Mambo marafiki!
I'm back in town after my second week in the village. This past week we were in a village called Njoro in which people from the Meru tribe live. Our accomodations were very nice: a flush/squat toilet, a guesthouse, and delicious Tanzanian meals (including chapati, my favorite). There was also an adorable dog at our hosts' house, so I got my dose of puppy-love. The only down side was that our guesthouse did not have beds, so we slept on a cement floor for the week. Thank god for my sleeping mat!
I taught one Secondary School class with my Tanzanian counterpart, Emmanuel. The kids were very involved. Although they definitely shied away from answering and asking questions when their teacher came into the room to observe. At the end of the week, one of the most active students asked if he could stay involved with Global Service Corps and teach others the information he learned from the weeklong training. It was so awesome to see the genuine interest of the students in HIV prevention. It felt like a great success!
Although teaching was great, we did have a lot of downtime this week in the village. Since I was only teaching one, hour and a half long class, there was definitely a lot of unplanned time. We occupied ourselves by going for walks to the main road, and even going to the nearby Tengeru market. I bought a Maasai blanket and some kangas - cloths that Tanzanian women wear. We also strolled through the used-clothes market and were shouted at by many. The locals were surprised to see so many mzungus in a non-touristy location. I also spent one afternoon helping (mostly watching) build a chicken coop. I sawed off one piece of wood and hammered in a nail! Pretty successful I would say.
This weekend is pretty low-key. I am planning on doing a lot of shopping at my favorite craft market in town. Hopefully I'll get some good deals considering how dreadful I am at bargaining.
Next week, we are going back to the same village to do more trainings. Supposedly I will be teaching at an all-girls' Secondary School, but plans tend to change on short notice here. We are also doing more chicken vaccinations next week. So another week of early morning wake up!
That's all for now! Kwaherini!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Back "home" from my first week in the village
I just got back to Arusha from my first week in a small Maasai village called Engi Karet. It is only about an hour drive from town and right off the main road. Unlike the greenness of the plants in Arusha, Engi Karet is in the dry, dry desert. It is definitely going to take a lot of scrubbing to get all the dust off my clothes! The whole group stayed in a very nice guesthouse. The sitting room had a TV! They didn't have enough beds for everyone, so when we got there they broke out the saws and hammers and put together an extra bunk bed.
We started teaching secondary school students only an hour after we arrived in the village. Myself and my fellow volunteer, Pat, taught this first class for an hour with two Tanzanian interns, Emmanuel and Peter, who helped us translate. This first class was about fifteen students and they were very eager to learn! After a quick lunch, we went down to the primary school and taught another class. This one was a little bigger (and kept growing throughout the week!), but they were equally as excited to learn.
In the afternoon, we started up a little game of keep-away football (no, not the American kind). The kids, as usual, were awesome at it.
The next morning we woke up at 5:30 in the morning to do chicken vaccinations - or kuku vaccinations as we called them. It was definitely rough, but seeing the sun rising over Mount Kilimanjaro was definitely worth it. Chicken vaccinations consisted of catching the chickens at different compounds around the village and putting drops in their eyes. We vaccinated them against Newcastle disease, which is a highly infectious airborne illness that kills chickens. Many Tanzanian farmers rely on chickens for food and livelihood, so they lose a lot of income when their chickens die.
We got back from chicken vaccinations around 9 in the morning every day to eat breakfast and get ready to teach. Every day was pretty much the same., but definitely fulfilling. Our students continued to be very enthusiastic. More and more came every day to learn, even though they wouldn't all get certificates at the end. It was very encouraging to see how much the kids wanted to learn about HIV.
It was definitely sad to leave the village today, especially leaving my favorite student, Kato. It is nice to be back in Arusha, and I'm looking forward to a meal out tonight without any rice!
Siku njema!
We started teaching secondary school students only an hour after we arrived in the village. Myself and my fellow volunteer, Pat, taught this first class for an hour with two Tanzanian interns, Emmanuel and Peter, who helped us translate. This first class was about fifteen students and they were very eager to learn! After a quick lunch, we went down to the primary school and taught another class. This one was a little bigger (and kept growing throughout the week!), but they were equally as excited to learn.
In the afternoon, we started up a little game of keep-away football (no, not the American kind). The kids, as usual, were awesome at it.
The next morning we woke up at 5:30 in the morning to do chicken vaccinations - or kuku vaccinations as we called them. It was definitely rough, but seeing the sun rising over Mount Kilimanjaro was definitely worth it. Chicken vaccinations consisted of catching the chickens at different compounds around the village and putting drops in their eyes. We vaccinated them against Newcastle disease, which is a highly infectious airborne illness that kills chickens. Many Tanzanian farmers rely on chickens for food and livelihood, so they lose a lot of income when their chickens die.
We got back from chicken vaccinations around 9 in the morning every day to eat breakfast and get ready to teach. Every day was pretty much the same., but definitely fulfilling. Our students continued to be very enthusiastic. More and more came every day to learn, even though they wouldn't all get certificates at the end. It was very encouraging to see how much the kids wanted to learn about HIV.
It was definitely sad to leave the village today, especially leaving my favorite student, Kato. It is nice to be back in Arusha, and I'm looking forward to a meal out tonight without any rice!
Siku njema!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Done with orientation!
Habari za mchana marafiki?
The past few days have been very busy! We have been at the office everyday for a long while learning about how to teach our students about HIV/AIDS Prevention and Nutrition. Next week we will travel to a village about an hour away and conduct sessions. I will be teaching a community group, which will probably be women from the village. In the afternoon I will also get to teach primary school students which will be fun!
On Wednesday afternoon, we met our homestay families. My mama picked me up from the hostel we were staying at and we took a taxi to her house. Her name is Anna and she lives in a beautiful house enclosed by a gate. On the other side of the road is a big park. There is a beautiful view of Mount Meru from the park. Mama Anna went to vetrinary school, but she also has a side business as a florist. Her yard has many different types of plants from all over Tanzania. There are apple trees, banana trees, avocado trees, oranges trees, many different types of palms and many many others. It is beautiful. Mama has a housegirl named Eva and a houseboy named Eugene. They took and do a lot of the house work. They live in the compound and Mama treats them like her children. Two of her nephews are also staying with her. Bariki is 15 and in secondary school. His older brother David is 26 and in college studying computer science. Yesterday afternoon, they took me on a hike up a hill by our house. It was beautiful. They pointed out a huge mouse to me which was not so exciting. But we also saw an owl in the forest which was very neat. Both Bariki and David speak English very well, so I got to talk to them a lot about life in Tanzania. They both assured me that Tanzanians are the friendliest out of all East Africans, which is part of the reason why it is such a peaceful country. And, being me, I showed them pictures of my dogs. Dogs in Tanzania are not really pets, but they seemed to think that Griffin and Dillon were cute (I mean who wouldn't?!). Mama has four guard dogs, but they are pretty nice! They are named Simba, Giraffe, Zebra, and Cheetah, all in English except for Simba. She is so funny.
Tomorrow we are going to Arusha National Park, which is the park that Mount Meru is in. We will get to see monkeys, giraffes, and some other safari animals! On Sunday, I will get to meet Mama's two twin daughters who are in college and are twenty years old. And Monday we head out to the village! Hopefully I will be able to update this weekend sometime because I will definitely not have internet in the village.
The past few days have been very busy! We have been at the office everyday for a long while learning about how to teach our students about HIV/AIDS Prevention and Nutrition. Next week we will travel to a village about an hour away and conduct sessions. I will be teaching a community group, which will probably be women from the village. In the afternoon I will also get to teach primary school students which will be fun!
On Wednesday afternoon, we met our homestay families. My mama picked me up from the hostel we were staying at and we took a taxi to her house. Her name is Anna and she lives in a beautiful house enclosed by a gate. On the other side of the road is a big park. There is a beautiful view of Mount Meru from the park. Mama Anna went to vetrinary school, but she also has a side business as a florist. Her yard has many different types of plants from all over Tanzania. There are apple trees, banana trees, avocado trees, oranges trees, many different types of palms and many many others. It is beautiful. Mama has a housegirl named Eva and a houseboy named Eugene. They took and do a lot of the house work. They live in the compound and Mama treats them like her children. Two of her nephews are also staying with her. Bariki is 15 and in secondary school. His older brother David is 26 and in college studying computer science. Yesterday afternoon, they took me on a hike up a hill by our house. It was beautiful. They pointed out a huge mouse to me which was not so exciting. But we also saw an owl in the forest which was very neat. Both Bariki and David speak English very well, so I got to talk to them a lot about life in Tanzania. They both assured me that Tanzanians are the friendliest out of all East Africans, which is part of the reason why it is such a peaceful country. And, being me, I showed them pictures of my dogs. Dogs in Tanzania are not really pets, but they seemed to think that Griffin and Dillon were cute (I mean who wouldn't?!). Mama has four guard dogs, but they are pretty nice! They are named Simba, Giraffe, Zebra, and Cheetah, all in English except for Simba. She is so funny.
Tomorrow we are going to Arusha National Park, which is the park that Mount Meru is in. We will get to see monkeys, giraffes, and some other safari animals! On Sunday, I will get to meet Mama's two twin daughters who are in college and are twenty years old. And Monday we head out to the village! Hopefully I will be able to update this weekend sometime because I will definitely not have internet in the village.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Landed safely in Arusha
Hamjambo marafiki!
I am safe and sound in Arusha, although definitely exhausted. I landed at 7:45 PM at Kilimanjaro airport after a loooong day of traveling on Sunday night. My journey started off with a little rerouting incident. It took about an hour and a half to get it straight. Luckily, it turned out that my new flight was through Boston, which left me with longer layovers and less flight time. Unluckily, my neighbor on the flight from Boston to Amsterdam was talkative and more than a little tipsy. So I got to hear for an hour about his drama with his "soon-to-be ex-wife."
Anyway, now I'm here and am in the middle of my second day of orientation. We had Swahili lessons both morning which were good refreshers for my novice skills. Yesterday we met most of the GSC staff and in the afternoon went on a walking tour of Arusha. The morning was very chilly, but the walking tour was in the afternoon, so I had to shed my fleece and scarf! We experienced out first "daladala" ride, which is the local transportation here. They are vans which the conductor packs with people and the driver drives recklessly. There will be many more daladala rides for me here! Today we met a Tanzanian man named Listone who is living with HIV. His wife and his first child are infected also. It was very interesting to hear him talk about the role stigma plays in relation to Tanzanians living with HIV. His family and friends for the most part are very accepting of his condition and help his family as much as possible, but there are many stigmatized people with HIV who do not treat themselves well and are not treated well by others. We talked a lot about the perceptions of HIV in America and in Tanzania. I definitely learned a lot from him and it was very valuable to hear his perspective. For lunch we went to a local Tanzanian restaurant and I had "pilau," which is brown spiced rice with "nyama ya rosti," which was basically beef in sauce. It was delicious and only about 5,000 Tanzanian shillings which is around $3!
Last night and tonight we are staying in a local hostel, and tomorrow evening we meet our homestay family who we will stay with on weekends and occassionally during the week for the rest of the trip. I have no idea who they are yet, so I'm very excited and a little nervous!
Hopefully I'll be able to update more often and maybe even with pictures if I can figure out how to upload, but no promises. You may just have to live with words!
Tutaonana baadaye!
Lexa
I am safe and sound in Arusha, although definitely exhausted. I landed at 7:45 PM at Kilimanjaro airport after a loooong day of traveling on Sunday night. My journey started off with a little rerouting incident. It took about an hour and a half to get it straight. Luckily, it turned out that my new flight was through Boston, which left me with longer layovers and less flight time. Unluckily, my neighbor on the flight from Boston to Amsterdam was talkative and more than a little tipsy. So I got to hear for an hour about his drama with his "soon-to-be ex-wife."
Anyway, now I'm here and am in the middle of my second day of orientation. We had Swahili lessons both morning which were good refreshers for my novice skills. Yesterday we met most of the GSC staff and in the afternoon went on a walking tour of Arusha. The morning was very chilly, but the walking tour was in the afternoon, so I had to shed my fleece and scarf! We experienced out first "daladala" ride, which is the local transportation here. They are vans which the conductor packs with people and the driver drives recklessly. There will be many more daladala rides for me here! Today we met a Tanzanian man named Listone who is living with HIV. His wife and his first child are infected also. It was very interesting to hear him talk about the role stigma plays in relation to Tanzanians living with HIV. His family and friends for the most part are very accepting of his condition and help his family as much as possible, but there are many stigmatized people with HIV who do not treat themselves well and are not treated well by others. We talked a lot about the perceptions of HIV in America and in Tanzania. I definitely learned a lot from him and it was very valuable to hear his perspective. For lunch we went to a local Tanzanian restaurant and I had "pilau," which is brown spiced rice with "nyama ya rosti," which was basically beef in sauce. It was delicious and only about 5,000 Tanzanian shillings which is around $3!
Last night and tonight we are staying in a local hostel, and tomorrow evening we meet our homestay family who we will stay with on weekends and occassionally during the week for the rest of the trip. I have no idea who they are yet, so I'm very excited and a little nervous!
Hopefully I'll be able to update more often and maybe even with pictures if I can figure out how to upload, but no promises. You may just have to live with words!
Tutaonana baadaye!
Lexa
Friday, July 1, 2011
All packed and ready to go!
I'm all packed and ready for my full 24 hours of travel to Tanzania. I've got books to read, Swahili to study, and hopefully a Deb-sandwich for dinner. I'm flying from Laguardia to Detroit (yes, I know it's in the wrong direction) to Amsterdam and finally to Kilimanjaro airport. A staff member of Global Service Corps will pick me up at the airport and bring me to a hostel where I'll be for the first few days of orientation. Then I'm off to my homestay for the remainder of the week. I can't WAIT to meet my family. Hoping they have little kids to play with because they're the most fun. After the first week, I'm off to do HIV/AIDS prevention education trainings in rural villages outside of Arusha. I'll probably have internet access most of the first week, but during the week I'll be off the grid. I'm nervous/excited for my trip and to meet the other volunteers.
Now I'm off to eat my last American breakfast!
Tutaonana,
Lexa
P.S. Sorry for the lack of creativity in the blog title. I really couldn't think of anything not cheesy/dumb/alliterative for my trip. Although Sewa did suggest "Waka Waka," but after I had already made this lovely title.
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