Two months in Review: Pictures

This is where I ate three meals a day. 7 am 1pm and 7 pm, mzungu time.
















This is cipatti. The best meal ever. Its fried bread which you eat with a variety of veggies and guacamole. Yum.









This is the grain that they make the local alcohol out of drying in the sun. I think it is millet.
















This is Mary. Behind her is the hole CelTel is digging to put a 50 meter cellphone tower.










The Tanzanian sunset that sent me on my way.











My friends-- Amani, Living, and Kileo (wearing sunglasses I gave him as a present). This is in the main living area of the homebase.

The Last Week

The last week was the hardest because of the feeling of finality. I was certainly not ready to leave and this made saying goodbyes and wrapping up my experience very difficult.

On Wednesday, I made a crossword for my students using ideas that they should have known from all of the things I had taught them. This activity expanded into two days because they had never seen a crossword and struggled with the format. Had I put the questions into fill in the blanks, they would have had no problem, but the crossword was a bit much for them. We managed though. After class on Wednesday, Amani and I went on another home visit to Jumani's house (the man with late stage AIDS). We were accompanied by some people from a local NGO that is supporting Jipe Moyo so there was quite a group of us in his one bedroom house. It was cool to be able to visit the same man three times and to get to know him and his mama. Amani was able to sit him up in bed which Jumani wasn't able to do at the previous visits.

On Thursday, we continued with the crossword during class. We found out that the mama we had visited a few weeks earlier that had her leg amputated had passed away. This was upsetting, especially knowing how different the whole situation would have been in America. Because of this, the women were going to attend the funeral the next day and skip our last day of support group. On Thursday evening, a bunch of friends and I went out to Rau village to go to the local bar out there, Dao's. We had a great time hanging with the locals, although I was sad because it was my last night.

Friday was an intense day, to say the least, and my last in Tanzania. I had gifts for each of the students, bracelets for the girls and marker pens for the boys, and khangas (fabrics) for the main two women and a calculator for the group. I brought with me sheets of construction papers that i had made into "postcards". They were to draw a picture on one side and on the reverse write me a letter about themselves and anything else they wanted to tell me. I told them that this was how I was going to remember them. When we got to placement, we discovered that the cellphone tower project had taken over most of Mama Zainabu's yard and we were displaced to Mama Bruno's veranda. This worked out pretty well because she had a table for the students to draw and write on. They were excited for another art project but were sad that I was leaving. I had grown pretty attached to my students and they were pretty attached to me.
This is Mama Olivia, me and Mama Zainabu.

The main two mama's of Jipe Moyo, along with some of the members, surprised me by showing up with a gift. They had purchased me a new khanga, which they lovingly wrapped around me. A khanga is a long piece of fabric with a message on it that is the main piece of clothing worn by the local women. I was completely shocked and so flattered that they would give me a gift. They had no resources as a group or as individuals and I certainly didn't feel worthy of such a present. They thanked me for working with them and the kids. Later, a mama who was my student, gave me a card and a khanga as well. This was a used one and is soft and dirty, and I love it. I was again beside myself that this mama would give me something that belonged to her. She had wrapped it in wrapping paper and made a big show of handing it to me. It was an incredible moment. I gave them all their presents and some candy and got myself out of there before I could have a royal breakdown. I think about my students all of the time and continually hope for their success.

About half of my students and I on Mama Bruno's veranda. I have no idea who the kid is on the bottom right hand corner.

I am wearing the khanga Jipe Moyo gave me, the fabric above me is what the mama on the right gave me as a gift.

Hey Friends

Hey friends,

I am now in London and will finish my blog when I return to the states!

Thanks!
Chelsea

Living and I at the bar across the street.

A fellow volunteer's pic in Zanzibar, so I good I just had to steal it.

Amani and his coach Isaac.

Final Safari Day

Today was my last day to take the kids on safari. We have been planning for a while to go to the "forest" nearby the school, which is actually a plot of government owned wilderness. It is about a 45 minute walk to the forest from where we teach. The students were really excited about the trip. There was some debate about whether to go or not because we didn't really have anybody (other than Amani) to keep the kids in line. But with the addition of a few of the mamas that we have been teaching, we decided it would be okay to go. We walked down to the forest and when we got about 15 minutes in, two women sitting on the side of the trail stopped us. It turned out that I was supposed to have a permit in order to go into the forest, as a mzungu. I was supposed to get this permit from the government office in town. The amount of bureaucracy here is astounding. Amani sweet talked us in, saying that I was here to help with a women's group and that I was just a volunteer. They gave us thirty minutes in the forest.

This meant that the kids, who wanted to show me this giant tree, had to run down the path in order to get to the tree in time. There were some monkeys jumping around too which were cool but mostly we were there to see the tree. It was really tall, not as wide as I have seen, but incredibly big. The crazy thing about it is that the kids were PETRIFIED of the tree. They only took their picture by it after a bit of coaxing and immediately ran away from the tree after touching it. They were screaming and running around like it was going to jump up and bite them. Behind the tree we saw laying on the ground a piece of white paper with an egg and two bits of sugar cane on it. One girl just pointed at it and said "witch craft!". We were only there for about 2 minutes until the kids got so freaked out we had to, literally, run away.

It turns out that this tree is thought of to be possessed by demons. It is thought that at noon, demons come running out of the tree and will kill you. The tree is also thought to be impossible to cut down (you will die if you try) and it is also rumored to bleed. On the flip side, the trees leaves have healing powers. Local witches (they exist around here) bring people there to be cured. It was an enlightening experience, for sure. People are very superstitious around here. On the way out, the women who had stopped us before sat all the kids down to explain about all of the tree lore.

Pics

Kileo running for the ball.










My class working on "their" life maps.











This is a dala dala, the local transportation. No one has their own cars, these guys just roll around the city on some sort of route. The rule is if you can stick one limb and your head in, you are good to go. We have seen more than 30 people piled into them, with goats and other supplies shoved in the back. Pretty crazy.

These are my friends (Kelly, Haley, Brittany,

and Jen) at Deo's, the pub in the village of Rau. This is the inside of the pub.

FOOTBALL!!!!! (and some racism)

On Saturday, I went to a football tournament that the local guys (Living, Amani and Kileo) were playing in. I was there from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening. It was hosted at the International School in Moshi where the ambassadors kids and Presidents kids go. My friends weren't on a team but they are "well known" as they modestly put it and were quickly absorbed into teams. Their street team from last year won this tournament and so they were excited to be back playing. All three are excellent players, Amani actually getting sponsored on a competitive team in the region but having to quit to go to school. They played with 7 players on a side, in 15 min games, and with no offsides. It was so great to be watching great soccer with such talented players. There were a couple teams of mzungus from some of the local international schools but they were quickly eliminated. The team Amani and Kileo were on won two golden goal games--Amani actually scoring both of the golden goals. The team that Amani and Kileo were on made it all the way to the final match which was against a team from a local secondary school. It was cool because the team my friends were on is team of kids from a local neighborhood with no formal coaching or practicing, just a bunch of talented kids. The game went to PKs (which I HATE) and they lost after 7 shots each. It was a bummer but I was really happy to be able to watch them play. The other team was crazy excited about winning and they had all these dances and songs which were really fun to watch. I love being in a country where football is so big.

We also experienced some blatant discrimination while we were at the game. There was just four spectator mzungus in the whole place, three friends and I. This lady (also a mzungu) came up to me while I was sitting with Amani and his team and asked "Are you in charge of these kids?" and kept asking who was in charge of the players, a ridiculous question for so many reasons the least of which that all of the people around me were my age. I kept saying that no, I was here to support my friends, and she would only communicate with me, being the only white person around. Amani knows English well but she wouldn't speak to him. She explained that some of the kids on her team (of mzungus) had their stuff, mostly cell phones and iPods, stolen and that she would need to see all of our pockets and all of our cell phones immediately. Without hesitation, all of the players and the coaches stood and emptied their pockets and the few that had phones showed them to her. I attempted to show her my bag but she just rolled her eyes at me and pushed me aside. Later on, on the way out of the game every single person was patted down for the missing items. When it was our turn, the woman refused to search my mzungu friends and I.

The whole situation made me angry. It is frustrating how this woman felt validated by her own status and circumstance to search all of the Africans present. It was also upsetting how easily they gave into her demands. Without question, they submitted to being searched, both on the field and at the gate. The power of the mzungu still reigns heavy here. It was an embarrassing and aggravating situation.

Life Maps

On Thursday and Friday, I attempted to do Life Maps with my students. This is an art project where you draw a line on a piece of paper and then write chronologically the important events that have happened to you and then a few goals for the future. I was really excited about this project because I wanted to get to know my students a bit better. They all have such varying circumstances I thought that this would be an insightful activity. I made an example of my life, including pretty generic things that they could relate to like starting and finishing schools, visiting my grandparents, and the death of my Grandpa. But once again, the kids were completely unable to come up with their own answers, even though the activity was supposed to be a record of their own lives! Apparently, most of my students also attended Happy Valley Elementary in 1990, visited their Grandparents in 2005 and want to become president. A few got the gist of it and changed some dates and names but most looked remarkably like mine. The next day I made them present their life maps, which was a bit humorous. This was a good lead in to talking about things we would like to do though so Friday we did goals. Most want to either be politicians or tour guides, which isn't surprising because everyone who is wealthy here is associated with those two trades. One girl wanted to be a pilot and another a teacher. I try to be really amped up about the goals of my students but in the back of my mind I realize that most likely these kids are not leaving the Majengo neighborhood. But that doesn't stop me from being overly encouraging.

On a side note, on Friday we arrived to find a GIANT hole in the front yard where I teach. I asked what was going on and was told that they are building a cellphone tower in the yard, about 15 feet from the houses. I guess that the cell phone company had approached Mama Zenebu (the woman whose house we teach at) three years ago and paid her (probably a nominal fee) to put the tower in her yard and just showed up now and started digging. I can't imagine how this is going to affect the neighborhood. I was blown away at the whole situation. Obviously the cell phone company had taken advantage of Mama Zenebu and she wasn't in a situation, financial or otherwise, to make a statement about it. It was pretty shocking.

Monday's Home visit

On Monday we went to see a woman at her house who is pregnant and HIV positive. On the way to the house we stopped by a "store" and got some sugar, as per custom, to bring to her. The shopkeeper poured about a kilo into a large grocery bag and this is what we brought. This mama is 26 years old. She already has three children and recently got an operation (I am not quite sure which) to make it so that she could no longer have children. Somehow this operation was not successful and now she is pregnant. She is really upset about this because her husband has just abandoned her and she is unable to work because of complications with the pregnancy. There is no way for her to fund her family, including primary school fees for three kids. While we were there, her landlady came in to tell the mama that she needed to pay rent- 36,000 tsh (about 30 dollars) for 2 rooms for 3 months. She is unable to pay at this time. I asked Amani if he was familiar with the treatments used to decrease the chances of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He had no idea what I was talking about, and neither did the mama. They are familiar with ARVs, which are funded by some development association and are given out for free in Tanzania, but not with MTC drugs. I am continually finding that people are at such varying levels of education about HIV. Most are aware of the dangers, some are aware of how it is transmitted, but many are so misinformed that they are unable to properly protect themselves to begin with or live their life to the fullest once infected. It was an interesting, although sad, home visit.

Possessive Pronouns!

I have two weeks left and am continually trying to decide what the most important concept is to teach. I have decided (for the sake of my sanity) to stay far away from verb conjugation. I wouldn't be any good at explaining it and I am not going to get anywhere in two weeks with it. So instead I am teaching mini lessons on random things I think/hope will be useful. So this week we are teaching the heck out of possessive pronouns.

The thing is that had someone told me that I was going to be teaching English, I probably wouldn't have come. I specifically looked for a project where I didn't have to do just that. But I am thankful for the opportunity to be stretched in a new way and am totally in love with my students. I am happy for the other activities that I do with the women's group too, but I have learned a lot by simply interacting with my students. I have been to a few of their homes now and it is cool to get to know them on an individual basis (with the help of a translator). Most live with one parent. One parent has either passed away or moved to another city for whatever reason. Others have their grandparents and aunts and uncles living at their houses. The people in one neighborhood are all connected somehow. They grow up together and some rarely venture outside their neighborhood. They are just normal (punk) teenagers who pass notes and make fun of their teachers and flirt and gossip. It is oddly reassuring that teenagers are all the same, all across the world.

Me in front of the Kili sign at the Marathon. This is the popular brand of beer around here.

This man (who has no arms) ran the half-marathon. He came in at about 5th place, about 15 mins after the leader.

The stands at the Marathon, which was (obviously) sponsored by Vodafone.

This is Bruno and I. He is one of my favorites, and quite a punk.

Kili Marathon

On Saturday, after a long night of "shakey shakey" a bunch of us got up early to go watch the Kiliminjaro Marathon. We watched the half marathon and the marathon winners come in. The runners had to run on the "road" with the crazy cars and on rough dirt roads. They came into the stadium which was at the local University. It was really interesting watching the runners come in because they looked all looked so different from the runners back at home. We saw runners without socks, without sports bras, some running without shoes at all, some running in pumas, some running in sandals, some running in jeans. A few finishers were in wheelchairs. We probably saw only one or two pairs of actual running shoes in the whole place. We saw the first place marathoner come in at the course record of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Later that day, the local volunteers took us back to the course to go to the festival. I can honestly say I was one of five mzungus in a crowd of about 2,000 people. But perhaps that is because all of the entertainment was in Swahili. Who knows. It was cool to be a part of the festival and see everyone come together and get really excited.

Lean on Me

On Friday, after a week of rehearsing, Amani and I sang Lean on Me for the class. We had told them all to be there for a special treat so we had quite the crowd. Amani actually has quite the voice and so we sounded pretty fantastic, if I do say so myself. The students LOVED it. We just did two verses and the chorus twice. We handed out the lyrics and had them identify words that they knew and words that they didn't know. We talked to them about what the phrase Lean on Me meant. Then we had them sing it with us three times. I have to say that this was probably one of the most amazing moments I have ever experienced. I taught them all actions so that the rowdy boys would get involved. They were all so happy and just beside themselves to be singing. And I think that my very obvious excitement at the whole thing helped too. It was amazing to look out at their beaming faces all joined together in singing. When I pulled out candy at the end of the class session, they all went a bit nuts. We are going to sing again on Monday and I am going to try to take a video of them.

The lyrics we used:
Sometimes in our lives we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long'
Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that you'd understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
Till I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

The rest of Week 6

The rest of the week was really tough. My lessons didn't go over very well and I think I got a bit ahead of myself. I am attempting to teach question words (who, what, where, etc.) but they don't have the vocab to either complete the sentence or answer the question in a sentence. On Wednesday I gave them words that either started or ended a sentence and asked them to complete the sentence. On Thursday I put them into partners and told them 8 facts they needed to get from each other and had them write the questions that they used. Both of these activities were a bit of a stretch because they are not used to creative thinking and having to come up with their own ideas. They will copy anything and everything that I write down but they struggle hard to come up with their own sentences, even if it is simply asking them what they like and don't like. On Friday we backtracked a bit and I gave each student a different question word and told them to stand up if their word worked in a sentence that I read. This didn't work at all. They are all afraid of being wrong and speaking up. They freaked out when I told them they didn't need to copy the sentences. I let them copy them in the end, although they are useless to the students because they don't comprehend what they mean.

The other goal I had for this week, which was a lot more successful, was to teach them that it is okay to struggle and ask for help. It is important that they learn that it is okay to ask for help and that they aren't expected to know everything right off the bat. This has actually worked and now they are asking more questions. I have told Amani that he has to speak to them in English which also has worked out well. So even if they aren't really learning the material, at least they are okay with asking questions and getting help.