some verbal throw-up

I'm living a dream.

Life here is not dreamy in the usual sense of the word. I love it here for completely different reasons than reasons for loving it at home.

It's been so hard to blog or write lately. I want to make sure what I write and what I say accurately portrays my experience.

So how do I say this?

One of the kids I've been working with does not know how to write. He doesn't even know how old he is because he's been on the streets for just that long. For the past two weeks, I've gotten to know him better. He gets fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner in exchange for help washing Kilimanjaro tour buses. He wants to learn, but as any student would, gets frustrated. I ask him whenever it happens if he wants to learn. He always responds with a firm yes. Then I have his attention for the next five minutes.

A week ago, he stopped showing up to our MWF meetings. I thought, maybe he lost interest in learning to write (first the ABCs and then just his name), maybe he lost interest after I declined to give him my phone number, maybe he left town. I asked around and got "he's in town" as an answer. Until today.

Today, I was told that my friend is in jail. My friend who does not know his own age - my guess is 15 or 16. My friend. In jail. Why? Stealing? No, he's in jail for raping a woman. The friend who was telling me the news tells me it's not true. This friend is also one that frequently comes high on glue. I tell him thanks for letting me know and take a step back.  What now?

I have no answers.

Another kid I work with shows up today visibly upset. I ask once and he declines my offer to talk. I give him his space and let him be. After lessons and food, I sit with him to do some work. Then he starts to talk.

He tells me the story and proceeds to ask me not to share the story.

I felt bad and then I felt proud. He acted with maturity way beyond what I've seen and known. I'm so proud of him and wish I could share why. But take my word for it, this boy will go far in life regardless of my involvement.

On our way home today, I told Kate this: I think they've taught me more in the past four weeks than I can ever teach them.

And I think that's okay. Actually, I think that's amazing.

All of this is true, but I don't feel like this is an accurate portrayal. I also don't know what else to do. I'll keep trying.

Teachings

Teaching in a foreign country is quite challenging.

Last week, we started our HIV teachings at Mateves Secondary School and a nearby primary school, the name of which I do not know. I wish I had a picture to show the image of all the 120 staring faces the first time I entered the classroom. I'm not going to lie, I was quite nervous in the beginning. Aside from the language barrier and the difficulty to keep the some of the kids interested, things have gone great. I'm slowly learning what works well and what doesn't work well. It's surprising how some of the school activities that I loved as a kid, these kids love just as much (given I modify things here and there to account for such a huge class). Teachings have been very promising; I can really tell that some of the kids really really want to educate themselves about HIV/AIDS, and I am glad I can help them obtain the knowledge necessary to protect themselves. There have been a lot of interesting questions from the kids and a lot of misinformation..It's easy to see how incorrect information helps spread HIV. One of the kids did not know if a HIV pregnant mother could give HIV to her baby and another thought ARVs prevent you from infecting others with HIV...

On a lighter note, one of the funniest things that have happened so far involve a certain song we've taught the kids. Every class, we begin by singing a song with the kids that goes to the Ole Ole Ole tune. It goes:

Tujifunze Tujifunze, (Let's learn, let's learn)
Elimu ya Ukimwi. (Today about AIDS)

We repeat the song 3 times, each time increasing in volume and spirit. The kids really love this song and really get into the song. At the primary school last Tuesday, as we were leaving, the kids began singing the song. Jacob makes a quick sprint in the room and says something in Swahili. Right after that, the kids were screaming the song at the top of their lungs and jumping on their desks and clapping with all their might. It was crazy!


Side note to my mom: I got amoebas about 3 weeks ago because I did not wash my hands and ate dirty food so I got very bad diarrhea and a fever. I went to the hospital but the doctor tried to rip me off so I discharged myself and bought all the medication myself and I'm fine now. Sorry I did not tell you earlier, I did not want to worry you extra. I have many mosquito bites but am malaria free so far. Yay!

Hello!!!

Hello all.

The title explains the lack of posts.

We've started teachings at local secondary and primary schools!! It's crazy and much more hectic now than before. It's exciting and crazy and everything else, but I'm so glad that we're here.

Last weekend, a group of us climbed Mt. Meru. See Stephen's blog for pictures. Mine will go up eventually. What else...I'm loving the work with the street kids. I can't wait to share some of their stories and my experiences with them with you all. It is hit or miss. Some of these kids have amazing potential and ambition. Others are really just there for food.

I'm really not making much sense, I just want to say hello and yes! We are alive and well.

The orphanage now has color and is making much progress everyday!

My farmer's tan is terrible, but I absolutely love being here.

Pictures!

The orphanage














Bird's Eye view of Site














Arusha at night

2 posts in one week?!

...clearly the result of having internet on site.

And now I can't remember what I was going to post about. This weekend in town, I spent four hours trying to find a working ATM. Did I already blog about this? Here is my problem. There is so much going on and so little time to communicate it. I wish I could RSS feed you my brain waves. I think it'd be easier. Although blogging does make me sound more intelligent than a direct feed, I wouldn't mind cutting out the middle man - my fingers and consciousness.

The strong personalities are coming out. Some slowly peeping and others exploding out into the open. It has been a personal and communal struggle to deal with all the personalities whether clashing in strength or in character. But then again, this is bound to happen anywhere. Not really specific to being in TZ, but nonetheless, I think it is worth mentioning. Point mentioned, done.

Yesterday, I took the dala dala from town to site. (dala dalas are the main mode of transportation for locals here - vans packed with people pounding on the doors when they need to get off - wikipedia doesn't do it justice, but maybe some more googling will help) Well, to the main road that leads to site. The entire trip from the hostel in town to our site in the boonies took a total of an hour and a half. When we approached the dala dalas waiting on the side of the street, the drivers saw only $$$. Wazungus, or foreigners (or more technically, white people), always attract the same look. It's annoying and understandable at the same time. I dislike it, regardless. This driver actually kicked out three people originally in the dala to accomodate our needs. I guess that's how it goes.

Sitting next to Michael was a man who did not give the usual "I see Wazungu" look. After telling him our destination, he nodded understandingly. He had met with a mzungu and a mchina (a white man and a Chinese man) who were trying to buy a car. Joe and Stephen, that's you. Anyhow, he was super friendly and reminded me of how easily we are pointed out in this community. The way we conduct ourselves can leave a long-lasting impression and we should be careful with ourselves.

Um okay, lost my train of thought. I LOVE the comments though, thank you for continuing to read!! That's it for now, I guess. I'll try to upload more pictures soon.

Endless Surprises

I had no idea it would be this hard to blog while being here. A huge part of me just wants to absorb everything to the fullest and keep it to myself so that when I go home, my memory would have encapsulated it all. Another part of me wants to share it all as I experience it so you all can feel what I've been feeling here. The introvert in me is winning.

One of the most memorable (not in a good way) moments so far took place at Samaritan Orphanage. We travel there two times a week to work and play with the kids there. My favorites are the babies. All they want, like all babies in the world, is to be held and coddled. Unfortunately, with one full-time Mama, there's no way all the babies get the attention they want and need. This one darling baby is named Josephat and I played with him a lot. During our time there on Thursday, I noticed the absence of reaction to the things around him. When other babies cry, he is unaffected. At first, I assumed he was calm and patient, like Bahati (the 1yr 7mo-old who helped inspire OHS' beginnings). However, after an hour or two, I realized that wasn't the case. A clap behind a baby's head yields a surprised blink, but a clap behind Josephat's head does absolutely nothing.

The boy is deaf.

Fresh Start

Hey Everyone!

I'm in Arusha right now and things are going great. I've spent almost 2 weeks here and Tanzania has been amazing! I'd had quite a ridiculous experience in Tanzania and I'd like to first discuss the work Sue and I are doing here.

Our days are fairly structured. On MWF, we go out to Arusha to a set location and serve food to the street kids of Arusha. At times, up to 50 kids show up to get food. The ages range from 11-19, some having spent an entire decade living on the streets. We bring a soccer ball so they can play the beloved sport of futbol and those who don't play soccer usually sit on the side and talk to us. We hope to start English classes next week, with the goal of giving these kids a chance to life by knowing and being able to communicate in English (as many jobs here cater the the mzungu, foreigner, population). I remeber the first time I went out, the image that shook me up was when kids would find dirty plastic bags and ask for us to just put extra food into the bags so they could eat it later. We were each assigned a child to provide more individualized attention to the kids and I was assigned Hamza, an 11 year old boy that has been living on the streets for a year. He is a very very nice kid that decided to leave home because his stepmother beat him while his father was away farming Tanzanites. He loves ndeges (airplanes) and his favorite color is, surprisingly, pink! I'm very excited to mentor him and really want to help him find a home.

On T,TH. we go to the Good Samaritan Orphange to play with the kids there, an orphange which houses babies, toddlers, and young kids. We usually bring art supplies for the kids and spend some time playing games and drawing with them. Some of us also spend time helping the one mama that has the watch over 30 kids with basic chores like folding laundry. I've become close to one child named Moses. He is 8 and is quite a intelligent child. I remeber the first time I saw him, he was quite shy and none of the other volunteers were talking to him, so I approached him. He was looking at his math homework and I soon discovered he had quite an interest in school. His English is amazing for his age and I see a lot of potential in him. Last Thursday I was outside the orphange playing frisbee with one of the other kids when Moses runs out of the house and gives me a big hug with a giant grin on his face. I'm glad he was happy to see me :]

I will post more later!