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Today was a LONG day! I had some really crazy dreams and I felt weird when I woke up, so I didn't eat much for breakfast.
We walked a short way down te road to Zainab's orphanage that she startd, the Shalom Center,home to about 40 kids (almost all orphans and some with AIDS). I felt kind of awkward there at first because it isn't a school, at least not formally, so I didn't know if English was okay or not and it was kind of unclear what we were supposed to be doing and whether or not we should make a donation. Apparently enough people know about the place because it's next to the hotel and all the kids are outfitted with brand-name Crocs shoes, but still not really ENOUGH because it's still really sad and could be in better shape. We played with the orphans for a little over an hour- this one girl (who couldn't have been more than 2 or 3) kept wanting me to pick her up and just hold her- I felt awful that she had no one to cling to the rest of the time, and it was again one of those times where I was just baffled by the tragedy in people's lives and the ease with which they seem to be able to smile anyway.
Next we went to a center for boys "to keep them off the street." The guy who runs it was showing us the classrooms that they use, a short walk away, and as he was explaining another little girl was following us around. She was honestly the saddest thing I have seen so far; she was tiny and dirty and she was wearing a ress that might have once been white but it was so dirty and torn and held together by a safety pin, and worst of all she had Down's Syndrome, and it was just awful but she was giggling anyway. It was really hard to know what to make of her, and really difficult too to just see past it and smile anyway.
Still at the same center, they boys in our group were playing soccer and Amanda and I were talking to a new friend Clayopa that we just met- he was 17 and almost fnished with secondary school too, and it was really interesting to talk to him. His English was not bad at all, and he told us that he wanted to be a tour guide someday for Zara, and he wanted an American wife. It was kind of funny but awkward when he asked which of us girls would stay in Tanzania with him, and then he asked a few more times and we had to politely decline.
When we stopped for lunch we saw the snake and reptile zoo, which was really cool. I learned possibly more than I wanted to know about which snakes in Tanzania are poisonous and how quickly you need to get to a hospital for a bite. We also went to the Masai Culture Museum, which was so interesting! Our tour guide was a Masai himself of course, and he told us all kinds of things about life as a Masai, including the requirement to attain warrior status (circumcision at age 15, no crying allowed)- and that you do NOT in fact have to kill a lion to be a warrior, beacuse that is the legend.
The drive in the afternoon was just unbelievable; the golden "five o'clock" light seemed to last forever and we got to see both Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru! Seeing more of Tanzania in such a beautiful yellow light was incredible an helped to temporarily forget the sadness that we had witnessed earlier that day.
We had avocadoes for dinner (my very favorite) and then it was a clear night so we could see the Southern Hemisphere stars- what an awesome end to a really big day. The stars were really beautiful and I think Mr. Skalinder would be extremely proud of how excited every person on the trip was to look at the sky.
Having never been to a developing country before this, it's a lot for me to take in all at once (the trip overall). I just can't believe how different Tanzania is from the USA in so many different aspects. Someone said a while ago that even though TZ is one of the poorest countries, it is "rich in other things," which is completely true. Everyone is incredibly welcoming and warm and friendly, and like Ms. MIlls said most of hte white people that come to TZ (except for safaris) are here to help, so Americans have a pretty good image here compared to the rest of the world, and it's great that all the little kids at the school call every white person "Teacher" as a result. I am so happy to be here and to be working with the kids, and almost all of them really are curious and bright little people, but it's just a hard concept to grasp that most of the world lives the same way they do, which is not ideal (huge understatement). It's so hard to put into words but I feel like I am learning so much by being here, and I can safely say that that is true for every other person in the group.
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Patty Washburn
non-member comment
to Cindy
Cindy, You are so very fortunate to have this experience just before you launch yourself out into the world as an adult. Whether you ever get back to Moshi and the school, you will no doubt take your experience/memories and contribute someplace sometime in the future....and maybe it will be back in Africa. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am enjoying all the notes....and wish I could be there with you guys. Patty