day 5 - christmas eve

Last night some volunteers went to Kinderoko (?) with Edward for a few beers. Kinderoko is a bar on top of a tourist hotel. We went at night, but apparently there is a fantastic view of Kili during the day, especially at sunset.

TAFCOM today wasn’t very productive, but I had a good time. Mike went to an orphanage for the day because he was frustrated by the lack of work to be done at TAFCOM. When I got there Jonas (one of the founders) invited Namen (another volunteer) and I to coffee. We had really great conversation, and Jonas has some really great goals for TAFCOM. I get the feeling that they really on past and current volunteers for a large amount of their funding, but that when volunteers go home they aren’t always good with following through on their promises to send funds. I gained a new level of respect for Jonas after our conversation; everything he does is aimed at somehow improving TAFCOM and the lives of it’s clients, and his dedication really shows. I wish I could take a more active role in helping TAFCOM achieve their goals. When we returned to the office I went to the internet cafe to make some basic budget sheets for TAFCOM to use. I hope that they will actually use them, and that they will help them secure more permanent funding in the future. We left placements a bit early today to leave for safari!!!

On another note, I had to use the bathroom at TAFCOM today and got a BIG surprise. The toilet in Africa… omg. Ceramic holes. In an office building. I took my pants all the way off because I was afraid of peeing all over myself. How disgusting.

 

(The brown is mud by the way. No worries there.)

day 4

Today at TAFCOM we went on some home visits. We visited three families infected with or affected by AIDS, and asked about their health, happiness, and any new events in their lives. We gave each family a small bag of rice, for which they were all incredibly grateful. The clients live in a village called Pasua outside of Moshi. The homes are mud huts with no windows or doors (just holes), and holes in the roofs. Most families only have a few plastic buckets to their names, and some have beds. All of the homes I saw were one-room buildings, and some families are as large as 8+ people. The poverty was extreme, but not surprising. I guess I’ve been a bit desensitized from TV etc.
My favorite visit was to a woman named Veronica, possibly the oldest person in the Moshi area. Veronica has AIDS and is eligible to receive AVG medicine from the government for free. Her biggest problem is that she can’t afford food, and without food the medicine is poison to your body. She has asthma and shares an inhaler with a neighbor, and has many other illness that she cannot afford to treat. She is bone-skinny and incredibly frail. She is caring for her two young grandchildren, because their mothers are unable to care for them or died from AIDS. What is most incredible to me about Veronica and the others we visited is that even though they are some of the world’s poorest people they are always incredibly kind and welcoming, and joke and laugh with you. They acknowledge their suffering but don’t dwell on it, and they try to continue on with their lives the best that they can. I find it both deeply inspiring and embarrassing, when I think about the things I complain about at home.

When we returned to the TAFCOM office after our visits it became apparent that there isn’t much for Mike or I to do while we are here. TAFCOM’s biggest needs are for fundraisers and grant writing, which are large scale projects we couldn’t possibly complete in less than 10 days at the office. Volunteers at TAFCOM most often work at the Children’s Center, but it is closed for the holidays. I am considering asking CCS to switch placements, so I can go somewhere where I feel productive. My hesitation is that I feel guilty about asking to leave an organization I was sent to because it needs help.
At lunch today it got really windy and the sky turned a reddish-brown. It lasted a few minutes and then the sky opened and dumped the most rain I’ve ever seen.

day 3

It’s so hot here, but It’s surprising how much of a difference it makes to be in the shade. This morning we started our placements. Apparently at TAFCOM the first day is orientation and you’re just supposed to talk about your feelings and stuff, but we wanted to do something right away. The TAFCOM children’s center is closed for the holidays, so we decided to have a day where we could open it and provide entertainment and food for the kids. We went out into the town to try to buy a world map so we could do some geography activities. This wasn’t the brightest idea we’d ever had, because we just wandered into a city we knew nothing about looking for something that’s pretty rare here. Luckily we ran into Edward from Pristine who took us around and helped us to buy one.

In the afternoon we visited a local hospital to hear a lecture about AIDS in Tanzania. It was a large complex with wards for lots of different illnesses. There were lines of old metal beds, no privacy, bars on the windows, and no decorations, but I was glad we didn’t see anything worse than that. There were a good number of patients there, but there were some empty beds too. We were told that when it gets really busy they can have as many as three people in one twin sized bed. This includes the maternity ward, where women are waiting to give birth. The most disturbing part of the hospital was the psych ward. The men were all in one huge room sitting on urine soaked mattresses on the floor with bars on the windows. The group that was considered especially dangerous also had bars on the door, and I don’t know if they had mattresses or not. It was exactly like a jail. We were told this is because when you put objects in the room (such as a bed frame) the patients break them and use the pieces to hurt each other and themselves. The most common diagnosis was schizophrenia.
After the hospital we stopped at a traditional craft market. The stores were in little huts that were separated from the main road by a little bridge. The market mostly sold paintings and wood carvings. After exchanging (the very long) greetings with a shop keeper, she asked me if I spoke Swahili. I was super proud of myself.

day 2, part 2

After a break we went to an orphanage. There were about 20 babies with nothing but a dirty mattress on the floor. There were only a few toys, and the kids were playing with empty bottles and their caps.
People are saying they crave pizza already, so we are going out to dinner in town tonight. The food here is very greasy and starchy, but not that bad. The meat is very fatty and tough so I don’t eat much.

day 2

Today we got up a 6:30 and had breakfast. Then we were split into teams of two and given ‘drop-off missions’. Lauren and I were a team. She and I plus another group were sent to a house down the road and told to ask for Kanga and ask about the literature. It was werd to just walk into a strangers yard and ask for stuff but we were welcomed and showed tons of Kangas. We stayed there for nearly an hour, making broken conversation from a Swahili phrase book. When we left she asked us to return.
We came back, exchanged our experiences, and had a cultural lesson from the CCS staff. We had a break, lunch, and Swahili lesson. We learned that because of the holidays we will only be in placement 9 days, so we asked to have volunteer opportunities in the afternoons as well.

day 1, part 3

After interacting with some of the CCS people I’m disappointed. One volunteer commented on the lack of supplies in the resource center, and another said she was not ‘kept in the loop’ by CCS NY before she got here. Most people said they were given inaccurate information by CCS NY. Also when I was unpacking I realized some stuff was missing from my suitcase. I’ve heard that in poor countries that isn’t that uncommon.
Me and the others from the Ethiopia group went to a safari pitch by Pristine Trails. It will cost $550 for a 4 day, 3 night trip this weekend plus a free T-shirt and a day hike on Kili where you make your own coffee start to finish. It’s more money than I planned on spending, but it’s a longer trip and with 2 parks and the coffee tour. I’m really excited.
I have a bug under my mosquito net, which has a whole in it.

day 1, part 2

I finally made it to CCS and the home base is beautiful. There is a lush courtyard, two connected buildings, and the staff gave us a really warm welcome. I am writing this from the courtyard and there are kids in the background singing in Swahili. It’s so cool, I wish I could record it.
When we got off the plane in JRO is was super hot. Now we are much more rural and surrounded by fauna and its cool and breezy, I can’t wait to go into town and go shopping and explore. I’m really curious to meet the other volunteers and hear about my placement!