"Excuse me, of course I worked!"

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Having been on Canadian soil for almost three weeks now has been both challenging and rewarding. I love the fact that you get reverse culture shock in the place that you call home. However, it has been wonderful to catch up with family and friends and very interesting to re-experience certain things that I took for granted before I left. One example is the supermarket - the sheer size, vast array of goods, and sterile environment left me with the feeling that we truly do have everything we could possibly want at our fingertips. Visiting the mall was even more of a shock as I managed to make it to only Lululemon before booting it out of there (yes, I realize I was a bit of a mall-rat, but no more…)

But I digress…… the main point of this blog was to dispel the persistent pesky rumour that I did not work while in Tanzania! So I am here to provide concrete evidence that I did, in fact, indisputably, undeniably, certainly , incontrovertibly, etc., work for 6 months of my stay in Dar.

My internship placement was at the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), a non-governmental organization that aims to promote, enforce and safeguard human rights and good governance in Tanzania. During the 10 years of LHRC operation, the organization has worked to create legal and human rights awareness amongst the general public and in particular, the underprivileged, indigent and vulnerable people of society. LHRC strives to achieve this objective through legal and civic education, provision of legal aid, advocacy, research, and monitoring and follow-up of human rights abuses.

The main office of LHRC is located in Kijitonyama (where I lived for half of my internship - lovely to be able to walk to work) and has approximately 30 staff (about 10 are legal officers) and there is a regional office in Arusha. Additionally, there are three legal aid clinics, two located in Dar es Salaam (Magomeni and Buguruni) and one in Arusha. My placement was based in Dar es Salaam and while I was stationed at the head office in Kijitonyama, I also worked at the Magomeni and Buguruni legal aid clinics.

My placement with LHRC was rewarding yet challenging. I was able to participate in a variety of projects and was involved in every department of LHRC. My responsibilities included editing various LHRC publications, writing a training manual to educate monitors on the concept of human rights and how to report violations, and drafting legal documents at the legal aid clinics. Some of the highlights included the protest during the Campaign Against Impunity, where we marched through the streets, visiting government ministries in an attempt to interview officials for our human rights report, seeing the final product of the publications I worked on, and participating in a training session which utilized the manual that I had developed.

Throughout my time at LHRC, the staff were always extremely friendly and welcoming. They helped me get adjusted to the culture and were my additional Kiswahili tutors, popping into my office to quiz me on new vocabulary. I must admit that some of my colleagues had difficulties with my name and I got used to answering to ”Marleesa”, “Christmas Tree” (don’t ask me, ask Apu) and “Mellirico.” By the end of my internship, I considered them all friends and I will miss their easy smiles, companionship and good humour.

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Photos

Justice Lugakingira House
LHRC headquarters in Kijitonyama

The Diligent Intern
Yeah, yeah, I know I'm posing...

The Executive Director
Helen Kijo-Bisimba (on the L) is the ED of LHRC. That's Janeth, her assistant, on the right.

Morning Meetings
Every day, the LHRC staff would gather in the ED's office at 8am for a briefing on what we would be doing during the day. Sadly, it was all in Kiswahili...

After the Morning Meeting...
Then after the morning meeting, we would gather in the lobby and catch up. This is Rodrick and Clarence greeting each other.

Made for the NBA
Whoosh, check out that hair!

The CFO
Me in my very purple African outfit with Ezekial Massanja, the CFO of LHRC.

Campaign Against Impunity
Marching through the streets of Dar

Farewell Party
Toasting with sodas at my farewell party in the conference room

Urgh, the stairs...
Those stairs were trouble on some days! This is me with Neneh and Apu.

The LHRC Women
Only some of the women at LHRC. I believe that we outnumbered the men?

Comments

[Nicole]

habari za canada?
Hujambo dada, So, I'm getting into my studies over here and thinking more and more about whether or not I want to return to Africa. Time has faded that overwhelmed feeling that Africa left me with, but not entirely. Right now I'm thinking out the logistics of going back to study women activists and womens rights workers in East Africa. From your experience do you think I could find enough information to make this a worthwhile topic? Do you think people would be interested in talking to me about this? Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas. I know we talked about it a bit before too. Tutaonana, Nicole