I Know This Much is True

These are my Summer 2010 final thoughts.

I know this much is true – (dedicated to Sara Bridge)

I’m writing on a netbook computer in Dar es Salaam and as I look around, I see only varying shades of brown skin and hear only the occasional word or phrase that I understand. I have a thin film of sweat all over my body and my shirt is damp under the arms and I stink. Coins are jingled deliberately in the hands of young boys walking the city, selling peanuts from baskets. Motorcycles and loud banging on metal are wracking my brain. Taxi drivers hover for the hopeful sighting of someone in need of a ride with big cash in his pocket. Some women walk by with kangas tied around their waists, but more are dressed for the city; most of the men are wearing the distinctive small Muslim hats and every handful of hours, the Mosque reminds all of us what some should be doing. The smiles – when they come to life – light up my day. I’ve never seen more perfect, straight, white teeth on more beautiful faces. Work is done inefficiently – with brooms made from small sticks, trash is thrown in the street so someone can pick it up every morning at 5am and coffee seems to take 30 minutes to brew. I am in the city and it’s loud and impersonal. Continue reading “I Know This Much is True”

When I Leave, I Will Miss …

When I go, I will miss …

I will miss the children – their smiles, their shy greetings, their big eyes and bare feet, their toys made of palm leaves, plastic bottles and spare tires, their school uniforms in varying degrees of deterioration, their unyielding desire to go to school. .. even their shouts of mzungu and naomba hela or the English version of the same phrase – give me money! I will absolutely miss the children – they keep me going from visit to visit, they keep me energized to pump donors for more money, they keep me coming back for another hot summer, another crammed dala dala ride, another trial of my patience and determination. One afternoon in their humble homes or on a rock by the river, chatting away about simple matters or sharing information about our respective cultures and I feel that they are all that matters in the whole world.

Continue reading “When I Leave, I Will Miss …”

July Update on Amahoro Secondary School

Well – as I suppose you may have surmised, progress was a little slower than I was hoping it would be, but not by much. In fact, in the 3 weeks that I was there, I never imagined that as much would be done.

First, Isaya (the builder) had architectural plans drawn up in about one day. With the plans we also got the building permit. Having that out of the way, we met with the land office and the ministry of education and confirmed with the village government that the land was ready for building and it had been approved by the villagers.

Next on the agenda was the big materials shopping day. I gladly handed over almost 3 million shillings so that Isaya could take care of this on his own. He bought aluminum, wood, tools, 100 bags each of lyme and cement, nails and other odds and ends for the initial phase – four classrooms and two offices. The transport of this material alone – in car part of the way and on the backs of the men up the final stretch of steep rocky path – was quite a feat!

Continue reading “July Update on Amahoro Secondary School”

Dusty Road to Kabanga

When you’re doing anything in Tanzania as mzungu, you’re bound to get some attention – some wanted, some unwanted. Mostly – the attention I get is wanted, even (most of the time) when it comes to the repeated requests for saidiya (help) … most of the time, I must repeat. Sometimes, it’s annoying and exhausting at best.

In this one case, I didn’t need to be asked. The babu or grandfather for one of my young friends, Saidi Sadiki, is named Saidi Mkete. He’s such a cool old man – and I say that based on my observations of his behavior and others’ reactions to his words. I barely understand him but I adore him as if he were my own grandfather and again, I barely know him. I think this is because there is something vulnerable and wise about him.

The vulnerability comes from his near blindness. His eyes have been bothering him a lot recently and he is progressively losing his sight. As the sight goes, it leaves him in great pain. I thought he was fully blind when I first met him because he’s always sitting with his head in his hands – or his eyes resting on his knuckles. He’s never without a cloth to wipe his eyes.

Continue reading “Dusty Road to Kabanga”

Give a Girl a Smile, Watch Her Glow

The other day was a day of serendipitous moments. Serendipity is really only interesting to the ones experiencing it, really – although I quite get a kick out of sharing and hearing about others’ experiences. So, in case you’re like me – here are two that happened the other day.

I had planned to go to GOSESO to talk with the class about proper treatment of the baboon orphans that live there. Those little guys are my buds and I heard that the students are teasing them, making them fight each other and scaring them a little bit. So, I thought I would show them how nice the baboons can be and what some proper people-animal behavior might look like – especially on a campus that is supposed to be promoting wildlife conservation.

But, alas – we were deterred from our plan mid-route. We got the message via text right as our dala dala was passing Mwandiga Secondary School. I had planned to visit the school at some point before going, so no time like the present! We dropped down from the dala dala. Continue reading “Give a Girl a Smile, Watch Her Glow”

Finger Lickin’ Good

I love eating with my hands. I love sitting down to a meal of whole fish, beans, spinach and rice with freshly washed hands because I know what comes next. I get to squish some rice around in my palm, making a nice tight little ball that I use to collect spinach before stabbing some fish that I just peeled off the bone and then wading through the beans. Then I take the whole messy stack, scooped onto my middle, ring and pinky fingertips and with a little help from behind, my thumb pushes the whole delicious helping into my mouth. I look around and enjoy seeing a room full of adults eating with their hands. Naughty naughty … or normal. Continue reading “Finger Lickin’ Good”

Rafiki Zangu – My Friends

Although my work now is primarily in the village of Mgaraganza, I still have some important lasting relationships with the first village I lived in during the summer of 2008 – Kiganza. It’s been wild to stay in touch with people from so far away – see their faces light up when I return year after year, watch their families grow and shrink with births and deaths, share in their children’s delight over going to school and just sit in the comfortable silence of their small, humble homes with no need to say too much. Continue reading “Rafiki Zangu – My Friends”

Dokumenti – Some Humorous Finds

There are lots of writings here – on t-shirts, dala dalas, walls, signs and in various other random spots – that just make you chuckle a bit. I saw a dala dala (minibus public transport) drive by with the following on the back window:

Don’t tease me, if you can’t please me

There was a cute little girl standing in the market in her black skirt and a pink t-shirt that said: Tough guys wear pink. That was funny in the moment and became even funnier when we saw a piki piki (motorcycle taxi) driver wearing a pink woman’s jacket and then another young man walking with a pink woman’s purse a few days later. Tough guys use pink purses. Continue reading “Dokumenti – Some Humorous Finds”