That’s the saying here for dala dalas and buses (dala dalas
are the small minivans that work as buses).
There are seats for people and then the isles for many more people. No matter how squished you think you are and
don’t think there is any room at all, they pull over, open the door, and cram
another passenger into the van/bus somehow.
I don’t really understand how it works; although it is a typical occurrence
whenever traveling here. Just this
morning on my way to town, I hoped into the crowded dala dala at 6am and was
pushed into a tiny space in the isle in the back of the bus. No seats…so I stood, well tried to stand as
the car started moving and I quickly grabbed onto the seats to stay
standing. Then came the 2 hour ride of
stop and go stop and go to cram more people on.
The minivan is short so I have to duck the whole way and every bump
means my head hits the top and I have to hold onto the seats next to me as
strong as I can to stay standing. Turns
out, traveling to town is a great arm workout! Anyways, traveling here still
amazes me but I got safely to town…finally.
Life has been picking up speed since my in-service training
and Malaria/ sub-regional training. I
started to teach an afterschool English class three times a week. I have about 55 kids from classes 3-7 so it’s
a wide range of students, especially in literacy. Many cannot read or write, which is proving
to be difficult, but they are all so eager to learn. It’s hard to say no to adding more students
when they’ve been at school since 730am and I teach from 4-515ppm and many
don’t even go home to eat at all. So I
figure if they’re that dedicated to stay and try to learn English, it’s worth
the extra work to try and read they’re “writing.” And I absolutely love it! The kids are always
so happy and excited and I have a lot of fun.
Not really sure how much of a difference I will make in their English
skills since we are starting from the very beginning basics, and like I said
many can’t read or write, but either way were all having fun and enjoying it.
April 25th was World Malaria Day. I worked with my CCA, community change agent,
who does Malaria education within my ward (ten villages are in my ward). We played a game with all the kids at the
primary school. Classes 6 and 7 played a
game like sharks and minnows but it was mbu
(mosquitoes) and vyadarua (mosquito
nets). A few players in the middle were
mosquitoes and the ends of the soccer field were the safe spots under mosquito
nets. They had to run to the other end of the field and if the mosquitoes
tagged them they became mosquitoes in the middle. They had a great time! Ill post pictures and
videos on Facebook. After the game we
had a discussion on how Malaria is transmitted and that mosquitoes need to keep
biting infected people to spread Malaria. So we stressed that not only does
sleeping under a net help prevent Malaria from you, but also helps your friends
and family from getting it as well.
After the game, I worked with my after school English class on a Dream
Banner. We asked the kids what they
wanted to be when they were older. There
were many responses similar to kids back home- doctors, nurses, teachers,
pilots, farmers, etc. Then I passed out
crayons (thanks for the crayons mom) to draw themselves as what they wanted to
be. They loved it and had so much fun
using the crayons (a great package idea for anyone sending me packages!). Then I discussed how prevent themselves from
getting Malaria helps keep them healthy and able to work hard/go to school to
accomplish their dreams. I told them to
take the pictures home and hang it on their nets to remind them to use their
nets every night to reach their dreams.
Not sure how many will actually hang them with their nets, but it was
also a great discussion to get them thinking about their futures too. When doing my house to house surveys in my
first few months, one question was about plans for people and their families
for the future and it was shocking how awkward that question was. Most people did not understand it or couldn’t
give a response for future plans. The
majority of those that did answer said their plans were having food for their
families. So I think it’s good to start
emphasizing and reflecting on dreams early with my students. Anyways, we didn’t learn any English that
day, but I think we had a fun and eventful World Malaria Day.
Within less than a week, I went to a wedding and a
funeral. Both were great experiences to
learn more about Tanzanian culture and I was glad to be invited to both
occasions. The wedding was for a girl
that lives next door to me. I was kept
up all night by people singing and playing the drums and did not know what the
celebration was until early that next morning when many people were out singing
and shouting. I was slightly upset since
not only did I not sleep well the night before, but then people were yelling
outside my house and often shouting my name as well. I got up to see what all the commotion was
about and many young women told me to go next door to get pico (hair dye they use as nail polish and artwork on the body like
henna). Still a bit out of it I decided
to take the morning to do stuff around my house and then joined the singing and
drum playing next door. All the men were
sitting on the opposite side of the house as the women. However, most of the younger men and women
were singing and dancing around the drums, while the bibi and babu (grandmothers
and grandfathers) sat around but on different sides of the house. The bride was inside, which when I arrived a
few mamas grabbed me to take me
inside the house to see the bride. She
was sitting on the ground, facing the door, pico
drawn all over her body, head covered with a shawl, and had makeup on. She looked beautiful and they lifted the
shawl to show me her face. I
congratulated her and she nodded. I don’t
think the brides can talk or smile until after they leave the house with the
groom. I went back outside to sit with
my bibi and watched everyone
celebrating. Alcohol was being passed
around in a cup and jug. The local pombe, alcohol, is made from the fruit
from cashew trees, smells awful, and is really strong. I don’t know this
because I’ve tried even a sip, but because it smells appalling and makes people
inebriated out of their minds. Anyways,
after a while, I was brought back in the house with the bride and many bibi and watched the groom and bride
walk out of the house together and then the parade of people following with the
drums, and signing, and dancing. I
joined in the dancing a bit which was nothing more than just a slight hip
swaying since there were so many people packed together, but it was fun and
everyone was happy to see me joining in.
The parade of people went all around the village with the kids all
running in front of the drum players, and everyone else singing and dancing
behind. I walked over to watch some mamas cooking the biggest pot of ugali I have ever seen. They dug three trenches to place firewood
under a pot that was about 2 feet in diameter and had two of these going. Once the water was boiled, corn flour was
added to the pot, and two women with extremely long wooden spoons stirred
together. The cooking process of ugali is a workout that I have not
mastered, and with a pot this big, once the flour becomes a sticky glob, it is
extremely difficult to stir; therefore, women were switching off turns. I told them I would try with a smaller pot
again, but not attempt that huge pot until I mastered cooking ugali in a smaller pot. Once the ugali
and vegetables (greens and beans) were prepared, communal plates were
passed around for everyone in groups of about 10. I ate inside the house with the same bibi again. By now people were pretty hammered and one bibi even started dancing extremely
sexually to see my reaction, which was pretty funny. After we ate, there was more dancing,
singing, drums, and drinking. Then we
all walked to the groom’s house, about a 4 min walk within my village. There was more dancing, drinking, drums,
singing, and another round of ugali
that I passed up on. Oh, and there was this absolutely awful drink that they
love to drink for special occasions. I
forget what it actually is but it’s something with cassava and they put it in a
bucket and basically wait until it tastes like sour milk. And they love this stuff! I’ve tried it once
before and tried it again at this wedding, but with only one tiny sip, my mouth
tastes like I just vomited and didn’t rinse out my mouth. So that was
lovely. After a while, group dancing
began to form in a circle around the drums.
I was convinced to join in their dancing and had a lot of fun. The main movements were walking a few steps
in a large circle, turning inward to face the drums, shake your hips a bit, and
repeat. And the crowd just absolutely
loved watching me attempt this. At some
point people would run across the circle to almost grind on someone else so
people loved singling me out. Another
type of dance started that involved more foot moves but was super simple as
well. Overall, it was tons of fun to
join in, learn their dances, attempt and look stupid, but all laugh and have a
good time. After a while of these
dances, people broke up and returned to their houses. I have no idea where the bride or groom went after
I saw them exit the house, so not sure if they partake in any of the dancing or
drums. So over all, not too different
that weddings back home- singing, dancing, lots of food, lots of drinking, and
everyone having a good time!
Funerals, on the other hand, turned out to be very different
than funerals I have experienced back home.
My mama told me about a
funeral in the neighboring village one night and asked if I wanted to go. I asked if it would be ok, and after she said
yes, double checked I would need to where a khanga,
piece of fabric wrapped over a skirt, and cover my head. She said yes, and I made sure she’d help me
with covering my head since I have not done that at all. So the next morning, a group of women and my mama came to my house, and my mama helped me wrap another khanga over my head. It was a funny site for everyone in my village
since I rarely even where a khanga
over my skirts. So we walked to the next
village over and then sat outside a house with all the other women. Men were sitting a little ways off under some
trees. All the women had their heads
covered and were sitting outside the house, keeping their babies under control,
and chatting amongst themselves. I kept
waiting for something to start or happen.
However, for about two minutes, a group of younger men passed in front
of the house, I barely heard some talk where all the older men were sitting and
where the other men walked to, then the men that walked by returned to wherever
they came from, and that was it. We got
up to leave, and a few stayed behind to enter the house and see the body. Apparently it was a four year old child. I have no idea who the parents or family even
were. On the walk back, I explained how
funerals often are in America. She was surprised
to learn that most people wear all black, unlike the bright and mismatching khangas here. I also told her how men and women sit
together, there are often speakers who talk about the deceased, and then people
follow the casket out and to the grave.
I told her too that most of the time people are not speaking and remain
silent. She told me only men follow the
body to the grave, but that women often will sing together and do not remain
silent. Also, it was weird to have such a disconnection from the whole thing- not
knowing the child that passed away or even who it was until after we left, not
seeing or knowing the family at all, sitting outside of the house listening to
women chat about everyday things, and not having any unified announcement or
statement at all. It was weird, but a
cool experience nonetheless.
Speaking of funerals, the whole idea of the mgonjwa, sick patient, is
interesting. People are always going to
visit sick people. They will walk miles
to go and visit someone who is ill just to make an appearance. My friend Fatuma probably wins at visiting
the most sick patients. I feel like every
day she goes somewhere, often other villages and sometimes even on pricey bus
rides to town, just to visit sick people.
I have done my share here and there.
It mostly consists of saying pole,
sorry, and sitting around. Once I went
to visit a relative of the chief, my baba
(father), who was a child that had severe Malaria and was having
convulsions. I sat inside the house with
the women, said my greetings, said pole
to all the family members, and then listened to the women chatting about
everyday things. After awhile you
leave. It’s simple, yet I think its cool
how people don’t just send a card or email to say sorry, but actually make the
effort to show their support. Often
people have to walk long distances, pay for transportation, and spend time away
from their farms in order to make their appearances. For the many times I cannot attend these
visits with my friends or simply don’t know the patients, you have to say pole to the person that is going to pay
the visit. I don’t think there is a day
that goes by where someone doesn’t come to greet me, then tell me they’re going
somewhere to salamia mgonjwa, say
hello to a sick patient, and then I respond with a simple pole.
Anyways, on a less gloomy note, I finally think I have the
ball rolling on some projects. I
contacted the District AIDS Coordinator in town and had a meeting with him to
set up free condom distributions. He
works with an organization Masasi Youth Development Network, which involved
peer education with youth. So I met
someone from that organization who said I could get free condoms to start a
youth peer education program. So came
back with a giant box of 6000 condoms.
People came to my door to ask for condoms within 5 minutes of me getting
off my bus so there is definitely a demand.
I spoke with many youth about setting up a meeting to choose two youth,
one male and one female, to help be peer educators in teaching how to use
condoms effectively and distributing them.
So hopefully this week we will choose two educators, and then I will
train them, then they can distribute to everyone within the village. I also met with a guy from the Aga Khan
Foundation, which is an organization that does small community based loan
groups at the village level. They
provide trainings for village members to set up groups, elect leaders within
groups, write a constitution, how loans and shares work, how to pay back loans,
etc. They also provide boxes with books
to keep track of spending and 3 separate locks to ensure security within the
groups. They have a very high success
rate and it is a great program to provide a place to save and have access to
small amounts of money when most people cannot afford going to town to go to
the bank, let alone have enough to put in a bank and take out loans. Also, unlike banks, they are completely
accountable for the members in their groups.
They will be coming tomorrow to speak at my big village meeting to start
the group formations. Today in town, I
also met with the District Water Engineer about potential water projects. He described how the only source of water was
from my ward village, about 6-7
kilometers away from my village, and that we would need an energy source
to get the water from the source to the holding tank that is there, and then
pipes running from the tank all the way to my village. So…that’s not really feasible moneywise but
we’ll see. Other options are drilling a
well, which requires quite a bit of money as well to get someone to do a land
survey and measure the water table, then the cost of drilling, and then the
cost of a hand pump. The last option is rain
water catchment which would be much cheaper, but would not be enough to last throughout
all the dry months in the year. Right
now there are a few “wells” in my village which are just deep holes they have
dug that holds rain water. When that
runs out, which rainy season is now over, they have to bike to the ward village
to chota maji, fetch water. So it is a huge problem since I feel the “wells”
they have now are even too far and have too little water. So I plan to discuss these ideas with the
village leaders this week to see our options.
Tomorrow I have a big village meeting planned. It has been a pain in the ass to get a
meeting with everyone due to the two separate sub villages and some local
government communication issues. But
after bringing this up at a ward level meeting, and going to the mwenyekiti, chairman, and mtendaji or VEO, village executive
officer’s house a million times last week, I got the official date for tomorrow
afternoon. The Aga Khan Foundation guy
and my CCA (malaria ed guy) will both be coming as well. I am planning on having the village members
vote on a project committee to select 3 men and 3 women from both of my sub
villages. Then, with a smaller number or
people, we can select which project to begin with, make a timetable, and work
on the grant writing and project details together. Hopefully, this goes well and we can start on
a project. Also going to mention the
various groups and committees we can start based on the areas of interest I saw
during my Village Situation Analysis and house to house surveys. I am hoping that people will acknowledge
their interest in various groups and talk with the project committee or myself
to start forming different groups ( i.e. health club, PLWHA, farmers group) So we’ll see how tomorrow goes!
Other than teaching and planning for meetings, I have really
enjoyed the women’s soccer team my village started. There is a team in each sub village and all
week we have been practicing with scrimmages against each other and mazoezi, exercises such as running and
stretches. It has been so fun to play
soccer again, bond with the young women, and have some others to work out with-
although their mazoezi is not exactly
a great workout. I also finally started
running in my village since I have been back from my trainings and really am
enjoying that. People think it’s weird
but great that I am running and I have many people tell me hongera, congrats, while I am working out.
Other random updates on this book I am writing today…found
and had my mama kill another bat in
my house, started a compost pile with a few boys, enjoy my nightly ritual of
staring at the amazing millions of stars that are visible since there is no
electricity in my village, garden is good so getting greens everyday and lots
of cucumbers, going to plant a lot more things once the lettuce and cucumber die
out and I redo my beds, went to town today with James and Charlotte to have a
little break and American time and got 5 packages at the post office- so
excited to open them!! Although things
have been very stressful with getting this meeting set up, I have been really
enjoying furthering my integration with village members and really having fun
with teaching. I am excited to have my
meeting tomorrow as well and will hopefully get even busier with project
plans.
I know my communication has not been great with most of you
and that is super hard since I miss you all so much! Sorry for the book I have
written for this blog post and I know I left out lots but hopefully this gets
you all caught up a bit. I love and miss
you all and hope you are all happy and healthy.
Keep sending letters and love! xoxoxo
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