Half the Sky

5/16/2010

I have arrived in Tanzania!!! It took 27 hours and stops in Minneapolis and Amsterdam to fly half the sky – from San Diego to Kilimanjaro. It is currently 4:30 pm on Sunday, May 16 in Tanzania, which is 6:30 am in San Diego. Needless to say, I’m a little out of it. Tonight will be an early night for sure!

Surprisingly, my flights were not too bad! Other than the VERY talkative lady on my flight to Minneapolis, I had good seat mates, and good entertainment. I think the personal TVs on flights are the most amazing thing ever….it really makes the time go fast. I was able to watch Invictus, Up in the Air, and Gran Torino…more movies than I have seen in the last 3 months!

I also had the opportunity to read the first half of the book “Half the Sky,” which has really helped to get into the mindset for my placement at WEECE here in Moshi. (Thanks for the recommendation Emily!!!) The book is about “turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide” and tells stories of the horrors experienced by women in Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, and how they have overcome. It is stories like these that make me feel so lucky to have been born in the US, and so grateful that I am here in Tanzania where I have the possibility of making a difference in women’s lives.

If you have any free time this spring, please read this book!

Myself and about 10 other volunteers arrived in Tanzania around 8:30 pm on Saturday night, and were greeted by the CCS drivers and our vans to our home base. If you thought Roman cab rides were scary, this was a whole new level. Driving 70+ mph down a narrow 2 lane street in an old van with no seatbelts. The 40 minute drive was very dark appeared to be in the middle of nowhere, however there were hundreds of people walking up and down the streets! They were everywhere! And it was close to 10pm! I can see now how auto accidents are a major cause of fatality here!

We finally made it down the dirt road to our homebase in Karanga Village in Moshi. We were greeted with hugs and kisses from Mama Lilian (our program director), and fresh squeezed mango/passion fruit juice. We went through quick introductions and then made our way to bed. Rest was necessary for the weary!

Today consisted of more introductory activities. We were shown around the homebase (see pics below), filled out our residency permits (as we will be here longer than 2 weeks), and took a quick tour of Moshi town. We stopped by a little artist village to see some of the beautiful canvases and carvings (Mandy and Ben…we need to talk), and then stopped at the central market. Everyone is so friendly! Some people (especially the men as most of them have had secondary education) speak English. For the rest, my favorite phrase was ‘asante hapana’ which is ‘no thank you’ in Swahili. Despite the haggling, the market was pretty amazing. Can’t wait to go back!

We’ve had free time most of this late afternoon as we wait for dinner. Some of us took a walk down the dirt road (3/4 miles?) to the main highway and back. It is amazing how many people live off of this seemingly unpopulated area. So many people walking around, in both leisure clothes as well as some in their Sunday best. We stopped to say hi (habari) to some neighbors that live in mud /wood huts. Kids, at ages of those in the US who watch incessant amounts of TV and play hours of video games, were so excited to meet us, say hi, and shake our hand. With limited means of entertainment, they really look forward to interacting with the Muzungo (foreigners). Hopefully those I meet at my placement tomorrow feel the same way!

Tutaonana baadaye (See you Later!)