Well I just got off a 22 hour bus ride and it was quite an experience. We left Uganda yesterday afternoon after rafting and waited for the bus, which was an hour late due to African time. When it arrived at 4 pm we hopped on just as the rain began to fall. The bus was rickety and as we went over each bump it felt as though the metal overhead shelves were going to come crashing down. The rain became harder and harder and turned into a thunderstorm. Driving was scary since the road was narrow and each time another large vehicle came by we had to tilt slightly off the main road to allow them to pass. The bus was also leaking water from the windows and overhead vent. The poor man across the isle from me had his raincoat over him, but even that was soaking. We made it to the Uganda-Kenya border when it was dark and navigated through the slightly hectic lines then continued on our way after having to start the bus about 5 times to get it moving. However, at 2 am the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere and we sat for 2 hours trying to get it moving. Sleepy-eyed we crawled onto a new bus and continued on to Nairobi. The bus ride was long and bumpy but well worth it...
Last Wednesday we left for Uganda to go rafting at the source of the (white) Nile. The first day we arrived we spent the morning at the pool of a beautiful hotel next door where I enjoyed a freshly-caught full tilapia. I only wished I had the French skills at filleting fish! Later in the afternoon we returned to our camp to bungee jump!! Bungee jumping was both one of the most frightening and exciting things I have ever done. As I climbed the stairs a huge knot formed in my stomach, but as I watched my friends jump it became less and less scary. Finally it was my turn just as the sun was setting over the Nile. I looked over the ledge briefly, glanced at the monkeys in the tree nearby then jumped. The free fall was a feeling unlike any I have had before of emptiness and weightlessness that ended when I plunged my head and shoulders into the Nile. As I was pulled back out of the Nile by the bungee I swung back and forth in the air. It was awesome and would definitely recommend you try it!!
The next day and a half we spent rafting. Our Brazilian guide shared his life story as a traveling raft guide--he's worked in Peru, Argentina, Norway, Honduras, Costa Rica and more... India is next on his list. We rafted class 3-5 rapids and had so much fun. Although rafting inevitably involves getting a few scratches and bruises the thrill is well worth it! Yesterday we even got to boogie board on a standing wave on the last rapid. In between the rapids we drifted along the beautiful Nile. We saw tons of birds, a large iguana-like lizard and a few river otters. Luckily, we didn't seem any of the 4.5 meter crocodiles. Uganda was also very neat to visit. Just as I entered the immigration office upon first entering Uganda I noticed that the people had a distinctly different look to them. I was also surprised to learn that people spoke Ugandan, not Swahili so saying "asante" was more foreign than "thank you." We also learned that the land here is extremely beautiful, lush, green and tropical and extremely cheap. The rafting company we went with bought an island on the Nile for only $1,000 from the Ugandan government. Our guide also told us that we could get a nice-sized plot of land along the Nile for only $20,000. Apparently many expats and tourists have been lured by the cheap land and begun to invest.
This past past week flew by as my teaching group was very busy and we only taught for 3 days. On Sunday we returned to our village to go to the Pentecostal Church in hopes of being able to teach. However due to the funeral (the 6th in our tiny village since I've been here) the teaching had to be moved. Observing the service was an eye-opening cultural experience. Men sat on one side and women on the other on small wooden benches. The service lasted 3 hours and during it the pastor gave a sermon, the whole church sang and prayed. Prayer would emerge from songs. After singing, usually a short verse repeatedly and passionately while waving arms in the air with eyes closed, the pastor would end the song, but without any silence the whole church would emerge in prayer. Each person prayed individually and out loud--very, very loud-- so the church was filled with the noise of near-shouts of prayer and rhythmic reverberations that seemed more like chants than prayers.
After church we went to the funeral. This funeral was very, very emotional and sad. It was for a young man, probably late 20s or early 30s who we believe died of AIDS. It was not announced that he died of AIDS, but due to his youth and that he suffered from tuberculosis and herpes zoster--both opportunistic infections--it seems clear that his death was due to HIV. We were very disappointed when his 2 wives refused to be tested at our testing day in the village. At the funeral the Pentecostal pastor spoke loudly and quickly, near shouting. Then we walked by the open casket and watched the burial. Many people broke down shaking and falling to the ground as the body was placed in the group and subsequently covered by flowers. The funeral really portrayed the tragedy of HIV: the very old woman's funeral a couple weeks ago was clearly a celebration of her life whereas this one was a place to grieve for a life lost too soon.
On Tuesday we taught at a flower farm about an 1.5 hours away. After a very bumpy bus ride which caused a few bruised heads and sore bums since there are no seat belts we arrived at the farm. The flower farms are massive white tents--greenhouses--which grow all sorts of beautiful flowers. We briefly toured them, but inside felt like a sauna and we left after just 10 minutes. I can't imagine working there all day long. We taught over the lunch hour and while some people seemed interested many seemed less engaged and open-minded than our usual students at the primary school. We're teaching again at the farm on Tuesday.
I have much more to say, but I'm out of time! I can't believe there is only a little over a week left. See you all soon!
Avery
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Tanzanian Life
The last 3 week have been awesome! After orientation ended I moved into my village, Kiserian Chini, about 35 minutes outside of Arusha. The village is not far by American standards, but it is a completely different world than town. Nearly everyone in my village is Maasai, who are mostly farmers and raise a ton of livestock. My village is filled with cows, goats, sheep and chickens roaming the dirt paths with a herder who may be anywhere from 5 to 95 years old.
I am in a teaching group of 3 American volunteers and 2 Tanzanian teaching partners and we teach at Muungano Primary School. The other girl volunteer, teaching partner and I are all living together in a homestay. We live with a Maasai family that consists of mama and baba plus their 7 children. Our baba (host dad) is a businessman in Arusha who leaves everyday about 11 am and gets home between 10-11 pm at night. The first night he greeted us with a huge smile saying "karibuni" (which means welcome) over and over again. He came into the house dressed in a suit with his blackberry in hand, but 10 minutes later emerged from his room clad in traditional Maasai red and blue plaid sheets.
A normal day for us in the village consists of waking up around 6:30 for an early morning run, although everyone in the village is already awake by then. Erin (the other volunteer I live with) and I run down the main road where all the kids are walking to school. The kids laugh at us and often join us; the other day nearly 20 kids ran with me for about 10 minutes until they got to school. The mornings are my favorite time in the village because everyone is out and about and the sun is not too hot! A couple days ago Erin and I decided to go for a walk to explore the other side of the village and ended up having chai (spiced ginger tea with milk) with a few old Maasai men who invited us to see their home. Everyone her is extremely friendly to "wageni" (visitors) and it is common to meet people just on the road who invite you in to talk and have tea.
After our morning run we come back for showers and food. Breakfast is usually chapati, white bread or chips na mayai (eggs with french fries cooked in them) with fruits and avocado. Avocado here is delicious! Then our group usually gets together to lesson plan for a couple hours before teaching. We teach at the primary school in our village everyday from 12:40-2 pm. After teaching we go home for lunch then spend the afternoon exploring the village, doing community teaching to adult groups or listening to choir practices at one of our villages 4 churches. Last Thursday we went to hear the Pentecostal choir, but since they didn't have enough people to practice we had the chance to teach a little bit of our curriculum. I love the spontaneous teachings since people here are interested and often shocked by what we have to say. After just the first few days in the village word spread why we were there and people began to ask questions on the street.
Every evening we come home before dark, usually around 6:30 pm and play with the kids for a bit. Our mama has 7 kids, but with their friends and neighbors there are almost always 10+ kids around. We sing songs, dance, and the older kids try to teach us Swahili. Then I love to go and sit in the kitchen as mama and her friends cook. The kitchen is a dirt boma, separate from the main house. Mama picks tiny rocks out of the rice for nearly an hour, chops vegetables, cooks beans and rolls chapati.
There are so many more details and stories to tell that I thought I would make a list instead of attempting to describe them all:
*The streets in Arusha are often named after landmarks (if they have a name) eg. Fire Road is where the fire station is.
*The kids carry jugs of water to school to clean the floor.
*Pop is sold in glass bottles that are reused and often rusty. If you take one away from a store you often have to leave a few cents.
*Chickens sleep in the kitchen boma at night.
*About 6 kids sleep in one bed at my home.
*There is only 1 traffic light in Arusha.
*Babies don't wear diapers. In my home the baby often goes to the bathroom on the floor and you often see naked babies crawling around in the dirt.
*There are TONS of kids of every age, everywhere, all the time.
*The girls primarily do the chores. In my home there is only one daughter and she is always the one to fetch things for mama and carry around her baby brother.
*At the Lutheran Church our family goes to they collect alms 3X per mass and church lasts about 3 hours.
*People mock us nonstop about our American accents because we speak very high-pitched.
*It took me 2 hours to do my laundry (which was not very much) and by the end my knuckles were bleeding and there was still dirt in everything! but it was a lot of fun to try. Mama is amazing at handwashing.
*People only use spoons in the villages, no knives or forks.
*We eat very late, usually at 10 am, 3:30 pm and 9:30 pm.
*Our bathroom, called the choo, is a hole which is about 6 in. by 6 in.
*There are Merry Christmas metallic decorations hanging in our house.
*Dirt is everyone it sticks to clothes and doesn't even come off my feet in the shower.
*I tried magugu, a traditional Maasai dish with corn, beans and ash which sits in a wooden jug for a few days before being eaten.
*The stars are gorgeous at night!
*You buy credit for your cell phone as you need it.
*Younger students are disciplined at school by older kids with sticks.
*Dogs here are scavengers, usually very skinny and without a home.
*Our baba has 70 sibilings.
*Everyone in town knows our baba since he is a successful business man and well-respected.
*Our mama got married when she was 15.
*Donkeys deliver food to our house.
*Everyone here loves Obama.
*Daladalas are minivans that serve as group taxis and are often jam-packed.
*Taxis here are incredibly cheap, from one end of town to the other is less than $2.
*I ate breakfast today (chapati and chai) for less than 30 cents.
*Ants here are HUGE.
*We saw a dead chicken on our walk randomly stuck in the rocks.
*There are beautiful shiny blue birds here.
*We went to a funeral and there were probably 500+ people there. We wore 2 kangas, one as a skirt and one over our head and we were greeted as guests. We all drank a pop to be respectful and place flowers on the grave.
*Tanzanian time is very late.
*All the teachers at the school come from far away, walk 1 hour or more everyday to school. The principle rides a motorcycle.
*They think it is weird we aren't married since we are old for village standards.
*Many people here wear old American clothes shipped over.
*Girls don't ride bikes and our family got a kick out of it when Erin and I rode one.
*We sleep under mosquito nets every night.
*We often wait around since things start late. We waited over an hour to teach at the Pentecostal church.
*There is a butchery in town that was roasting a goats head the other day, just as is without taking off fur or anything.
*The clinic in town tests for 4 things--bacterial infections, amoebas, malaria and typhoid--these are incredibly common.
*We went to an event called nane-nane which is Aug. 8th. It was basically like the state fair, but even crazier. Erin and I almost bumped into a dead chicken a boy was carrying around. We were happy to see a VCT at nane-nane and we bought glass bracelets for less than 50 cents.
*Our town consists of 4 churches, 1 school, 1 dispensary and 3 dukas (small, one-room shops that sell underwear, soap, superglue, shower shoes, candy, mandazi, cell phone credit and a few other odds and ends) and that's all!
*Nearly everyone here has a beautiful voice and sings often.
*Baba refers to our teaching partner, whose name is Nelson, as Mandela. He also asks a lot about America and Obama.
*I say "shikamoo" and "Nzuri" about 100 times a day.
*I love it here!
The last 3 weeks have been great. We spent last weekend on safari in Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park which was spectacular. Ngorongoro crater especially is breathtaking. Next weekend I'll be in town again and write more. I'd love to hear from anyone about their summer and beginning of fall! See you in 3 weeks.
Avery
I am in a teaching group of 3 American volunteers and 2 Tanzanian teaching partners and we teach at Muungano Primary School. The other girl volunteer, teaching partner and I are all living together in a homestay. We live with a Maasai family that consists of mama and baba plus their 7 children. Our baba (host dad) is a businessman in Arusha who leaves everyday about 11 am and gets home between 10-11 pm at night. The first night he greeted us with a huge smile saying "karibuni" (which means welcome) over and over again. He came into the house dressed in a suit with his blackberry in hand, but 10 minutes later emerged from his room clad in traditional Maasai red and blue plaid sheets.
A normal day for us in the village consists of waking up around 6:30 for an early morning run, although everyone in the village is already awake by then. Erin (the other volunteer I live with) and I run down the main road where all the kids are walking to school. The kids laugh at us and often join us; the other day nearly 20 kids ran with me for about 10 minutes until they got to school. The mornings are my favorite time in the village because everyone is out and about and the sun is not too hot! A couple days ago Erin and I decided to go for a walk to explore the other side of the village and ended up having chai (spiced ginger tea with milk) with a few old Maasai men who invited us to see their home. Everyone her is extremely friendly to "wageni" (visitors) and it is common to meet people just on the road who invite you in to talk and have tea.
After our morning run we come back for showers and food. Breakfast is usually chapati, white bread or chips na mayai (eggs with french fries cooked in them) with fruits and avocado. Avocado here is delicious! Then our group usually gets together to lesson plan for a couple hours before teaching. We teach at the primary school in our village everyday from 12:40-2 pm. After teaching we go home for lunch then spend the afternoon exploring the village, doing community teaching to adult groups or listening to choir practices at one of our villages 4 churches. Last Thursday we went to hear the Pentecostal choir, but since they didn't have enough people to practice we had the chance to teach a little bit of our curriculum. I love the spontaneous teachings since people here are interested and often shocked by what we have to say. After just the first few days in the village word spread why we were there and people began to ask questions on the street.
Every evening we come home before dark, usually around 6:30 pm and play with the kids for a bit. Our mama has 7 kids, but with their friends and neighbors there are almost always 10+ kids around. We sing songs, dance, and the older kids try to teach us Swahili. Then I love to go and sit in the kitchen as mama and her friends cook. The kitchen is a dirt boma, separate from the main house. Mama picks tiny rocks out of the rice for nearly an hour, chops vegetables, cooks beans and rolls chapati.
There are so many more details and stories to tell that I thought I would make a list instead of attempting to describe them all:
*The streets in Arusha are often named after landmarks (if they have a name) eg. Fire Road is where the fire station is.
*The kids carry jugs of water to school to clean the floor.
*Pop is sold in glass bottles that are reused and often rusty. If you take one away from a store you often have to leave a few cents.
*Chickens sleep in the kitchen boma at night.
*About 6 kids sleep in one bed at my home.
*There is only 1 traffic light in Arusha.
*Babies don't wear diapers. In my home the baby often goes to the bathroom on the floor and you often see naked babies crawling around in the dirt.
*There are TONS of kids of every age, everywhere, all the time.
*The girls primarily do the chores. In my home there is only one daughter and she is always the one to fetch things for mama and carry around her baby brother.
*At the Lutheran Church our family goes to they collect alms 3X per mass and church lasts about 3 hours.
*People mock us nonstop about our American accents because we speak very high-pitched.
*It took me 2 hours to do my laundry (which was not very much) and by the end my knuckles were bleeding and there was still dirt in everything! but it was a lot of fun to try. Mama is amazing at handwashing.
*People only use spoons in the villages, no knives or forks.
*We eat very late, usually at 10 am, 3:30 pm and 9:30 pm.
*Our bathroom, called the choo, is a hole which is about 6 in. by 6 in.
*There are Merry Christmas metallic decorations hanging in our house.
*Dirt is everyone it sticks to clothes and doesn't even come off my feet in the shower.
*I tried magugu, a traditional Maasai dish with corn, beans and ash which sits in a wooden jug for a few days before being eaten.
*The stars are gorgeous at night!
*You buy credit for your cell phone as you need it.
*Younger students are disciplined at school by older kids with sticks.
*Dogs here are scavengers, usually very skinny and without a home.
*Our baba has 70 sibilings.
*Everyone in town knows our baba since he is a successful business man and well-respected.
*Our mama got married when she was 15.
*Donkeys deliver food to our house.
*Everyone here loves Obama.
*Daladalas are minivans that serve as group taxis and are often jam-packed.
*Taxis here are incredibly cheap, from one end of town to the other is less than $2.
*I ate breakfast today (chapati and chai) for less than 30 cents.
*Ants here are HUGE.
*We saw a dead chicken on our walk randomly stuck in the rocks.
*There are beautiful shiny blue birds here.
*We went to a funeral and there were probably 500+ people there. We wore 2 kangas, one as a skirt and one over our head and we were greeted as guests. We all drank a pop to be respectful and place flowers on the grave.
*Tanzanian time is very late.
*All the teachers at the school come from far away, walk 1 hour or more everyday to school. The principle rides a motorcycle.
*They think it is weird we aren't married since we are old for village standards.
*Many people here wear old American clothes shipped over.
*Girls don't ride bikes and our family got a kick out of it when Erin and I rode one.
*We sleep under mosquito nets every night.
*We often wait around since things start late. We waited over an hour to teach at the Pentecostal church.
*There is a butchery in town that was roasting a goats head the other day, just as is without taking off fur or anything.
*The clinic in town tests for 4 things--bacterial infections, amoebas, malaria and typhoid--these are incredibly common.
*We went to an event called nane-nane which is Aug. 8th. It was basically like the state fair, but even crazier. Erin and I almost bumped into a dead chicken a boy was carrying around. We were happy to see a VCT at nane-nane and we bought glass bracelets for less than 50 cents.
*Our town consists of 4 churches, 1 school, 1 dispensary and 3 dukas (small, one-room shops that sell underwear, soap, superglue, shower shoes, candy, mandazi, cell phone credit and a few other odds and ends) and that's all!
*Nearly everyone here has a beautiful voice and sings often.
*Baba refers to our teaching partner, whose name is Nelson, as Mandela. He also asks a lot about America and Obama.
*I say "shikamoo" and "Nzuri" about 100 times a day.
*I love it here!
The last 3 weeks have been great. We spent last weekend on safari in Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park which was spectacular. Ngorongoro crater especially is breathtaking. Next weekend I'll be in town again and write more. I'd love to hear from anyone about their summer and beginning of fall! See you in 3 weeks.
Avery
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tanzania and the Beginning of SIC!
SIC has finally started! Right now we are in the middle of orientation. We have been reviewing the curriculum while staying at a Mt. Meru University just outside of Arusha. It is pretty cold here and at a high elevation so even walking up and down the hills leaves me huffing. Yesterday we had our first day of teaching practice; we tried to get the hang of working with our Tanzanian teaching partners who translate as we speak. I've learned a lot about teaching and lesson planning in just a short time and that it is important to say articulate and concise sentences that can easily be translated.
We spent our first few nights of SIC in a hostel in Arusha, just outside there were crazy dogs that roamed and howled all night long. At home I am a total dog lover, but here most dogs inspire fear. I try to say "shh" and tip toe around them as they growl and bare their teeth. Dogs are meant for protection and most people keep them tied up during the day and release them at night to bark at the sound of any stranger. Since everyone that works at the hostel goes to bed at about 9 pm, it leaves the volunteers to fend for ourselves against the dogs.
There are 18 volunteers doing VP3 from UCLA, Stanford, U of Washington and U of South Hampton in England. In about a week we will be dividing up into teaching groups of about 3 volunteers and 2 Tanzanian teaching partners each; each group will live in homestays within a village. Our goal is to educate a primary and/or secondary school in addition to community groups--soccer teams, village leaders, mama groups etc. We will also be educating peer educators to continue the teaching after we are gone and running voluntary testing and counseling clinics. The past week we have been reviewing the curriculum and I can't wait to share it with the community. In learning about HIV/AIDS in Africa I have not only seen what a huge problem it is in sub-saharan Africa, but I have also realized what a problem it is in the U.S. More than 1 in 200 people in the U.S. is HIV+ yet it is not nearly as discussed as the risk of pregnancy or STIs.
Orientation has been a great opportunity to learn a lot more about HIV and about Tanzanian attitudes towards the disease. At one point in class we were discussing how to talk about the origins of HIV in a classroom setting. Most of the Americans thought we could mention all the theories (hunter-monkey transmission, conspiracy, punishment, polio vaccine, flight steward etc.) then emphasize that the most widely accepted scientific theory is that hunter monkey theory. This theory suggests HIV evolved from SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) when a hunter exchanged blood with a monkey it was butchering in the DRC. Our Tanzanian teaching partners were very upset by the idea of teaching this as the only or even primary theory. The first question asked was "was it a white hunter or a black hunter?" Many Africans believe that HIV came from the white world, formed as part of a conspiracy by the American government. It is very difficult for us, as white Americans, to attempt to teach the hunter-monkey theory without appearing to be trying to blame Africans for the virus. Even many of the teaching partners saw this as trying to avoid talking about the conspiracy theory. This kind of tricky topic is what we have faced over and over again as foreigners trying to come in and teach about a very stigmatized disease.
Yesterday we also learned about the VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing Clinic) that SIC runs. I am so excited to work with the VCT. The leaders described people taking the courageous step to get tested then running out of the VCT skipping with joy when they found out they were negative. As I will likely get tested with some of my students to help them feel more comfortable about the process, I can't help but feel slightly nervous to find the result. I can only imagine this fear amplified 100 fold by someone who has a much much higher likelihood of having been exposed.
I have much more to say... will write in 3 weeks!
Avery
We spent our first few nights of SIC in a hostel in Arusha, just outside there were crazy dogs that roamed and howled all night long. At home I am a total dog lover, but here most dogs inspire fear. I try to say "shh" and tip toe around them as they growl and bare their teeth. Dogs are meant for protection and most people keep them tied up during the day and release them at night to bark at the sound of any stranger. Since everyone that works at the hostel goes to bed at about 9 pm, it leaves the volunteers to fend for ourselves against the dogs.
There are 18 volunteers doing VP3 from UCLA, Stanford, U of Washington and U of South Hampton in England. In about a week we will be dividing up into teaching groups of about 3 volunteers and 2 Tanzanian teaching partners each; each group will live in homestays within a village. Our goal is to educate a primary and/or secondary school in addition to community groups--soccer teams, village leaders, mama groups etc. We will also be educating peer educators to continue the teaching after we are gone and running voluntary testing and counseling clinics. The past week we have been reviewing the curriculum and I can't wait to share it with the community. In learning about HIV/AIDS in Africa I have not only seen what a huge problem it is in sub-saharan Africa, but I have also realized what a problem it is in the U.S. More than 1 in 200 people in the U.S. is HIV+ yet it is not nearly as discussed as the risk of pregnancy or STIs.
Orientation has been a great opportunity to learn a lot more about HIV and about Tanzanian attitudes towards the disease. At one point in class we were discussing how to talk about the origins of HIV in a classroom setting. Most of the Americans thought we could mention all the theories (hunter-monkey transmission, conspiracy, punishment, polio vaccine, flight steward etc.) then emphasize that the most widely accepted scientific theory is that hunter monkey theory. This theory suggests HIV evolved from SIV (Simian Immunodeficiency Virus) when a hunter exchanged blood with a monkey it was butchering in the DRC. Our Tanzanian teaching partners were very upset by the idea of teaching this as the only or even primary theory. The first question asked was "was it a white hunter or a black hunter?" Many Africans believe that HIV came from the white world, formed as part of a conspiracy by the American government. It is very difficult for us, as white Americans, to attempt to teach the hunter-monkey theory without appearing to be trying to blame Africans for the virus. Even many of the teaching partners saw this as trying to avoid talking about the conspiracy theory. This kind of tricky topic is what we have faced over and over again as foreigners trying to come in and teach about a very stigmatized disease.
Yesterday we also learned about the VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing Clinic) that SIC runs. I am so excited to work with the VCT. The leaders described people taking the courageous step to get tested then running out of the VCT skipping with joy when they found out they were negative. As I will likely get tested with some of my students to help them feel more comfortable about the process, I can't help but feel slightly nervous to find the result. I can only imagine this fear amplified 100 fold by someone who has a much much higher likelihood of having been exposed.
I have much more to say... will write in 3 weeks!
Avery
Friday, July 18, 2008
Nairobi and Zanzibar
Hi!
Right now I'm next to a beautiful white sand beach on the north shore of Zanzibar in a town called Nungwi. It is absolutely gorgeous here with aquamarine water, palm trees and tropical flowers. Josh, Laura and I are taking a quick vacation before SIC begins in Arusha on the 23rd. Last night we spent in Stone Town a historic area of Zanzibar Town known for its narrow streets and Arabic architecture. It was fun to wander the winding streets, and get lost, shopping for scarves and kangas. We ate dinner at a beautiful restaurant on the beach where we watched the sun set.
We left Nairobi on the 15th and took a mini van to Arusha. The border crossing was slightly stressful as we were squeezed into a tiny room where we had to wait and push to get to the counter 45 minutes later. Claire, the new SIC volunteer coordinator, greeted us in Arusha and brought us to a hostel to spend the night. We briefly explored Arusha, a small, quaint town surrounded by beautiful mountains--Kilimanjaro and Meru in the distance. The next day we woke up early and took the 6:30 am bus to Dar es Salaam. We arrived in Dar about 3:45 pm hoping to catch the last ferry to Zanzibar. Our cab driver gave me a mild heart attack swerving through the cars trying to get to the port when suddenly he slammed on the breaks, stuck in a traffic jam. We missed the ferry, and spent the next few hours searching for an open hostel in Dar. The next morning we caught the 8:30 ferry to Zanzibar; it was a picturesque boat ride as we passed small islands and dhows (fishing boats often sailboats).
Zanzibar has been a beautiful and luxurious vacation spot. However, just outside the gates of the touristy hotel district in Nungwi lies an extremely poor village. Today we walked along the beach to Kendwa (a nearby beach), when we turned around to come back the tide had come in and we could no longer walk along the beach. Instead, a local man offered to show us another way which involved trekking through piles of trash, which smelled vile and had been dumped by a local hotel. Monday I am looking forward to going SCUBA diving and then returning to Arusha on Tuesday for SIC!
Back to Nairobi... I just wanted to write a little bit about Nairobi too! I was so happy to spend a few days in Nairobi, one of Africa's biggest and most industrious cities. Still on the U.S. Government's travel warning list, Kenya and especially Nairobi is though to be dangerous, however I found it to be very safe and comfortable. We spent one day exploring the city and visiting the Maasai Market in town where we bargained for beaded bracelets, candle stick holders and t-shirts. Another day we visited Village Market, expat central. When we entered Village Market I was convinced I had left Africa. Situated amongst the embassies in suburbia, it contains everything an America mall does--a large supermarket, clothing shops, jewelry stores, lots of restaurants and tons of white and Indian people. For the first time we completely blended in with the crowd. Our last day in Nairobi we visited Nairobi National Park where we saw two lions eating a carcass, giraffes, wildebeast, lots of zebras, impala and many birds. Afterwards we took a Safari Walk, basically a guided tour through an outdoor zoo, that had pygmy hippos and a white rhino. The guide let us climb inside the rhino's cage to get close-up pictures then took us to pet the cheetah!! I thought we would be petting a baby, but our guide led us right into the cheetah's cage to pet the full-grown cheetah. It was completely calm as we pet and snapped pictures of it.
We spent the last 2 nights in Nairobi with Dr. David Waithaka's family. He lives outside Nairobi in Kikuyu Town. We enjoyed learning about his microfinance community projects and hearing a first-hand account of the election-related violence. His whole family was so welcoming and kind to us and we were grateful to have a nice bed, warm shower and delicious food! The 2nd night with the Waithaka's we ate tilapia cooked whole, which was absolutely delicious--tender and flavorful--yum!
Avery
Zanzibar has been a beautiful and luxurious vacation spot. However, just outside the gates of the touristy hotel district in Nungwi lies an extremely poor village. Today we walked along the beach to Kendwa (a nearby beach), when we turned around to come back the tide had come in and we could no longer walk along the beach. Instead, a local man offered to show us another way which involved trekking through piles of trash, which smelled vile and had been dumped by a local hotel. Monday I am looking forward to going SCUBA diving and then returning to Arusha on Tuesday for SIC!
Back to Nairobi... I just wanted to write a little bit about Nairobi too! I was so happy to spend a few days in Nairobi, one of Africa's biggest and most industrious cities. Still on the U.S. Government's travel warning list, Kenya and especially Nairobi is though to be dangerous, however I found it to be very safe and comfortable. We spent one day exploring the city and visiting the Maasai Market in town where we bargained for beaded bracelets, candle stick holders and t-shirts. Another day we visited Village Market, expat central. When we entered Village Market I was convinced I had left Africa. Situated amongst the embassies in suburbia, it contains everything an America mall does--a large supermarket, clothing shops, jewelry stores, lots of restaurants and tons of white and Indian people. For the first time we completely blended in with the crowd. Our last day in Nairobi we visited Nairobi National Park where we saw two lions eating a carcass, giraffes, wildebeast, lots of zebras, impala and many birds. Afterwards we took a Safari Walk, basically a guided tour through an outdoor zoo, that had pygmy hippos and a white rhino. The guide let us climb inside the rhino's cage to get close-up pictures then took us to pet the cheetah!! I thought we would be petting a baby, but our guide led us right into the cheetah's cage to pet the full-grown cheetah. It was completely calm as we pet and snapped pictures of it.
We spent the last 2 nights in Nairobi with Dr. David Waithaka's family. He lives outside Nairobi in Kikuyu Town. We enjoyed learning about his microfinance community projects and hearing a first-hand account of the election-related violence. His whole family was so welcoming and kind to us and we were grateful to have a nice bed, warm shower and delicious food! The 2nd night with the Waithaka's we ate tilapia cooked whole, which was absolutely delicious--tender and flavorful--yum!
Avery
Friday, July 11, 2008
Chogoria and Village Hopecore International
Hello from Nairobi!
I'm now back in Nairobi after 2 weeks in Chogoria and happy to have Internet access! Chogoria, located amongst rolling mountains covered in tea and banana plantations, is a completely different world. Despite the natural beauty, the vast majority of the people living in the region are stuck in poverty and suffering from constant illness. Kenya has 60% unemployment and a very disproportionate percentage of people below 25. Chogoria feels the effects of the lack of jobs with many people living on less than $1 per day.
As we drove up to the Safari Cafe on our first day in Chogoria time froze as the people digging next to the road, buying fruits at the market and walking to school stopped what they were doing to follow our every move with their eyes. Dr. Mugambe told us many of them had never seen a white person and that there had probably never been such a large group (8 of us) in Chogoria at one time. We explored the market in town which had fresh fruit stands selling delicious passion fruit and papaya and many used clothes shipped over from the U.S. and Europe.
We spent the first few days staying in a Motel as we learned about the village and how to stay healthy. Avoiding malaria is quite a challenge--not only taking the medication, but applying DEET in the mornings and at night, burning mosquito coils to keep the bugs out of our room and treating mosquito nets to sleep under. Our 2 trip mantras were: 1) No one gets traveler's diarrhea and 2) No one gets malaria.
After 3 nights we moved into homestays. I stayed with Dr. Mugambe's sister, Mama Mary. The house was definitely upper class for Chogoria. We had piped water (most of the time) and a toilet. There was no electricity and cooking was done over fire wood in the kitchen. In Mary's home lived her mother who was 90 (or around that--many people here do not know their actual age), one of Mary's daughters, Edith, 2 of her grandchildren, Brian and Ivonne, a housekeeper and her 6-month old daughter and a man who looked after the cow. However, it soon became clear that much of the time there are many more people living there including another of Mary's daughters and a son. It took us a while to figure out exactly who was who in the family as they often referred to friends as sisters or cousins.
During our stay we experienced the illness faced so frequently by our families. 3 people in family had malaria and the little boy, Brian, was coughing and spitting almost non-stop. They said he had been like that since birth. Both my roommate Laura and I also caught little colds. We could see what a challenge it is to stay healthy in this environment. It was a similar story in the other homestays where one person had Typhoid Fever and many others had malaria. When we visited Chogoria’s hospital we also learned the most common sicknesses are malaria and TB as well as AIDS. The nurse described how just a few years ago the hospital was full of people with AIDS, yet increasing encouragement of home care had eased some of the burden.
The day began at 6 am when everyone woke up to begin heating water for baths, milking the cow, doing laundry and preparing breakfast. We took baths in basins by combining heated water with cold piped water. During the day, we worked with Village Hopecore International, founded by Dr. Mugambe to work towards poverty eradication. Village Hopecore uses a 3-pronged strategy of education, economics and health. VHI provides $400 loans to groups of 12 people who must repay the loan over an 18 month period. If anyone in the group defaults, then the other members must compensate for them in order to be able to take out another loan. The groups also receive business training to learn what is an effective business. Many used the loan to buy a cow which provides milk for the family and manure for the farm. Village Hopecore is also the first microfinance bank to give loans to HIV+ people who consistently take their ARVs and so far everyone has repaid.
Our role in Chogoria was to visit two groups of HIV+ people who hope to receive VHI loans. We recorded their stories and took pictures in hopes of raising enough money for their groups to get loans. The unfunded groups build credit by participating in Merry-Go-Rounds in which they loan about $110 to a different member of the group once a month.
Conducting these interviews was my favorite part of being in Chogoria. We interviewed one women who was an HIV activist teaching people to live positively with HIV and also teaching young people how to avoid the virus. However, others had not yet told family members out of fear of being made fun of or neglected. Yet, overall, there is significant progress being made in confronting HIV. In many towns there are murals painted on the walls about AIDS and Voluntary Testing Clinics. The people we interviewed also described how ten years ago people ran away from anyone with HIV. They associated HIV with witchcraft, refused to eat with positive people and forced some HIV+ people to lose their jobs since co-workers did not want to work with them. Now, about 10% of people in Chogoria have HIV and people are much more educated. Although the stigma is far from gone, many people said they feel comfortable making their status public under the current conditions.
The majority of the people we interviewed were women with the classic story of HIV in Africa. Most often their husband was a truck driver or a migrant worker in one of Kenya’s big cities. Usually the women had been consistently sick for many years and only got tested when the doctor encouraged it or as part of prenatal care. However, for women who had children more than 3 years ago they were often not tested for HIV and it was heartbreaking to meet the young HIV+ children.
I am so happy to have been able to work with VHI. The employees and the people on loans are so motivated to improve their situation. I was equally impressed by the village’s rapidly changing attitudes towards HIV. Many of the infected people I interviewed described the shock and depression following their positive test. While some were clearly still stuck in this stage, others described how counselling and friendship helped them to escape depression and look to live a full and meaningful life. HIV is no longer a death sentence and as people see others living decades on ARVs, the village is beginning to realize HIV+ people are going to be around for a long time.
I wish I had time to write more and I’m sorry I do not have time to write better!… I will write soon about the amazing stories of Dr. Mugambe and his employees.
I hope everyone is having a great summer! Take care!
Avery
P.S. Carnivore
The last few days I’ve been in Nairobi with Ashleigh and Josh. The first night we feasted at Carnivore, an all-you-can-eat restaurant featuring crocodile, ostrich meat balls, pork, sausage, chicken, beef, lamb, ribs… the list goes on. It was quite an experience as expats and safari tourists gathered to be served by carvers dressed in Zebra and tiger stripes!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Getting ready
Jambo! Hey everyone!
After Kenya, a few other Stanford students and I will have until the 23 to explore East Africa before starting SIC in Tanzania. During SIC, a group of about 10 Stanford students, as well as students from UCLA and England will do 2 weeks of orientation then 6 weeks of teaching about HIV prevention in villages surrounding Arusha. I am so excited to meet the other volunteers and start teaching!!
I hope everyone is enjoying summer--shoot me an email sometime if you're bored I'd love to hear what you're up to!
Avery
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