Blogs from Dar es Salaam, East, Tanzania, Africa - page 6

Before coming to Tanzania I knew that I was in for culture shock, a real gut wrenching experience. I knew that seeing how people live in conditions that are seen all over the developing world would be difficult, and at times it can get overwhelming if you think about it too much. Whether its seeing people having to do most of the cooking and cleaning of dishes outside because they lack the proper facilities and running water; seeing how people function without electricity for most of the day, as sporadic power outages have plagued Tanzania and much of Sub Saharan Africa for years; witnessing the treat of malaria with every mosquito bite; or playing soccer with an 8 year old who is exhausted after 10 minutes because he doesn’t get enough nutrients throughout the day is ... read more

Just completed a 10 hour bus ride across Tanzania, now I'm in Dar Es Salaam and I'm not too keen on being here. It's dirty and so many people/ cars, but it is a gorgeous mixture of people and culture... very strong Muslim influence on the east african culture as well. Its very tropical too, well it is on the coast. Anyways, the airport's waiting area is outside.. AWESOME! I'll explain later why I'm here and what the hap is on this side of the world, just all know that I am safe and sound now.. hakuna matata (no worries!)... read more

it was exam day today, they were shaking with nerves and as evil as it sounds it was good to see - I know then that with all the fun that they have had that they are going to take it seriously... one gentleman came in shaking like a jelly in an earthquake, I sat him down and asked him how he was doing " I am good" he told me " I am prepared" so I continued "ok so you have come into the room and discovered Suitbert lying on the floor, what are you going to do?" he proceeded to ask me if he was breathing so I said "I dont know? why dont you assess him" which he did and he was doing great until .... he gave Suitbert two breaths - eeeek!!!! ... read more

Whilst on territory you have to go through a body search upon leaving for the day, generally the men get a far bigger grilling than the women. Over the last week Elizabeth has been the female security guard who has invited me into the security building or what I have started to call it – “the cuddle cabin” she calls me in there, she hugs me, slaps my bum, kisses me on the cheek and tells me she loves me ... so I respond with “I love you too sweetie and I will see you tomorrow for another cuddle” ahhhh how sweet, at least, thats what I thought each day (and I still do really) until I learnt about her tribe from Suitbert and Eustoe when we popped out to get ingredients to make fake blood. ... read more

Mike did some Fire training yesterday.... Here are the pictures taken by Suitbert on my old Canon camera... read more