Hakuna Matada!

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Hakuna Matada! (No worries!)

(I’ve just added lots of you to my travel blog. I've done a couple of entries already so you should be able to go back and view them if you want to check it out. And if you don't want to get an e-mail every time I make a new entry, just click the ‘unsubscribe’ button in the e-mail. No worries!)

Anyway, I've been in Tanzania for less than a week and I have so much to write about!!

First of all . . . the journey. It was long. The best part was that we actually got to see a bit of Ethiopia because we had a 7 hour layover there and apparently it's Ethiopian Airlines normal practice to put those with a layover up in a hotel. Poa! (Cool!) So we got to chill for a bit and see a bit of Addis Ababa on the bus ride to and from the hotel. Very interesting city - I'd love to spend more time there at some point. This is also where our group split in half. We'd been training with 8 of us, but 3 are on project in Ethiopia, so we said our goodbyes at the airport.

Two days after leaving Toronto we made it to Dar es Salaam, the business capital of Tanzania. We will be here, staying at the Salvation Army compound, for about 10 days of training before heading to Morogoro to start our project. We have been doing some intense Kiswahili training, combined with some presentations on HIV/AIDS, gender, communication, budgets, etc., etc. Marco and Maggie are the Youth Challenge International (YCI) staff we will be working with here. And they take great care of us, so we really haven't had to worry about much!

Although we've been doing tons of training during the day, we've managed to do some very cool stuff on the evenings and weekend. Friday we got to see a local rap group in concert. TMK is famous local group of about 30 rappers. And Maggie knows some of the members, so we got to meet them backstage! The show was amazing - about 1500 young people gathered in a hall similar to Prairieland at home. The group raps about a lot of the issues in TZ. The messages are very positive and unifying. The dancing was very intense and so cool! I don’t even know how to describe it!

A couple of power outages throughout the show caused some delay, but people stayed calm and created light by making little fires with paper plates on the cement floor. (The power outages give you a bit of an indication of the infrastructure that TZ lacks.) As pretty much the only 5 people in the place with white skin, we stood out as foreigners quite well - lots of stares!! But people love to come talk to the Canadians, so it was great.

Interesting concept: In Tanzanian culture it is totally acceptable for men to walk around holding hands and showing affection to one another. Even at a rap show full of youth. Yet homosexuality is illegal in the country, with a penalty of 14 years in prison.

Saturday after training we were able to go to a local Tanzanian wedding that we'd been invited to. Safi! (means clean; used as another word for cool: ) It was beautiful! The hall was very simple. There was singing, music playing, and people clapping and cheering throughout the whole thing. An indication of how guests are treated in TZ: when we arrived they cleared the front row of the hall for us to sit in! Of course as modest Canadians, we felt bad and awkward, but that's how guests are treated here!

Sunday was our day of rest, so we spent it on a gorgeous local beach. The fresh calamari, boogie boarding and camel ride along the beach just about made me forget I am here to work, but Monday 8 a.m. Kiswahili lessons came as a reminder soon enough!

Well, I have a ton more to write about, but I'll save it for future entries. Tanzania is definitely very different from anywhere I've ever travelled before. And I love it! I can definitely say I'm learning a lot, and I am truly in awe of how a people with so little in certain aspects of their lives can maintain such positive energy, joy and unity in their lives.

Miss you all!

Michelle

TZ Fact: Tanzania rates 162 out of 177 countries on the Human Development Index.

TZ Quote: Mwenda mbio hujikwaa dole. A person in too much of a hurry stubs his toe.

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Comments

[Reannan]

wow
I'm nearly in tears reading your stories. I'd love to go to Africa and I've decided I'm going to go to Africa. Keep everyone posted (I'm sure you will) always love to hear travel stories. take care Michelle -Reannan

[robin]

ain't that the truth
"A person in too much of a hurry stubs his toe" I've broken two toes jumping up to answer the phone so I know that's true! Wow Michelle 'Udaman'(CDN for Udabomb)you are living what most of us can't even imagine! Enjoy it all.