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Published: September 29th 2007
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Sign
Sign for the orphanage After another overnight flight I arrived at the Mt. Kilimanjaro airport at 5:30 am. A representative from my hostel was waiting for me and after paying 50000 TSH (about $40), I was in a car on my way to Moshi. The best part about arriving so early was I was able to see the sunrise and a clear view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which is apparently a rare thing. Given we were traveling on a rather bumpy road, photo opportunities were limited...but it was quite a nice first impression of the country. I am staying at the Hostel Hoff in Moshi, Tanzania. It was opened a year ago by a young Irish woman named Sarah. (www.hostelhoff.com) She wanted to provide a place to stay for people who wanted to volunteer independently in the area. It's a very comfortable place and they provide lunch and dinner daily, which is pretty good. I spent my first day napping (didn't sleep on the flight) and then got an orientation tour from one of Sarah's partners named Dennis. After a tour of the town Dennis asked if I wanted to have Italian or Indian for lunch. I choose Indian and off we went. Oddly enough, the
young boy
This is one of the first young boys I met while painting at the orphanage. They love to have their pictures taken. restaurant was an Italian Indian restaurant. It's an African owned restaurant that serves both Indian and Italian foods. It seemed to be frequented mostly by mzungos (white people). After lunch I made my way to the hostel and met the other house mates. There are about 17 people staying there right now and I'm in a room with 2 other girls. The power of the internet is so evident here. Sarah advertised her hostel on ONE website called idealist.org and she is now almost fully booked for the next several months and the guests are from all areas of the world. Currently there are volunteers from the US, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Ireland and Israel. The idea of this place is that we can volunteer and rather than spend a bunch of money paying a for profit firm to organize the experience for us, we can spend that money on the actual programs. I'm volunteering at an orphanage outside of town in the village of Newland. So far my biggest challenge here hasn't been the actual work, it has been figuring out how to get to the village, which is about 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) away. They have dala dalas
playing with the camera
Me and a few of the boys that liked to have their picture taken. (minibuses) that go to the village a few times a day, however there is no schedule and the bus won't leave until there are about 25-30 people on board. The bus normally seats 12-14, so you can imagine that it gets a bit crowded. My first day to the orphanage we had to wait for almost an hour before the dala dala was full enough for them to go. Then, they had to push it to get it started. All in all, we spent 2 hours to go 8 miles. I got a tour of the orphanage, helped paint some bathrooms that are being updated and then participated in an arts & crafts class for about 7 nursery children. The leader of the class was another volunteer who decided it would be a good idea to teach the children how to use scissors. Now, while I agree motor skills are important...she armed these children with sharp objects (not children scissors either) and there wasn't anyone available to explain to them in swahili what to do. Granted, some of the children could watch and learn and made good progress...but it was a bit frightening to watch these children use these scissors
Teacher Karen
Karen, a teacher from Ireland, teaching students at the Newland orphanage. without being able to explain to them the proper way to use the scissors in a language they could understand. It became a bit chaotic and while some of the children figured it out, it became clear to me that the program lacks structure since the volunteers, like myself, come and go after short periods of time. Next was the challenge of getting home. We had to take a bike taxi (essentially ride on the back of someone's bike) to a junction where hopefully we could catch a dala dala back into town. Sounds easy enough, but the dala dala was empty except for one other volunteer and myself. We totally felt like we were on display as all the men in the area (bike taxis, etc.) were staring at us constantly. We saw a truck stop to pick up some people and jumped out of the dala dala and managed to get a ride on the truck. Luckily they let us sit up front instead of in the bed. A few of the other volunteers have bought bicycles and bike to the village. I'm thinking there has to be a better way to get there than spending 3-4 hours
My bed
This is where I'll likely be sleeping for the next month... traveling using public transportation. Friday I decided I would borrow a bike and try riding to the village. Now, this ride involves going through town, dodging traffic (other bikers, cars and pedestrians) before getting to a rather bumpy dirt road that eventually leads you to a long. 8 miles doesn't sound too far, but it took us about an hour. One of the other volunteers wiped out just outside the village and the other girls bike chain kept falling off. If we were to get a flat tire, we would essentially be stranded and have to hitch a ride. So again, I'm thinking there has to be a better way. I have yet to find a better way, but I will keep trying. I will have plenty of time to think about it on the dala dala Monday morning. I've only got a few minutes left before the internet cafe closes for the weekend so I'll have to cut this short if I want to post today. In summary, my first impressions are that this is a beautiful country that needs some serious infrastructure and financial help. It's difficult to see the conditions these children live in and I'm hoping
beautiful children
Several of the kids from the nursery class to find a way to make it just a little better with the help of the other volunteers. I'll keep you updated on our progress with more pictures and hopefully a video next week. My plan is to be here for a month so I should have time to get to know Moshi and hopefully come up with a solution to the transportation issue. I don't think I'm going to buy a bike at this stage...but we'll see how long I can handle being crammed into a mini bus with 25+ strangers and their belongings. I have lots more to say...just no more time. I'll update you on the security issues and my house mates next time I can get online. Enjoy your weekend!!
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Elodie
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Travel
Hello Jules, My friend Julie and I are coming in November to teach at the Newland orphanage and getting to and from it each day is a bit of a concern for us as we are staying at the Hostel Hoff as well and we just found out how far away it is from Moshi! Does anyone who's leaving in November want to sell us their bike? Cause I think Julie and I wouldn't mind biking...well, we'd have to try it first I think....but any transportation help you can offer would be great, as would any other advice you could pass on!