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Published: November 11th 2012
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at Mshigwa'sI went around Tanzania & Uganda to meet with friends from 2009 & my sponsor child, and to volunteer at an orphanage & a school + medical center... 3000km on African busses, fun. In this time I learned a lot about my friends in Africa, how they struggle with getting by. Note that this section is the longest and involves mainly the stories of people I met. So if that interests you, read on.
July 16th - I left home & family for a 4 month solo journey into the unknown with a 60lb backpack & a tent. Only 2 hours before my flight took off I said goodbye to my Vavo for the last time.
July 19th - I arrived in Tanzania Africa at 5pm in a city called Dar-es Salam, where a friend named Baraka waiting for me. Baraka is a skinny 21 year old in semi-formal clothes who I met in 2009 when he was selected to come to Canada as one of 2 African Youth Ambassadors. We celebrated our reunion with a meal of fries cooked in scrambled eggs and found a hotel for me to sleep
in. Baraka was concerned for me as we walked around, since Im a tourist with a giant bag, and Dar-es Salam has robbers. I admit that I felt helpless in this foreign place, totally unfamiliar with my surroundings, weighed down under my heavy bags, and with only a few sentences of swahili to communicate with. White people are called ''mzungus“, and often people will just shout “mzungu!“ at me and wave.
As we walked down a side road to find some sandals for myself, I could feel eyes looking at me from the people in the shops on the roadside. One guy saw me carrying my jipati (flatbread) and started dancing while repeating ''jipati, jipati, jipati‘‘. When I looked at him I saw him glancing at me with a smile as he kept singing. I realized that he & his friends were having fun at the sight of me eating a jipati, so I shouted ''jipati!‘‘ back at him with a smile. Afterwards, the more I thought about what had happened, the funnier it became to me. He was laughing with me. I felt more at ease from then on.
July 20-22 – Baraka introduced me to a friend, Elias, who hosted us for a few nights in his room which he rents. I quickly adapted to sharing his bed, the 8x8“ small room, the mosquito net, the dark cave-like bathroom, and the african shower – take a bucket of cold water and dump it on yourself one scoop at a time. It was heaven.
Elias grew up in a village, and moved away from home to find better work opportunities & pay for the rest of his secondary education. Now he lives on his own and he earnes between $1-6 per day, with an average of $80 per month, doing whatever jobs he can find. Rent costs him about $9.50 per month, and once a month he takes a bus to visit his mom and give her some money because she’s aging and has medical issues. He’s not sure how he’ll make it through university and find a career. I started to see that this is a common problem for youth in Dar-es Salam when Elias introduced me to Uma and Varelian who are in similar shoes. Even Baraka grew up in a village and depends
on his older brother for support. I felt compelled to give something to Elias out of the abundance I have from earning $20/hour at the Rec Center in North Van. When I asked Elias about his long term vision, which includes making a difference in his community, I decided to add $100 to my investments for him so that it will grow over time and he can have it in 10-ish years. Investing in Tanzania isn’t as easy as it is in Canada. I can make possible what is impossible for others.
July 23-27 – Baraka & I went to a place called Lushoto to meet with one of my friends named Geofrey at his brother Mshigwa’s house. While we were on the bus Baraka met a man who knows of a rural village in Tanzania where I could live for a while, as I’m planning to do next month. So my plans seem to be falling into place. When we arrived at Mshigwa’s house, Baraka & I introduced ourselves and were welcomed as esteemed guests as is customary in Africa. Mama Mshigwa (Mshigwa’s wife) prepared our beds & cooked a big dinner
I believe I can fly...
...but my confidence is quickly dwindling. for everyone, which we ate after praying. Baraka & I were welcomed to stay for free. For the next 4 days Baraka & I went to the Irente Rainbow School for the Blind & Irente Orphanage to volunteer, though I didn’t do much work because I got sick. I chopped some firewood, plowed a garden with some African girls, fed the cows, and played with the kids. Other than that I just made a donation and bought some necklaces the blind children made. On our last day, Mshigwa, Geofrey , Baraka, & I went up a mountain and saw a panoramic view of the region from a cliff with a sheer drop.
July 27-Aug2 – Baraka & I split paths, and I went with Geofrey to his parents house for a night where 6 of his siblings including Mshigwa came for a family meeting to discuss the recent loss of one of their sisters. In the morning Geofrey & I went to his house in a city called Arusha. I came here once before in 2009 with World Vision and now travelling down the old memory of a long bumpy road through banana
trees at night brought me good feelings. Geofrey’s two children came out and gave me a hug as soon as I stepped out of the car. Apparantley Godi, age 7, remembers me from the night I came over in 2009. Deborah, age 4 calls me “Kaka Joseph“, which means “Brother Joseph“. I adopted the name. Geofrey’s wife, Anna, greeted us and served dinner. I’ll be staying here many nights - Geofrey’s house in Arusha is the hub of Tanzania for me. And with friendship, singing, and free meals & stay I couldn‘t ask for more.
On the 30th I met with Queen, probably the one friend from Africa most excited to see me again. When I told her in June that I‘d be coming to Tanzania, she told her family, and they‘ve been looking forward to seeing me since. I had been looking forward to it also. I hugged her when I saw her again, and then we caught a bus to her house and stopped at her mom’s shop on the way. Queen‘s mom, Elizabeth, was glad to see me, but remained calm and quiet after greeting me. She came back with
Queen & me to her house for a few hours to cook us bananas, and then returned to work at about 7pm. She seemed afraid to show much happiness, but smiled occassionally. I learned that Elizabeth got pregnant with her only child, Queen, when she was 17. Her boyfriend left her on her own, and since then her life’s mission has been to care for Queen. Elizabeth opened her shop and works 7 days per week, from 7am-9pm every day except to take a few hours off on Sunday for church. Queen grew up with her dad’s parents and was neglected & sometimes abused. Elizabeth could afford only to put Queen through primary & secondary education. Now Elizabeth‘s new boyfriend is a good man and he came home tonight to greet me too, though he usually stays at work for several days at a time, comes home for a night, then returns to work. He pays the mortgage, she pays the school fees & other costs. I marvel at how little time they get to spend together, what do they look forward to? Work Work Work Work Work... Queen has made up her mind to focus on university & career
Mshigwa's house
I stayed here for 5 days, was fed well, slept in a bed, and was welcomed back again. first, find a good man, and get married & have kids later. She is on a good path. Queen & I stayed up late talking about our life plans. In the morning Elizabeth & her boyfriend left at 6am for work.
Sponsor Child Visit
Aug 3-4 – I took a bus to Kahama, where I got a tour of the local World Vision office and saw the work they‘re doing in the area of Makoye, my sponsored child. I was impressed with the efficiency of their water distribution system of wells, boarholes & pumps with miles of piping, and with their new plan to build a milk processing plant, give cows to villagers, buy milk from them, and sell it across this region of Tanzania. At noon, we went to visit Makoye’s family. I wasn‘ surprised to see Makoye dressed in jeans and a clean dress shirt. But he looks a lot different from the 7 year old in a tattered t-shirt from 4 years ago. He & his siblings were shy, but I warmed them up with soccer, photos, and toys. After we had lunch I gave his mom
a jug of sunflower oil, and she gave me an awesome clay bowl, which has since smashed in my backpack. Ups & downs, just take them as they come.
Aug 5-7 I went to Mwanza next, which is near the border of Uganda. There I visited with a good friend named Rachel who is about to start a degree in Law. Rachel qualified for a loan from the government that will pay her way through school. She then plans to become a lawyer and start her own law firm. She’s strongly committed to justice. On Sunday we went to her church. I love going to African churches because even though they speak swahili, the singing is very beautiful. But today a lady two seats to our left fell off her chair, started screaming & rolling all over the floor, and then started making grunting sounds that gradually calmed down to laboured breathing. You know, the usual demon-like symptoms. I could see her face laying on the concrete floor, eyes closed.
Apparently that happens in Tanzania sometimes. I can’t judge whether or not there really was a demon in her. I
Geofrey's house
Deborah would call me Kaka Joseph, and I grew attached to the name. suspect she wasn‘t faking it, but that it was a product of her own mind & beliefs, triggered by the pastors intense preaching. I’ve seen this sort of thing on at Geofrey’s house – they always had the tv on and there would be people violently thrashing around as someone prayed loudly for them in angry shouts... With that kind of programming going into young minds it’s no wonder the number of “demon-attacks“ is so high in Tanzania. Yet I wont discount the possibility of some of them being real.
Uganda:
August 7-15: I took a few busses & cars & a motorcycle across the Ugandan border to the west side of Uganda. People were helpful & spoke english. The land was surprisingly green. The trip took 2 days and included a ride in a car that I‘ll never forget. Because drivers are paid so little (everyone is in Uganda), he crammed 10 adult passengers into the small car. 2 in the passenger seat, 7 in the back 3 seats, and 1 in the actual drivers seat with him. 11 people in a car driving down a highway. Seat belts?
Geofs neighbours
Another family that offered to host me anytime! What seat belts? Welcome to Uganda. Pineapples on the roadside for less than $1. When I arrived in Kasese there were military dressed men with guns and a cheering crowd of people marching through the streets. There had been a vote for a local leader earlier in the day and apparently thats a reason to celbrate. I waited at a hotel till the action settled, and then met with Caleb, my one friend from Canada who Ill see on this trip. He took me to a house where I stayed with him and a praying mantis for 4 days and discovered that in addition to placing God first in our lives, we have a lot in common, including an aptitude for juggling tennis balls.
On August 10 we went to Wentutu School where we volunteered for the day. I spent hours carrying bricks from one pile to another and learned how to lay bricks on a wall with mud mordar. I made several friends, including one named ‘Happy‘ who relieved me of brickwork and took me into the cornfield to work there with a woman named Christine. She had picked & peeled corn
and now was lifting it from a pile and putting it in a waist-height sack that stood on its own. When it was full Happy made a tick mark on his sheet to keep track. Then she turned into the incredible hulk and lifted the sack of corn onto her back and walked off with it. Each sack earns her 2000 shillings, about 85 cents, and in a day she’ll collect 4-5 of these bags... Nearby another woman & her 2 children were doing the same. I took a picture with them, and the young girl laughed when I thanked them. Then her mom carried half a sack to the school, and I helped the girl her younger brother pick up corn off the ground which they carried in cloth pouches from their waists. I waved goodbye to the kids and they smiled up at me. I noticed one of the girls eyes was looking at me, and the other sideways. “These children dont go to school, and their moms sometimes eat just once per day‘‘, Happy commented. “Its a hard life.“
“I want to help these people live better lives“, I said.
Happy
Sponsor Child visit
Makoye, my sponsor child, is on the right side. shook my hand, because its his mission to do that too. As we walked back to the school, I saw another woman with her baby around her waist in a cloth as she tore some corn out of its shell. And yet another mother who was working left her infant sitting on an empty sack half naked, in the shade. When I took 20 steps back the baby almost disappeared as if it wasn’t even there. I looked around me and saw nobody around us. I could only hear the quiet sound of the tearing of corn somewhere beside me, and my own breathing. I was the closest person around.
When we arrived at the school again I lets some kids play with my camera - their first time seeing one probably. The day ended in a game of volleyball with the construction workers, over a rope tied between two trees.
In the next few days we didnt return to the school to volunteer because our van had some problems and then it was the weekend. Instead Caleb & I had some great conversations, made some trips to the market where 4 bags of
Tree
Drive to Mwanza groceries costed us only $13, and went to church on Sunday, which was a particularily intimate experience. On the 14th I left Uganda at 5:30 am. On the 15th I rode a bus for 22 hours that brought me through a spacious African landscape back to Arusha, to Geofreys house. I spent most of that time looking out the window reflecting on my future plans, and made some changes.
Aug 16: Back in Arusha, I met Queen again to go out for lunch with her. Since she wasnt feeling very well, she had brought $7 from her mom for a doctors check-up, and we went to a clinic after lunch. “You have 4/200 white blood cells infected with the malaria virus“, he told her. “That’s quite high, at 10/200 it begins to cause permanent brain damage. This is already life threatening“, he said plainly. “It needs to be treated immediately with ‘---‘ medicine“.
Queen sat calmly through all of this news and afterwards turned to me and said “I don’t know what to do. I don’t have any money left, I spent it all on blood tests.“ I was surprised
Sunset
Drive to Mwanza at her immense self control as she spoke in a normal voice to me after hearing this. Then she said softly “I’m scared“. Initially I said nothing. I wanted to see what would happen in this situation if I wasn’t there.
“What will you do next?“ I asked.
“I’ll just go home and tell my mom about this.“
I bought the medicine for her malaria and for a urinary tract infection they found in Queen. The total cost was about $12. Now she’ll be cured and able to live. It amazed me that Queen would’ve had to discuss this with her mom, and come back another day for her own critical treatment because she didn‘t have enough money for it.
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Mom and Dad
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We are so proud of you...
Jeffrey, reading your blog is truly an eye opener of just how wonderful you make the world by just being in it... in all you do and share. What a phenominal story of your African journey. Looking forward to your return HOME! and... seeing and hearing all about the rest of your adventures through you and your photos. Love and all that the word stands for, Momma and Pappa xoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxox