Africa Journal # 5
Friday Feb 25th
You never know what a day in
Surprise outing at the orphanage….
The beginning of today at the orphanage started as usual, but around 10:30, the nurses took a few of the older kids and dressed them in these frilly, but repaired many times over dresses. It seemed bizarre to me that they were doing so. The nurse who could speak English told Julie and I that they were walking to the police graduation ceremony which was really close to the orphanage. They invited us to come along.
So, we headed over there with Mary Penda (the twelve-year-old girl who has been helping this week, due to school being closed), Six of the three and four old kids and a nurse also came along. This turned out to be a very ostentatious ceremony. When we arrived at the police academy, we came to a huge open field in the midst of the student’s barracks. Inside, a marching band played very official songs and there were about ten groups (battalions?) lined up so that there were hundreds of uniformed, armed men and women awaiting graduation.
The president of
Last day for Anna and Julie…
After work, I went out to lunch with two other volunteers, Anna and Julie because it is their last day here. I am sad about the fact that they are leaving and will really miss them. And, to add the sadness, we went by Kebo House which is the coffee, sandwich place with “fast”, air-conditioned Internet. We found it locked, guards posted and a sign saying they were “closed for renovations” and would be open again shortly. Since this place is only 6 months old, this did not seem plausible. We later learned that the owners are in a legal battle and since nothing moves quickly here, I have given up on ever seeing the inside of this oasis in the desert.
Socializing at Jessica’s at 2:00
When we returned from town, we were picked up by Jessica to walk to her house. I have been there a couple of times, but still could not find my way through this winding twenty- minute walk even for a prize of the biggest bowl of slightly melted of Ben and Jerry’s. This route involves turning right at this field, turning left at the white house with the green door, then walking down a narrow path, lined with six foot high, thorny bougainvillea. At one point in the journey, we had to duck to avoid bumping the jagged, rusty edge of the tin roof of a dilapidated shed.
Jessica’s parents are in the process of building a new home. At this time, the home, which is next door to the current one is on hold until they are able to get more money to continue. I have noticed several structures like this which are partially finished in the village. I asked about it and this and it was explained to me that people often take years to build a home. They do what they can afford, let it sit and do a little more as they can afford it.
The foundation, the brick outer walls, window openings and the rough-in of the interior walls on Jessica’s house are finished. It is a house-shell. For today’s occasion, the family had moved their living room furniture outside and into the new house due to the heat. This was a wonderful setting even though the dust was bad. Her brothers occasionally brought buckets of water and dumped them on the dusty, cement floor and outside the open doorway to temporarily keep the dust down.
Unexpected visit to the hospital – and imagined language barrier on our part…
While we were sitting and visiting at Jessica’s, her sister made us some fried cornbread nuggets. Then her mother, Digna arrived home via the CCS van. She had been at the hospital due to the fact that a CCS volunteer from Arusha (another CCS program an hour away from here) was ill and had to be taken to the hospital. We asked which volunteer was sick, because we had met a few of the Arusha volunteers a couple of weeks ago. Digna said “Corina” was sick, which we mistook for Karen. We said “Karen”? and she said “Yes, Corina.” Due to accents and language barriers, we still thought the ill person was Karen, whom we had met before. So, we decided to go visit Karen. We thought it might be a bit scary to be in a Tanzanian hospital, with no one you know around and half a world away from home.
Mama Digna called Andrew, a taxi driver for us, who is also Digna’s brother-in-law. Andrew is married to Digna’s sister, Mama Tumaini. Andrew pulled up a few minutes later and we headed down the bumpy, red dust. As always, he drove on the left, the middle, in yards, wherever he could find the smoothest patch of road.
As we were driving, we came upon a stalled Range Rover blocking the road. Since these roads are not really two-lane, when two cars are coming at each other, one has to pull over onto the yard to let the other pass. As we were sitting in the car, Andrew got out to see if he could help the other driver. Four cows and twenty kids passed by our car while we were waiting. The stalled car was not movable, so Andrew had us get out of the car so he could wind his way through the adjacent yard which was full of bushes, trees and ruts. It took him several passes until he could find the right angle to get the car through, but he managed.
We finally arrived at the hospital; KCMC (
So, more conversations with this nice, patient hospital employee, more phone calls and no results. We decided that we should look in on the young girl in room 13 anyway - in case she was lonely. Anna thought to ask her if she was with CCS and she said yes and that her name was Corina!!! So, mystery solved, Mama Digna had pronounced her name correctly and we goofed it up. Corina was extremely happy to see us. The CCS staff had gone to get her food and she was lonely and a little scared. We stayed until the food came and Jessica spoon-fed Corina some soup. Corina could have managed this herself, but the Tanzanians are caretakers, and I think Corina appreciated the care. As we were leaving, Jessica said “I will pray for you my friend”.
CCS volunteers pull together…
Corina’s friend and fellow volunteer, Jill who is from the
The CCS staff was wonderful about staying with Corina and bringing her every meal until she got out the next night. They really never found anything wrong with her and her parents were flying in from
Back to dinner at Jessica’s….
After dropping off comfort supplies for Corina, we returned to Jessica’s house. It was 7:00 by the time we got back. The whole hospital escapade took four hours due to slow travel ad stalled cars. But, I have learned to never be in a hurry for anything here, because everything and I do mean everything moves very slowly.
Surprise Bash…
The small, family dinner we anticipated turned out to be a party with about thirty family, friends and neighbors. They whole gang was already assembled when we arrived and Mama Digna had put out a huge spread. I have already described the partially finished house where the family had moved their furniture for the party. At dark, this structure, which already had atmosphere plus, turned magical. Jessica’s dad and brother worked and worked to get a set of lights functioning. As the lights would promisingly flicker, everyone would cheer, and then the lights would fade. This continued until they were finally successful in getting the mood lighting to work. Meanwhile, they had a kerosene lantern to light the dining area. The night sounds, the full moon, the small flicker of flame, the energy of the people all came together to make this a beautiful and magical setting.
Mama Digna brought out a pitcher of warm water and a basin and poured warm water over our hands to wash them. And again, everyone said “Karibou” – (welcome) to us so many times. It really made us feel honored to be there. Jessica asked for a volunteer to say a prayer before dinner, so before I had time to register in my brain what I was doing; my voice said “I will say the prayer.” And the words thankfully followed.
While the men continued to work on the lights, Jessica held the lantern over the food table and had Anna, Sarah and I served ourselves first. They all kept apologizing for the lack of light and we sincerely assured them that it was wonderful just the way it was.
The dinner was delicious; chicken, beef, pork, coleslaw, bread, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, mango and pineapple, spicy rice and homemade French fries. After dinner, a huge basket was brought out containing warm soda of many flavors. Maybe I will grow to like warm soda before I leave here. Oh, how I miss ice.
After dinner, Jessica got up to speak and introduce everyone. Around CCS, Jessica seems more shy, but in this setting, with her friends and family around, she was quite comfortable and quite the entertainer and public speaker. It is obvious that everyone loves and respects her. She introduced the three of us first; Anna, Sarah and me. The party was in honor of Anna and Sarah who are leaving, and all three of us because we have been good friends to Jessica. Also, we didn’t realize it, but it was Jessica’s sister, Judy’s 16th birthday. So, this was a big event all around. When Jessica introduced each of us, she said how much she loves us.
It is interesting that people here are so open to new people and it is easy for them to get attached. I find it harder for myself to do this to the same degree and wonder if it is cultural, or if I need to take a look at myself and examine the reason for that. Is it hard for me to trust; am I cynical, insecure…what? When Jessica finished introducing each and every person there, she looked at the three of us and said “And now you are family – you are a part of our family and we love you.” This moved me to tears and Digna, who was sitting next to me, started wiping my cheeks with her thumbs and hugging me, which of course made me cry more.
After diner, Judy, the birthday girl cut the cake she had made earlier in the day. It was a flat white cake with no frosting and no decoration. One might think that was not a proper birthday cake, but after one taste of it’s buttery goodness, one might change one’s mind. The birthday song was sung in English, just the same as we do it in
After everyone had cake, they put on some music DVDs on the TV which had been bought out for the occasion. Everyone including their 3 year old granddaughter Irene, their four-year old adopted daughter’s son, Babou, Andrew the taxi driver (who stayed because he is family and he was going to drive us home), Mama Digna, Baba Charles and even the three mzungu danced. Everyone was laughing and having a blast. They just entertain themselves with the simple pleasures of sharing a meal and good times together.
Sometimes when people are happy or celebrating, they make this kind of high itched sound. It sounds like a rapid la la la la la la…. Some of the women were doing this and since this is similar to the primal scream I sometimes bust loose with, I caught on immediately. I am Tanzanian woman!!! The whole setting was kind of surreal, sitting in a partially finished home in
When it was time to leave, I shook hands with everyone, was told “Karibou” many times over, thanked our hosts many times over and was thanked for coming many times over. Then we took eight pictures and got serious about leaving. Anna was leaving for
Nzuri lala salama – good, safe sleep
When I went to bed that night, I had the soundest night’s sleep since arriving. I did not hear one rooster, one dog or see one spider on my netting. I think about that first night and sitting bolt, horror-film-upright in bed when that rooster crowed at one AM, two AM, three AM….
Saturday Feb 26
Good-byes and hand –me-downs
Several of the volunteers are getting ready to leave this weekend. Lindsey and Anna have been here six weeks and are leaving for two weeks at
Anyway, when volunteers get ready to leave, they go through their stuff and get rid whatever they don’t need for the trip home such as lice shampoo, half used bottles of bug spray, and clothes which are stained and sun bleached. I was the happy recipient of several such items. Also, Lindsey gave me some long underwear, a sweatshirt, gloves and mountain sickness medication in case I want to
It is hard to say goodbye to these people. We are all we have in
Tanzanians don’t suffer Western diseases; depression, anxiety, bipolar…
I was talking with some of the CCS staff members over lunch today about Corina being in the hospital. It turns out that she did have malaria last week, but the medication got rid of it. She has had a history of anxiety and depression and that is why her parents decided to fly over. Moses Polepole, the CCS program director, was saying “We have never heard of anxiety. Tell me how we can help her."” I said that the support they had given was the best they could do. Then he went on to say they had a previous volunteer who wouldn’t eat with or talk to any of the other volunteers. He was describing what I would call antisocial behavior. He said “I can’t remember what to call it”. Then after he thought he said “Oh yes, bipolar – what is bipolar?” I tried to explain that to him as well. He said, “We have never learned how to take care of people with these. We need to learn how to help them.”
It was really sweet how concerned he was, but also ironic that he had never dealt with any of this until he has been in charge of westerners. It again struck me that our lifestyle is perhaps a culprit in these kinds of problems.
Marriage proposal…
I went running today and along with the usual greetings, giggling kids and whatnot, I came upon a man who apparently saw me and was struck suddenly by love (happens to me all the time). Now, mind you, I was looking and smelling my ripest. Rivers of dust-sweat running and pooling, shirt with dirty handprints from the previous day’s work, hair in a messy stub of a pony tail – what’s not to love? This man, who was working on the road approached me and said something in Swahili to me. After I looked puzzled, as I spend a lot of time doing here, he said in English “I love you very much and I wish to engage you.” I held up the silver band Gerry had given me for Christmas as an African wedding band and said “But I am already married.” He instantly said “Oh, I am so sorry.” He repeated that over and over and I could see he felt badly so I said “It's okay, Hakuna Mata” and went on my way. Oh, it was all so sudden.
Sunday Feb 27th
Kilmanjaro Marathon, “Run Kristy”…
This morning, Lindsay, another volunteer, myself along with three young local CCS volunteers, John, Antone and Nick met at 6:20 AM in front of the gate to our CCS compound to walked to the Kilimanjaro Marathon starting line. We were planning to run in the 5-kilometer race. It was a mile or so to walk there which was a good way to loosen up for the race.
The 5 K was free of charge because they were encouraging people in
At the start of the race, I was just observing people. Nick, was wearing some canvas shoes with holes in them. There were a lot of young kids – especially boys and some of these were barefoot or in sandals. Also, there was a middle-aged woman in a pair of hard- soled dress flats. The people were just packed in and I can guess that there were three to five thousand people in the 5 K race. I have a picture on my camera of us at the start with Mt Kili in the background. As we were running, it was hard to run at more than a slow pace due to the crowds. It was a challenge to not step on anyone or into a pothole. As we continued, some of the kids were scaling the six-foot high, thorny bougainvillea to get a leg-up on the pack. Ironically, a mile down the road, many of these were walking. I was excited because I was able to run the entire race with no walking – good for me since I really don’t run much anymore. I ran around an 8:30 mile pace which I was especially happy with.
Runners turn ugly…
After the race, we were instructed to form a line to collect our race T-shirt. You have to understand something here. Tanzanians do not really understand the concept of lines and coupled with the fact that the majority of runners were male under the age of 16, this was mass chaos. As we waited around the tent for the handing out of t-shirts, I noticed that I had less and less personal space. By the way, since I have been here, this space has changed in it’s dimensions to a very much smaller area. Anyway, it got to the point where I could not move in any direction.
As we waiting shoulder to shoulder and other body parts to other body parts, exchanging sweat and body odors, there was a lot of movement around the tent where t-shirts were to be distributed. Suddenly, the tent started to tremble, then topple and finally fall. Then, there were people shoving backward, away from the tent which was frightening, because I was getting shoved in every direction with no control and no where to go. I now understand first-hand how people get trampled in crowds. As the crowd dissipated, I realized the reason people were backing off – the police were hitting those at the front of the throng with batons. At that point, I decided that although I really wanted a T-shirt, it was not worth risking my life over. Nick, one of my running companions said “Let’s go, life is more important than a T-shirt. Some of these people, they don’t listen, they are stubborn.”
Running Coach…
Meanwhile, Nick had a friend who was running the half marathon and he wanted to go down the road and cheer him and run with him on the last leg. So, we walked about a mile down the course and spotted his friend who had just lost steam and started to walk. His name was Otto and we encouraged him to run again. I said “Vipi, sofe” (doing good). Once, Otto started to falter again and I put my hand on his back and boosted him back into a run. This was probably one of those times where he hated my bloody guts at the moment, but later would be happy with the extra nudge. So, we ran this last mile with Otto and he was able to finish without walking and hanging his head in shame.
I waited and watched the first ten marathon finishers cross the line and headed back to CCS. That was a long walk because after the run, the T-shirt tossel and the last mile with Otto, I struggled to walk back in the heat. I took a rare, hour -long nap to recover (yes, believe it or not people, I have taken only one or two naps since my arrival).
Black market race T-shirt…
Than, after lunch, I decided I would go back to the Keys Hotel, which was the main headquarters for the race. I was going to beg, borrow or steal to get a blasted race T-shirt because damn it, I deserve one. I asked around and of course, there were no 5 K fun run t-shirts left. So, knowing that everything has a price, I offered to buy one. There was a coach who overheard me and motioned me to step outside with him – he did this while rubbing his thumb and forefinger together in the universal sign for “let’s talk money”. After negotiating, I bought the shirt literally off his back for 10,000 TSC ($10.00 US), and returned triumphant.
Monday Feb 28
Tough day at Upendo…
Today was a little rough at work. It actually rained last night, so the ground was still a little damp. Unfortunately, that did not last and the dust was flying by noon. But this small amount of wetness, along with the fact that there was a shortage of nurses today prevented the kids from going outside. As we all know, kids do not do well in large groups, with an 8 kid to 1 adult ratio, in a small indoor space and just a few toys. The first five minutes I was there at least three puddles appeared on the floor. And, there was only one other nurse and my self with the kids. Now I felt that the wet clothes should be changed, the puddles should be wiped up and the kids should be prevented from walking and sitting in these puddles. Additionally, the rest of them needed to be taken to the pot to prevent further wetness. The other issue is that the nurses do not see any urgency in participating in the activities I just mentioned, so, I put a chair over the biggest puddle, but not before little Vicky drug a stuffed bear over it and little Noella sad down in her sleeper, soaking the entire thing. So, we finally got some clean clothes, a wet cloth for the floor, but it was hard to stay ahead of the game. Unfortunately, most of my morning was doing damage control and I had less time for loving.
I did have a few good moments. I sang Twinkle Twinkle, and one little girl, Lucy who never talks, started singing along. Also, Lillian, who likes to count, started counting in English – she got to three and I helped her to twenty. Right before I left, Laura, the new little girl warmed up to me and I was doing “this little piggy” with her. Pretty soon, several sets of shoes came off and I had all these little feet all over my lap and in my face and voices saying “Mi mi tenne” - me again. These are the moments I love, and it was a fun way to wrap it up. I hope soon the nurses will be done with their practical exams so we can get more help and I can do more activities and the extras with the kids.
Oh and one more thing. About the little 18 month old boy, Noelle who has the horrible third degree burn on his leg - now the skin is completely gone and it is a rare-meat-red area about six inches long by two – three inches wide. The Sister told me they are treating it, but I plan to watch it very closely and if he shows the first sign of infection, I will personally take him to the hospital. It looks like a terribly dangerous problem. He’s so sweet – he hardly even cries.
Banana Lady…
I have been amazed by the women and girls who can carry extremely heavy, ungainly loads on top of their heads. Some of the loads are carried in flat, round or oblong baskets. Others are rectangular and about three feet long and about one to two feet wide. These oblong ones are carried with the long part going front to back. Anyway, they do this while sometimes carrying other loads in their arms, looking side to side and negotiating the rutted, stony roads. Not surprisingly, these women have incredible posture. So, today, Simon, a CCS staff member was driving home from going to the market to get our food and saw me walking and offered me a ride. I accepted, although I was having a pleasant walk from town – it was less hot today. But it was a nice offer, and he had already pulled over. Tanzanians never understand if we prefer to walk rather than ride. Anyway, I got in the van and it was filled with beautiful, fresh produce. There was a huge basket with greens, cucumber and carrots, cartons of brown eggs and a huge bunch of bananas. I am not talking about a Cub Foods bunch, but a bunch with about eight bunches of a Cub Foods bunch – make sense? So, I decided I wanted to try to carry it on my head, because although it was a large bunch (as I have already said) it was a small bunch compared to what these women carry. So, Simon went and got a towel because the women wrap their heads to help make a platform. Then he took Sonja, another volunteer and I across the road to the banana field, put the bunch on my head, which immediately wobbled. He said “Stretch your neck”. I did, and it helped, but I still had to hold on with two hands. Sonja, being younger and more coordinated, was able to hold on with only one hand. I did walk about twenty yards with the load on my head and that was enough to make me realize that I don’t hold a candle to even the little Tanzanian girls. Can you say herniated disc?
Tuesday March 1, 2005
The orphanage…
The kids got haircuts over the weekend. Now, their hair is just a skimming of darkness on their shiny little heads. I have been getting dropped off a little earlier than in previous weeks and am seeing more of the morning routine. I went into the girl’s room. The nurses had them dressed and were washing their faces and feet with cloths (they used the same cloth for every kid). They handed me a tub of cream and we went down the row and the nurses quickly rubbed cream on their faces and feet, and then selected an appropriate pair of flip-flops, sandals or shoes for the girls. No one has any clothes or shoes that are all their own. One day, Lucy might wear the flowered pink dress and Anna might have the green one, and another day, it will be someone else in each of those dresses. As a side-note, there are several kids who have wart-like bumps all over their faces. I have asked several people what these are and can never get a straight answer. I tend to think they are contagious, since I have not really seen these on the faces of other residents of Tanzania.
Today was another kind of frustrating day at Upendo. Again, they were very short staffed and I had to do more damage control than I wanted to. I did have the opportunity to take some of the older kids aside to color. That worked out well, until the other kids escaped and found us. Little Philipo took a marker and was sucking the ink out, turning his tongue blue. So, the coloring session ended. I had brought some cookies for the kids to have with morning milk, and I thought a diversion was in order, so I brought them out early. These kids have radar. Although the cookies were in a bag, they all found me and swarmed me. I felt a sharp bite-like pain in my hamstring and shocked, I turned around and discovered that Philipo had bitten me. Warming up the old chompers for the cookie, I guess. Today, little Noelle’s burn looks sickeningly blood red and there is clear fluid dripping off the end of his foot. No sign of infection though, and I am hoping that the “treatment” he is getting at the orphanage is going to help him with no infection.
After working at the orphanage, the CCS van routinely comes around and picks up all of us. This can be the longest ride in history. Not only do we have to travel twice the miles of the actual distance due to swerving right and left to avoid potholes, but we have to go all over town and back to get all the volunteers and miscellaneous people we have to transport. As we were picking Andrew (from Canada) at the Honey Badger Cultural Center, I stopped to say hello to Mama Lucy. She said “We have hired a headmaster for our school and are looking for volunteers for the afternoon, when can you come, please God, we need the help”. Well, obviously Mama Lucy is a very persuasive woman and I found myself promising to come tomorrow afternoon before my brain had registered the idea. She invited me for a bite of lunch and to take me to meet the headmaster tomorrow. I may have a new job for the afternoons now. Should be an experience.
Nothing, but nothing moves quickly here…
After lunch, Nicola, my roommate and a couple of the other volunteers wanted to go into town to run errands. I had promised to return a jacket for an ex-volunteer which she had rented for climbing Mt Kili and forgotten to return. And, I wanted to check e-mail and see if any of my friends and family still love me. I don’t know if I have mentioned before, but there was a place called Kebo House in Moshi, which had fast (relatively speaking) internet, food and great chocolate ice cream. Much to my dismay, It is still locked up tight and apparently the owners are also locked tight in a legal battle.
So, I have tried a couple of other internet places and have found that I could personally deliver the message to the US and return to Africa before any message in a quicker amount of time. So, in the future I have decided to bring a book along to the internet café and I can entertain myself during the many lulls where the computer is apparently considering whether or not my message is worthy of sending. Obviously, I have to change my mind-set. And today, as I was about to successfully send a message, the power in the cafe went out and I lost it all, had to re-log in… more prolonged thinking on the part of the computer… and finally was able to start at ground zero. You may be reading in the paper some day about a mzungu in Tanzania going wild i