Advertisement
Published: June 30th 2012
Edit Blog Post
It's a quiet, cloudy morning in the Karanga region. Most of the volunteers have set out for a one day hike to the Kilimanjaro base camp. Last night, while some people were in town, others here were ironing their dry clothes. The ironing area is on the back porch and has been a very busy place. With 40 volunteers washing underwear and other clothing and the housekeepers washing towels and sheets for 40 the many clotheslines are often full. Then, everything needs to be ironed - so at times there is a wait to use the iron. Unfortunately the outside outlet in which the iron is plugged is tied to the one in the bedroom on the other side of the wall and the breaker switch is tripped whenever the girls use their hair drier. So last night, after dark, someone was trying to get the iron to work and they started clicking switches off and on. Inadvertently an alarm switch was flipped. A siren wailed a few times. Syd and I were sitting on the sofa trying to download photos from her camera to the computer. We looked at each other and said, "Someone hit the switch by the iron."
The switch is labeled in Swahili but not English. A few minutes later the local security swat team rushed in dressed in helmets with plastic face shields ready to protect us from what they imagined to be a robbery. They questioned Syd and I and asked about any children who might have been playing and set off the alarm.We answered honestly that Sydney was the youngest person here (though not the most immature by far) and that the other young people here are college students. It was an impressive response time and those here realized that we are well protected but it was a waste of the security forces' time and resources.
Yesterday was my best day at my placement. I think this was partially because I know the kids better and know many names and also because there was a 2nd volunteer from the CCS Moshi house. I actually did some whole group teaching and have been able to model for the teacher incorporating the kids into the lessons. For example, when I teach colors I have kids wearing green or having a yellow backpack come up. When we say the alphabet I am including kids names
- so instead of "I is for insect, it's also for Ismael; A is for apple and Anna and Ahmed." It's still surprising to the kids and they are more engaged. I also got to witness my well intentioned gifts creating problems. After my individual debriefing about my placement I was given permission to bring some CCS supplies into school. I brought several pencils, broken crayons, and new workbooks to class. As usual when it was time to work, a group of kids had no pencils so I handed out the new pencils. I didn't have enough pencils so I gave 2 kids crayons. Of course, a mini riot broke out. No one wanted to use their old eraser-less pencil and everyone wanted a crayon. After everything I had was gone I had to hide my bag because the kids didn't believe that the supply was gone. Like kids everywhere they eat their pencils and chew the erasers off. Unlike kids in the US the supplies here are not endless. At 11:00 the kids stop working, sing a few songs, say grace, drink porridge and go home. A few kids really like the porridge, a few refuse it and most
tolerate it. I suspect it is the only lunch for many of the kids. Our van doesn't pick us up until 11:45, so Sydney and I play with the kids until their parent picks them up. We play physical games,often jumping and playing circle games. One of their favorite is SiMama Kaa which is a 4 line Swahili song that translates into stand-up, sit down, stand up, sit down, jump, jump, jump, stand up, sit down. A couple of days ago Syd was wearing a wrap around skirt and the kids figured out how to untie it - that became a game too! Many parents or older siblings walk in and get their child. A few kids walk home alone and a few leave on motorcycles and their will be Papa, Mama, the 4 year old and an infant on the motorcycle. The kids like to be held or hold our hands. When Syd and I leave there are usually a few kids still waiting to go home.
Dave has been working almost exclusively on the budget at his placement. It seems that this is the first time the organization has been asked to explain what has been
done with donation money. They have expense categories but figures change. Dave wonders how many of the numbers are guesstimates and how many are numbers they think their sponsors want to see. Even though his director speaks good English there are concepts that are foreign to the TZ culture.
We have had almost consistent hot water. After the first day I realized that in our bathroom you must turn the tap labeled cold all the way on to get hot water. Sometimes the water comes out of the faucet hot but turns cold when the shower is turned on - then we must bend down and shower under the faucet!
It's amazing how well kept our grounds here are with very simple tools. The 10' hedges around our compound are trimmed by Valentine wielding a machete on a rickety ladder. The walkways are swept with rushes tied together.
I have gotten a few mosquito bites in the last 2 days. They really haven't been much of an issue. We made repairs to Syd's mosquito netting, sewing closed several holes in her new net (the old one was taken off because of a large tear
in the top of the net).
Hope you all enjoy your weekend. Is the fourth celebrated this weekend or next?
One other thing. Dave uploaded some video - but uploaded it to the previous blog entry. I am not sure if you get notified that a new video is up, and since Dave has had a bit of free time to experiment, he hopes to upload more video. So you may want to look at a previous blog posting to see them.
Love,
Sharon, Dave and Sydney
Advertisement
Tot: 0.121s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 11; qc: 49; dbt: 0.085s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb