While I’ve written quite a bit about my experience at WEECE, most of the crew at CCS is working at pre-schools around the Moshi area and it has been really interesting to hear about their placements. Here are a couple of examples of what my friends are experiencing:
Lu Dao Montessori Pre-School - Derek and Natalie are working at Lu Dao teaching pre-school. One of the things they noticed when they arrived was that the floor was dirty, the tables were dirty, and the kids were dirty….all the time! Derek and Natalie worked with the students and teachers and showed them the importance of cleaning both the school and themselves. They even made up a song that will remind the kids to wash their hands after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after coughing or sneezing. The kids have really caught on, and love washing their hands now!
Bridge Pre-School – Kasey and Amy are at Bridge Pre-school. They are in our van everyday so we see them get dropped off each morning. The best thing to see is when they arrive at the gate, all of the kids arriving at school crowd around them, grabbing their legs and hands, chanting teacha teacha (teacher teacher). Although they get annoyed with it after their day is done, I think it is pretty cute.
Magareza – Brando, Ashley, and Lara are teaching pre-school/kindergarten (ages 3-6) at Magareza. One of the most interesting things about this is that Magareza is a prison across the highway from Karanga, and the students are the children of the prison workers. Some of the prison workers live on the prison grounds, while many commute from other villages.
I’m not sure if all prisons in Tanzania are this way, but many of the prisoners are allowed to walk around the entire prison grounds during the day. Around employees’ houses. Around the school children. All dressed in orange. Most of them are doing work such as landscaping and farming, and most are accompanied by a guard with a gun, but not all.
It’s not unusual for Brando, Ashley, and Lara to be outside with the kids while surrounded by prisoners doing work. Brando mentioned that last week Mama Hilda, the head teacher at the school, was carrying a large ax so she could chop some wood. Brando, being the gentleman that he is (Brando – I get free drinks for saying that, right?) offered to help Mama out. Brando did not have very good wood chopping skills, so one of the nearby prisoners started laughing and offered to help. It took him about five seconds after he handed the prisoner the ax that “Holy Sh*t….I just gave the random prisoner next to me an ax!” I thought that was pretty funny.
The stories about their students keep me entertained. There’s Little Kanye….who looks like a miniature version of the real Kanye. Then there is the boy named ‘God.’ Can you imagine your response if you asked a 4 year old boy what his name was and he replied ‘God?’
Finally, as a whole, for some reason the students at Magereza were never taught the number 16. When they count, they say 14, 15, 17, 18, 19….The past three weeks have been a challenge trying to teach the kids 16. With two days left of placement, about 60% now remember 16.
All of the volunteers at pre-schools/kindergartens have mentioned that although the students can count in English, and say their ABCs in English, they do not know what the letters or numbers look like. They can recite verbally, but they don’t really understand. It would be very interesting to learn more about education methods in Tanzania. We had a guest speaker come in last week to explain the education system (i.e.Primary School, Secondary School), but we didn’t get into methods of teaching. I see some of the same at WEECE. The students and employees can recite quite a bit, but many times they have no idea what they are talking about.
Overall, I think each of us here at CCS will be leaving knowing that we all made a positive impact. Whether it is the one on one attention given to the pre-schoolers to help them learn their letters, or the concept of budgeting and saving that we are giving the girls at WEECE, I hope we made a difference in at least one person’s life.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Moshi Town Weekend
When I was planning my trip, I was originally thinking about heading to Zanzibar this past weekend for a little fun in the sun. However, after two weeks jam packed with our volunteer placements, cultural activities, and a safari, my body told me that it would be a better idea to stay in town to recover and reenergize instead. Rest also moved up on the priority list when it hit me that I’ll be climbing up Kilimanjaro in just a few short days. So, myself, and everyone else here in the Karanga house, decided to stay at the home base this weekend and enjoy a bit of Moshi Town.
For those who know nothing more about where I am other than somewhere on the African continent, I am in Karanga Village, Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Tanzania is on the east coast of Africa, situated just below Kenya, and just east of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo. Moshi is in the Northeast part of the country, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and only 30 miles or so from the Kenyan border. The Karanga Village (similar to a neighborhood in the States) is about 3 miles outside of the center of town, and our house is about a mile down the very bumpy, muddy, rutted out Karanga dirt road. I don’t think our street has a name. I don’t think any of the streets in Karanga have a name for that matter. People use PO boxes for mail, if they get mail, and each house is on a numbered parcel of land in the Karanga Village, which makes finding places quite a challenge. For example, the way to tell someone how to get here from town, you’d say…Take the Moshi-Arusha Hwy to Margareza (the prison) and turn left. Go down the road past the Amani Centre for Street Children. When you see the store (which is in a mud hut) turn left. We are the white gate on your left.
There are some really nice houses in Karanga, like the one that CCS rents out for the program. There are also many dirt huts throughout the village. All of our immediate neighbors live in small dirt huts, and own cow, pigs, chickens, goats and sheep to help sustain their families. I see many children wearing the same dirty, ripped clothing 2 days in a row. Money is very scarce in these families, and it amazes me how intrigued they are by seeing themselves on my digital camera, or looking at my pictures I brought from home. Over the past 2 weeks, I have met Patric (16 years old), Evon (8 years old), Augustino (7 years old), and Brenda (3 years old). Great kids who love to interact with us Mzungus! They are always so excited to see us!
Anyway, back to the weekend. Friday was a cloudy, dreary day, so most of us laid low at the home base, took naps, and read books in the couple hours before dinner. After dinner, a group of us headed out to The Watering Hole for a couple of beers…and a brownie. Remember how I mentioned that there’s not much in the way of dessert in this area. We girls needed a chocolate and sugar fix!
Saturday started off very slowly. The younger crew at the house was doing a Kilimanjaro Day climb, so the remainder of us slept in, read, did laundry, and chatted until after lunch. The slow morning also gave me time to go on a short run (really short…2 miles…It’s hot, humid, hilly, and muddy here!) As a blonde Mzungu wearing spandex and running deep into the village on my own, I got plenty of interesting looks and laughs. Just the sight of me scared a little 2 year old boy. As I ran past, he turned into his mom’s legs and started screaming and crying. Running white girls are more of an oddity here than I thought!
The highlight of Saturday was our night out to dinner. We headed out to El Rancho, which despite its name is an Indian restaurant, not a Mexican restaurant. Fabulous, cheap Indian food and plenty of drinks to go around. I think I downed a whole bottle of wine that night. When in Africa, right?
Sunday was the highlight of our weekend. 8 of us from the house signed up for a Coffee Tour in Materuni, one of the nearby Chagga mountain villages. Edward from Pristine Adventures picked us up in the ‘Happy People’ daladala to take us into the village. (Sidenote: The daladalas – busses- here all have themes. Ours was ‘Happy People’ and was covered with pictures of Jay-Z and Snoop, and the driver played lots of hip hop music for our journey).
Materuni is a Catholic Chagga village. We learned that each ridge in the area was settled by different missionaries, so the next ridge over was Lutheran, and the ridge next to that was also Catholic. Really interesting! Anyway, when we got to Materuni, we met Oscar, who helps run the coffee farm on his family’s land. Oscar was awesome! And so was his family. We chatted with his Mama and Baba, as well as his nieces and nephews (including one very outgoing ‘Little Obama’). Oscar had so much knowledge about the coffee process, and had us help him make our own batch to drink. While we were able to pick the coffee ‘berries’ off the tree, and get the beans out of them and soak them, we didn’t have the 2 days required for soaking, and the 7 days required for drying. So, similar to the magic we see on cooking shows in the States, Oscar had a dried batch of beans ready for us to process.
Step 1: We used a very large mortar and pestle to pound the dried beans in order to remove the dried shucks. This took at least 20 minutes to do, and was extremely tiring in the hot sun. Luckily there were 8 of us to help and take turns.
Step 2: Oscar built a fire and placed a large pot on top of it. It took about ½ hour to roast the beans. Someone had to constantly stir the beans during this process in order to keep the coffee from burning.
Step 3: We used the mortar and pestle again to grind the beans into a fine powder (think powdered sugar consistency)
Step 4: We boiled water over the fire and added the coffee powder directly to the water, letting it steep for about 2 minutes
Step 5: We poured the coffee/water mixture through a filter into a thermos.
Step 6: We got to drink the coffee! When I first saw the coffee, I was scared. It looked like very muddy water…nothing like my Starbucks coffee. I was afraid of how strong and bitter it would be. 1 sip and I was floored! This was the most AMAZING coffee I had EVER tasted! It was super smooth. Everyone agreed that it was better than anything we had ever tasted. No worries to those back in San Diego. I’m bringing some back with me!
After coffee and lunch, Oscar and Edward led us on a hike through Materuni to the Mnambe Waterfall. The hike was beautiful, and Oscar taught us how certain plants were used by the Chagga tribe. Yucca is very important in the culture, marking territory, as a peace offering, and showing the direction of beer. We also got to see the leaves they use as natural ‘sandpaper’ and try out the tree branch they used for toothbrushes.
After hiking for an hour, we finally reached the waterfall! While we had been to the Kilasiya Waterfall on Wednesday, this one knocked it out of the park! Mnambe was much taller, and had a larger pool at the bottom that we could actually swim in without worrying about the current. The water was extremely cold, and the force from the waterfall felt like standing in a hurricane, but it was so so beautiful! I have pictures and video, but they will never do Mnambe justice.
We arrived back at home just in time for dinner, and despite the copious amounts of coffee, headed to bed early. Back to placement tomorrow morning! Ahhh…Mondays!
For those who know nothing more about where I am other than somewhere on the African continent, I am in Karanga Village, Moshi Municipality, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Tanzania is on the east coast of Africa, situated just below Kenya, and just east of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo. Moshi is in the Northeast part of the country, at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and only 30 miles or so from the Kenyan border. The Karanga Village (similar to a neighborhood in the States) is about 3 miles outside of the center of town, and our house is about a mile down the very bumpy, muddy, rutted out Karanga dirt road. I don’t think our street has a name. I don’t think any of the streets in Karanga have a name for that matter. People use PO boxes for mail, if they get mail, and each house is on a numbered parcel of land in the Karanga Village, which makes finding places quite a challenge. For example, the way to tell someone how to get here from town, you’d say…Take the Moshi-Arusha Hwy to Margareza (the prison) and turn left. Go down the road past the Amani Centre for Street Children. When you see the store (which is in a mud hut) turn left. We are the white gate on your left.
There are some really nice houses in Karanga, like the one that CCS rents out for the program. There are also many dirt huts throughout the village. All of our immediate neighbors live in small dirt huts, and own cow, pigs, chickens, goats and sheep to help sustain their families. I see many children wearing the same dirty, ripped clothing 2 days in a row. Money is very scarce in these families, and it amazes me how intrigued they are by seeing themselves on my digital camera, or looking at my pictures I brought from home. Over the past 2 weeks, I have met Patric (16 years old), Evon (8 years old), Augustino (7 years old), and Brenda (3 years old). Great kids who love to interact with us Mzungus! They are always so excited to see us!
Anyway, back to the weekend. Friday was a cloudy, dreary day, so most of us laid low at the home base, took naps, and read books in the couple hours before dinner. After dinner, a group of us headed out to The Watering Hole for a couple of beers…and a brownie. Remember how I mentioned that there’s not much in the way of dessert in this area. We girls needed a chocolate and sugar fix!
Saturday started off very slowly. The younger crew at the house was doing a Kilimanjaro Day climb, so the remainder of us slept in, read, did laundry, and chatted until after lunch. The slow morning also gave me time to go on a short run (really short…2 miles…It’s hot, humid, hilly, and muddy here!) As a blonde Mzungu wearing spandex and running deep into the village on my own, I got plenty of interesting looks and laughs. Just the sight of me scared a little 2 year old boy. As I ran past, he turned into his mom’s legs and started screaming and crying. Running white girls are more of an oddity here than I thought!
The highlight of Saturday was our night out to dinner. We headed out to El Rancho, which despite its name is an Indian restaurant, not a Mexican restaurant. Fabulous, cheap Indian food and plenty of drinks to go around. I think I downed a whole bottle of wine that night. When in Africa, right?
Sunday was the highlight of our weekend. 8 of us from the house signed up for a Coffee Tour in Materuni, one of the nearby Chagga mountain villages. Edward from Pristine Adventures picked us up in the ‘Happy People’ daladala to take us into the village. (Sidenote: The daladalas – busses- here all have themes. Ours was ‘Happy People’ and was covered with pictures of Jay-Z and Snoop, and the driver played lots of hip hop music for our journey).
Materuni is a Catholic Chagga village. We learned that each ridge in the area was settled by different missionaries, so the next ridge over was Lutheran, and the ridge next to that was also Catholic. Really interesting! Anyway, when we got to Materuni, we met Oscar, who helps run the coffee farm on his family’s land. Oscar was awesome! And so was his family. We chatted with his Mama and Baba, as well as his nieces and nephews (including one very outgoing ‘Little Obama’). Oscar had so much knowledge about the coffee process, and had us help him make our own batch to drink. While we were able to pick the coffee ‘berries’ off the tree, and get the beans out of them and soak them, we didn’t have the 2 days required for soaking, and the 7 days required for drying. So, similar to the magic we see on cooking shows in the States, Oscar had a dried batch of beans ready for us to process.
Step 1: We used a very large mortar and pestle to pound the dried beans in order to remove the dried shucks. This took at least 20 minutes to do, and was extremely tiring in the hot sun. Luckily there were 8 of us to help and take turns.
Step 2: Oscar built a fire and placed a large pot on top of it. It took about ½ hour to roast the beans. Someone had to constantly stir the beans during this process in order to keep the coffee from burning.
Step 3: We used the mortar and pestle again to grind the beans into a fine powder (think powdered sugar consistency)
Step 4: We boiled water over the fire and added the coffee powder directly to the water, letting it steep for about 2 minutes
Step 5: We poured the coffee/water mixture through a filter into a thermos.
Step 6: We got to drink the coffee! When I first saw the coffee, I was scared. It looked like very muddy water…nothing like my Starbucks coffee. I was afraid of how strong and bitter it would be. 1 sip and I was floored! This was the most AMAZING coffee I had EVER tasted! It was super smooth. Everyone agreed that it was better than anything we had ever tasted. No worries to those back in San Diego. I’m bringing some back with me!
After coffee and lunch, Oscar and Edward led us on a hike through Materuni to the Mnambe Waterfall. The hike was beautiful, and Oscar taught us how certain plants were used by the Chagga tribe. Yucca is very important in the culture, marking territory, as a peace offering, and showing the direction of beer. We also got to see the leaves they use as natural ‘sandpaper’ and try out the tree branch they used for toothbrushes.
After hiking for an hour, we finally reached the waterfall! While we had been to the Kilasiya Waterfall on Wednesday, this one knocked it out of the park! Mnambe was much taller, and had a larger pool at the bottom that we could actually swim in without worrying about the current. The water was extremely cold, and the force from the waterfall felt like standing in a hurricane, but it was so so beautiful! I have pictures and video, but they will never do Mnambe justice.
We arrived back at home just in time for dinner, and despite the copious amounts of coffee, headed to bed early. Back to placement tomorrow morning! Ahhh…Mondays!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Tanzanian Eats and Drinks
Many have asked what I have been eating here, and if my stomach is hanging in there with the new foods. My stomach has done surprisingly well! I don’t want to jinx myself, but I have not yet touched my Tums, Immodium, or Cipro! (Yes, I am knocking on wood right now). Here’s a good idea of what we’ve been eating.
Drinks
• Chai tea with ginger
• Fresh fruit juices (mango, passion fruit, etc.)
• Tusker, Kilimanjaro, Safari, and Serengeti Beer
• Banana beer (if you are brave)
• Coffee
• South African Wines
Breakfast
• Chai Tea with ginger. Yum!
• Porridge with Honey
• Fried or hardboiled egg
• Small, but not very sweet doughnuts
• Thin crepe-like pancakes with honey
• Bananas, bananas, bananas (over 120 different species of banana in TZ!)
• Mango
While I’m not a huge breakfast fan back home, breakfast has been my absolute favorite here in TZ!
Lunch/Dinner
• Ugali – corn based mashed potato looking stuff that you can mold into a bowl looking utensil and used to eat meat, veggies, etc
• Rice
• Beans
• Fried chicken parts (wings, legs, etc). Chickens are fresh here, and they fry or cook up everything
• Beef in tomato sauce, beef with bananas, plain beef. Not sirloin, not filet, not ground beef, just meat from a cow
• Cooked Spinach-like green stuff. Sometimes it is spinach, sometimes not. You can’t tell by looking, but some of the “spinach” stuff is better than others.
• Leeks with lemon. Really good!
• Salad with tomatoes, avocado, cucumbers, onions. We have an enormous avocado tree in the back yard, so we almost always have avocado with our meals
• Cooked mixed veggies (carrots, green beans)
• Chipati
• Fruit
The kitchen staff has also tried some Western favorites such as Enchiladas, spaghetti with veggie meatballs, pizza, and veggie burgers. All were pretty good, but definitely not like home. Well, except for the veggie burgers. Best I’ve ever tasted. Need to get the recipe they use for the veggie patties.
Dessert is not a normal thing here in Tanzania. I guess people get their sugar cravings satisfied by fruit alone. I tried that for awhile, but every once in awhile you really need some ice cream. Luckily, there is a ‘supermarket’ about 1.5 miles down the road that sells ice cream cups!
I have only eaten out once since arriving here in TZ. Last night, Ashley, Sara and I decided we were ready for some real pizza. We headed out to the Indoitaliano, the Indian/Italian restaurant in town, for a fun night of food and drink. We had garlic naan as an appetizer, and then each got a small pizza. It was wonderful! Granted, not as good as most that I’ve had in the States, but close enough! We polished off 2 bottles of wine and milkshakes for dessert. Such a great night! The restaurant was completely filled with Mzungus (white people). I guess the Tanzanians don’t really crave Italian like we do.
A little side note: While eating at Indoitaliano, I ran into Mel, the girl I volunteer with at WEECE, who I am also climbing Kilimanjaro with. She was with her hostel group, so I got to meet Rohit again, and meet Sandra for the first time. They are the two rounding out our climbing group. Mel is from Australia, Rohit is from India/UK/now US, and Sandra is from Germany. Should be a really fun experience!
Drinks
• Chai tea with ginger
• Fresh fruit juices (mango, passion fruit, etc.)
• Tusker, Kilimanjaro, Safari, and Serengeti Beer
• Banana beer (if you are brave)
• Coffee
• South African Wines
Breakfast
• Chai Tea with ginger. Yum!
• Porridge with Honey
• Fried or hardboiled egg
• Small, but not very sweet doughnuts
• Thin crepe-like pancakes with honey
• Bananas, bananas, bananas (over 120 different species of banana in TZ!)
• Mango
While I’m not a huge breakfast fan back home, breakfast has been my absolute favorite here in TZ!
Lunch/Dinner
• Ugali – corn based mashed potato looking stuff that you can mold into a bowl looking utensil and used to eat meat, veggies, etc
• Rice
• Beans
• Fried chicken parts (wings, legs, etc). Chickens are fresh here, and they fry or cook up everything
• Beef in tomato sauce, beef with bananas, plain beef. Not sirloin, not filet, not ground beef, just meat from a cow
• Cooked Spinach-like green stuff. Sometimes it is spinach, sometimes not. You can’t tell by looking, but some of the “spinach” stuff is better than others.
• Leeks with lemon. Really good!
• Salad with tomatoes, avocado, cucumbers, onions. We have an enormous avocado tree in the back yard, so we almost always have avocado with our meals
• Cooked mixed veggies (carrots, green beans)
• Chipati
• Fruit
The kitchen staff has also tried some Western favorites such as Enchiladas, spaghetti with veggie meatballs, pizza, and veggie burgers. All were pretty good, but definitely not like home. Well, except for the veggie burgers. Best I’ve ever tasted. Need to get the recipe they use for the veggie patties.
Dessert is not a normal thing here in Tanzania. I guess people get their sugar cravings satisfied by fruit alone. I tried that for awhile, but every once in awhile you really need some ice cream. Luckily, there is a ‘supermarket’ about 1.5 miles down the road that sells ice cream cups!
I have only eaten out once since arriving here in TZ. Last night, Ashley, Sara and I decided we were ready for some real pizza. We headed out to the Indoitaliano, the Indian/Italian restaurant in town, for a fun night of food and drink. We had garlic naan as an appetizer, and then each got a small pizza. It was wonderful! Granted, not as good as most that I’ve had in the States, but close enough! We polished off 2 bottles of wine and milkshakes for dessert. Such a great night! The restaurant was completely filled with Mzungus (white people). I guess the Tanzanians don’t really crave Italian like we do.
A little side note: While eating at Indoitaliano, I ran into Mel, the girl I volunteer with at WEECE, who I am also climbing Kilimanjaro with. She was with her hostel group, so I got to meet Rohit again, and meet Sandra for the first time. They are the two rounding out our climbing group. Mel is from Australia, Rohit is from India/UK/now US, and Sandra is from Germany. Should be a really fun experience!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Marangu
Today was field trip day! Woo Hoo! As nice and necessary it is to spend time with the girls at WEECE, this was a beautiful and educational trip and well worth the day off. It was an action packed day, and we all came back absolutely exhausted.
8:30 am We headed out in the morning, first stopping at a local house to see the process of batik making. The batik maker’s work was beautiful, and I bought 2 of his small pieces. I have a feeling that my spare bedroom is going to be Africa themed when I get back!
9:30 am After a quick stop for pictures with a baobab tree, we were off to Marangu. Marangu is at the base of Kilimanjaro and serves as one of the village bases for Kilimanjaro climbs (aptly named the Marangu route). It is also home to the Chagga tribe. Similar to the Maasai, the Chagga are cattle herders. However they stay in the mountains, while the Maasai stay in the plains.
10:30 am Our first stop was the blacksmith. We got to observe men making bells, hammers, and Maasai spears. Pretty awesome! I really wanted one of the tall spears, but didn’t think I could fit it in my luggage on the way home, so I had to settle for a smaller one.
11:00 am From the blacksmith, we hiked about 1/4 mile into the bush, and came upon a couple small houses. Here we got a tour of one of the old Chagga caves. These were used over 100 years ago by the Chagga people during the Chagga-Maasai war. Supposedly, as the Maasai came down from Kenya, they discovered the Chagga people, and were furious that they were herding cattle. The Maasai thought that they were the only ones that should be herding cows, so waged war, trying to steal the Chagga cows and women. The caves contained long tunnels and small rooms along the way. The tunnels reached all the way to the river. A man was always guarding the entrance to the tunnel, so if a Maasai tried to come in, he would immediately be killed. In order to keep hidden from other Maasai, the body would not be buried until midnight. The caves were small and low, but really cool! I got really muddy, but it was worth it.
12:00 pm Our next stop was the Chagga market. This was a busy area with fruits, vegetables, fresh meat (cows slain earlier in the morning), live, half dead and just killed chickens, fabric stands, and jewelry stands. We have quite a few chickens in our village in Karanga, but it was really interesting to see the women carrying them around by their legs. After negotiating a stellar price of 10,000 Tsh for a kitenge and a kanga in the market, we were off to lunch and swim at the waterfall!
1:00 pm The Kilasiya Waterfall is 30m high and contains a very strong and constant flow from Kilimanjaro. The name, Kilasiya, actually means ‘without end’ in the Chagga language, referencing the fall’s constant flow of water. Hiking down to the base of the falls was a little more challenging than any of us expected. Since it is the rainy season, the path/steps down the side of the mountain was very muddy and slippery. We were all holding the bamboo railings for dear life as we made the trek down. The waterfall was amazing! It was tall, and skinny, and surrounded by a beautiful jungle. We all put on our bathing suits and played in the water for an hour or so. Tons of fun! The climb up was tougher than the climb down with regards to cardio, but definitely not as scary.
3:30 pm Our next stop was a traditional Chagga hut. By this time, we were pretty overwhelmed with all of the newly learned information about the Chagga tribe, but actually going inside the hut was pretty cool. The hut is round and divided into 2 sections – one half for beds, storage, and the other half for animals. Since cows were a hot commodity, the Chagga kept them in the hut with them to keep them from getting stolen. This hut was MUCH more comfortable than the Chagga cave, and MUCH more comfortable than the Maasai cave. The Chagga have progressed much more than the Maasai, and very few people actually live in the huts anymore, but our guides had fond memories of staying in their grandparents’ huts.
4:30 Beer time! We stopped at a beautiful hotel, the Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort, for a couple drinks to wind down at the end of a long day.
5:30 One last stop before heading back to home base for dinner. We were all interested in trying banana beer, so we stopped in a rural part of the village with a bar (there are bars every couple meters here in TZ). We walked up and inside, and a woman filled a gourd with the contents of a bucket behind the bar. A little sketch, but hey, When in Africa, right? We all tried a little sip. It had some kind of grainy sediment on top, and it was really really bitter. It did not taste like beer at all, but the locals love it! We sat with some old ladies getting their fill after a long day of work, and shared a couple more sips. I’m writing this blog entry 2 days later, and I feel ok. I was pretty sure I’d get some kind of illness from this experience, but so far so good!
8:30 am We headed out in the morning, first stopping at a local house to see the process of batik making. The batik maker’s work was beautiful, and I bought 2 of his small pieces. I have a feeling that my spare bedroom is going to be Africa themed when I get back!
9:30 am After a quick stop for pictures with a baobab tree, we were off to Marangu. Marangu is at the base of Kilimanjaro and serves as one of the village bases for Kilimanjaro climbs (aptly named the Marangu route). It is also home to the Chagga tribe. Similar to the Maasai, the Chagga are cattle herders. However they stay in the mountains, while the Maasai stay in the plains.
10:30 am Our first stop was the blacksmith. We got to observe men making bells, hammers, and Maasai spears. Pretty awesome! I really wanted one of the tall spears, but didn’t think I could fit it in my luggage on the way home, so I had to settle for a smaller one.
11:00 am From the blacksmith, we hiked about 1/4 mile into the bush, and came upon a couple small houses. Here we got a tour of one of the old Chagga caves. These were used over 100 years ago by the Chagga people during the Chagga-Maasai war. Supposedly, as the Maasai came down from Kenya, they discovered the Chagga people, and were furious that they were herding cattle. The Maasai thought that they were the only ones that should be herding cows, so waged war, trying to steal the Chagga cows and women. The caves contained long tunnels and small rooms along the way. The tunnels reached all the way to the river. A man was always guarding the entrance to the tunnel, so if a Maasai tried to come in, he would immediately be killed. In order to keep hidden from other Maasai, the body would not be buried until midnight. The caves were small and low, but really cool! I got really muddy, but it was worth it.
12:00 pm Our next stop was the Chagga market. This was a busy area with fruits, vegetables, fresh meat (cows slain earlier in the morning), live, half dead and just killed chickens, fabric stands, and jewelry stands. We have quite a few chickens in our village in Karanga, but it was really interesting to see the women carrying them around by their legs. After negotiating a stellar price of 10,000 Tsh for a kitenge and a kanga in the market, we were off to lunch and swim at the waterfall!
1:00 pm The Kilasiya Waterfall is 30m high and contains a very strong and constant flow from Kilimanjaro. The name, Kilasiya, actually means ‘without end’ in the Chagga language, referencing the fall’s constant flow of water. Hiking down to the base of the falls was a little more challenging than any of us expected. Since it is the rainy season, the path/steps down the side of the mountain was very muddy and slippery. We were all holding the bamboo railings for dear life as we made the trek down. The waterfall was amazing! It was tall, and skinny, and surrounded by a beautiful jungle. We all put on our bathing suits and played in the water for an hour or so. Tons of fun! The climb up was tougher than the climb down with regards to cardio, but definitely not as scary.
3:30 pm Our next stop was a traditional Chagga hut. By this time, we were pretty overwhelmed with all of the newly learned information about the Chagga tribe, but actually going inside the hut was pretty cool. The hut is round and divided into 2 sections – one half for beds, storage, and the other half for animals. Since cows were a hot commodity, the Chagga kept them in the hut with them to keep them from getting stolen. This hut was MUCH more comfortable than the Chagga cave, and MUCH more comfortable than the Maasai cave. The Chagga have progressed much more than the Maasai, and very few people actually live in the huts anymore, but our guides had fond memories of staying in their grandparents’ huts.
4:30 Beer time! We stopped at a beautiful hotel, the Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort, for a couple drinks to wind down at the end of a long day.
5:30 One last stop before heading back to home base for dinner. We were all interested in trying banana beer, so we stopped in a rural part of the village with a bar (there are bars every couple meters here in TZ). We walked up and inside, and a woman filled a gourd with the contents of a bucket behind the bar. A little sketch, but hey, When in Africa, right? We all tried a little sip. It had some kind of grainy sediment on top, and it was really really bitter. It did not taste like beer at all, but the locals love it! We sat with some old ladies getting their fill after a long day of work, and shared a couple more sips. I’m writing this blog entry 2 days later, and I feel ok. I was pretty sure I’d get some kind of illness from this experience, but so far so good!
Monday, May 24, 2010
This is Africa, Part 2
Today has been an exhausting day, so I’m reverting back to bullet points to document today’s activities.
- At WEECE, we continued working with the girls on business tools and Excel. Today we taught them the importance of doing inventory counts in their store, and actually started our initial inventory count. While the English skills and Excel skills are slow coming, I think the girls are really starting to understand many of these business tools!
- Our afternoon activity included listening to a lecture about the education system in Tanzania. Our speaker was awesome! His name was Basil Lema. He is a former teacher turned politician, lobbying for changes in the school system, such as how budget is used as well as changing public primary schools to English language rather than Swahili (Secondary schools and Universities here in TZ only teach in English). He was a really interesting man. He gave us his business cards and personal email. This is one guy I’d definitely like to keep in touch with!
- I did my first load of laundry today. By hand. In the hot African sun. I am so happy that we have readily available washing machines back in the States!
- I went for my first run since coming to Africa. It was hot, muggy, and miserable…and it felt great! Brando and I ran together down the ~1 mile road to the highway and back. The road is more of a VERY rough trail with rocks, divots, holes, tiny children, sheep, goats, chickens, cars, school kids, and women carrying large loads of food on their heads. I got many weird looks from the villagers….I don’t think they get too many female runners in spandex in these parts. Although I was a bit out of place, I’m hoping I somehow inspired one of the female school children walking down the street. If this Mzungu girl can run with the boys, why can’t I?
- The children here are fascinated by Mzungu hair! Even the older girls at WEECE always want to touch it.• Mosquito nets are a pain in the butt to tuck into the sides of your bed each night, but they work!
- While our home base is in a Village (Karanga), it sounds more like a farm. Right now as I sit in bed getting ready to go to sleep I can hear cows, stray dogs, bush babies, and sheep. In 6 short hours (4am) the roosters will start crowing again.
- Everyone, even in Africa, listens to American pop music. We asked our cab driver to play some Tanzanian music, and he turned on American hip hop music and said that was what most people listen to.
- Mzungu bathrooms make me so so happy. WEECE, the campsites we stopped at, and many other “public” restrooms only have the dreaded hole in the ground.
- You can tell how well off somebody is by looking at their shoes
- Tanzania is a very harmonious country. Tribes are friends with other tribes, rich live next to poor, and different religious beliefs are very much tolerated.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
When Baboons Attack.....
On Friday afternoon, we headed out on our African Safari! Something I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to do! It was amazing!!!
We did our trip through Bushmen Expeditions, and they were great! We had 2 large Land Rovers for the 9 of us from CCS that went on the trip. Our first stop was the Mzunga supermarket in Arusha. The Bushmen guides were providing us with all meals, but gave us the opportunity to by additional snacks (and beer) for the weekend. After stocking up on Kilimanjaro beer, chips, and chocolate, we were headed west!
We made it to Mosquito Village
On Friday evening, we were able to visit a Maasai Village
The Maasai welcomed us with traditional dancing and singing, and even placed their jewelry on us and pulled us into the group to dance with them. We were given a tour of one of the huts…..well, we walked in and our guide pointed to everything. Each hut is probably 80 sq ft. max. There was a fire pit in the middle, and leather beds on either side of the pit. One bed was for the wife and children, and the other for the husband when he actually stayed in the house. Most of the men have multiple wives. We learned that both women and men are circumcised at age 18 or 19, and that when a woman gives birth, she stays in the hut for 3 months (other than going to the bathroom) and the other women in the tribe wait on her hand and foot. The new baby is welcomed into the tribe after those 3 months with a large celebration. It was pretty amazing to interact with these people that I have such a different culture.
On Saturday, we headed to Lake Manyara Lake Manyara
As we moved through the forest, we turned a corner and gasped when we saw a giraffe standing in the middle of the dirt road. This was probably the most exciting part of the safari for me. The first BIG animal. While taking pictures of the giraffe and its family, we heard the trumpeting of an elephant. Another 1/4 mile down the road, we found the elephant with its mate! Loved it!
As we headed through the rest of the park, we saw blue ball monkeys (see picture), zebras, wildebeests, warthogs (Puumba!), vultures, jackals, and hippos.
After the safari, we headed to Ngorogoro Crater. Our plan was to spend the night on the rim of the crater (in the park), and then wake up for an early morning start into the crater. After a 2 hour rainy drive to Ngorogoro, we made a stop at the Conservation Area gates so our guides could get our park permits. The five of us in the car had all been napping and had no desire to head out into the rain at this point, so our driver/guide headed to the office on his own, leaving his window half open. About 5 minutes after he left, Brando saw a baboon heading straight for the car and warned us. He immediately closed his window. Before we could reach the driver’s side window, the baboon had jumped in the car. We all screamed with thoughts of getting our faces torn off and contracting rabies. Brando reopened his window, somehow squeezed through it, and climbed on the roof of the car. Chris and Sara were in the first row of seats and pushed their way through one of the doors. Marcia and I were in the 2nd row of seats, and could not get out of the car before the baboon headed back from the front sheet, so we held our pillows out and got ready to fight with our feet. Luckily the baboon found some cookies in the front seat, and that was enough for him to grab and keep him satisfied, so he headed out the open door. We survived!
This whole incident lasted about 15 seconds, but felt much longer. Our guides rushed back to the car when they heard our screams, and were genuinely worried. Baboons are not nice animals! By that time, we had broken into nervous, hysterical laughter. Welcome to the jungle, right?
We finally made our way to our campsite on the crater rim, where the rain was falling quite steadily. We opted to stay in the car as the porters set up our tents. As the rain slowed, we caught glimpse of an elephant in the brush, about a football field away from where we were parked. ON OUR CAMPSITE! Too cool…but a bit scary too.
Sunday morning started with a 5:30 am rooster crow from Abbas (our guide). We were on the road by 6 to head into the crater. As we headed down, the fog started to clear, and we were treated to an amazing view of the sunrise over the entire crater.
As luck would have it, we ran into one of the big 5 right away (The big 5 are Lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, and rhinos). We spotted 2 cheetahs lying on a hill. We waited a bit to see if they would get up and run, but they were enjoying basking in the morning sun a little too much.
As we reached the crater floor, we saw hundreds of wildebeest and zebras scattered about. Deeper into the park, we finally spotted the black rhino. It was a bit of a distance away, but with my good zoom lens, I got a decent picture.
Unfortunately my 2nd camera battery died around this time, so save for a few shots, the rest of the safari was documented by my video camera. Luckily, my CCS friends were able to take some great pictures that I’m sure they will share.
We stopped for breakfast at the hippo pool, and then started our hunt for lions. As we reached another open plain, we saw a couple of safari vehicles stopped ahead. They spotted some lions. We drove up and turned off the car for at least 1/2 hour. There were four lions…a mother and her three almost grown cubs (2 females, 1 male). The four of them formed a line, each about a football field away from the other. Slowly, they would walk, one at a time, towards the safari vehicles on the road. Three of them walked directly past our car, and then sat down less than 10 feet away from us. So cool!
After spending some time with the lions, it was time to head back to the campsite to eat lunch and pack up. We spotted four more lions near a pond as we drove, one of which was an older male with an amazing mane.
As we left the campsite, our elephant friend came back for a few photo ops! Crazy that this thing could have greeted me as I walked out of my tent the night before!
After a quick stop for camel rides, we were on our way back to Moshi. Dirty, tired, but so thrilled about our first safari experience.
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Watering Hole
By Thursday, we were finally starting to feel a bit more comfortable at WEECE. The girls wait for our arrival to begin morning prayers. They usually start with a song (usually in Swahili). On Thursday they sang ‘How Great Thou Art’ in Swahili….it was beautiful! After the song, they go into the Hail Mary and the Our Father (both in English, which means I can participate). It has been a great way to start off the day. Mama Mrema came in for a couple hours, and since her eyesight is bad due to diabetes and recent surgeries, we took turns helping her with her emails as she cannot easily read the computer screen. She had one more surgery planned for Friday, so while she really wanted to be at work, you could tell that she had other things on her mind.
Day 2 of the Excel lesson with the girls went very well. We taught the girls how to budget and had them build a budgeting tool in Excel. I think most of the girls understood – we asked sawa sawa? (ok ok?) and they said yes. It’s amazing how eager these girls are to learn!!! The idea of saving money is completely foreign to them as most of them come from very poor families. Every shilling is used for food, clothing, shelter, or school….if they are lucky. In many families, the husband/father controls all of the money, and will spend much of it on beer. Unfortunately, this is a big problem in this country. Even the men that work here at CCS admit that most men in the country are lazy. The women do all of the work, and then the men spend the money on frivolous things like banana beer rather than school for their daughters.
Anyway, we told them they would need at least 10,000,000 shillings to buy a car (~$9000 US), and gave that item as a stretch goal to save for. Most of the girls at WEECE either walk a couple miles or take the daladala (bus) to class. It is very doubtful that anybody in their immediate family has a car, so giving them this goal seemed to work well and add a little excitement to the exercise. Combining the clothing sales and production spreadsheets with the budget, the girls were able to determine how many pieces of clothing they would have to make and sell in order to obtain their basic needs, put money into a savings “account,” and buy fabric to make additional clothing. In addition to teaching the girls these skills and showing them how to track this information in Excel, I am making an Excel template for them to use in the future. For each thing we introduce to the group, we try to think of a way to make it sustainable after we leave (Gotta love the Control phase in DMAIC!)
The best part of the week was Mel’s “PE Class.” From 10-10:30 every morning, she leads different games for all of us as a break between classes. On Thursday, we taught the girls the Macarena!!! It was so funny! Luckily, I had my little video camera with me, so was able to get some of the action recorded. When I showed the girls the video a little later, they were so so excited. I’m not sure if any of them had ever seen themselves on video before, so this was a real treat. They want to watch it every day now, so I think I’ll upload it to some of the WEECE computers next week so they can watch it whenever they want. I’m not sure I’ll be able to post the video to my blog from here in Africa , but I will try to post on Facebook this week.
On Thursday night, I finally ventured out to the bar for the first time. 11 out of the 15 of us headed out to The Watering Hole, an expat bar about 2 miles from home base. It was great to finally drink some Tanzanian beer (Tusker). Now that we’re all settling in, I’m sure there will be many more evening trips in the future. So many beers, so little time! :)
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