Robert Lawlor
I left Ancaster, Ontario, Canada on July 1st, 2011 and traveled Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I am happy to say that this adventure is beyond my expectations. Robert Lawlor CUSO VSO
First and foremost, my work with Femina (www.feminahip.or.tz) is great. Femina is a multimedia platform and civil society organization. It provides information and encourages open dialogue with Tanzanian youth, families and communities on important topics like sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment and citizen engagement. Their approach provides voice to youth and gets them engaged in topics related to improving their lives.
Femina has been working with VSO & CUSO INTERNATIONAL for several years, taking on volunteers who are able to advise on their multi-media platforms. I am acting as a TV Production Advisor for two television series.
As the past blogs have shown, I have been given the opportunity to travel to the far reaches of Tanzania, shooting episodes on a wide variety of topics. I will continue to talk about the work I am doing and the life I am living. There are plenty of photos for those of you who prefer to look than read.
In addition to work, I am having the most incredible life. Tanzania is truly an amazing place for me to call home for two years... from the remote mountain villages to the gorgeous beaches on the Indian Ocean, I have been given the chance to experience it all.
If you are new to my blog, welcome. If you are returning for whatever reason, welcome back!
I will do my best to inform and entertain you as I share stories about my time here.
Robert
Travel Blog Posts
May 23rd 2012
The 9th Season of Fema TV Talk Show wrapped up last week. To mark the occasion, we decided to have a "Wrap Party". It was last Saturday night at my house. The Wrap Party is a common occurence in North America... When a series is completed, the staff and crew that worked on the show get together to blow off some steam after working so hard. It is not a common thing here in Tanzania. That being said, I decided that we should throw a party for everyone who contributed to the show in one way or another. Working with Janet, the HR Manager, at Femina we created a menu for approximately 30 people. Tanzanians are meat lovers, so there would have to be plenty of that. We decided on chicken (more about the chickens later), ... read more
May 13th 2012
Last Mother's Day, I found out that I had been accepted to come to Tanzania for 2 years. I was in Ottawa at a training course for this trip. This year, I am in rain-drenched Dar es Salaam, experiencing things I never imagined. Next Mother's Day, I will still be here (or so I think) and I will have shared more stories and pictures with you. That is three Mother's Day in a row that I haven't been with mom on "her day"! As most of you know, mom and I have an amazing relationship. She warned me, when I was a child and driving her crazy, that she would be my best friend when I grew up. She didn't lie. My mom is something else. At her age (86), she stll drives her car, has ... read more
May 9th 2012
We are in our rainy season here in Tanzania. It runs from March to early June and this year, I am told, we are not getting as much rain as years before. That said, there is still an abundant of mosquitos... and where there are mosquitos, there are chances of malaria. Our friends at The World Health Organization tells us that malaria is "caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells. Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, ... read more
May 7th 2012
Tonight, I had the privilege of watching a film called, The First Grader and all I can say is, “Wow”. Whether you have the chance to see it in a theatre or from the comfort of your couch, I strongly suggest you view it. Without giving too much away, it takes place in Kenya and it is about an 84 year old man who wants to go to school for the first time when the government offers free education to every Kenyan citizen. It is based on a true story. When I was first offered the film, I thought that it may be too close to home for me, considering where I am living these days, but I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. The 90 minutes flew by. The story is amazing and ... read more
April 23rd 2012
The last time I posted a blog about flowers, the response and comments were great. Who knows what interests people? Since then, I have been capturing various pictures of flowers, plants, and trees that I run across on my travels. I save them up and when I have enough, I post another blog. This is the Flower Sequel. As I mentioned before, I do not have a green thumb and I don't really know one flower from the next. That being said, I do know what is pretty and I figured I would send some shots that would hopefully, brighten your day. Mom tells me that things are cold and damp in Ancaster so maybe this will help brighten her day, and yours as well. Most of these were taken during my trip to Moshi, Tanzania ... read more
April 21st 2012
Yesterday we started shooting our last episode of Fema TV Talk Show. Our 15th in the series. The topic is HIV/AIDS and youth... Here, like at home, there is a belief among the youth, that AIDS is no longer a concern. With the availability of Anti-RetoVirals and other medications, the virus is no longer fatal but rather a chronic condition. As a result, safe sex is being ignored because they believe that if they are infected, they can take medications for the rest of their lives. In their minds, HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. It is the mandate of one of our partners, PSI (a division of USAIDS), is to get the message out there that HIV/AIDS is still a reality and the best prevention is condom use. The youth here, as I mentioned ... read more
April 15th 2012
My trip to Victoria Falls ended on a high note... When I was checking out, the girl at the front desk of the hotel gave me $10,000.000 Zimbabwe note. What a nice departure gift I thought, them paying me to stay there. I figure the Zimbabwe economy must be doing very well if they give these out to all the guests... That wasn't the case. Zimbabwe stopped using their own currency a couple of years ago when they switched over to the US dollar. As a result, their currency is no longer of any use and there is a lot of these dollars floating around as souvenirs. I gladly took it and will have it framed at some point. I stopped in Johannesburg for 24 hours and did some shopping. In addition to the essentials I ... read more
April 12th 2012
I saw Victoria Falls From the ledge, from the air, from the bridge, and now it was time to see it from below... What better way to celebrate Easter 2012, than to whitewater raft down the Zambezi River? When I was doing the research for this adventure, I noticed that they offered a full day trip down the river where you go through 18 sets of rapids. They also offer a half day adventure where you start further down the river and endure 9 sets of rapids. I decided that, since I had never done this before, I should only do the half day... If I hate it,or can't physically do it, then I would only make a fool of myself for 4 hours instead of 8. The water in the river at this time of ... read more
April 11th 2012
Saturday started out with a walk to the bridge… It officially is called The Victoria Falls Bridge but everyone just calls it “the bridge”. This is the one you see in the pictures of the Zambezi River. It connects Zimbabwe to Zambia. It was approximately a 15 minute walk through the National Park behind the hotel, where an elephant and several warthogs were sighted the day before I walked through. The security guards told me to be aware of the animals but to be honest it was the local vendors that I needed to be concerned about. You can’t blame them for trying to get our money one way or another, but there were just so many of them, all wanting something. In order to get to the bridge, you have to go through the Customs ... read more
April 7th 2012
After the excitement of Victoria Falls, I sat by the pool for a little while. The Zimbabwe sun can sneak up on you and beat you at your own game, if you aren’t careful. I decided to do the sunset cruise. Against my better judgement, I had spoken to other guests who said they really enjoyed it. I figured it would be a 2 hour funfest with families and people who were there for the “all the booze you can drink”. I wasn’t wrong. How weird did I look being a single guy on a sunset cruise, really? No one looked at me like I was creepy, but seriously? Anyway, we boarded the boat that had about 50 passengers. I counted 30 life jackets and about 20 bottles of liquor. If the boat went down and ... read more
Tot: 0.125s; Tpl: 0.003s; cc: 6; qc: 86; dbt: 0.0886s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.7mb
