Week 2 Highlights!

I can't believe I have only been here for 2 weeks! Chris and I have already done and learned so much!
On Tuesday I finally learned how to make the ever so popular chapattis that the Mtoni school kids can’t seem to get enough of. Mama Elizabeth gave me a short lesson mainly on how to knead, shape, and roll the dough, then I passed them over to mama Sabina to fry. After doing this for a couple hours, Stanley (translator) stopped by and took me inside Mtoni School to meet with the assistant headmaster. Clarke Road Secondary School (in London Ontario) has established a twinning project with Mtoni. They have raised funds for supplies and provide an opportunity for learning between the students in each country. After waiting for over an hour, I told Stanley it would be fine if I just spoke with a teacher as I mainly wanted to set up a time for Chris and I to visit and take some pictures and possibly a video to bring back to Canada to show Clarke Road Secondary. The teacher was so nice and we have arranged to meet next week! I’m excited to learn more about the differences/similarities between the two school systems.

Market

            Chris had his first experience going to the Market with the Mamas to sell their yoghurt! He left around 12:00 noon and didn’t return back to the apartment until 6:00pm. His first words when he came in: “They work freaking hard!!” He is so right, I can’t believe these women, although I’ve only been here two weeks they’ve completely blown my mind! Chris had a very positive experience and I was happy to hear that they completely sold out! Looks like Chris doesn’t need to find a gym anymore, as all that lifting and walking is more than enough!

            On Wednesday I went on a little adventure with Mama Joyce to Bwiru which is where the Forever Angels orphanage is located.  We dropped off 6L of yoghurt for the children. A visit to Forever Angels is definitely on my to-do list while I am in Mwanza and Missy and I are planning to go for a more extended period.

Forever Angels Orphanage

Mission Statement

We aim to promote general charitable purposes for the benefit of the community of Tanzania in order to address and alleviate social and economic disadvantage to impoverished and HIV positive families and orphaned or abandoned children.

The first project was the building of a Baby Home in Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. This Baby Home provides a stable, loving home for up to 50 orphaned and abandoned babies and infants from 0 to 5 years, who are severely disadvantaged. It is staffed by trained and dedicated Tanzanian carers and trainees and provides nutrition, love, health care, physical and emotional support until the child is either fostered, adopted or reunited with their family.

There are thousands of orphaned and abandoned children in Africa, often due to AIDS. In Tanzania, about 10% of the population carries the HIV virus. As a result of this, many babies and young children lose their mothers whilst still nursing. Other parents are simply too sick or too poor to care for their children. Traditionally, their extended family would help support these vulnerable children, but with the AIDS epidemic effectively stripping away this support network, more and more of these babies are remaining in families that are simply unable to care for them and so they often die from starvation or disease. Others are abandoned or left in Government hospitals to die alone.

            That evening we attended a fundraising dinner for the street kids program which is run by a couple of Missy’s friends. Once a month they have a special themed all you can eat buffet dinner for 10,000tsh (around $10.00CDN) with all proceeds going to help their program. This one was Italian and it was so delicious! There was bread, salad, lasagna, and pasta – finally some familiar food! It was a great evening filled with great people and food!

            On Thursday Chris and I had an extremely long, busy, but very productive day! We left the apartment at 11:00am and didn’t return until 8:00pm. Our first stop was NIMR (National Institute of Medical Research) where we were met with Dr. John Changalucha (Director of the Medical Research Centre). We introduced ourselves as the new western heads east interns and our reasons for being here. This was also our first time being in an air conditioned area since we arrived in Mwanza and as much as I love the heat, I admit it did feel refreshing after a long walk! We were then taken up to the lab where we spoke with Edita who is mainly responsible for preparing the probiotic culture for the mamas to pick up. After speaking with her, we quickly learned that there seems to be some miscommunication between what the mamas are telling us, and what the lab techs reported. The mamas are saying that the probiotics are never ready when they come to pick them up, whereas the lab techs say the mamas have stopped coming.

We received a tour of the lab and although they have all the necessary supplies to prepare the probiotic bacteria, the resources they have are much less in comparison to the conditions I worked in at in the Lawson Health Research Institute at University Hospital prior to coming here. The good news is they are fully equipped to prepare the probiotics so we got Edita’s phone number which we will give to the mamas so they can call her when they are coming and thus, the probiotics can be ready!

Our next stop was the land office (which is actually veterinary services) and is fortunately located almost right next to NIMR. A guard of some sort let us into the area where we were faced with about 10 white building/offices that all looked identical. The area was completely deserted so we were a little confused about what to do. Luckily we soon heard some voices so gravitated in that direction. We spoke with a couple of men and Chris explained who we were and why we were here. They seemed very interested in hearing more from us, and told us to come back in an hour or so after one of the men dealt with a cow.

So, we decided to use our time effectively and head over to Kivulini where I wanted to speak to Maimuna (director). When we got there, Maimuna was involved with a workshop but told me to wait and would then be happy to speak with me. After waiting for about 1 hour, she invited us to join in with the lunch they had prepared for all the people attending the workshop which was a pleasant surprise! Following our meal of rice, fish, and cabbage she introduced me to the mamas working for the ChemChemi project that I am interested in volunteering for! ChemChemi is an NGO that works under Kivulini. The program focuses mainly on health and nutrition issues for malnourished children under five. They visit different regions in Mwanza 3 times per week and provide demonstrations for the communities on how to cook porridge using a mixture of millet, rice, peanut, maize, and soy flours. Weekly supplies are then allotted to each family so they can prepare the porridge for their children at home. They also track the children’s growth and weight on charts. I arranged to go with them this coming Thursday, so stay tuned for an update about my experience!

By now it was nearly 4:00pm, so we went back over to the veterinarian office in hopes that the man was still there. Luckily, after speaking with a few other people we were able to find him and had a good meeting regarding the issues the mamas are having with the piece of land they own. He seemed very willing to check up on their cows and help the mamas maximize the profitability of their land.

After all this we picked up Missy from Kivulini and started walking home. On our way, we stopped by a shop where some of Missy’s local friends work and chatted with them for a while. This then turned into a trip to Isamilo Lodge (richer area in Tanzania) which, despite the car running out of gas on the way, turned into a wonderful evening and a beautiful view of the sunset over Lake Victoria! We had such an adventurous productive day!

Interesting Facts about African Life

1.      Shopping

-          There are tons and tons of vendors set up all along the streets selling, shoes, clothing, electronics, tools, stationary, etc. They are all crammed into small closet like spaces. I have noticed that there are thousands of shoes (mainly sandals/flip flops) being sold everywhere; I don’t think I have ever seen so many shoes in my life! The other day I got a pair of Roxy sandals for 2000tsh, which is less than $2.00 CDN!! Apparently bags of used shoes arrive from the U.S, Canada, and Europe and come here to be revamped

-          Shops are also places for socializing. Most have some sort of wooden chair or stool out front where people will stop to chat with the store owner or people passing by.

-          This week I also experienced the fresh produce market where Missy and I set off to buy loads of fruits and vegetables. There are multiple vendors selling the same things, but some are nicer looking or have cheaper prices. The market was packed, and as soon as you show a slight interest in something the sellers will not let up on trying to persuade you to buy the item! We picked up carrots, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes, mangoes, garlic, onions, bananas, and peppers all for under 10 bucks! The exotic fruits like passion fruit, mango and avocado that would be very expensive back home are especially cheap!

-          There are also more westernized grocery stores but they are extremely expensive. For example cereal is about $9.00 CDN and olive oil is $10.00 CDN! As a result I think I will try and stick to the African ways of shopping until my “western food” cravings set in!  

2.      Bartering

-          The other day Margaret took me to the market to buy some new sandals and a skirt. She is such a tough lady and I wouldn’t want to mess with her! I saw a pair of sandals I liked which were first offered to me for 14,000tsh. After Margaret conversed back in forth in Swahili with the seller for a while she was able to get them down to 7000tsh! I am learning that nothing really has a priced attached to it. It’s really up to the buyer to negotiate a price with the seller, and this all depends on your bartering skills

-          This rule also applies when taking a cab. It is important to always ask the cab driver beforehand how much it will cost, because white people are always charged more than locals. It’s important that you know the correct price before hand so you can barter down to it. This is much different from Canada where the price is decided at the end of your ride.

** Pictures coming soon!