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Published: January 28th 2007
Roots & Shoots
Welcome to Tanzania ... here I am on day two in Africa getting right to business with Dr. JaneIt’s taking all my will power to talk about my time in TZ as opposed to discussing my unbridled excitement about colts impending superbowl berth, the first in the Indianapolis era (1984 - present). It’s Blue Heaven. But that’s not why we’re here and I’d rather share my excitement for a blog
after the colts win the superbowl next week. Not to mention, I have a feeling that Peyton is about to have an even better game than the classic “near perfect” QB performance by Phil Simms of the NY Giants (with credit to Mark Bavaro and Phil McConkey, too). Seriously, the colts will score the first two TD’s and by the time it’s 14-0, the game will be all over. The rest will be an exercise in football perfection.
Clearly my will power is not as strong as I thought. Let’s go back and look at the weeks that were, shall we? When you're ready,
photos of Mumbai and Dar are here... actually the internet died while I was at the internet cafe, so I only got a few pics now and more will come later.
Monday, January 15, 2007 I last wrote from the Mumbai airport en route to Dar Es Salaam,
Tanzania. My flight was a bit late, but I arrived in Dar in mid-afternoon and spent about two hours waiting in line for a tourist visa. Welcome (Karibu) to Africa! Fortunately, Sara and Abdallah, two veteran Jane Goodall Institute staff/volunteers, waited patiently for my arrival and whisked me off in a taxi to Jane’s house.
Thankfully, one of the first things Sara told me was that the week would start off slowly to allow for me to ease in to life in Dar. Just what I was hoping to hear. But I soon learned, however, that that Sara and I have quite different definitions of the word “slowly.” I say this because the next thing Sara tells me is that the house is very full because “Dr. Jane” is in town and staying at the house right now. In fact, at that very moment, there was a Roots & Shoots alumni meeting taking place at the house. So after spending the whole day in airports and on planes, I soon found myself walking through Jane Goodall’s house, out on to the back porch, and right into a meeting, mid-conversation with Jane Goodall and a number of my new colleagues. Keep in mind I’m arriving in Africa for the first time in my life! And Sara don’t feel bad, I’m just giving you a hard time to make the blog funny …
But as you can imagine (since it’s always the case with people in environmental education) everyone was extremely nice and welcoming, and no one made fun of me for being a mzungu, or at least not in front of my face.
I don’t have much to say about my initial impressions of Dar on day one, other than the extreme day-time heat, which is occasionally relieved by a magnificent sea-breeze that comes in from the Indian Ocean and floods through Jane’s house to provide a welcome, if only momentary, respite.
Tuesday After breakfast with my new roommates - Sara (my fearless leader, JGI staff from the states who has spent two+ years in TZ between peace corps and JGI); Jane (you know her already); Anne (a UNC journalism student doing her masters thesis in a rural village, but also a former peace corps and R&S person who’s spent 3+ years in TZ); Tony (head of baboon research in Gombe); Julie (a psychology professor from Berry College in Georgia visiting East Africa on both a National Geographic grant and Fullbright Fellowship); and Abbey (Julie’s daughter who’s accompanying her on the journey) - we all hopped in the car and visited a local school to make a presentation about Roots & Shoots.
Since Jane was the main attraction, four schools were in attendance and we had plenty of time to chat one-on-one with students and teachers before the program. Then Jane gave a speech about her life, her work, and the founding of R&S, which began here in Dar back in 1991. Afterwards she planted a tree with some of the students and we said our farewells. Then it was off to the grocery store to pick up some lunch items, home for a meal on the porch and I continued “easing in slowly” to my surroundings! But seriously, I really can’t think of a better way to have orientation and training to the Roots & Shoots program than to jump right in with Jane and the students in Dar Es Salaam. It was a perfect intro to the year to come.
I stopped in at the new JGI office for some additional meeting and greeting with the local staff, as well as some of the JGI’s top brass who are here when Jane comes to town. Later that night Jane’s son Grub came by along with the grandkids (Merlin, Angel, Nicky and Cousin Francis aka Shuku) who live next door with their mother Maria, and we had a huge feast.
Wednesday Okay, now it really was time for slowing down. I stayed around the house enjoying a relaxing morning and we gave Jane a nice send-off as she headed out the door to Mumbai, India of all places. And since I had been sleeping in a little annex off the living foom, I quickly took advantage of the moment to relocate into the master bedroom. Yes, I now live in Jane’s room and go to sleep each night listening to the wind and the waves rolling along the sandy shore.
Now it’s time for an aside about the house. Before you start thinking that I’m living it up in some five-star, ocean front accommodations, let’s get back to reality. This is Africa. Our water is delivered by the truckload, which we then have to pump into a holding tank above the house (mechanically not manually) to have water in our taps. Before drinking any water, we boil and filter it so as not to get the African version of Delhi-belly. So far, the water has been out twice and today the pump broke so we’re out of luck. In these situations, we take showers by pouring water out of a bucket, which is also how we wash our clothes … by hand, in a bucket. Yesterday the power was out all day.
We also have lots of friendly critters, mainly ants, but quite a few lizards and a family of rats who enjoy the kitchen. Next door Merlin keeps a few hens and roosters who invariably wake us from slumber in the mornings, and whenever possible, walk into the house to join us. Yesterday one took a dump on the kitchen floor before getting on the counter and breaking a glass.
Obviously, those are the extremes. We also have a lovely dining room and living room area downstairs, including a DVD player. Thanks to international pirating, we already have a copy of Casino Royale and even an advance copy of Spider Man 3 which hasn’t been released yet. Then there are the Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, George Clooney, Jackie Chan, Catherine Zeta Jones (etc.) movie collections, which each feature eight films starring a given actor. And the shelves are loaded with books, fiction and nonfiction, as well as a host of National Geographic magazines going back through the ages.
Anyway, back to Wednesday the 18th, Sara and I went downtown via dullah dullah, a shared-transportation-minivan-thing that is often extremely hot and crowded; window seats are advisable. The dullah dullah has become my main form of transportation option, but I have no idea how to tell where I’m going yet, so I’m very thankful to whomever is showing me around (usually Sara, Abdallah or Shomari). The main errand on Wednesday was to buy a cell phone as text messaging and short calls are the norm here. I also start learning some Swahili while getting my bearings out and about in Dar.
Thursday I basically spent the day in the both the new JGI office and the older R&S office (here at the house) in training with Sara, Erasto and Abdallah, and then had my first, formal Swahili lesson with my teacher, Aquiline.
Friday Besides the initial school visit with Jane and company, this was probably my first “real” day of work, as opposed to training. We had a meeting with a few students at the office and then a larger planning meeting for the upcoming Roots & Shoots week, scheduled for late February.
Saturday In the morning, I had another Swahili lesson and then I spent the day shadowing one of the R&S members, a high school student named Ibrahim, who took me to his home where I met his family and friends. After touring his neighbourhood we were off kucheza mpira wakikapu … or in English … to play basketball. After three months of travel, I was long overdue … and not as rusty as I would’ve expected, especially since I played in hiking boots.
Sunday Not much … laundry, yoga, reading, and edited a grant report for one of the local projects.
Sunday Night Back in the western hemisphere, the Indianapolis Colts played - from what I hear - their most exciting game ever, with a last-minute 80-yard touchdown drive to catapult the colts over our arch-enemies, the New England Patriots, and into the superbowl. Now this may come as a shock, but I did not watch the game. Having only arrived six days earlier, it was just too much, especially since the kick-off was at 2:30 a.m. local time. Besides, imagine if I stayed up just to watch the colts lose. That would’ve been torture … for reference, back in Mumbai I could watch the game at Dev’s house and I didn’t even get out of bed until the second half. Here in Dar - when I go out to watch the superbowl - I either need to check into a hotel with cable or visit a 24-hour casino downtown … tbd, but I will be watching, and I will be thoroughly jealous of all my friends and family in Indianapolis and even more jealous of Greg and my Aunt Myra and Uncle Frank who will all be attending the superbowl in Miami. Frank and Myra, are you two going to be with Jim Irsay at the trophy stand after we win? I’ll be watching for you! And if any of you readers have forgotten, I predicted that I’d be watching the colts in the superbowl from Dar Es Salaam back in my November 20th blog entry, “The Golden Traingle.” Told ya so.
A parting thought re: colts. This is a direct quote taken from the "front page" of the Indianapolis Star's website the morning after the big win. Focus in on the second-half, after the semicolon. I think you'll see that I'm neither alone in my fanatacism nor am I the most extreme:
"Circle City celebrates Colts' win over Pats
Monday STAR
Roller-coaster game, epic finish have fans cheering for more; faithful compare win to wedding or childbirth."
Monday week two First thing in the morning I made a phone call back to the states and briefly talked to Rudy, because I can always remember his phone numbers by heart, and that’s how I learned about the colts. But my cell phone ran out of credit almost immediately, so it was short-lived.
Back to work with an all-staff meeting, a weekly initiative that we are attempting to introduce in the office … more meetings, more editing, more Swahili and more yoga.
Tuesday I helped give some computer lessons to the director of a very large EE project that is getting underway in Tanzania’s coastal areas, including Zanzibar and I read through all kinds of JGI literature … R&S newsletters, annual reports, etc., and had another Swahili lesson.
Wednesday After a brief morning meeting, we were off to visit a Roots & Shoots club meeting at one of the local schools. The theme of the meeting was to introduce me, the mzungu, to re-introduce Roots & Shoots in this new year, and to give a head’s up about Roots & Shoots week, and then a Swahili lesson.
Thursday Diddo … this time visiting two schools followed by Swahili in the afternoon.
Friday After a quick morning meeting, I was off for another school visit (for reference, there are 45 local schools with Roots & Shoots clubs) and then we returned to the house office for another meeting to plan R&S week. That night, we watched Bond on the DVD. I can’t believe we already have a copy … and it wasn’t filmed by hand in a theatre, it’s the real movie, or at least a rough cut which was only missing to early scenes.
Saturday (Yesterday) I played monopoly with the kids next door, did some yoga, started a new book (I recently finished the illustrated edition of Angels and Demons … loved it). Then Julie, Abbey and I went to dinner with Nazr, a former Roots & Shoots member who was active when my friends Jen and Stan were here, and Jackie, a doctoral student in Geography from the University of Florida who’s here on a yearlong Fullbright.
Sunday (Today) As I said, the water pump is broken, so I haven’t showered. I could take a bucket shower but the bulb burned out in the downstairs bathroom and I don’t really feel like carrying a heavy bucket upstairs. So I’m sweating and I probably stink. If I took a shower now, in five minutes time, I’d be sweating and I’d probably stink. So forget it. We have plans to catch a movie in the theatre today for Ibrahim’s birthday, and I’m getting out my first blog!
Next week … I’ve got another school visit tomorrow, Tuesday we’re meeting with the cell phone company to submit a proposal for them to sponsor our R&S week, Wednesday another school visit and that’s all I can remember right now.
And beyond … I think you’ve got the gist of my routine thus far and how it will go in the future. Basically, all of these school groups are focused on identifying a problem in the community (either related to caring for animals, the environment, or the human community … so it can truly be anything) and then students brainstorm ideas and take action to take steps towards solving the problem. In the coming months I’ll be balancing my time between (a) helping the clubs, mostly at secondary schools where students speak English well, to plant tree nurseries, organize beach cleanups, raise awareness and reduce stigmatism around HIV/AIDS, host a few public events, take field trips to natural areas, etc. etc. and (b) providing support in the office by giving computer lessons, editing grants and reports (in English mind you), and providing general administrative assistance.
I basically work a standard full-time schedule, and so far I get really exhausted in the mid-afternoon heat and fall asleep by 10 or 10:30 at night before sleeping nine-to-ten hours before Merlin’s roosters wake me up again. Also, whatever is in the water here has been giving me some pretty interesting dreams (okay, not literally the water but something). I’ve dreamt about the colts in the superbowl at least twice and last night I was back in Bloomington, Indiana, walking a bicycle across state road 37 only to arrive on Haight Street in San Francisco with Jeff and James Hetfield debating whether or not to eat at the Pork Store or Citrus Club. Who knows?
So there you have it. I live in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Africa and we’ll just see how things develop. I won’t continue to fill the blog with the daily routine - I think I’ve outlined it pretty well here today - rather I’ll keep you posted on things that are a bit more exciting and substantive. And once my computer arrives, I’ll probably get online each evening at some point (I’m eight hours ahead of the east coast in USA and 11 ahead of west). Though I’ve been here two weeks, I can’t say I’ve hit any kind of stride in terms of moving about independently. I’m very comfortable, but I feel completely reliant upon my coworkers and housemates to get around and find my way (I mean, lonely planet doesn’t exactly provide info on how to get to the various secondary schools around town). I’ve got a few ideas for some upcoming weekends, at least after the superbowl, to visit some local beaches and natural areas, which I’ll record here in the blog.
Until next time … Kwaheri!
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Melanie
non-member comment
The Colts are in the Super Bowl?
Hi David! As always great to hear about what you are doing. I was confused about one thing. Is it really true the Colts are in the Super Bowl? ??? ;) Just kidding! Thought, I must admit, I didn't know until about one week ago. Seriously - the only section of the newspaper I don't read is the sports section. Well, and automotive. Maybe real estate too, as I don't have a chance in SF. :) All the best! Melanie :)