooked to sun surface hot and served to you at that temperature. Don’t eat any fresh fruits or vegetables unless you, yourself, wash them in clean water and then peel them yourself. The knife at that point has been contaminated and you must then disinfect that somehow, I am thinking more boiling water for at least 1 full minute.
Never eat anything from a street vendor, just smile and keep on going. Don’t drink any water ever. Only drink bottled water or water that you put through a nine-point disinfection regiment. Apparently the filter systems on the market are ok, but you have to analyze the “pore size”. Microns matter. Mosquito netting is a good thing especially if it has some insecticide infused in it, but all of the websites want you to contact them directly for pricing. What is up with that? I’ll let you know if I have to buy in bulk and if they price according to income level or country in which you reside. The good news through all of these days of cramping, bloating, and loose stools is that beer and wine appear to be safe to drink. As long as you don’t pour them into another container and never add ice. Drink them straight from the bottle or can, whipping off the can or bottle with alcohol preps first.

OK, I must admit that the CDC website was a little scary and not too shy on the, Oh My God, are you kidding me, scale. Thank goodness I decided to call the MSU travel clinic and set up my first appointment right away. The steady and non-hysterical voice on the other end of the phone was very reassuring and when I told my destination was Tanzania there was no intake of air or “are you sure” response so I felt mollified. My first appoint is in two weeks and they said they could draw blood to see what I was immune to and therefore could stream-line my vaccines, amazing.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

In the beginning their were children singing, always.

Have you ever dreamed of a place where you have never been? Or of a people whom you have never met? I have; over and over and over. It began in my twenties I would sleep and hear children singing and giggling in between the words, which were not English words. I would always smile back and feel as if I were home. As time went on I could see their faces: bright, yearning, hopeful, and beckoning. As I attended college and later raised my own children I came to realize who these children were…..my future students. You see I am a teacher by profession and a searcher of soul fulfillment by destiny. With my children mostly raised, I still have a 16 year old at home, my dream is about to become actualized. I am excited and curious to see if the dream and the reality are the same.