Surprise Surprise

I distinctly remember having one conversation with a few individuals before we left for Tanzania back in September.

"Why do you think the other volunteers want to go?"

"I think some have intentions to help others, others to help themselves. I'm most afraid that some people will go with the only intention to return to brag about the 'hard life' they endured."

Let's just say, it was a telling conversation.

the worst thing that has happened

On a car ride to find the aunt of one of our street kids, we asked him: "what was the worst thing that has happened to you on the street?"

He replied:

"One day I was riding a bike and I fell. As I fell on my bike, one of the bike spikes on the gears pierced my penis. There was blood everywhere and, for the next month, each time I had to go to the bathroom, urine would painfully come out of the wound."

Dear Ebeneza,

I miss you.

It's been three weeks since I left Tanzania and I miss you so much. Looking at pictures of mine and everyone else's trip, I know you'd be so happy. Your picture is everywhere. I've been talking to many of my friends and family about my trip to Tanzania - I think you would be proud. You would be proud of your country, of your people, and mostly, I think, you should be proud of yourself. It's strange for me to discuss you and the other boys with other people. You guys were my best friends in my time there and helped me learn so much. I feel that no matter how hard I try, my descriptions and stories will not suffice. I hope you and your family are doing well. I hope you've been playing a lot with the kids in the house too! They're a lot of fun. I miss them too. Hug them all for me.

Love,

Dada Sue

Mimi?

First and foremost, thank you for the loyal readers who have followed this blog since day one. As I have found, I'm not the best blogger - too infrequent, often too short, and now, the blog is a misnomer. However, life goes on. =)

So as promised, here goes 1 of many, hopefully, of post-trip blogs.

A: Unaitwa nani?

B: Mimi?

A: Ndiyo.

B: Naitwa B.

...translation...

A: What's your name?

B: Me?

A: Yes.

B: My name is B.

After a few months in Tanzania and after my Swahili was no longer miserable, I noticed something very particular about the conversations I had with Tanzanians. Upon being asked a question about themselves, most Tanzanias respond with "Me???"

Now, being a foreigner and all, I figured it may be my lacking Swahili abilities. So I waited to eavesdrop on a conversation between two locals. Strange! The same thing happened.

I tried this many times: with kids, with my peers, with middle-age adults, with elders; with the wealthy, with the middle-class, and with the poor. "Mimi?"

I tell my good friend Lillian about this and she denies the existence of such a thing. I pull her to eavesdrop on another conversation and lo and behold, Mimi? is the first response given to any question. She tells me that surely she does not have this silly habit. I agree, sarcastically, of course.

A few days later, I ask Lily what she's doing that very weekend (in Swahili) and what does she say in response? "Mimi??"

I burst out laughing.

She caught herself right after falling into my trap. She laughed too, but then we began to talk about why this odd habit exists. She suggested low self-confidence and high self-doubt.

I asked another Tanzanian about this and he suggested it as a stalling tactic. By asking a question in response to another question, it gives the responder more time to formulate an answer.

Both theories seem faulty. It seems unlikely that an entire nation's people has low self-confidence and high self-doubt. Almost as unlikely, does it seem possible for a question like "what is your name" or "how are you" require extra time.

So with no other leads, I returned to America a month later, still asking the same question. Why oh why does this happen? One quick Google search later, I find a 12-page linguistic report on Swahili. Maybe that will shed some light. If not, maybe I need to change my major and find out for myself.

Mziki

Before all the heavy stuff we're supposedly going to post about eventually, I wanted to share some things that we learned while we were in Tanzania.

Music is a big part of the culture, whether it is traditional music or more modern music. I would try to say more about Bongo Flava, but honestly, I'm no expert. We heard it all over the place and of course, we're now hooked. So the magical YouTube has enabled me to find many of these songs and the music videos (I didn't even know they existed!).

So behold, the magical YouTube powers and enjoy this amazing music.

(Side note: a few are not from TZ. P-Square is a Nigerian hip-hop group whose music is mostly in English)

This first one is by a group called Nako2Nako. It is based in Arusha, TZ, the town in which we spent all of our weekends. Many of the street kids that we worked with admire these guys - with good reason. They even have a myspace! http://www.myspace.com/nako2nako however, none of their music is on the page...but they do have a more comprehensive background on them there.

This next song is called Bado Nipo Nipo. The song doesn't really start until 38 seconds into the song and I'm not too sure why, but it is super catchy. You may find yourself singing the three words you can understand for the rest of the day. "Bado Nipo" literally translates to I'm not there yet. If only there were translated lyrics online!

This one is one of Michael's favorites! Ignore the long beep at the beginning. I don't know if it's stylistic or a fluke, but the song then starts. For the longest time, I thought the song was saying "habari nokio" but turns out the song says and is called "Habari Ndio Hiyo," but sounds more like "habari nohio" because of the slurring of ndio and hiyo. It means: That's the news! If you're sick of these videos already, don't give up on the later ones! Just come back later and check them out. I miss them dearly.
 

This next one is one of my favorites. And as I did with many of the other songs, I was mistaken on the words of this one as well. The song is called Una and is by P-unit & DNA. The chorus which says: Una jump, unaruka, una shida, zina shuka, means - You jump (English), you jump, you have problems, they fall off.

As you can see, this song is big since it's being played on MTVAfrica. The video is of higher quality and clearly P-Square has a larger budget. However, no music set from my trip is complete without this song called Do Me. Enjoy.

Nyumbani

After almost two days of travel, Michael and I arrived safely into San Jose earlier tonight!

Lots more to come, especially pictures and highlights, but for now, Siku mwema!

The day has come

This past Monday, the first of 24 orphans moved into their new home. Baraka and Tumsifu are twins who lost their dad a year ago. They are three years old, but look half the age due to malnutrition. Their mother, left with 4 other children, was unable to care for them properly due to her mental illness. I first met them at Samaritan Village - they could not walk and did not make a sound. Now, just two weeks later, they are running around screaming their heads off. (I have a video of that in effect, but it'd take a day and a half to upload...so that'll have to wait)

There has been a whirlwind of events since I last updated. It has resulted in the loss of many of our volunteers. It's sad, almost tragic, that this is how we will end the volunteer program. All the times we've joked about how we should have a Survivor-type scenario with people getting voted off - happened all at once. Nonetheless, it is what it is and we do with what we have.



There was a beautiful rainbow out today - stretching from one side of Mt. Meru to the other side of our hill. Very picture perfect, unlike the ending of our program here.

On a different note, lots of things have happened with the "6 boys in Sekei". A week ago, I was about to give up on a few of them. After a strict talk with Joyce, Jacob, and Godi, their behavior improved. These boys have become some of my best friends here, despite the ever-present language barrier. (As I write this now, the boys are having more serious talks with OHS staff due to bad behavior, disrespect, and general guideline-setting for their time with OHS.) I'm going to miss them so much. We've laughed and worked together and fought and argued, but I think they now better understand our unique bond and relationship. It's hard, if not impossible, to know the personal influence, if any, I have had on these boys, but they have taught me so much about patience, poverty, persistence, loyalty, myself, Tanzanian street culture, and so much more. As my time winds down to an end, I can see its on the boys' minds as well. Emanuel asked me today, not when I will leave, but when I will return to Tanzania. Only time will tell.

We've been working on the cow pen, cementing the ground - hard, tiring work, but fun for sure. I've really enjoyed working along side these boys.

None of these entries end well or at all, but that's how it goes. Someday, I will return to this beloved place.

More on this later, I'm all out of Internet time for now!

How UCSD is actually fair (and so is life...sometimes)

GOOD NEWS!

I got off the waiting list for I-House and will be living in I-House for winter and spring quarter!! THANK YOU UCSD.

I just received this news about 3 hours before I will be boarding a bus for a 22 hour bus ride through Kenya into Uganda to whitewater raft the Nile River. I'm sooo EXCITED. Some of the people going with me will also be bungee-jumping into the Nile but I don't think I have the guts to do that and will be passing on that experience. I am actually very lucky because in 18 months, the Nile will be dammed and there will not longer be any rafting on the Nile River in Uganda.

So right now..I am super relieved and super excited for the next couple of days. Thank you UCSD!!

How UCSD is unfair

I will vent a little because I am very stressed that I am looking for housing from an internet cafe halfway across the world for January. Let me outline you the gist of my problems..

There are 2 types of study abroad programs: EAP and OAP. EAP is UC sponsored and OAP is not. UCSD guarantees students 2 years of housing UNLESS you miss a quarter (ex. study abroad), because then you lose that contract. However, if you go on an EAP program, your contract is maintained; if you go on an OAP program, your contract is dismissed. EAP and OAP programs are both encouraged by the study abroad office, but I guess one is a little better than the other. I-House was an alternative I turned to for housing, but I was rejected. The worse part was I did not get to know until this week that I was rejected, halfway across the globe. I am also on the UCSD waiting list for housing, but who knows if that will fall through..Blah.

Back to apartment hunting..

My advice: If you are a going to study abroad as a sophomore..DO EAP.

where did all the time go?

After two long weekends back to back, we are finally back in a 5-day week of work. With one car completely out of commission for the week, we have cut down our activities that require a car and instead, been doing a lot more manual work on site.

In more exciting news, one of my street kids is out of jail!! However, two others are now in jail. I guess it happens a lot more than I had originally thought. In any case, it was good news that he was out.

I've been awful with uploading pictures because it takes YEARS with slow internet connection, but maybe this weekend, I will be more adamant about it. Last weekend I was in the most beautiful place - Zanzibar. At an Italian resort, we were just as out of place as before, but definitely enjoying the experience more. All three meals - all you can eat. We took it literally and spent three days eating and sleeping and laying on the beach. It was wonderful.

Yes, I did feel a bit guilty, but what can you do.

That's all for now, hopefully more this weekend!

Just another mosquito bite

I have gotten many many mosquito bites here in Tanzania. So far, I've been quite lucky and not contracted the dreaded malaria parasite. Last week, however, my luck (and Sue's) ran out. Sue and I both got malaria. The expensive malaria prophylaxis I bought in the states was usurped by a single mosquito. Ironically, the anti-malarial medicine I took to defeat malaria was only 3000 shillings, a mere 2.25 dollars. At this point in the volunteer program, about 50% of the volunteers have contracted malaria and it has become quite normal as more and more of us fall to the parasite. The way malaria is "counted" is by the number of malaria parasites per 200 white blood cell count. If you score the max of a 10 count, you essentially are dead from malaria. Sue and I both scored a 2 on the Richter-scale for malaria. No worries parents, we both feel great after taking our medication. Just another day in Tanzania! haha..

Something good

Yesterday was a definite high.

You're in for a treat today. I'm so happy to share this story. I'm not sure how I feel about using their real names so I'll give them initials only for now.

As you already know, every MWF, our group of volunteers meets with twenty to thirty (the number keeps changing) street kids at an unnamed site in town. We feed them and teach them English and anything else they want to learn (mostly math! thanks mom). We are organized into four families and each family has about five volunteers and anywhere from six to fifteen kids each day.

ANYHOW, I love my family and the kids are all unique and difficult at times, but I enjoy the consistency of seeing the same bunch of kids day after day.

Wednesday (10/29), I asked the kids to set a goal for themselves. A personal goal to achieve by Friday (10/31, happy halloween). We went around the group and each set a goal, volunteers included. My goal was to find out more information about how to transfer a secondary school student from one government-sponsored school to another. Four of the boys, M(15), B(15), BJ(15), and A(13), wanted to learn to play soccer. (Most of the street kids already know how to play soccer and many of them are pretty good. However, some don't like soccer so much or don't know much.) MS(16) was going to teach us a game, HZ(19) was going to teach us Swahili or Math, and AN(17) was going to learn 10 new Spanish words.

Then came yesterday.

In our circle, I asked if they remembered what I asked them to do on Wednesday. Some nodded in guilt, knowing they had not attempted their goal, others nodded in excitement, to show what they had accomplished. I started with M. He completely avoided eye contact and stared at the ground. I asked him if he had learned anything new with soccer. He continued to stare at the ground. I asked him again and he gently shook his head. Slightly disappointed that M, enthusiastic student and hard worker, failed to take me seriously when I asked him to set a goal, I started to lecture a little (haha). I said something to the effect of, "I'm not upset with you for not attempting your goal. But, I do want you to know that I'm serious when I ask you guys to set a goal for yourselves. Work towards your goal or set one that may be more realistic. This is your life. Take responsibility over your own life. If you want to get off the streets, make it happen. If you don't, that's okay too, but you are getting older and if you want to do something with your life, it is in your hands. We are here to help, not to do it for you. I promise you, I will do whatever I can to help you achieve your goals." As cheesy as it sounds in writing, I meant every word of it. It was quiet for a little and then we moved onto B. He nervously stood and grabbed the soccer ball. Juggled it three, four times, and sat down after receiving a little applause. Vania, fellow family volunteer, later told me she's seen him do this trick before. BJ attemped the same and received a similar response. Now, A has only been on the streets for a month or so. His older brother is also in our program and they both are very well-mannered and very enthusiastic learners. Earlier in the day, I saw him playing soccer with the older boys (18+) and I thought, how odd. He really is not very good at soccer, like me, and was getting laughed at by some of the older ones. Now it made sense, he had remembered his goal and was trying hard to achieve it. I was ecstatic. He showed us the same juggling trick, but the sight earlier was more than enough justification.

We moved onto MS who asked us to skip him. He wanted to teach the game at the end so we moved on to HZ. HZ asked to skip him as well, only to buy some time. AN proudly stands up and recites not ten words, but ten Spanish phrases and words and explains to us in English each meaning. After enthusiastic applause, HZ stands and begins to ramble in Swahili. "Wewe! Hatujui unasema nini." "You! We don't know what you're saying!" With advice and tips from Lillian, our TZ volunteer, HZ started over. With the little English he knows, he taught us six or seven verbs and other words in Swahili and English. After more enthusiastic applause, MS is ready to start.

MS stands up and asks us all to join him standing. In Swahili and then in English, he asks us to split into two groups and proceeds to instruct us. He teaches us the Human Knot game step by step and soon, our family, volunteers and street kids together, are laughing and playing. Usually, I see the young boys' (~age 9) family playing kid games and laughing week after week. I was so happy that MS taught us a game for everyone to enjoy together. Happy is an understatement. Not only was our family laughing and playing together, even the most unwilling kids included, some of them had achieved their goals and others, hopefully learned a good lesson.

This is the kind of work I believe is good. This is the kind of aid I believe can last. This is the kind of help I believe does not cause dependency. I love these kids.

Picture Update v2!

Meru from Site (props to Sue for the picture)










Sue stop looking!


















Bubbles!


















Sue why so surprised?!













!

















Chaos!

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!