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Published: October 23rd 2009
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RUKA
and some goats being back in the village was great. i mean i was back less than a week but you know. duty calls. lets see. i got back in the village on tuesday (sunday the car broke down and monday the car was full). stephanie decided to come with me so that was nice to have a friend along for the ride.
i got back to my house and it was a mess. i dont mean anybody broke in. just dust was everywhere. and yes, ruka the dog indeed was alive. but just barely. i think if i wouldve come back a couple weeks later he wouldnt have made it. but hes filled out a bit in the last week so life is good. mariam-my neighbor who watches him-finished primary school and is now at her parents in arusha. so the younger mariam (theyre cousins) was taking care of ruka. shes in standard three so about 9 years old. and on top of that she was taking care of husuna (dont know the relationship but family of some sort) who is three. i guess their grandparents were away. so the two of them were just on their own. i dont even know.
Skinning a goat
me..with a knife? but it was really nice getting back into the village. seeing everyone. i guess word had gotten around that i had been sick and sent to south africa. and i just told them i was sick but i got better which is easier to say than they said i was sick but really i wasnt but i was still gone for a long time. haha. i handed out little presents that i had gotten. little candies. and for the new baby some baby food. well really i just got some baby food to show them what foreigners feed their kids. they laughed and all tried some.
also i came back to the village with three micro solar panels/lights. and i sold one to my headmaster, one to my mwenyekiti (chairperson), and one to my bwana mifugo (vet). and my mwenyekiti lives in the center of town so a bunch of people have seen his new little set up in the past couple of days and he showed me yesterday a running list he has of people who also want solar. its past thirty different people. so thats exciting. so next time i go to dar i will be
hauling maji (water)
they make it look easy buying solar for people (who give me money first of course). these little systems are only 30,000 shillings which is less than $30 and can charge a light, a radio, or a cell phone. and its estimated that people make that money back within three months because a lot of money is spent on kerosene for lanterns, one time use batteries, or for sending your phone to town to charge.
and now for the reason im in town. i came to talk with the dmo (district medical officer) about going into dar to purchase solar. but turns out he beat me to the punch. well not really. he just happens to be in dar. got there yesterday and is coming back wednesday. but he said he would come visit me in the village on thursday and we could talk. i told him i was planning on heading to dar on sunday. so i could do shopping on mon/tues. and be back in singida by wednesday. and i think he is going to let me use one of the cars. which is great. and saves a lot of hassle for me. and makes it a lot easier for me to
blue bulls rugby game
danielle (south africa), me (tanzania), blue bull, kate (botswana) bring back the micro solar kits as well as the large solar for the health center. i have been talking with one of the guys from this ngo called solaraid and he is going to help me purchase solar when i get into dar. which is great bc i dont really have any idea what im doing.
and it seems weve had an influx of teachers since ive been gone. well of practical teachers who are taking a break from their studies to do their practicals. but that means i dont have to teach math any more which is great. i mean ill miss my kids but ill still get to see them if i continue teaching health there. and i talked with the mama who brings chai to the school, the one who was getting wood for me for book shelves. and she has the wood! and so i just need to send it to a guy to get it made into a bookshelf. i suggested a guy (the guy who made the shelves in my house) but she didnt seem to like him for some reason. i dont know. we'll see.
also i have started planning for a world AIDS day. december 1. a little celebration. basically a big testing day. where if you get tested you get pilau (spiced rice with a little meat) and a little zawadi (present) of informational pamplets/magazines, condoms, and a red ribbon. i didnt get a chance to do anything last year, so im excited for this year. hopefully the nurses will be able to get some singing groups to come perform and to do dance. and maybe (big maybe) if the solar is implemented by then we could watch some AIDS videos via solar. if not i guess the generator is cool.
lets see. i missed graduation from the secondary school. that was a big deal. and im sad. but i hear they took some 'moving picture.' where they got a video camera is beyond me but im excited to see it someday. and the soldiers finally 'graduated' too. or finished their training last week. i was there for that. now i wont be woken up in the morning by people running by my house yelling things.
and this is a side note. pili, chai's sister (my first dog), just had puppies. and socks is preggers. im trying really hard not to acquire another dog. people keep offering them to me. its hard to say no. but ruka already goes through so much food as it is. and apparently hes picky. my neighbors bought some mtama (i dont know the english word for that but it looks like corn when you grow it and you harvest the little balls on top and you grind it into flour and can make ugali or just use it as chicken feed.) but ruka didnt like that. and the shops in the village dont sell corn flour. and so one mama just gave me a huge container of corn. and i went to the mill to get it ground up. and it was just really nice. i dont know.
i guess thats all for now. its really great to be back. oh i almost forgot to mention. we had the first rain yesterday. that was unexpected. i mean it was cloudy all day and it broke in the evening. but still the rains are usually pretty regular. november until april. so starting a little early. im excited though. im ready to start collecting my rain water. and to start that whole farm thing all over again. i dont know if im going to have cows plow the field and have a farm or just make a little vegetable garden. we shall see.
and also i might be having a site mate in a months time. i guess our safety and security officer stopped by the village when i was out and checked the house. but apparently the house is too far away from other people. so the volunteer might be living with the headmaster or changing houses with the headmaster? i didnt really understand. but its just funny bc the headmaster has at least ten people in his house and a volunteer is one person. i mean ten people could live comfortably tanzanian style in my house. gosh. but anyways if this person comes they will be coming in late november which will be crazy and just change the entire dynamic. but it could be cool too. anyways we shall see.
and that really is all for now. hope to have the solar installed by the end of next month. wish me luck...
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anonymous
non-member comment
RUCA HAS GOTTEN SO BIG!!! since the last pic i saw! miss you love! love you be safe!