I need a what?!?!

If there is one thing I am more afraid of than spiders, it is the dentist.  And, as luck would have it, early last week I found myself wide awake at 3 am, in excruciating pain, in a guesthouse in Iringa, Tanzania.  Looking back on it, it is sort of funny.  I had pretty much convinced myself that I had the worst migraine imaginable that was radiating pain through the right side of my face, my eye and my jaw.  Truthfully, it was sort of like the time I fell face first on the ice, held my hand over my bloody smashed in teeth and told my mom I didn’t have to go to the hospital because it was only a broken nose.  Apparently, I will subconsciously recreate any ailment in order to avoid a trip to the dentist.

My denial lasted a few days and then last Friday night I woke up with pain that was undeniably only in my tooth.  So this past Tuesday, I started my two day journey to Dar es Salaam to find a dentist.  I was able to meet up with four of my friends from Zanzibar and for a couple of days we hung out, played cards, caught up, cooked fajitas, enjoyed a few drinks and ate at great restaurants.  It was a much appreciated mini-vacation.  Then, Friday morning, I found myself rolling through the traffic jams in downtown Dar in a bijaji, chattin’ it up in Swahili with my driver, heading in to the dentist to get a filling.  In Africa.  To be honest, I was pretty proud of myself for just stepping up and figuring out where to go and how to get there all by myself.  Unfortunately, by the time I got to the dentist’s office the excitement of my adventure had worn off and in its place was a nauseating feeling of fear. 

My fear quickly turned into downright panic when the dentist informed me that a filling wouldn't do it.  I would need a root canal.  And, of course, not just any root canal, but a triple root canal.  Apparently my tooth had three canals that had to be drilled out and the process would take two days.  Fun.

It’s been exactly 24 hours since day one of my root canal and I’m doing surprisingly well.  Somehow, in a third world country, I found a really smart, extremely kind dentist who reassured me he would do everything he could to make sure I was comfortable.  Unfortunately, he didn’t have the headphones I asked for to block out the drilling sound!  Aside from that, he held true to his word.  He was great.  I clenched my trembling hands together, did my best to think about anything other than what was going on in my mouth, and in thirty minutes it was over.  The pain hasn’t been too bad and by next Tuesday I’ll be ready to head back to Dr. Shabbir, my new favorite dentist at SD Dental Clinic for round two.

In the meantime, I plan to enjoy my time in the city and take advantage of the little luxuries like movie theaters, Subway, pedicures, ice cream, high pressure showers and digital TV. 

One hour after my root canal - on the way to the U.S. Embassy

Top 10 Best Moments in Zanzibar (so far)

 I realize creating this list now is a bit like Brittany Spears releasing her album Greatest Hits: My Prerogative (2004) after only 5 years and 4 pop albums.  But I'm gonna go ahead and release the list anyway...mostly because my friends and I need some comic relief.

So here it is:

10.  Throwing up – with style - over the side of the dhow on the way back from Prison Island.
9.  Laughing until I was crying – or crying until I was laughing – with Ash over pili pili Indian food we couldn’t afford, while shoving a granola bar in my mouth as quickly as I could to stop the burn.
8.  Stacey: “Rebekah, are you sitting on the termites?”  Me: emotional breakdown
7.  Roger losing his wallet…can someone please send us a t-shirt to Zanzibar that says "Drama Queen"?!?
6.  Scaling the wall with Rog and Ash on the beach in Page…thank God we had that snack break for Ashley first or we would have never made it over the wall
5.  Sitting with Jenn, recalling our first days with the whole group (all 26 of us) in Stonetown.  Me:  "We must have looked like idiots, walking around this small town in a giant group like tourists."  Jenn:  "OMG!  You could see our giant white blob on f*#%ing Google Maps!"
4.  Keavy:  “Well, no.  I mean, I think when it prints it comes out on edible paper.”
3.  Bonding over rummy with Rog and Ash: “Upthegrove?!”
2.  First weekend in Nungwi: Ashley passing out in the tire; Rog schmuckin’ out on dinner; Jenn giving us a look in the rear view (mirror); my (bad) advice to Ashley – “Just text him and say ‘Please stop calling me’”; Jenn’s text saying school was cancelled (Good lookin’ out, Jenn)
1.  Taking a hot shower…oh wait, that hasn’t happened yet.

Thanks, peeps, for a hella good first 6 weeks!

Keeping busy...

I'm sitting on my bed in the middle of the afternoon savoring a small piece of my Hershey's Symphony bar and wondering if it will really be 9 more months before I taste solid chocolate again.  I figured I better stop lamenting over melted chocolate and catch up on my blog.

Where to begin?  Some things haven't changed - or have changed and then changed back again.  For example, within 24 hours of my last blog post I was informed we finally had running water; only to lose it again the next day.  The day we lost water again also happened to be the day I returned from a beautiful trip to Prison Island just off the coast of Stonetown.  We took a small dhow boat to the island, spent the day in the sun, ate lunch on the beach, got to pet the giant turtles...and then took the dhow back to town.  I spent pretty much the entire trip back trying to keep down my lunch.  Outcome = unsuccessful.  For the next 3 days I was sick in bed.  No food, very little water.  I couldn't keep much of anything down.  Being sick is bad enough, but being sick in a 3rd world country where clean bathrooms do not exist and laying on a cold bathroom floor is definitely NOT recommended is terrible.  Almost all of us on this adventure have been sick in one way or another.  We're all just hoping we are through the worst.

Aside from physical exhaustion, we are pretty much all mentally exhausted, too.  This portion of my fellowship is a pilot program and, well let's just say, if we were keeping score there have been more losses than wins.  Fortunately, while we all seem to lose our sanity from time to time, my friends and I have managed to try to find the humor in everything and we are surviving.  Classes are inconsistent and often not as beneficial as we would like.  Time is always a-wastin'.  The food is hard to adjust to.  Transportation is unreliable.  Homestays are not always easy to deal with.  And we seem to be lost more often than not.  Just finding a place where we can all crowd around a laptop and watch a football game is a challenge.  Personal space is a concept that is hardly understood and finding someone who will wash your underwear is pretty much unheard of.

Thankfully, last weekend I got to travel back up to Moshi to visit my friends up there.  I can't clearly convey how great it was to be back - and it wasn't just because the weather is so much better there!  I found myself taking time during the weekend just to enjoy the moment I was in.  On Friday I stood in the kitchen just staring out the window to the backyard.  In that moment of quiet I was reminded how much I do love Tanzania.  I think I'm just still in the process of learning to love all of it!  We didn't have running water in Moshi, our car broke down on the way from the airport in Arusha, and some other surprising problems came to light during my time there.  Despite everything, I loved every minute of my time in Moshi.  We went to the market, watched movies, played pool, went back to some of my old haunts, ate good food and slept in.  Plus, Saturday night I got to make dinner.  I taught Fatuma how to make the filling for chicken pot pie and then we dumped it over mashed potatoes.  It was just what I needed - a little comfort food (with a bottle of riesling)!

I told myself from the very beginning not to forget that the first 30 days are always the hardest.  Sometimes I still seem to forget.  The good news is that I'm almost to the 30 day mark and I've survived...maybe only by a shoestring, but I've survived.  It will only get better from here!

Dhow boats we took to Prison Island

Turtles on Prison/Changuu Island

Learning to Live with Gratitude, Not Attitude

I haven't written a blog post for a week - and for good reason.  I wasn't sure how I would manage to write a post without complaining.  Classes are hard.  My schedule is packed full of requirements: language partners, field trips, 4 hours of class in the morning, grammar lessons in the evenings.  Not to mention I no longer have running water which means bucket "showers", sweaty nights and cranky mornings.  Having a toilet to pee in is a luxury that is never guaranteed.  The food is sub-par.  Upset stomachs are abundant.  Getting lost is becoming the norm and timeliness is not a concept that is understood here.  Even when we go away on the weekends to chill out and gather our wits we encounter one obstacle after another before we are able to finally find a place to unwind.

This weekend my friends and I went to Bwejuu, a small town on the east coast of Zanzibar for the weekend.  Somehow, in the middle of paradise, it is easier to slip back into complaining about life in Stone Town rather than enjoy the beauty of where we are at.  This morning when I awoke I found that I was already in a less than ideal mood.  I had just woken up and I was already dreading returning back to life in the "projects" (the nickname we've given our humble little neighbor'hood').  On the one hour daladala ride back to town this afternoon, I put on my headphones, turned on my favorite playlist and took some time to just chill out.  I've decide to commit to focusing on the things that I am thankful for here.  I am living my dream.  Receiving a Boren Fellowship is a huge honor - one that was given to me.  Looking at the people around me, the villages we passed and the landscape I am privileged to see, gave me a little perspective.

I want to share with all of you some of the things that I am thankful for so far:

First and foremost, I have an amazing family and strong group of friends back home who I can always count on.  You have supported me, encouraged me to follow my dreams, prayed for me and cheered me on.  And you haven't forgotten about me now that I am halfway around the world.  I don't know what I would do without you!

Second, only to my friends and family back home, are the new friends I have made here.  To the gang I went to Nungwi with our first weekend in Zanzibar:  Judging by our first weekend together, we have a pretty incredible 3 months ahead of us.  We are so lucky to have plenty of crazy stories, DQ moments, good meals, cheap rooms, and even cheaper drinks to look forward to.  Here's to Ashley learning how to brush her teeth, Jenn chatting up the locals, Keavy avoiding any future run-ins with sea urchins, Roger remembering to pay for his meals, Kate avoiding any future food poisoning, Rusty finishing his Thank You's, and Stacey finding a better role model than her new big sis'.  Can't wait for the Full Moon Party, guys!  Thanks for joining me in the insanity.

Scaling a private wall in search of a place to crash in Page...

First afternoon out with the girls.

My sista from the 'hood

Keavy and Jenn - back from a run

Teaching the gang how to play Hold 'Em

Jenn getting a sea urchin removed with local "medicines"

I have plenty more to be thankful for.  Although living conditions are less than ideal, I have a house mom who loves having me.  She cares about where I'm going and what I'm doing.  My teacher at the university here is, in my opinion, the best teacher at SUZA and my class couldn't be better.  I have a huge room with plenty of closet space to hold all of the little luxuries I was fortunate enough to bring from home:  granola bars, Off Botanicals bug spray, plenty of summer outfits, a year's worth of Caudalie skin care products, magazines and candy bars from my girl (who just sent me a picture of herself with my Grandma!), photographs from home, beef jerky, room spray, extra laptop batteries, sound proof headphones, Starbucks Vias and 14 pair of shoes.  I have my pillow pet to sleep with every night and a necklace I wear every day to keep my sis' close to me.

On top of all of that, I am living the life I had always hoped I could live.  How amazing is that?  I get to live in Tanzania for a year and build new friendships that I already know will last a lifetime.  I have been given the chance to see parts of the world many will only ever dream about seeing.  I have the opportunity to explore issues that I am most passionate about.  I get to travel and better understand how people here live; to learn what their needs are and to hopefully discover what I can do to help.  And at the end of it all, this fellowship provides me with priority hiring status and a leg up into the federal government.

I am humbled and blessed.  I am reminded that life really is what you make of it.  By choosing to focus on what I am grateful for, rather than what isn't quite what I expected, I already feel better.  Thanks for listening...and if you're feeling the same way I was earlier today, give it a try.  Make a list.  We have been given so much more than we realize.

A Somber Mourning

This past weekend myself and 7 other Boren students went up to Nungwi on the northern tip of Zanzibar for a much needed getaway.  We were exhausted after all of the travel, orientations and introductions to our new "home" and decided to hit the beach.  Fortunately, we quickly found a great place to stay - Jambo Brothers - bungalows on the beach.  I've added some pictures to my Zanzibar pictures page to the right.

We all went to sleep relatively early Friday night, but were awoken around 4am Saturday morning to a lot of yelling.  Ashley (my bungalow-mate) and I, assumed people were being loud and drunk and went back to sleep. When we finally got up and went outside later that morning (much later), we learned that the over-night ferry from Dar es Salaam sunk on its way to Pemba Island.  The sinking occurred 14 miles off the coast from where we were staying in Nungwi so most of the rescue operations were launched from here.  UNICEF arrived, South Africa sent divers, the Brits sent helicopters, the local military police and even the President showed up.  Throughout the morning locals were seen carrying bodies on stretchers through the villages to waiting ambulances, buses and taxis.  Zanzibar itself is a very small island (about 67 miles long and 20 miles wide).  The communities are interconnected and, as a result, almost everyone we know or met this weekend knew at least one person on the ferry.  Many people lost several friends and family members.

The story as to what happened is still somewhat unclear.  Many different accounts have been reported in the news and by the locals.  Journalists were actually told not to report the incident by local government officials.  We believe the ferry hit a reef and began to slowly leak water in.  When the passengers saw the water they panicked, rushing to one side of the boat and it capsized in the early morning hours.  Several of the passengers on board used cell phones to call the mainland which alerted first respondents to the sinking.  We also know that the ferry had a capacity of 600, but officials likely boarded nearly 800 ticketed passengers (some reports are up to 1000) including many children who had boarded that do not require tickets and were therefore not counted.  The death toll is unofficially at 240 right now with approximately 500 rescued.  Among the rescued were only 20 children.

As merely an observer to these events it is difficult to come to terms with what has happened here in Zanzibar.  Many small injustices appear to have added up to one indescribable tragedy that has affected hundreds of thousands of people.  The overnight ferry is the cheapest route from one island to the next and, therefore, the "local" ferry.  While the ferries are always crowded, I can say with confidence that one of the day ferries filled with western tourists would never have been filled so far beyond capacity.  And even if one of these ferries did sink, it is likely there would have been more survivors simply due to the fact that most westerns can swim and could have tread water until help arrived.  Not to mention the fact that the daylight alone would have helped rescuers locate passengers.

We've all spent a lot of time discussing what happened here this weekend...and we have come up with more questions than answers.  What I do know is that we have been warmly welcomed by the local Zanzibari people during their time of mourning.  They have handled this tragedy with a quiet spirit of sorrow.  Despite the horror of this avoidable event, they mourn in near silence, moving through their daily routines with a sense of somber pride.  They have shown me how to handle adversity with grace and they are all in my thoughts and prayers.  I hope they will be in yours, as well.

UNICEF tent providing support to locals

Locals still waiting for news of loved ones 36 hours after the sinking

Life in the Hood

The past 7 days have been long and grueling - and that may be an understatement.  As if the journey here wasn't tiring enough, we've been thrown right into things.  I'll admit, after Day 2 in Zanzibar I started wondering what the heck I was doing here.  My Swahili is not nearly as good as the majority of the students in the program.  That in itself, doesn't bother me - many of the grad students here are at the same level as I am and we seem to humor ourselves with what we don't know!  The discouraging part is that everything and I mean EVERYTHING, is in Swahili.  Our teachers spent the first two days explaining the program, our course options and internship options in Swahili.  So, basically, I have no idea what my options are.  By default, I have decided that if I can't understand what they are saying when they describe the course, it is probably best that I don't enroll in the course.

Thankfully, my host Mama, Mwalimu Mariam (teacher Mariam), is an expert at teaching beginners.  Yesterday, after day two of orientation,  I came home feeling pretty lost and frustrated.  So many of the students are at different levels and I don't understand the point of spending a whole day introducing us to a program we know nothing about when we can't understand what they're saying.  Maybe that was their way of weeding out the students who aren't at the level the need to participate in the electives.  Anyway, Mwalimu Mariam said not to worry and sat me down and gave me a Swahili lesson.  She is funny and patient and never afraid to correct me!  I may have met my match.

I am living in Michenzani Block 5 - if you Google Michenzani you will discover that my apartments look more like the projects.  I'll admit, before I arrived, I was a bit hesitant about where I would be staying.  It's actually about a thousand times better than it looks from the outside.  The neighbors are friendly, the apartment is nice - though a bit hot and stuffy at times - and my room is great.  I had been warned that I would likely have a "bucket" shower or no running water at all so I braced myself for the worst.  When Mwalimu showed me the bathroom the first day my heart soared (western toilet!)...and then plummeted (no seat on the toilet - haven't quite figured that out yet - and buckets on the floor by a spicket).  I went to bed early that night and woke up at 3am hot and sticky.  I spent the next 4 hours laying in bed dreading my bucket shower and wishing that I had been lucky enough to have a regular shower.  In the morning I went out to the balcony and told Mwalimu I wanted to wash.  I wasn't quite sure where to put all of the water from the buckets after I used it so I figured I better get a tutorial.  Well, my translation was a bit off and she began showing me how to wash my clothes.  I mimed that I meant I wanted a shower and she laughed and pointed up to....yes; wait for it.....a Shower Head!!!!!!  The water pressure is pretty much nonexistent and it is a slow drip/stream, but I LOVE it!!!  Most of you may remember my first shower experience in Tanzania in January and this topped it.  I could not have been happier yesterday morning when I discovered I had a shower!

There are 6 of us girls living in the Block - which we have affectionately named "The Hood".  Ironically the 4 guys all live in beautiful mansion-like arrangements here on the island with personal bathrooms, running water, showers and even plasma TVs.  But the girls from "The Hood" and I have bonded - we walk to town together and have decided to embrace our living arrangements.  Our families are great and it is definitely an experience we will never have again.  We're gonna live it up!

It's just after 5am - the jet lag is still bothering me, but each day it gets a bit better.

Signing off from the hood....

A Good (but LONG) Safari...Part I

Hello all!  I am back in Tanzania and living in Zanzibar this time.  For those of you who don't know the details, let me back up a bit.  I received a National Security Education Program Boren Fellowship funded by the U.S. Department of Defense to study Swahili and Tanzanian foreign policy this year. The fellowship award was truly a dream come true for me.  It allowed me to return to Tanzania for a longer period of time to learn the language.  The fellowship also opens several doors for employment within the federal government upon graduation and in some cases provides preferential hiring status for certain jobs within the DoD and Department of State.  Not to mention I get to live in paradise (Zanzibar) for a few months!  I arrived yesterday and will be in Zanzibar until approximately December 10 at which point I will move to Dar es Salaam - Tanzania's largest city just across the channel from Zanzibar.  I will be studying at two universities while I am here.  First, in the fall I will take Kiswahili language studies at the State University of Zanzibar.  Then in the spring I will be taking a Kiswahili course as well as a course in Tanzanian Foreign Policy and one in Local Government Systems.  I plan to return to the U.S. sometime in June of 2012.

It is nearly 2am here in Zanzibar.  The jet lag is killing me.  I left for an orientation and training in DC on September 1 - and arrived only a few hours late after 2 plane changes and 2 delays.  After some quick sightseeing, a long (did I mention, long?) day of orientation in DC, and a "last American supper"  we left for Zanzibar on Sept 3.  Travel is never easy - especially African travel - and our last flight from Nairobi to Zanzibar was cancelled.  We arrived in Nairobi at about 9 pm local time on Sunday night.  After two hours our group (all 26 of us) made it through customs and got Kenyan visas.  We arrived at the Hilton Nairobi (where they use mirrors under your car to check for bombs before entering) and spent about an hour in the lobby trying to arrange rooms for the 5 hours we had to sleep before returning to the airport.  In Africa you can never give yourself too much time to allow for mishaps - and unfortunately we didn't give ourselves enough.  Monday morning we left the hotel at 5:45am.  We arrived to the airport, boarding passes in hand, and had to wait through a long line to get through security before even entering the Nairobi Kenyatta airport. After all 26 of us finally made it through security we got in another line for immigration.  About 10 minutes later this nice lady redirected us out of the airport and down to another terminal where the lines were shorter.  Unfortunately, she left our group (and about 25 others) and no one would let us get through the doors - so we got to wait through the security line again!  After another hour (and a small fib on my part to the rest of my group to convince everyone we could jump the line) we made it to our gate.  Amanda, our resident director, had convinced Kenyan Airways to hold the plane and we were all reunited on the plane about 15 minutes after our scheduled take-off.

Since we landed it has been go, go, go here.  We went straight to the school yesterday upon arrival - bags and all - and had a quick introduction to the university then left for lunch at a restaurant named Archipelago on the coast here in Stone Town.  The food was incredible - fresh caught kingfish, tuna steaks, and squid.  And the view was indescribably; like a postcard.  We had some time to roam around town, buy toilet paper, exchange money and get phone time before returning to the university to meet our host families.  The town is small and has a medieval feel to it.  The streets are narrow and winding and the buildings are tall.  It can be easy to get lost, but is small enough that eventually you will stumble upon one of the few main roads and find your way out.

I have so much more to share about my host family, the university, and friends in the program, but I am finally starting to get sleep again.  I'm taking advantage of this short window of opportunity and signing off.  More to follow tomorrow!

A Bit of Hope

Twice in one week I broke the golden rule and left the house without toilet paper...and this time it cost me.  After a quick breakfast at the coffee shop in town, Jasen and I went with Marianne to the bus to send her off.  Her time here is up and she is headed back to Norway.  Of course, nature strikes when you least expect it here and not only did I have to find a bathroom, but I had to stop to buy toilet paper somewhere, too.  Let it be known, the two are NEVER in the same place.  I had about 20 minutes before the bus was scheduled to leave, so off I ran.  Well, for the first time in the history of buses in Africa, this bus left, not only on time, but a few minutes early.  While I was fishing around for my phone (which I dropped) in the dark back corner closet "bathroom" (aka - hole in the ground), Marianne was pleading with the driver to wait for me.  We hadn't even said goodbye.  She also tried to call me, but of course, when I dropped my phone it broke open and I couldn't receive any calls.  The way I see it, my stop to buy toilet paper cost me my chance to say goodbye to Marianne - and I have no one to blame, but myself.  So, a quick shout out to my friend:  "Marianne, I love you and miss you and I'm so, so, so sorry I didn't get to hug you goodbye.  Now you must come back!  Safe travels, my dear."

A quick update on little Abu, who I mentioned in an earlier post:  He is doing much, much, much better.  Thank you to everyone for your prayers and for asking others to prayer.  After 3 years of pain, lethargy, and uncertainty, the doctors believe the problem was a peptic ulcer.  The medication is helping tremendously and Abu is doing great.  His family is truly appreciative and so thankful to have their precious little boy healthy again.  I can't begin to imagine how frustrating it was to go three years with no real guidance or medical support for the local doctors.  Please don't misunderstand me, there are some great doctors here, but often hospitals are short-staffed and trained physicians are hard to come by.  Many times patients are treated without even seeing the actual doctor.  After such a long time, I know Abu and his family were extremely discouraged.  Thank you everyone, for lifting them up!  We are so happy he is doing better!

I'll be heading back to Arusha the second half of this week and, while I have a lot of work to get done for the safari company, I also hope to have some time to meet with Mama Jane again.  She and her husband were so warm and encouraging.  In between, locating an office for the safari company, buying camping equipment and visiting hotels to develop partnerships in the area, I hope to sit down with Jane again and hear more about her goals for the future.  Many of you have heard me talk in the past about the importance of education here in Tanzania - in all of Africa for that matter.  Without it, many children have little hope for a stable job or income in the future.  While public education is "free", families still have to buy uniforms, books and school supplies for the children.  On a salary often less than $1 a day, these costs are enormous - and many times impossible to incur.  With few exceptions, even families who can afford to send kids to school here have to choose which of their children they can send.  It is often a decision based solely upon gender and birth order.

In addition to rising school costs, East Africa is currently experiencing one of the longest and most devastating droughts it has seen in over 60 years.  Almost 10 million people are severely affected by food shortages and in desperate need of food aid.  Food costs at the market are literally rising daily.  Tanzania has not been hit as hard as Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Djibouti, but the food shortages in neighboring states are affecting life here.  Smugglers are taking truckloads of food over the borders to Kenya and Uganda in hopes of receiving a higher price for the food.  In turn, Tanzania is beginning to experience food shortages and prices are rising here, as well.  Our power outages last about 12 hours a day now, forcing prices up, as well.  Everyone I speak with is worried about the future.  Even though Fatuma has a stable job and room and board, she too, is worried, stockpiling as much food as she can store for the future.

I read a great opinion article earlier today.  It was written by an African who was looking for other Africans to write stories of hope and promise in their local newspapers.  Stories that told of the progress being made on the continent.  He argued that much of what Westerners hear is about the devastation, corruption and desolation on this continent.  Africa is still behind much of the rest of the world, but it is also moving forward.  Yesterday, the people of South Sudan celebrated their independence as a state and freedom from the dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir.  We cannot even begin to imagine the horrific occurrences these people have nearly all witnessed firsthand.  Though they have a long journey ahead of them, South Sudan is free and moving toward a better tomorrow.  Every day literally thousands and thousands of organizations in every country on this continent are working, step by step, to improve the lives of those in their communities.  At the same time, many organizations back home in the States are doing the same thing for the people here - and it is helping.

I try not to stand on my soap box too often, but if you have a moment, check out some of the links I have posted to the right.  I will do my best to list them by location.  These are just a few of the organizations doing small things that make a big difference in Africa.  Many are just looking for a little bit of your time.  If you have a free Saturday or a few hours in the evening, maybe you will find an organization that you could get involved in.  Or you could host an event of your own.  Maybe it's just enough to get your wheels turning right now.  Even if what you find simply tells the stories of progress, instead of tragedy, in Africa, it is enough.

Third Time's a Charm

My first mattress had the consistency of one of those foam pits kids jump into.  From the first night that I sank down into it and onto the wood bed frame, I knew I was going to have a tough time sleeping.  What I didn't know what that once it caved in, it would never regain it's shape.  I spent a couple of weeks trying not to fall into the pit in my mattress every night in order to avoid a sore back in the morning.  Late last week, I confiscated one of the mattresses from another room that was no longer in use.  After 5 minutes on it, I thought I would be sick.  It literally smelled like cow manure.  For two nights I try air freshener, sneaker spray and candles.  Nothing helped.  On Monday, Fatuma helped me switch mattresses - again - and I am finally sleeping well!  Most nights I feel like a 5 year old kid in my malaria net fort....and I have to admit, I love it!

Remember Memoria, the gigantic flea market in my neighborhood I told you about earlier?  It is only open on Tuesdays and Fridays and, yes, we were back again yesterday.  On the hunt for shower curtain rings - which we didn't find last time - and some containers to store rice, sugar, flower and ugali in.  The containers we found right away.  8 large containers and 8 smaller containers.  They were brand new and the total was less that $15 US.  Perfect.  On our search for shower curtains I discovered what must be the biggest "Bridesmaid Dress Graveyard" in the world.  Tara, you should get on a plane and get right over here.  Many of the dresses looked like they were right up your alley!!  On Friday I may return again just to take pictures so that you can all see these beauties.  You may even spot one you were forced to wear!

Anyway, I finally found a few shower curtain rings that were attached to a curtain.  Unfortunately, my stubbornness got in my way.  The girl would not let me purchase just the curtain rings.  She wanted me to buy the used curtain, as well.  Usually when you say no and begin to walk away here, the vendor will track you down and change their mind.  They see a mzungu (white person) and try to get all they can from us.  Well, this time it didn't work - and I am still showering behind a moldy door.  Fatuma laughed at me and away we went.

To be honest, yesterday was not my day.  Every daladala was full or just sped right past us, so Fatuma and I ended up walking the 7km into town to buy medicine for little Abu, who we had visited earlier yesterday morning.  When we got to the pharmacy I was cut off several times by other customers who kept pushing in front of me, over me or around me at the counter.  Then we went to the post office so that I could mail some postcards and register a PO Box for JustUsFriends.  The woman in the office said my postage was 100 Tsh short, but she didn't have 100 Tsh stamps so I needed to buy 300 Tsh stamps.  When I purchased the stamps the guy at the postage counter outside said I had what I needed.  I went back outside to him and found out the woman was just trying to charge me extra postage.  And the PO Box?  Well, they're all taken and we'll have to wait until next month to see if there are more.  Oh, and the guy who manages the PO Boxes is on leave so no one can tell me how much they will cost.

After the 7k walk, the pharmacy and the post office, Fatuma and I decided to grab a quick lunch.  An hour later our food arrived and her order was wrong.  Fast forward another thirty minutes and we were finally on our way to the market.  By this time it was about 3pm and we were pretty much exhausted.  So exhausted that when the spice guy handed me the bucket of pili pili to look at I didn't think twice and took a big whiff - of spicy red peppers.  Pretty sure I burned my smelling sensors and sneezed about ten times (with no Kleenex or toilet paper to be found anywhere).  I broke the Golden Rule:  Don't ever leave the house without toilet paper.

After the market we went to the paint store where I was interrupted several times, again, and purchased more paint for the house.  I'm overseeing the interior painting of our house in Moshi while Jasen is gone and it is quite the task.  After one coat, the walls are nearly as dirty as they were before.  No one speaks English and trying to explain the the paint belongs on the walls and not the ceiling, floor, baseboards, beds, suitcases, shoes, shower grout, light switches and windows is a bit difficult.  You get the picture.

As frustrating as the day could have been yesterday, I've learned to take things in stride and laugh at as much as possible.  It helps to have Fatuma with me.  She sees the humor in everything.  For being a Tanzanian who was raised in the villages, she has more of the mentality of a mzungu than a local.  And while she's more forgiving at times than I am, she finds many of these experiences to be as crazy as I do, too.  I don't know what I'd do without her.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

After a week in Arusha, I am back “home” in Moshi.  We arrived late Wednesday afternoon and pretty much crashed.  Now that I have gotten some much needed rest, I am so happy to be back here and to see Fatuma and Sumaya again.  While I can’t say that I miss the gigantic hot tub, western toilet or firm mattress from the hotel, my tiny little room here at the home base is a welcome site.  And seven days without Fatuma’s chai and chipati was about all that I could handle. 

Fatuma said it was too quiet while we were away.  She missed the laughter in the house.  We do tend to laugh quite a bit!  Margaret has left for her next adventure, Marianne is in Zanzibar for a week and Sumaya is in Arusha visiting her aunt for the weekend so it’s just me, Fatuma and Jasen in the house.  Between Fatuma’s laugh and mine we still manage to keep things loud around here though!

Yesterday, Fatuma and I went on the hunt for a couple of shower curtains to replace the mold-covered doors on the bathroom and shower stalls.  We went down to Memoria, a large - and by large, I mean gigantic - outdoor flea market of sorts in our neighborhood.  We went from stall to stall asking for a shower curtain.  Often we just got blank stares.  One woman even pretended to know what it was, but said she didn’t have one.  She got called out by the woman in the stall behind her who started teasing her, saying “You’re from the village.  You don’t even know what a shower curtain is!  Why would you say you do?!”  After what felt like a couple of hours or searching, we nearly gave up.  Thankfully, Fatuma finally found a woman who knew what a shower curtain was.  Not only did she know what a shower curtain was, she knew where to find one for us!  Now if we can just figure out a way to hang them…

It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon here in Moshi.  After getting up at 6am and spending nearly 5 hours doing the laundry, Fatuma is laying down to take a nap.  Jasen went into town and I am sitting at the kitchen table, listening to Jason Mraz, and working on the new website for JustGoodSafaris.  I may be jinxing myself, but we’ve had power since last night and I even have a fan on in here to keep cool.  All in all, it’s shaping up to be a pretty good afternoon. 

While I'm keeping busy with the work for Jasen, I am also faced with so many people who need so little on a daily basis.  On Wednesday, Mama Jane shared with me that she and her husband James had purchased 4 acres of land on the side of Mt. Meru in Arusha.  They are praying that God will provide them with the money they need to build a new orphanage and school on the land.  They are currently renting and can only permanently house 11 children onsite.  The rest go off to distant relatives during the week and Jane invites them in on the weekends to make sure they are being fed and looked after.  With a new school, Jane could provide a Christian education to many children who otherwise would never have the chance to even attend school. Thursday, it was a young boy on the street selling bracelets he had made for just over a dollar.  He was kind and remembered me from my last trip here in January.  He told me he hadn't sold one bracelet that day and it was already 4pm.  Friday, I met a 6 year old boy with a high fever and severe stomach cramping named Abu, who has been sick for 3 years.  He needs a CT scan and a GI scope at KCMC, the large hospital here in Moshi, but his parents can't afford the 120,000 Tsh (about $80 USD) for the tests.  I met Margaret, Abu's school teacher, after learning about her from a 3 or 4 little girl walking home from school.  Fatuma and I went to visit her classroom and I watched her pray over little Abu.  Although his family is Muslim, he told his mother he was in so much pain he wanted to visit Teacher Margaret so that she could pray to her God for him, too.  Margaret rents the land her corregated metal school room is built on.  The local authorities are threatening to shut her down because the 60 students who attend classes with her barely fit inside the room she and some volunteers built.  She is praying for the $3500 she needs to buy a small plot of land in the neighborhood and another $5000 to build a proper school room.  Yesterday, Fatuma shared with my how sick her husband's mother is.  She has had gout for years, but they can't afford any medication.  Rajabu (Fatuma's husband) is barely making $3 a day, sometimes working 12-16 hours a day, driving a taxi in town.  Fatuma told me if I went to see where his family lives in the village I would not be able to stop crying.  She helps support them as much as she can and often brings food out for them to feed the family.  I can tell by the pain in her voice that she wishes she could do more.  So do I.

Tomorrow morning Jasen goes back to Arusha to start working with the kids at Good Hope, Ally’s orphanage.  I wish I had the time to go with, but I will stay back here in Moshi with Fatuma and continue working on the website, fliers and business plan.  There is a lot to get done and not enough time to do everything.  We have painters coming in tomorrow to repaint the inside of the house.  In the morning I am going with Fatuma to a Margaret's small school here in Soweto (my neighborhood) to observe her class and visit with Margaret.  She teaches 3-6 year olds, preparing them for primary school.  I’m really looking forward to our visit.  

Wishing all of you a fun and safe 4^th of July weekend!  Jasen suggested we try to find some fireworks to have our own celebration here in Moshi - I told him I didn't want to be within 100 yards of any fireworks made in Africa!  Set some off for me back home...

It's been a busy week...

As you know, I arrived in Arusha last Wednesday with Marianne, Jasen and Margaret.  We are still here.  I'm going to apologize up front - this post may be brief.  We are all pretty tired.  Every day we seem to find more and more kids that need medical check-ups.  Jane's Orphan Center was the first location we went to.  Since that day we've seen around 250 children.  About 20% of the children have some sort of sinus infection, ear infection, or respiratory infection.  After we complete the check-ups we head to the duka la dawa (pharmacy), buy the necessary prescriptions and head back to the hotel for a much needed night of rest.  We label all of the prescriptions in English and basic Swahili so that the children are sure to get the proper dose at the correct times.

One woman, Bibi (grandma) Maria is 95 years old.  She is an absolute joy.  I can't imagine how hard her life has been.  And to still be alive and kickin' at 95?!  That's incredible.  She has pretty severe rheumatoid arthritis.  Yesterday we gave her some medication for R.A. and today we got to see her again.  She was all smiles.  We can't understand much of what she says as she speaks more of her tribal language than Swahili, but we do know she had the best night of sleep she has had in a long time.  It is so great to see the immediate impact we are making here.

Changing gears a bit:
I got electrocuted this morning - and for those of you who have encountered me before 10am you know that early morning electrocution will likely not make me a happy camper.  The hotel room has an electrical outlet that is hanging out of the wall and when I went to plug in my laptop this morning I got a pretty solid zap.  Marianne heard the "bzzzzz" and "pop" in the bathroom.  I felt it up my arm all morning long - and my finger tip got burned.  Annoying.  I was also pretty sick the past few days - nausea, dizziness, stomach pain, overheating.  For a while I thought I had gotten malaria, but thankfully I woke up feeling much better this morning.  I truly appreciate all of your prayers - they are obviously working!

I've been a bit spoiled in Arusha over the past week:  hot showers, warm beds with real mattresses, western toilets.  But even with all of the perks of hotel life, I miss my tiny room in Moshi and dinners with Fatuma and Sumaya.  They are a part of my home away from home and I am looking forward to returning to them tomorrow.

New pictures are up on the pics page.  Check them out when you have a moment.  The kids here are so precious!!

Mama Jane

Yesterday, Ally, Marianne, Margaret, Jasen and I left for Arusha.  It is about a 2 hour bus ride to the west of Moshi.  Thankfully, Ally was able to drive us.  Thanks to his speedy - and terrifying - navigation around Fanta trucks and cattle, we were able to make the trip in just under an hour and a half.  After running a few errands, Jasen decided to book a couple of hotel rooms for us for the night.  Marianne, Margaret and I are staying in room 405.  Jasen is in room 305.  He could hear us down in his room screaming with delight when we discovered that our bathroom had not only a western toilet, but a jacuzzi tub in it, as well!!  I woke up a few times during the night last night and forgot I was even in Africa.

The medical clinic JustUsFriends is building won't be ready for another 3 or 4 weeks, but we have plenty to do in the meantime.  There are a handful of orphanages in the area who requested medical checkups for their kids so we decided to get a head-start on the work.  Today we went to Jane Olivolis' Orphan Center.  I met a woman named Jane who shared with me the story of why she started Jane's Center:

"I started the center because my husband and I found out we could not have children.  I cried out to my God and He said, 'Look around you.  There are children everywhere who need you.'  So I took one of them in.  And then another.  Soon we had several children under our care.  But we were struggling to feed them and provide for them.  So I cried out to my God again, saying I could not care for all of these children.  He responded - and gave me more children to care for!  But he also provided for them.  I met a woman who committed to supporting the center and we were able to care for the children.  After some time, we began to struggle and I cried to my God again, 'God I am struggling.  We do not have the means to feed and clothe these children.'  When I opened my eyes, God brought more children to my doorstep!  But He has provided. I am also listening to my sister - she told me not to cry out to God anymore saying that we can't do it!!"

Sometimes it is easy to focus on what is not getting done here.  Or who isn't doing what they said they would.  Or what isn't going the way I had planned.  And then I meet people like Jane.  She reminds me to focus on what is being done!  Jane has over 200 kids in her care now...in only 6 short years.  She and her husband could not have biological children of their own.  But instead, they are directly changing the lives of more people than many of us could ever hope to positively impact.  I wish you could all meet Mama Jane and her children so that you could see for yourselves what I am finding difficult to convey to you in words.

Tonight, before dinner, Marianne decided to use her shower gel in the jacuzzi tub.  It made quite a few bubbles...sound familiar, Naomi?  About 20 minutes later she was sitting in the tub, in her bathing suit, listening to her ipod, drinking a Redd's malted cider and singing away.  It is one of those moments where someone else's joy becomes your own;  a great end to an even greater day.

Hot Chocolate and Beef Jerky

Today while I was in the shower I couldn't stop thinking about how much I would love some hot chocolate and beef jerky.  I guess now that I have hot water and don't have to race to shower as quickly as I can in what feels like a bucket of ice, I have a few extra seconds to let my mind wander before the water runs out.  Funny how, no matter how far from the western world I travel, there are just some things I can't seem to live without.

The shower, by the way, is my next project.  It is in a small room no bigger than 3' x 4' and has an old wooden door that has pretty much swelled up and rotted so much that it won't shut.  Most of the back of the door is dusted over with a light coat of mold.  Needless to say, this is my next project.  We've decided to remove the door completely, hang a shower rod and curtain and put in a couple of hooks for a towel and clothes.  Locating a shower curtain here may prove to be as difficult as finding a bag of beef jerky in the supermarket - wish me luck!  I'm not sure how much longer us girls can take hanging our towels on the back of a moldy door.

As comical as much of this may be, I am reminded daily of how much we take for granted back home.  I know we say it all the time, but have you ever really stopped to think about it?  If we want beef jerky, we buy it.  If a door gets old, we replace it.  Sometimes we may need to wait until payday, but it still gets taken care of.  And even if it doesn't, things are never really as bad as they are here.  Don't get me wrong - I'm definitely not standing on any soapbox here.  When I was home this last semester I lived my life just like almost everyone else that I know.  However, recognizing that we take things for granted doesn't necessarily mean we should refrain from dinners out or stop going to the movies.  More importantly, I think it's a reminder that we should simply recognize how fortunate we are and remember to be truly thankful - even when life is tough and things are tight.  God's provisions for us in the past are a reminder that He will be faithful in the future.

This week Jasen, Marianne, Margaret and I will be going to Arusha to stay at the orphanage for a few days.  I can't wait!  Many of you may recall that my visit to Good Hope was one of the highlights of my trip in January.  Since then, the new orphanage has been completed and the medical clinic is nearly built.  There are 128 kids in the school and I can't wait to sit in on classes while Jasen, Marianne and Margaret give each of the children a medical checkup. I'm also secretly hoping that while I am in Arusha I can find a shower curtain and a few candles to bring back to the house.  As you may have seen in some of the pictures on the photo page, Fatuma absolutely loved the candle I brought - she had never seen one before.  Hopefully I can surprise her with a few more!

A few other things:  the weather here this time of year is perfect.  It has only rained twice - both times after dark - and it hasn't been over 80 degrees.  The power outages seem to occur more often than they did in January and last for longer periods of time.  As a result we always keep a flashlight (torch in TZ) or a lantern nearby in the evenings.  I'm riding the daladalas again and find that I actually sort of missed them in a weird, squooshed, circus car sort of way.  Sumaya and Fatuma watched Beauty and the Beast tonight on my laptop during the power outage and they absolutely loved it.  I think Jungle Book is still Sumaya's favorite though.  We'll have to see if Aladdin can take over the #1 spot on our next movie night.

Thanks for your prayers, emails, FB messages, and comments - they don't make home feel so far away.  I'll update you and be sure to add more pictures when I am in Arusha this week.

It's the end of the world as we know it - or is it?

For those of you on Facebook you've probably already seen my latest FB update.  For those of you who haven't, let me fill you in.  Last night we lost power - again - around 6pm.  Nights without power are actually some of my favorite here in TZ.  We light lanterns and just enjoy each other's company.  No bright lights, no tv, no computers, no radio.  Just stories, laughter and chai.  Around 9:30pm everyone had gone to bed.  I went to my room to read and write in my journal for a while.  Strangely, around 5 minutes to 11pm I heard the prayers from the mosque - they are sung over a megaphone of sorts that broadcasts them across the city and surrounding villages.  The prayers also start precisely at the top of the hour so the early start was a bit odd.  Plus, I was sure the last prayers were around 8pm.

The trees and fields were lit by the full moon above.  Shortly after the prayers began, I heard people yelling in the distance.  Usually the neighborhood is quiet after dark, but last night there was a lot of commotion.  I didn't think much more about it and went to sleep around 11:30pm.  This morning, Fatuma began to tell what had happened - or what she thought had happened.  She was very worried last night.  She couldn't sleep.  The sky was lit with orange lights and people were running to the mosques, crying for help.  There was commotion everywhere.  I could see she was still frightened.  I tried to ask more questions using her broken English and my broken Swahili.  She thought maybe it was missile fire above.  After some frantic conversation, I decided to Google it (thank goodness for Google) and we discovered that it was a lunar eclipse.  And not just any lunar eclipse, but the biggest one in 11 years.  And, oh yeah, - I missed it!  I was in one of the best viewing spots in the world for the eclipse and I never saw it.    Of course.

Before I forget, I've added a photos page to the blog.  You can click on the "photos" link to the right to see pictures.  I will add more weekly.  You will notice that there are no pictures of the lunar eclipse.

Over the past few hours I've thought a lot about the commotion of last night.  The fear the villagers must have felt is indescribable, and ironically enough, unfounded and avoidable.  Unfortunately, this is often the case in Tanzania - all over the third world for that matter.  People fear what they do not know.  It is exactly for instances such as last night that education is so important.  Children in classrooms often share one single science book.  Many times it is 20 years old.  Doctors make guesses to the best of their ability on how to treat illnesses they have never seen before.  Traditional healers are murdering albinos in Tanzania because of an age-old taboo.

Thankfully, many organizations and individuals here in Tanzania are leading efforts to combat these injustices.  Schools like Good Hope in Arusha are teaching children math, science and English.  I met a volunteer this weekend who runs a computer lab high up in the mountains for the rural villages.  Access to the internet equals access to knowledge.  A couple of the girls I met from Denmark are working with a locally-based micro-finance organization that provides loans to small farmers to buy seeds, chickens and livestock.  The farmers are taught how to rotate their crops and increase egg yields from their chickens.  The organization is now looking into a program to help these farmers develop a savings plan to send their children to school.  There is another volunteer here who is working independently with a dairy co-op in a rural village.  He has constructed a plan to help increase dairy yields and decrease transportation costs leading to an additional 25% in income for the farmers in the co-op.

What I have found most inspiring is that every one of these volunteers is here on their own.  They aren't working for UNICEF or Amnesty International or the Red Cross, but they are still changing lives.  They each came to Tanzania for a short visit, saw a need and decided to return to address the need.  It doesn't take much more than a willing spirit to make a difference here.

I haven't quite figured out what my focus will be while studying here over the next year.  And for those of you who know me, well, you know this is driving me crazy.  I'm ready to start making things happen!  Nevertheless, I am encouraged by what I have seen in only 6 short days.  Whatever it is I decide to do, I know this is where I've been led.  And as I was reminded in Proverbs 4:11 last night I have been guided in the way of wisdom and will be led on the right path.

T.I.A.

I've been back in Tanzania for about 3 days now.  In less than 72 hours I exceeded my maximum baggage weight allowance for the plane, managed to negotiate my way into the worst airplane food imaginable, ate my first (and what will be my only) burger in Tanzania, went camping out in the foothills of Kilimanjaro, slept on the ground - twice, and discovered termites in our house. 

Thankfully, I managed to talk my way out of the $200 overweight penalty, I didn't get sick from the burger (although it was closer to beef jerky than steak) and  now have a bed.  As for the airplane food, well, that was all my fault.  On my last flight to Tanzania, the meals were awful - "chicken or fish?"  This time, I thought I would beat the system so I called ahead to request vegetarian meals.  Little did I know in the world of Ethiopian Airlines vegetarian = vegan which meant I didn't get the brownie, mashed potatoes, croissant, yogurt or cheese omelet the guy next to me got.  Instead, I was blessed with soggy cabbage spring rolls, some sort of dry dairy free roll with margarine, and eggplant soaked in tomato sauce with rice.  Yummy, yummy!

Saturday night I went to the nearby town of Marangu and hiked up the foothills (aka: mountains!) to a campsite overlooking the valley and Kilimanjaro.  It was breathtaking.  There were 8 on the trip and we arrived shortly before nightfall.  There is a small village surrounding the campsite and one of the families from the village prepared a dinner of ugali (like stiff grits), beans, cooked cabbage, potatoes and stew for us.  We ate well and traded stories late into the night.  Unfortunately, thanks to the jetlag I woke up freezing at 3am and never fell back to sleep.  Around 5:30 I left the tent to spend some time reading (thanks Mrs. K. for the great book suggestion!) and watching the sunrise.  All in all, it was an incredible experience.  I am blessed to be back here.

For those of you who were following along on my last trip, I am in a different house in the same town of Moshi in Tanzania.  Our house mom, Fatuma, and her daughter, Sumaya, are living with us and it feels like my home away from home.  Fatuma takes such good care of us!  Jasen is here, as well as a woman named Margaret from New Zealand and a girl named Marian from Denmark.  We have room for two more volunteers in the house and I'll be screening applicants to fill up the space over the coming weeks.  While I can't say I am loving the fact that we only have a squat toilet, I am ecstatic about the fact that we have hot water for our showers.  That's Africa for you - you get a little, you give a little!

As I've said before, life moves at a little - o.k., a lot - slower pace here.  I thought maybe this time I would be more prepared for it, but it's only been 3 days and if I here "T.I.A." (This Is Africa) one more time, I may scream - or at the very least ban the use of that phrase from our house.  Unfortunately, it seems to be used more often as an excuse than an explanation.  I am thankful, however, to have met some great new friends here who are doing independent research or work with some smaller organizations that are making big differences in their communities.  Our conversations keep me encouraged and have sparked some ideas about what I will be able to accomplish here over the next year.

All in all, it is great to be back!  The transition has been easy and minus the Mac and Cheese I forgot to pack, I pretty much have everything I need here.  Thanks to everyone for sending me notes of encouragement and keeping me in your prayers!  You'll hear from me again soon!

I'm Going Back!

It’s been almost 5 months since I unpacked my bags from my first trip to Tanzania.  Now, I find myself repacking, less than 5 days away from the departure time for my next trip to Tanzania.  As some of you know, I’ve been blogging for JustUsFriends, the nonprofit started by Jasen Benton, a volunteer I met on my last trip.  This summer I will be back in Moshi working with Jasen and JustUsFriends.  I won’t go into all of the details here, but you can visit the link for JustUsFriends on the right to find out more about all of the progress they have made over the past several months.  I will have much more to share with you over the next couple of months.  I’ll update the blog more often once I am in Tanzania and will keep you all up to date on all of my activities.

I was recently awarded a Boren Fellowship through the National Security Education Program and the Department of Defense to study Swahili and conduct some of my own independent research in Tanzania.  At the end of the summer I will be travelling to Washington D.C. for an orientation and convocation ceremony for the fellowship.  Then, I will be flying to the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania for language and culture studies at the State University of Zanzibar in the fall.  The fellowship covers all of my studies and living expenses through June of 2012. 

The word “ecstatic” does not even begin to explain how excited I am to have received the Boren Fellowship.  Not only does it provide an opportunity to pursue some opportunities that I couldn’t have pursued without it – it also opens the door to several exciting career opportunities within the federal government.  As cliché as it may sound, I am truly honored to have received this fellowship and can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

So, now that you’re caught up on the past few months, join me over the next twelve and I’ll post more often and have plenty of stories to tell.  In the meantime, I’ll be spending the next 5 days trying to figure out how to pack a year’s worth of clothes, toiletries and beef jerky into 2 bags!

Oh, and one more thing:  You are welcome to visit anytime!!  Karibu, Tanzania!

JustUsFriends

As you know from my blog posts, I met some amazing people while in Tanzania.  I lived and worked with volunteers from the U.S. to Germany to Malaysia.  Jasen, one of the volunteers I told you about in an earlier post, is now back in the U.S. for a short time before returning to Tanzania for a year.  When he first arrived in Moshi, Jasen got to know our coordinator Ally and before he had even visited Good Hope Orphanage (Ally's school/orphanage) he knew he wanted to find a way to help.  Jasen saw two needs: one for health clinics for orphans who often only have the opportunity to see a doctor once every month or two and one for volunteers who want to give of their time and talents, but can't afford the high costs many volunteer agencies charge.  After many phone calls, emails and late night brainstorming sessions, Jasen and his mom, Freda, had started a nonprofit organization, JustUsFriends, dedicated to building health clinics and providing low-cost volunteer opportunities for people who want to lend a helping hand and make a difference.

The progress Jasen has made in such a short time is nothing short of astounding.  His website is up and after being home only two weeks he has raised enough money to build the first clinic and then some!  Yesterday the site had over 2,500 hits.  Please take a moment to visit the site and share it with anyone you know who is interested in donating or volunteering.

www.justusfriends.us

We also have a new blog up and running for JustUsFriends:
http://justusfriends.wordpress.com

Finally, several of you who don't have Facebook have asked to see pictures from my trip.  It took some time to sort through the 1800+ photos I took and then to upload them to Kodak, but here they are:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=431590815212%3A540334954&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Until next time...

Looking back...

Admittedly, I took absolutely way too many pictures while in Tanzania.  For the sake of those of you who have asked to see pictures from my trip I am working on cutting them down from over 1800 to 400 shots.  Yes, I know 400 is still a lot, but I am not sure I can cut them down further than that.  It is taking more time than I had expected to upload the pictures, but once I am done, I will share the weblink so that you can all view them.

I just took the second of four post-trip anti-malaria pills.  It is hard to believe I have been home for almost 12 days already.  As promised, I have a few stories to share that I refrained from telling while I was in Tanzania.  I just pulled out my journal to "relive" my first days in Africa.  I remember writing one journal entry in particular.  It was almost 8:45pm on Wednesday, January 5th and I was sitting in the living room in the dark, writing by the light of a lantern.  I had been in Tanzania for 3 1/2 days.  The house was quiet.  Some of the volunteers were already in bed and others were in town with Ally and Fatouma watching a soccer match. 

Earlier that day Ally, Elizabeth, Sarika and I had gone to Arusha to visit Ally's orphanage and school.  Here is an excerpt from that night's journal entry:
"After the school, we went back into the city to get some lunch.  We ate at a mzungu restaurant and I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The atmostphere was quiet and relaxing - much like a resort.  We ate wood-fired pizza and it was incredible.  It was one of those meals that - while simple - I will always remember.
That may be because that lunch was the calm before the storm.  After lunch we began to walk back to the bus station, but were stopped by police barricades at the end of the road.  Not knowing exactly what was happening, we got into a taxi with a driver who offered to take us to the bus station.  As we turned the first corner we heard gunshots and dozens of people were running down the street, screaming and crying, headed right toward us.  Within moments we were surrounded by what I would guess to be at least 100 people.
For a moment we froze.  Then I rolled up my window and Sarika, Elizabeth and I ducked down into the back seat.  I guess all I thought was "No bullets can hit me here" and "Wow.  I can't believe this is happening."  Ally and the taxi driver argued a bit and when the crowd cleared a bit we drove in reverse down the street away from the gunshots.  We sat at the next intersection for a while and waited for the chaos to subside.  To be honest, I felt like I was in a movie - or at least had some idea how Anthony Bourdain felt when he was filming a show in Iran! 
Anyway, we are now home safe and to be honest, I am glad I experienced what I did in Arusha today.  As a result, I see more clearly the growing pains Tanzania is experiencing in its early stages of democracy."

Many of you have asked what my next plans are.  I am applying for several different fellowship and internship opportunities both here in the States and back in Tanzania.  After witnessing the riots in Arusha that first week in January, my goals for the future are much clearer.  My trip provided me with an incredible amount of insight into the political culture of Tanzania.  The democracy there, as it stands, is not at all as established as it is portrayed in the news. A handful of people were killed and several injured during the riots I was caught in.  The ruling party (the CCM) had the police carry out beatings on an official of the opposition party (Chedema) in Arusha.  In response many of the citizens who support the opposition party led demonstrations at the police station.  I will spare you all of the details, but I was inspired and motivated by the passion of the people who seek change and true democratic rule in Tanzania.  There is a lot of work to be done in the future.

One of the fellowships I applied for is with the DOD, and, if I am fortunate enough to receive it, I will be back in Tanzania as soon as September.  You will hear more as soon as I do!

Nita kuku mboka

It is hard to believe that only four short weeks ago I was in the same place - Kilimajaro International Airport.  The only difference is that then I was asking myself what I was doing in Africa all alone. I was also wondering if anyone would remember to pick me up!  Now I am wondering why on earth I am leaving 80 degree weather to go back to the middle of a Wisconsin winter.

Yesterday, Bree and I woke up early to greet the school children on the dirt road near our house. I had bubbles and stickers and candy I wanted to hand out to the kids.  The children were, for the most part, patient and willing to share. Despite the fact that they each only took two pieces of candy, all 200 pieces were gone in a matter of minutes. Word of the mzungu with pepe (sweets) spread quickly!

Ally and I spent the majority of the day getting his blog up and running for Good Hope Orphanage.  He has received some additional support ovee the past few weeks and is excited to share the construction progress with the donors. His blog is www.goodhopeorphanage.blogspot.com  I will add it to the list of links when I get home tomorrow.

I know I've said it before, but I want to thank everyone again for your blog comments, emails, and facebook posts.  You put countless smiles on my face while I was away.  I have a few more stories to share with all of you, but for my mother's sake I am waiting until she knows I am home safely to share them!  I hope you'll check back from time to time.  This is only the beginning.

For now,
Nita kuku mboka, Tanzania.    
I will miss you, Tanzania

"Oh my goat!"

First, thank you to everyone who took the time to follow the link in the last post and vote for KIWAKKUKI.  We are getting closer to the top ten!  $8300 would provide school fees for 83 children orphaned by HIV/AIDS this year.  After all that I have seen here in Tanzania, I am convinced that an opportunity to receive an education may be the only hope a child has of escaping a lifetime of poverty.

The end of January/beginning of Februrary is the start to a new school year here in Tanzania.  In December all of the kids took end of year exams and yesterday every internet café in Moshi was filled with children looking up their exam scores.  The town was filled with anxious faces.  Those who pass their exams are eligible to go on to the next grade.  Those who do not pass must repeat the entire grade or drop out of school.  As you can imagine, yesterday was a very big day!

On Tuesday, Bree and I had the chance to go to Rombo, a small village nestled in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We traveled with 3 women from KIWAKKUKI and 3 volunteers from Norway.  As I shared previously, I had spent some time working in Boma Ngombe the week before safari so I had some idea what to expect.  For Bree, Lene, Camilla and Maggie, this was their first time into rural Tanzania.  Our morning started out an hour later than expected – no surprise there.  The first stop was to a small school.  We were greeted by about 25 extremely shy children and we handed out balloons and blankets to every child.  One boy in particular stood out to me.  He was always smiling and, somehow, he managed to end up with three balloons – every other child only had one.  As crazy as it may sound, I left with the feeling that that little boy has a bright future ahead of him.  If he can find a way to acquire three balloons, without taking them from any other child, I know he will find a way to succeed in life.

We stopped at 2 other schools and 2 homesteads in Rombo.  At one school, the children gathered together and sang a beautiful song for us.  I can’t wait to post the video for you to hear!  The sound is indescribable.  Both of the schools host clubs sponsored by KIWAKKUKI that educate children about their sexual health rights.  They also involve the children in sustainable development projects and teach them how to grow corn, raise animals and milk goats.  Our day in Rombo is now known as the “goat tour.”  The women at KIWAKKUKI were so proud of the goats they were able to give to the schools and the families we visited.  Everywhere we saw a goat we were instructed to go into the goat pen and take a picture!  At one point there were 10 of us crammed into a goat pen about 3 feet by 5 feet in size.  Needless to say, the goat was not too thrilled to have a throng of unwanted visitors in his home!

One of the biggest struggles that I have had here in Tanzania is that it is hard to find a way to lead change or make a difference in such a small amount of time.  Many of the volunteers I have met here struggle with the same issue.  It often feels as though we are on a “goat tour” while we are here.  Everyone wants to show us what they are doing, but no one is prepared to put us to work.  Many volunteers are specialists in their field and their skills are seldom used.  The only exception to this rule seems to be the medical placements. Our Tanzanian coordinators, Ally and Deo, spend a lot of time in the evening talking with us about how to better utilize new volunteers.  It will not change overnight, but we are seeing small changes and I am hopeful about the future.

Today was my last day at KIWAKKUKI.  Bree and I were able to write up and submit a grant proposal for a new children’s rights program this week.  Mama Kishe could not believe we were able to complete the grant application in 3 short days.  We couldn’t believe it had taken her 3 weeks to do what she had done!  Ah, the difference between Tanzanian time and Mzungu time.  All of the volunteers in the house joke, but some days it seems to equal the difference between the first and third world.

As you know, dinnertime is my favorite time in the house.  Not really because of the food…it’s all starting to taste the same now.  But the time we all spend around the table is always full of entertaining stories from the day.  Tuesday night, after sharing about our goat tour, Sumaia blurted out “Oh my goat!” We all got a good laugh.

It is hard to believe I only have two “dinnatime’s” left here in Tanzania.  Tonight we are having ugali, chapati (a flat bread), guacamole, potato wedges, and spaghetti.  Quite the combination of foods!  After dinner we are watching Michael Jackson videos together.  We started the DVD last night, but lost electricity earlier in the evening and the laptop battery died right as the Thriller video was about to start.  Fatouma and Sumaia were devastated!  We’ve been waiting all day to finish the movie.  It should be a great night.