Last Sunday (My Mom’s birthday – Happy belated birthday mama!) I slept in and had a nice relaxing day. I made a trip to the market then took advantage of the sun which had been hiding all week, and tanned for a couple hours on the roof of our apartment. One vitamin I know I’m not missing is vitamin D! Later in the day I received a message from a friend I met at SAUT (Lina) that there was a football game at 4:30pm between the second year sociology students and second year law students. I wasn’t doing too much so I decided this would be a good opportunity to meet some new people and attend a sporting event at a university. Apart from the Daladala rides (I am always harassed and forced to pay more because I am a “mzungu”), it was a great afternoon! Lina and I probably spent more time talking and asking each other different questions about Canada and Tanzania then we did watching the game, but I did manage to witness a few good plays. She told me that the season begins in February and ends in April and is very popular among the students which I can confirm by the number of people at the game!
I really enjoy visiting the SAUT campus. As I mentioned earlier there is a certain vibe you get at university’s that I can’t really describe…I just love the atmosphere! Even though, I am still for the most part the only white person, I don’t get the same stares or comments that I do when walking down the streets, which I must say is quite peaceful and refreshing! I think the students have attained a certain level of education resulting in the respect I feel while visiting.
SAUT Soccer Game
On Monday I went with Mama Asia and Mama Joyce to Igombe to visit the group of yoghurt mamas there. Mama Asia works at Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization and provided entrepreneurial/business training for these Mamas and Mama Joyce is from the Tukwamunae group and helped train the mamas to make the yoghurt. I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that the ChemChemi project takes place in Igombe on Mondays so we got to spend some time visiting these mamas when we arrived. Just to remind you, the ChemChemi project is an NGO that works under Kivulini. The program focuses on health and nutritional issues for malnourished children under five. The Mamas bring their children each week where they are weighed and measured and then uji (thin porridge) is prepared for them. Many of the mamas who bring their children to ChemChemi are the mamas who are part of the yoghurt group as well. So, after this we went to visit the yoghurt kitchen. There space is very tiny and they have few resources but I see a lot of potential in this group. They have fifteen mamas and they are selling in the market every day. They are also interested in adding the probiotics into the yoghurt. I hope to visit them again next week to provide some education on probiotics and leave them with a facts sheet.
Me with some of the ChemChemi Mamas
Serving the Uji!
Mamas and their kids drinking Uji!
Me with some of the Igombe Mamas
Interview Questions:
Last week Chris and I were contacted by some Global Health Science Students doing course work related to public health promotions in Tanzania in regards to probiotic yoghurt. They sent us four salient questions that they want us to ask the yoghurt mamas and some Tanzanians from the general population. I am quite excited about doing this and interested in the various responses: There are 4 salient questions we have been requested to ask:
1. What does it mean to you to be healthy
2. What is bacteria?
3. How does your community view people with HIV/AIDS?
4. What do you think the benefits of probiotic yoghurt are in your community?
Mtoni Presentations
This week I continued with educating the students at Mtoni secondary school about the health benefits of milk and yoghurt. I spoke with Form 2 students so they are older and thus their English is a little better.
Some of the questions from the students:
1. Is milk still as healthy if you add sugar?
2. Why do you have to boil the milk first, but you don't have to boil breast milk for babies?
3. Do all cows produce the same type of milk?
Some of the questions from the students:
1. Is milk still as healthy if you add sugar?
2. Why do you have to boil the milk first, but you don't have to boil breast milk for babies?
3. Do all cows produce the same type of milk?
This week I finally built up the courage to get my hair braided! It is something I’ve wanted to do since I’ve been here, but very few (if any) “mzungus” (white foreigners) have their hair in braids. Nevertheless, I went to a well-known beauty salon and got it done. It took much longer than I expected…a total of five hours spread over 2 days! But overall a very cool experience!
On Thursday my translator Stanley took me to Nyakato which is where the Mahina yoghurt Mamas are located. I gave them another “simpler” probiotics fact sheet for them to post on the door of their kitchen. One of my goals is to get them including the probiotics in their yoghurt which I feel they are ready to start doing. So, I brought one of the Mamas to NIMR and introduced her to the staff and they informed her about the probiotic yoghurt drop off and pick procedure. Everything went smoothly apart from getting caught up in some riots on the streets! It was actually pretty crazy there were tons of people from the opposition party protesting against the party in power (I’m not exactly sure why, but I think it was something to do with them charging high prices, etc). We got held up in our daladala for about 15 minutes as rioters crowed the streets and banged on the doors of the daladala as they passed by.
Protests on the sreet!
Probiotic fact sheet on the Mahina Kitchen door!
Interesting Facts!
Noise
Our apartment is located right in the centre of town so it is ALWAYS super loud! There is frequently loud music blaring from trucks/cars as they drive by, and many times people go by yelling things into megaphones. The other night there was a wedding close by and the noise lasted well into the early morning. It’s also not uncommon to hear dogs barking for hours on end and sometimes there are even dog fights. There are certainly no noise by-laws in Mwanza, all I can say is that I’m glad I brought ear plugs!
Weather
- The weather has been absolutely beautiful for the most part. The rainy season usually occurs during November and December but apparently Mwanza received very little rain fall during this time, so sometimes there is a torrential down poor in the afternoon. During this time the city essentially shuts down. Fortunately this only lasts for about an hour, then it is clear and sunny again and the city returns back to its busy vibrant self! Some days it is quite cool, but I shouldn’t complain because I know it is better than being in the Canadian winter! The seasons in East Africa don’t correspond to those of other parts of the world. They vary greatly depending on the altitude and latitude, which roughly corresponds to June, July, and August, can be cold in the southern highlands of Tanzania, pleasant on the cost and hot in the northern regions of Kenya. People may refer to the following seasons but have different times of year in mind: cold, harvest, hot, and rainy
- Missy took me up on the roof of the apartment which is a very peaceful location to read or, I have been using it as a prime tanning spot! It’s also a good way to get away from all the staring from the streets. However, occasionally these huge ugly scruffy birds land on the roof which is a little creepy!
Crazy Bird on the Roof!
Other points!
- The power also goes off very frequently at the apartment, but this is unrelated to the weather. I think it has probably gone out on average 5 days a week for a couple hours. This is no problem during the day but at night it can make cooking and ultimately seeing a little difficult. Luckily we have lots of empty wine bottles with candles stuck in them that are very helpful! I’m actually starting to get used to the random power outages and it always makes for an interesting night of conversations!
- I think I’ve failed to mention that we have a squat toilet in our apartment. Although I have to use it every day, this is something I just don’t think I will ever get used to. The other thing that is extremely difficult is the cold showers! Actually, I admit that I have resorted to boiling water and having “bucket baths” on the days I just can’t hack it!
- When I see such young children taking care of other children. It’s quite a different concept than in Canada. Responsibility is foisted on and accepted by youth at such a young age. But with the sheer level of poverty, there is little time for parental supervision
xoxox sending my love from Tanzania!
xoxox sending my love from Tanzania!
GOOD
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