alas, my work has come to a close! Being a coordinator for the volunteers was great---it tested my patience more than once, and i have come to realize that i would prefer not working with American volunteers in the future (yes, specifically American- we as a group generally lack cultural sensitivity--case in point being the American girl tourists mobbing around in short shorts and skirts--cant you see that no one else in this entire city is dressed like that?! put on some damn clothes!) Working as a coordinator also made me realize how needy of a group we tend to be--but perhaps this was only because my job required overseeing a group of 32, sometimes with demands coming all at once.
Anyways in all I had an amazing time--the SIC staff is awesome--everyone from the drivers to the testing staff are honest, hard working people, and the organization itself is transparent and very efficient. This isnt my idealism speaking either, its true! Our program was able to reach 2766 community members through teachings, and our staff tested 450 people.
Leaving Ilkiding'a village was not easy- our homestay brother and the family he worked for were so nice, and i had made little friends that i didnt want to leave. One of the last nights before leaving I sat with little dada (who by the way is the most mature 12 yr old i have ever met, cooking for her entire family between studying for school) in the jiko/kitchen and "helped" her cook, which just ended in me accidentally blowing out her fire pit instead of maintaining it.
Tomorrow Erika and I peace out for the coast! A long awaited trip, I cannot wait. After Pangani beach and a night in Peponi (where for $17 a night you get a beautiful beach bungalow on the water!!) we head to Zanzibar.
usiku mwema (good night my friends!)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
I spent the weekend in Babati ( the town I lived in last summer ) to visit my homestay family. What originally was supposed to be a one day trip turned into a four day stay. All of my efforts in eating well while being here went down the drain in one weekend, hahah-they fed me so well. Watching the World Cup in their house with 18 other people (I counted!) was great---such a huge bummer that Ghana lost. Seeing other friends in Babati was so neat! The town is such a different feel than the village; I dont feel rude if I fail to greet every single person I pass in town, which is really nice.
--I bought a course of cipro, a common traveler's antibiotic, in Babati for about $1.25. Amazing!
-- Coffee flavored gum? I dont get it
We have one more week in Ilkiding'a ward before the program is over--a week consisting mostly of free testing days. We rent a dj and have mamas groups come dance for Community day, which usually is our last day in the village. I think our program has reached about 3,000 community members so far. neat!
time is out! love
emmanuelle
--I bought a course of cipro, a common traveler's antibiotic, in Babati for about $1.25. Amazing!
-- Coffee flavored gum? I dont get it
We have one more week in Ilkiding'a ward before the program is over--a week consisting mostly of free testing days. We rent a dj and have mamas groups come dance for Community day, which usually is our last day in the village. I think our program has reached about 3,000 community members so far. neat!
time is out! love
emmanuelle
Sunday, June 27, 2010
ay jamani
GODDAMNIT I JUST DELETED MY ENTIRE BLOG ughhhh ok im over it here i go again, its goign to be a little rushed but oh well.
"ay jamani!" i love this phrase--apparently it means "oh my goodness" or something along those lines, but i hear it about 20 times a day, usually from tanzanian mamas who are surprised when i great them in swahili. Ay Jamani ...I finally got to climb a Boabob tree! yes to me--these things are epically massive and so impressive; i had many a hand helping me down.
I happened to have just had a glass of delicious white wine before coming to this internet cafe..why? Because there just happens to be a cheese and wine store next door, owned by a middle-aged ex-pat Frenchman named Leonel, who just happened to offer me a glass on the house as he smoked his cigarette while his co-worker finished her cheese fondue-an that is how the French do it, even here in Arusha, TZ. Man I cannot wait for next semester.
Village work is going great. we just got hte ball rolling on a Peer Educator Program, in which 10-12 of the class's best students will be trained to be community educators in HIV/aids education. We essentially train these kids how to teach the curriculum the way were taught in orientation, ensuring the sustainability of SIC's work after the volunteers leave the villages. I would say that tanzanian students generally have a greater respect and maturity for their studies than American high school students, so working with them has never been a challenge. Its really neat actually to see them stoked and eager to learn.
I did laundry for two hours the other morning..be impressed. A couple shirts, pants, kangas, and a sweater (finally! that thing was getting bunk) and a few bloody knuckles later and I was a happy camper. Youre actually not supposed to get raw knuckles from doing laundry, so essentially I was scrubbing wrong the whole time. Oh well at least I am clean!
Jena and I are in town for the weekend, so last night we went to this delicious Syrian restaurant-the best falafal I have ever had--smothered it in hummus. Fried hummus dipped in hummus. Its been too long. Village food is lots of beans, rice, parachichis (avocadoes), ndizi (bananas) and mandazis (little fried-doughnut-delicious-things). I think I overloaded on teh parachich and ndizi the first month, because I haven't been able to eat them for a few weeks now-but no worries mama! i am being fed very well.
ok must get back! tonight we staking out chinese food--you would be pleasantly surprised at the large variety of good restaurants in Arusha!
love love lvoe
emmanuelle
"ay jamani!" i love this phrase--apparently it means "oh my goodness" or something along those lines, but i hear it about 20 times a day, usually from tanzanian mamas who are surprised when i great them in swahili. Ay Jamani ...I finally got to climb a Boabob tree! yes to me--these things are epically massive and so impressive; i had many a hand helping me down.
I happened to have just had a glass of delicious white wine before coming to this internet cafe..why? Because there just happens to be a cheese and wine store next door, owned by a middle-aged ex-pat Frenchman named Leonel, who just happened to offer me a glass on the house as he smoked his cigarette while his co-worker finished her cheese fondue-an that is how the French do it, even here in Arusha, TZ. Man I cannot wait for next semester.
Village work is going great. we just got hte ball rolling on a Peer Educator Program, in which 10-12 of the class's best students will be trained to be community educators in HIV/aids education. We essentially train these kids how to teach the curriculum the way were taught in orientation, ensuring the sustainability of SIC's work after the volunteers leave the villages. I would say that tanzanian students generally have a greater respect and maturity for their studies than American high school students, so working with them has never been a challenge. Its really neat actually to see them stoked and eager to learn.
I did laundry for two hours the other morning..be impressed. A couple shirts, pants, kangas, and a sweater (finally! that thing was getting bunk) and a few bloody knuckles later and I was a happy camper. Youre actually not supposed to get raw knuckles from doing laundry, so essentially I was scrubbing wrong the whole time. Oh well at least I am clean!
Jena and I are in town for the weekend, so last night we went to this delicious Syrian restaurant-the best falafal I have ever had--smothered it in hummus. Fried hummus dipped in hummus. Its been too long. Village food is lots of beans, rice, parachichis (avocadoes), ndizi (bananas) and mandazis (little fried-doughnut-delicious-things). I think I overloaded on teh parachich and ndizi the first month, because I haven't been able to eat them for a few weeks now-but no worries mama! i am being fed very well.
ok must get back! tonight we staking out chinese food--you would be pleasantly surprised at the large variety of good restaurants in Arusha!
love love lvoe
emmanuelle
Friday, June 18, 2010
Pics of Ilkiding'a!
Yes, this IS my home!
I told you Ilkiding'a ward was beautiful. Jena took this pic on our walk back home from visiting a village where we had to watch a teaching and give back constructive criticism. The pic above is of our favorite Mama; she owns the shop (duka) were standing in; she sells tea and donuts. nom. Sometimes I watch the World Cup in there on the 10 '' tv they have hanging on the wall, with the rest of the neighborhood football fans---Cameroon owned that game against Japan, what a sad ending.
Kids are so inventive! yesterday I saw a hoard of them with jump ropes made out of tree vines. Soccer balls made out of a bunch of plastic bags tied into a ball with rope is popular too.
I hate missionaries--sorry if youre reading this and are offended---they come in with a van, drop off a bunch of useless toys (balloon animals and plastic balls), preach their bullshit and then leave. I hear "give me my money" and "give me a present" from 50 kids a day as a result. Its all these kids know, so you really cant let your frustration get hte b etter of you.
love lvoe love!!
Emmanuelle
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
hello friends
I came in town for the day to bring a volunteer to the clinic--turned out to be a bacterial infection, not malaria--hoorah! although malaria is super easy to treat anyways--$4 for some pills and the symptoms are gone in a few days at worst.
The villages we are working in are b-e-a-utiful and remind me a lot of the countryside in France. The volunteers are spread throughout six villages, and to get to each one I walk through fields of corn and tomatoes--its so neat, I looooove it. Some homestays are pocketed on grassy slopes that i have to cross river beds to get to. We are staying in a rented house in teh first village, complete with large grassy lawn--electricity but no running water. Sometimes Ill come home in teh afternoon to a hoard of small children playing in the yard-other times the children will be replaced by grazing cows. hahaha its great. The kids call my frisbee kipepeo (butterfly!) and they love it, which makes me very happy. Daily work has consisted of walking to homestays (an hour walk to the farthest one?) to bring supplies and talk with groups when small problems arise.
---I ate eggplant and LIKED it! the vegetables are so fresh
---every morning Jena, Glady and I get hot milk for breakfast, straight from the neighbor's cow, for 40 cents a liter. Its so neat
---Last night I successfully carried a 3 gallon bucket of water on my head. Usually our cook (who lives across the street) boils water for us at night to shower. Last night he was busy so I decided to go--I asked a little girl to show me where to get it and soon Jena and I had 10 small children following us to the water source with their own buckets--which turned out to be a river 15 minutes away and down this steep, muddy embankment. balancing it on your head is actually much easier, because there is no way in hell i would have been able to make it back up the hill and all the way home carrying this heavy bucket. My skirt was drenched and my feet were filthy by the end, but i was a proud mzungu when we finally made it home.
---Kids here work so hard! as soon as youre able to walk youre set to work. The littlest one on my water-fetching journey last night couldnt have been older than 3 or 4. Of items that are balanced on heads by children, I am most impressed by the enormous stacks of firewood. All of the cooking for the family that lives across the street is done by two 10 ten year old girls.
TZ is great and I am a happy gal.
Emmanuelle
I came in town for the day to bring a volunteer to the clinic--turned out to be a bacterial infection, not malaria--hoorah! although malaria is super easy to treat anyways--$4 for some pills and the symptoms are gone in a few days at worst.
The villages we are working in are b-e-a-utiful and remind me a lot of the countryside in France. The volunteers are spread throughout six villages, and to get to each one I walk through fields of corn and tomatoes--its so neat, I looooove it. Some homestays are pocketed on grassy slopes that i have to cross river beds to get to. We are staying in a rented house in teh first village, complete with large grassy lawn--electricity but no running water. Sometimes Ill come home in teh afternoon to a hoard of small children playing in the yard-other times the children will be replaced by grazing cows. hahaha its great. The kids call my frisbee kipepeo (butterfly!) and they love it, which makes me very happy. Daily work has consisted of walking to homestays (an hour walk to the farthest one?) to bring supplies and talk with groups when small problems arise.
---I ate eggplant and LIKED it! the vegetables are so fresh
---every morning Jena, Glady and I get hot milk for breakfast, straight from the neighbor's cow, for 40 cents a liter. Its so neat
---Last night I successfully carried a 3 gallon bucket of water on my head. Usually our cook (who lives across the street) boils water for us at night to shower. Last night he was busy so I decided to go--I asked a little girl to show me where to get it and soon Jena and I had 10 small children following us to the water source with their own buckets--which turned out to be a river 15 minutes away and down this steep, muddy embankment. balancing it on your head is actually much easier, because there is no way in hell i would have been able to make it back up the hill and all the way home carrying this heavy bucket. My skirt was drenched and my feet were filthy by the end, but i was a proud mzungu when we finally made it home.
---Kids here work so hard! as soon as youre able to walk youre set to work. The littlest one on my water-fetching journey last night couldnt have been older than 3 or 4. Of items that are balanced on heads by children, I am most impressed by the enormous stacks of firewood. All of the cooking for the family that lives across the street is done by two 10 ten year old girls.
TZ is great and I am a happy gal.
Emmanuelle
Friday, May 28, 2010
Today I was told that I had the "hair of Jesus Christ"-meant as a compliment nonetheless! The immediate image that came to mind was one of my dad yelling "Jesus Christ" at home after not being able to find the remote, so naturally i was a little caught off guard. Ok fine, it was raining and my hair was a big mess of moppy (sp?) curls and frizz, so I guess I can see the connection.
Being a coordinator is so fun! I enjoy my duties, which include making sure volunteers are well adjusted, leading sessions during Orientation on how to lesson plan, removing salamanders and grasshoppers from bathrooms (in abundance!), showing volunteers around Arusha on our days off, and visiting homestays to meet homestay parents.
"hamnashida, kabisa. Hamnashida, kabisa. Karibuni, Karibuni, make yourself at home"--This translates into "no worries, perfect. No worries, perfect (as in, everything is perfect and could not be better)- This being the general response of homestay parents after meeting and discussing logistics. so great!
Arusha is a pretty drab city with crumbling buildings and such-- apart from the out-of-place tourist hotels and restaurants. Sometimes these lavish hotels are placed right next to local dumps, where a few townspeople can be seen digging through the trash looking for plastic bags.
The other day while accompanying someone to the airport I was able to see Kilimanjaro! We had a great view for at least 30 min. So neat! Even the snow-capped peak was visible. What a great ride.
Thats all I got for now----we move into the villages on Tuesday, so probably no internet for two weeks. usiku njema (safe night!)
Emmanuelle
Being a coordinator is so fun! I enjoy my duties, which include making sure volunteers are well adjusted, leading sessions during Orientation on how to lesson plan, removing salamanders and grasshoppers from bathrooms (in abundance!), showing volunteers around Arusha on our days off, and visiting homestays to meet homestay parents.
"hamnashida, kabisa. Hamnashida, kabisa. Karibuni, Karibuni, make yourself at home"--This translates into "no worries, perfect. No worries, perfect (as in, everything is perfect and could not be better)- This being the general response of homestay parents after meeting and discussing logistics. so great!
Arusha is a pretty drab city with crumbling buildings and such-- apart from the out-of-place tourist hotels and restaurants. Sometimes these lavish hotels are placed right next to local dumps, where a few townspeople can be seen digging through the trash looking for plastic bags.
The other day while accompanying someone to the airport I was able to see Kilimanjaro! We had a great view for at least 30 min. So neat! Even the snow-capped peak was visible. What a great ride.
Thats all I got for now----we move into the villages on Tuesday, so probably no internet for two weeks. usiku njema (safe night!)
Emmanuelle
Monday, May 24, 2010
Hi people,
things are still great. All the volunteers have arrived, orientation has begun with the teaching partners. For a week we will be staying at this agricultural college, where the vols and tp's will be learning how to work together, teach classrooms of different ages, and learn what to expect in the villages. I happen to be in Arusha for a few days running errands.
--Its so FRUSTRATING having to bargain/argue my way through prices everyday in Arusha. Being white makes you a walking dollar sign and so i cannot escape the mzungu (European) price--even when i bargain in Swahili! Even lunch prices at the same restaurant go up from previous days. the day my Swahili gets good to enough to impress shop owners will be THE day.
--I cannot stress enough the genuine hospitality that is so unique to Tanzanian culture. Everyone I meet is very polite and very welcoming.
--enjoy your hot showers people!!! Its a great day when the hot water heater works haha
Emmanuelle
things are still great. All the volunteers have arrived, orientation has begun with the teaching partners. For a week we will be staying at this agricultural college, where the vols and tp's will be learning how to work together, teach classrooms of different ages, and learn what to expect in the villages. I happen to be in Arusha for a few days running errands.
--Its so FRUSTRATING having to bargain/argue my way through prices everyday in Arusha. Being white makes you a walking dollar sign and so i cannot escape the mzungu (European) price--even when i bargain in Swahili! Even lunch prices at the same restaurant go up from previous days. the day my Swahili gets good to enough to impress shop owners will be THE day.
--I cannot stress enough the genuine hospitality that is so unique to Tanzanian culture. Everyone I meet is very polite and very welcoming.
--enjoy your hot showers people!!! Its a great day when the hot water heater works haha
Emmanuelle
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