World Adventures- Africa, the UK and South America

07.09.09 Monday

Yesterday went to the Moshi waterfall with “Maar-too-ie”, caught a dala-dalah and a local bus. 200 tsh plus 700 tsh for the bus. Was a great day and a good experience. Waterfall was beautiful and enjoyed the walk to get there. On the way back I was in the front of the dala-dalah and ended up holding a baby for a lady in the back. 25 people squeezed in the back- which seats max 10 people. So glad I was not there, Anna and I both sat in the front. Anna = 29yr old Aussie, living in London for the past few years. Got a good group of people at the backpackers from various countries, we get along well together. Went to “Good Hope” orphanage today and did some homework with the kids. I felt like I needed a calculator. The boy that I was “helping” was very bright and articulate. I had to count out the sums on my fingers. I’m lending a guy at the backpackers my red jacket, beanie, hiking poles, Diamox, water purification tablets to do Mount. Meru tomorrow. I bought my first ever avocado today and had some for lunch on Rivita style biscuits.

12.09.09

Ok, so I have been at Ujaama Hostel for a week now and have been out to a number of volunteer projects. Monday we went to a local primary school to paint the outside of the school building and make posters for the insides of the classrooms. This was followed by a trip to the local orphanage, ‘Good Hope’, of which most of the children attend the school. There were four bedrooms in the house, two for volunteers and two for the children. Eight children in each room, one boys room and one girls room. We were there to spend time with the children and help them with their homework. I was helping a very bright boy do division sums, and it made me feel stupid because a number of times to work the equation out I was counting out on my fingers. I use a calculator for everything, I mean in Australia we were given calculators in grade 6, I guess my brain has just become very lazy. The kids were very cute, and they all love to play with our sunglasses and cameras. Anna got some great shots on her camera from the kids walking about with it and randomly taking photos of each other. On Tuesday we went to ‘Tumaini for Africa’, which means hope for Africa. It’s a local school and orphanage founded by an Australian man that is 100% not for profit. He purchased a large piece of land, and four houses have been built on it, as well as a kindergarten. There are future plans to build a new class room every year, so that the children can continue their whole education at this school. The Australian donor hopes that this school/orphanage will become self sufficient within the year, they have built a shop at the front of the school to sell items to the locals in the village, and also have a MASSIVE veggie garden to sell fresh produce. In the future they will also have chickens and cows, so that they can sell fresh milk and eggs. The volunteers at Ujaama have painted the houses, and I have been helping Nathan, an aussie at the hostel, build swing sets. Its an interesting process given that you have no power tools, all the wood is split that you are using, and the nails and bolts are extremely limited. I really like this project, as it has plans to self sustain without western influence, and the playground that is being built, is open to all the children of the village, as is the school. The lady that is in charge seems to have things under control, and was able to explain to us the future plans and what she required from us day to day, Beatrice is her name.  Wednesday we went back to the same project, mixed some concrete by hand to secure the swing set frames, and built some more A frames. Thursday we went to ‘Cradle of Love’, which is a bit of a trek from the hostel. It’s a very well run orphanage for very small children, the ones that I saw were all under about 4 years of age. Volunteers at this project are required to live on the premises, and have to sign a contract of commitment, minimum 3 months. I could not do it, I could not live within an orphanage, you have absolutely no down time from the kids, its just insane. The female volunteers that I have meet living at the two orphanages that we have been to, have just been exhausted, and many of them absolutely don’t like it. Some arrive and leave within the first two days, its tough and you need to be aware of what your getting yourself into. The two British girls that we meet at the first hostel were paying $100 USD a week to do their work, and one of the girls was there 7months. Its important to have a long commitment from volunteers working with children, as children need a stable environment, and it would not be good for their social development if their careers were constantly changing on them. After visiting the orphanage we went to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to sit in on one of the trials. There was a lot of time wasting between the prosecution and defense, and they closed the session a number of times, I guess to protect the identity of the witness. The guy on trial was accused of being responsible for the slaughter of a number of people in a local church. He stared at us a number of times from behind the glass, it made me uncomfortable. Friday we watched the movie “Sometimes in April”, which made me cry and really brought the reality of what had happened in Rwanda to the front of my mind. The courts shown in the movie were the same ones that we were sitting in on Thursday, and seeing the movie made me feel sick that I had been in such close proximity to someone that could do such horrific things. I’m glad that I went tho, and I think that I might go back later next week again.  Thursday night is the big night to go out in Arusha, and we went to Via Via, which is the local night club. There were 12 of us in the one taxi to get there, much laughs were had as everyone squished everyone on the back seat, and then fell out at the club. It was a great night. Today is Saturday and we are going to be playing soccer against a local squad… I have been warned about very sore muscles and a big loss.

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13.09.09

Today is Sunday, and is also my mum’s birthday. I spent all day trying to get a connection with Australia, and finally got through late in the afternoon to wish her a happy birthday.

Yesterday we played soccer with some local children; it was about 20 kids to the 6 of us. It was good fun, and the game lasted for about 30mins. Then the professional team arrived, and apparently Ujaama hostel plays this team at least every second Saturday. Somehow I ended up being the only girl on the field, and playing in the sun for over an hour was intense. I played soccer in high school, but I had no idea why the whistle was being blown for a fowl the majority of the time. This team took their soccer seriously, and every time I ran for the ball the local children on the side lines cracked up laughing- I have no idea why, maybe because I’m a white girl running. It was good fun, but playing with the children was much better.

Today I went with Anna and a local guide to a waterfall. Anna is doing Mt. Kilimanjaro in a bit over a weeks’ time and wanted to get some training in, especially as she has not worn in her hiking boots. It was a 3hour walk from the hostel, and it was beautiful.                We walked through Arusha town and into the farming community, through the hills towards Mt. Meru, and into a deep valley. I took heaps of photos and a few small videos on my camera. It was a lovely day, the only downside is that my Mont waterproof pants have been stolen, and the majority of the people at the hostel believe that it was Allan that took them. I had leant Allan some gear to do Mt. Meru, and he wanted to buy it off me, especially my trekking poles. He offered me money and a few other things (including “hot passionate sex” – I DON’T THINK SO!!!) in exchange for my gortex gloves, poles, windbreaker and beanie- I said no, I like my gear. I put a number of things in the wash, including my pants- and should have got them back yesterday. It seems they have either been taken from the dirty laundry basket or off the washing line. I LOVE those pants, and it really pisses me off, they were worth $300. I’m wondering if it will be worth claiming them on insurance, but I can only claim $250 max for any one item, and I’m not sure what my excess is. I will have to look into it.

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19.09.2009

Ok, so its Saturday morning here in Arusha. There has been a turnover in the people staying at Ujaama, and new people to help us build the play ground equipment at the orphanage. Its Anna’s last day at the hostel, as she goes off to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro Sunday and is going to stay with the rest of her group this evening. Last night she was sorting out all her gear that she will be taking for Killi and I said that I would lend  her anything that she needed. I went to extend my hiking poles to show her how they worked- only to find that they have been slightly bent, no doubt Allan bent them by sitting on them when I lent them to him. NOT HAPPY JAN!!!  Damn him.

I will miss not having Anna around as for the past two weeks we have been each others buddy- going to the shops/internet/volunteer projects together. Its been nice having a fellow aussie female about to relate to, very easy going, similar sense of humor. Anoop tends to get out of bed very late, after breakfast has finished, and here the sun tends to be under cloud for the first half of the morning- and then its full sun. So I prefer to head to the project early to avoid full sun, and leave early- where as he will get there African time and leave African time.

Since Nathan and Hanna have left we have found ourselves getting on the incorrect dalah-dalah a few times, we say we want to get to ‘corner’, and they keep thinking we want to go to “Impala”- which is on the corner of the roundabout. So we end up paying an extra 100tsh. The problem is that the ‘conductor’ just sort of nods his head at you and raises his eyebrows, I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to get on unless they specifically say “yes, corner”.

I went to the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) again this week and it was still the same trial running. The defense was asking for a 6month extension so that they could meet and interview all the prosecutions’ witnesses. It’s insane how they keep delaying the trail, all the trails in fact.  I spoke with someone from the hostel, and they were saying that it’s in the interest of the defense and prosecution to delay the trails as otherwise they will be out of work. They also explained that there was a girl who stayed at the hostel and spent a week researching something for the prosecution- as they were an intern, only to learn that the previous intern had already collected all the same information. Justice is slow, and the system is not that efficient. I didn’t get to hear much of the trial this time around, only that the defense felt that they needed more time. The judges on the bench however said that the trial start date had already been delayed 3months in order for the defense to conduct interviews. They did not see the need to delay the trial any further, however they did adjourn the court until next week.

I spent half a day with Michael, Evans and Anna walking around the local markets on Thursday before going to the trial. Its great getting in the fruit market- its organized chaos, locals with huge sacks above their heads squeezing through narrow passageways crammed with people and stock. Its also amusing because everyone wants to chat with you, they are so friendly, and most of the local men want a “mzungu” wife, so Michael and Evans got a lot of comments about us. Poor Anna gets a LOT of attention from the local men, even Beatrice, the lady running the orphanage, was trying to marry her off to her son, Olaice. I can walk around by myself getting the occasional “jumbo”, “mumbo” to which I reply, but Anna will be followed down the street all the way to the hostel. Since last sunday we have tended not to go anywhere alone however, because two British girls walking back to the hotel were involved in an attempted mugging. Apparently two local boys walked up to them and one had a knife and cut the strap on the bag of one of the girls. She had a firm grip on the bag, and managed to hold onto it. The other girl yelled something and the muggers ran one way and the girls the other to the hostel. This was just after the walk Anna and I had done with Martooie, and we had been walking directly behind them but took a short cut, I have to wonder if it would have happened at all if we had followed them all the way down the main street. We never take the short cuts through the local huts unless we have a local with us, or we are 4 plus in the group.

The one thing that I wanted to do this week was get the climbing wall up and finished for the kids, and we managed to do that yesterday. Who knew that my SES knots would come into use making playground equipment. The wall turned out really well- I have photos of myself on it, and the boys at the orphanage certainly gave it a good working out. The next thing we are doing I am still in the process or planning out- but it will involve wood, tyres and chain. I enjoy being there with the kids, and there is a few that I would love to adopt and being back to Australia. I will have to take some photos of them next week. The other thing I want to do is build the kids a go-cart, but wheels are at least 15,000Tsh and they are not the exact type that I would want to use. I really don’t want to spend the money on them either. I might concentrate on building the frame this week, and then worry about the wheels when its complete. Beatrice also wants us to level a soccer field by hand- its not a flat piece of land either, it’s a MASSIVE job and frankly I’m not interested in doing it.