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Now that the dust has settled and I have well and truly integrated into the African way of life (pole pole - translated as slowly slowly); I have reached the conclusion that it will take a lot of time to make any sort of impact at my volunteer placement. On a daily basis the three volunteers at my placement (the Tumaini Positive Test Centre - www.tupo.co.tz) undertake a mixture of activities such as teaching at the day care and attending sick members at their homes.
The past few weeks’ activities have been unstructured and seemingly directionless, so I called a meeting last week between our placement organisers, the three volunteers and an interpreter. I think the TUPO organisers were initially aghast at the thought of plodding through my three page agenda, but we made some progress in the end and we have together devised a strategy for the future. TUPO is hoping to start up a mud brick building business, using the skills of its members. The hope is to generate a sustainable income so that they can pay the rent on their building and even build a new one in the future. The organisers have to date never
applied for a grant in writing and so my role for the next seven weeks is to assist with the drafting of a template for grant proposals. The idea is that when we have the template in place, (and it is translated into Swahili), the organisers will be empowered to apply to various NGOs, and grant giving organisations for their own grants, without having to constantly rely on volunteers doing this for them. I am also hoping to draft a brochure and power point presentation for TUPO for marketing purposes, as well as writing an article on TUPO to raise awareness about the organisation and what it is doing to assist the local HIV/AIDs community in Arusha. There is so much work to do, and the main problem is gleaning specific information from the organisers so that these documents can be drafted accurately. Everything is painfully slow here and it is difficult to adapt to the snail pace of life. I have to say though; it is a relief to be drafting and not having to do so much of the teaching 5 year olds. Those kids make some noise. I am not cut out to be a teacher!
It is not all work though. I went on safari last weekend to Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara. The crater and lake are situated on the outskirts of the Serengeti, and are extremely beautiful. Please find some of the pictures attached. We were fortunate enough to see the “Big Five” (buffalo, leopard, elephant, rhino and lion). We saw huge numbers of zebra, wildebeest, baboons and antelope, and smaller numbers of cheetah, hyena, warthog and jackels. We did not however appreciate the two scorpions that joined us for dinner at our lodge on the Saturday evening! I understand the scorpion poison is not fatal here, but I still wouldn’t fancy an encounter with one.
Last week we visited the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) in Arusha. The war crimes tribunals have been ongoing since 1994. The war between the Hutus and Tutsis only lasted for a year (Jan - Dec 1994) but the impact was devastating. The trials are winding down now, and it is hoped that they will be completed by 2008, with the appeal stage finishing in 2010. We went into the public gallery and were given headphones so that we could listen to the proceedings in
English. Unfortunately we were only able to witness part of an examination in chief as most of the questions related to sensitive issues and the defendant’s security had to be protected. I am hoping to go back to the ICTR in the next few weeks. I understand that there are some UK lawyers around, so I will try and hunt them down!
Another highlight of the week was a visit to Pete O’Neal’s community centre. Pete is an ex member of the Black Panthers (a militant black power group in 1960s America). He was Chairman of the Kansas City Chapter of the Panthers. He has been living in exile in Tanzania since he was convicted in 1972 of carrying a gun, or attempting to carry a gun across state lines. I can’t remember which. He now runs a community centre teaching local kids and providing water and community outreach for the people living nearby. His place has the feel of what I would imagine a hippy commune to be like. You can imagine that we had a very interesting chat with him about his former days in the Black Panthers. He was famously quoted as saying on national television
(cira 1970) that he would walk into the House of Representatives to take (so and so’s) head! He did at one time storm into the Senate making threats; and so he was a topical figure in his day. You could try “Googling” him for more information if you like. When Hayley (the only other person from UK in our programme) and I were having a picture taken with him, I made a comment about Pete having his photo with the British contingent. Pete commented, “…yeah the Brits should have won the war; the world would have been a better place...” We have no idea which war he was referring to, but it was amusing, nevertheless!
I have updated my previous entries with images if you would like to backtrack to take a look. If you have any suggestions/tips for grant proposals let me know. I am about to brave the dala dala back to the homebase, and am off on Safari again tomorrow to Arusha National Park. It's a tough life!
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paul G
non-member comment
hi sis
hi sus, looks like your keepin busy, saw the larne big five myself the other day!! cow goat pig chicken and sheep!!!!! really jealous i wish i was there to do a bit myself. Typical you by the way running meeting's to organise the organiser's lol, you'll be running for mayor next. Only messing!! well keep up the good work, we are all thinkin of you. P.s give mum a ring anytime you can, she's alway's worried, you no what she's like. Paul x