Dala Dala/Igoma

            On Sunday Margaret came over and invited Chris and I to her house (nyumbani). We were planning on having a nice relaxing day at the apartment, but were pleasantly surprised with her invitation. This was a really eye-opening experience and something I will remember forever. To begin, Chris and I experienced our first Dala dala ride. For those who are wondering a dala dala is a large van that transports people like a bus to various locations. They are essentially the “Tanzanian Buses” and the cost is equivalent to only about 25₵ CDN! However, it is definitely not the most comfortable or enjoyable experience to say the least. It can sit about 16 people, but this doesn’t mean there can be over 20 people crammed in, with the occasional random baby on your lap or butt in your face! There is also an overwhelming stench (mainly body odour), although it did remind me of the smell of my sisters soccer bag, so it was nice to experience some familiarity from home! I’m still trying to get a handle on how exactly they work and how you know which one to get on, but basically when you want to get off you shout out “stop” or “hapa!” (Here). It was definitely not the smoothest ride, and there were times I thought it might break down, but it gets you where you need to go at a low cost! I used to think the LTC bus system was bad, but after riding in a dala dala I doubt I will ever complain about it again!

            The ride to Igoma (the region Margaret lives) was about 15 minutes away from our apartment. I was so glad to arrive, but didn’t realize we would be walking for another 25 minutes. Margaret first took us to her mother’s home where we found her seated outside a tiny one room shack. She was incredibly excited to meet us and so welcoming! The look on Margaret’s face when we arrived was one of pure joy and almost brought tears to my eyes. After visiting her Mother, we went to Margaret’s home where she lives with her daughter Lola. Again, their home consisted of just two small rooms, with a few pots, two stools, and a small table. They have no electricity or running water, yet Margaret seems so proud of what she has and was grinning from ear to ear the entire time! This experience really made me think of how fortunate I am to have all I do back in Canada, and even here at the apartment. I feel a bit guilty having complained about cold showers and the sporadic power outages, when in reality many people don’t even have running water.

            Overall, this was a really unique experience and I am so glad I got to see another area of Mwanza. The people there (in Igoma and in most parts of Mwanza) have next to nothing yet everyone is happy and friendly, and seem to just live in the moment and enjoy the little they do have. This is something I suggest we all think about when we stress about bills, deadlines, grades, etc. Although we do have poverty, disease, and malnutrition in North America, here you see so much of it everywhere you turn.  

Monday January 24^th

            On Monday Chris and I had a very eventful day! We had an early start beginning with our hike to Mtoni Secondary School to make learn how to make Chappatis! It turned out that they didn’t need both of us there, so I went to the kitchen and helped Mama Elizabeth open the kitchen and get things set up for the days yoghurt and milk production! I was able to observe and help with all the processes so I think I’m getting a good handle on all the steps involved.

            After a couple hours we headed back to the apartment, where Margaret was awaiting my return to take me to pick up my skirt and bag from the tailors (I had two different styles of skirts and a bag made with one piece of material!). After this we bravely ventured into the main market to pick up some fish (samaki). This was a bit of nerve racking experience! First of all it was absolutely packed with people, I couldn’t see one step in front of me so I just held on to Margaret and my purse with dear life and hoped for the best! A lot of people were yelling things at me (Mzungo) and pointing but I’m starting to get used to it.

            After this, Chris and I went back to the kitchen to have our first meeting with the mamas! Surprisingly, we only started ½ an hour late and our translator showed up on time (very rare).  We learned a lot of information from the mamas and have a better handle on our tasks for the coming week. Before the meeting the mamas had prepared a mound of ugali and fish and we all sat together on the floor to enjoy the food! They were so impressed with how much I ate and said Tanzanian food will make me strong so “kula kula” (“eat eat”)!

Results of meeting/action plan

-          Problem: NIMR (national institute of medical research) not consistently having probiotics ready when mamas go to pick them up

-          Plan: Chris and I will visit NIMR and talk with the people responsible for culturing probiotics and see what the issues are

-          Need: Probiotics education

-          Plan: Prepare a presentation on probiotics including what they are, their health    benefits and suitability for everyone!

-           This week Chris will go to the market with the mamas and help/observe and see if there are ways to improve, and also look at their profit margins for both the Chapattis and  yoghurt

-          Find out if the Starehe Orphanage School is still open and if so seek opportunity to sell yoghurt here

Interesting Fact

Time

-     People tell time very differently here, and I still can’t get my head around it. In the Swahili culture the day starts at sunrise (in the Arab world the day starts at sunset and in the Western World the day starts at midnight). Sunrise in East Africa being exactly at the equator, happens at approximately 6:00am. For this reason 6:00am is like 12:00am in Canada. So essentially, Swahili time is delayed by 6 hours. Therefore 7:00am is “1:00 morning”

-      I was really confused at first when I asked one of the mamas what time they start making the Chapattis in the morning. She said 2:00am! I was shocked but then soon realized this actually means 8:00am. This is something I have to be very cautious about when arranging meetings so everyone knows what time to arrive.

-     Note also that the Swahili time doesn't use "noon" as the reference as in a.m. (before noon) and p.m. (after noon). The time is spoken using  "alfajiri" which is the early morning time during which the morning light has started to shine but the sun has not risen yet; "asubuhi" which is the morning time between sunrise and a little before noon; "mchana" which is from around noon to around 3:00 p.m.; "alasiri" which is from around 3:00 p.m. to sunset;  "jioni" which is the entire time period from around 3:00 p.m. up to a little before 7:00 p.m.; and  "usiku" which is the entire time period from around 7:00 p.m. to early morning.