Harambee

It has been just over two years since I arrived here in Tanzania (and I know, it seems almost as long since I’ve blogged!).  Maybe I can blame how overdue this blog post is on just how well I’ve become integrated into Tanzanian culture.   “Tanzania time” is “America time” plus 1 to 3 hours and five minutes.  In Swahili the word kuwahi means “to be on time” but it is also used to mean “to be early.”  So if you’re on time, well shoot, you’re early, go back home and have some tea!

Something that has also been very long overdue is the maternity ward bathroom project.  Thank you to all you who generously contributed! I am delighted to say that it is now complete!  Several months ago, we had a village meeting to develop a project committee and get input.  The meeting in itself was noteworthy… the scheduled meeting was cancelled due to a funeral and postponed due to important people being out-of-town. But the next day I got a phone call from the village chairperson, who said I should come to the clinic real quick because I was already late for my meeting.  When I got there, it appeared as if they had informed everybody but me about this meeting because there were so many people there!  Here it’s common to have a town crier who walks around the village at 6-7am announcing news, events, deaths, etc, but he doesn’t walk all the way to the primary school.  Maybe I could have known about my meeting had he made the hike over to where I live.   Anyway, the men sat together on the ground under one tree while the women all sat together under another.  People were able to share their thoughts on the project, but given this was a village meeting out in the open, there were still stray dogs milling about, chickens scratching dirt, and roosters interrupting with their coco-rico’s.   Both mamas and babas participated in forming the project committee, but a lot like the chickens, the males were much more vocal.

Ok, fast forward months and months later, two weeks ago, a bathroom finally gets finished.  45 mothers a month use this bathroom.  There’s even a bathtub and a solar panel for the mothers who are in labor in the middle of the night!  The mothers are so grateful! It’s kind of a saga how we eventually raised all of the community contribution, but one of the ways we got money was through a harambee.  Back on May 1^st, like every year, there was a Workers’ Day mei mosi party, in which government workers throw themselves a party.  (This party sort of raises some questions for me—these people with jobs are already the most privileged, wealthy people in the village because they have an income, so they throw a party for themselves to celebrate this?) Anyway, I was very grateful for the workers because at their mei mosi party, they did a harambee , where one person makes a speech asking for contributions, and people dance their money contributions up to the stage where someone is holding a basket, also dancing.  Even old grandpas dance their way to the basket with their shillings. 

Two years!  For most volunteers these are their last few months in Tanzania.  But for me, I haven’t had enough yet!  I am extending in Dodoma town for another year working with an NGO concerned with food security and nutrition.  There will be more on my new position once I get started any day now.  Maybe it’s too much Tanzanian culture getting into me… kuwahi—these two years have come to a close just on time, but still, it’s early.   

New Days

Since starting the Peace Corps, I have become exposed to many holidays that I never would have recognized before.  To begin with, there are the Tanzanian holidays, e.g.: Julius Nyerere Day (TZ’s first president), Nane Nane (Farmers), May Day (Workers), Unification Day (Tanganyika+Zanzibar=Tanzania). Then there is the constellation of  “World ____ Day”s , which are almost exclusively recognized by Peace Corps communities, e.g.: World AIDS Day, World Women’s Day, World Tree Day, World Malaria Day.  In America, we make up holidays to sell more greeting cards; in the Peace Corps world, we make up holidays to write more grants and have events. 

April 25^th is World Malaria Day, and in recognition of this we hosted a 3-day malaria training in my village this past week.  Actually, I’m proud to say that this event was completed without a grant (you don’t need money to do work!), although it couldn’t have been done without the help and expertise of my fellow volunteer, Steph.  Malaria trainings are Steph’s bread and butter and I was grateful to take advantage of her expertise. 

On the first day we taught 55 sixth graders some basic facts of malaria while dispelling some myths.  Some of these facts were new to me when I came to Tanzania and might be new to some of you in non-malaria endemic areas:

-Malaria is spread by only a specific type of mosquito: the female anopheles mosquito. 

-Female mosquitoes bite humans in order to develop their eggs, but rely on sources of sugar for energy.  That means that the only mosquitoes that are biting you are females, the males are off finding food from fruit.

-The anopheles mosquito is active only at night.

We were very happy with the pre vs. post-test results that showed our students learned a lot, despite the flippant attitude among many Tanzanians that malaria education here has reached saturation.  The most important thing that they learned was that mosquitoes get infected with malaria after biting a person with malaria—not all anopheles mosquitoes have malaria—and that there are points in every stage of the transmission cycle where spread can be prevented.  The students who performed the best on the test and in class were invited to teach the 7^th and 5^th graders the next day and I was so proud of them and their leadership skills!

The next day was also a success teaching about pre-natal prophylaxis for the mamas at the health center.  As is typical with teaching at the health center, there were just a few engaged mamas who asked great questions. (Q: Is there malaria in America? A: Yes, there is, actually*).  As an unfortunate coda to the event, a woman having a miscarriage was brought in to the health center who had been hiding and denying her pregnancy for at least seven months.  The child is alive although very premature and drinking breastmilk drawn from the mother.  I couldn’t help but think that her unfortunate situation really underscored how crucial it is for pregnant women to get pre-natal check-ups and prophylaxis.

Altogether, our 3-day event was a huge success and completely exhausting.  Thank you so much to Steph and to everyone in Itiso who helped make it happen!

There is currently an initiative across Africa to interrupt malaria transmission in Africa through vector control and education.  Stomping Out Malaria in Africa stompoutmalaria.org/

* Although 90% of the 1 million malaria deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, malaria can be wherever anopheles is.  Although malaria transmission in America was stopped in the 1950s, there are still a few reported cases of malaria usually acquired from travelling.  http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsmalariasurveillance/

New Days

Since starting the Peace Corps, I have become exposed to many holidays that I never would have recognized before.  To begin with, there are the Tanzanian holidays, e.g.: Julius Nyerere Day (TZ’s first president), Nane Nane (Farmers), May Day (Workers), Unification Day (Tanganyika+Zanzibar=Tanzania). Then there is the constellation of  “World ____ Day”s , which are almost exclusively recognized by Peace Corps communities, e.g.: World AIDS Day, World Women’s Day, World Tree Day, World Malaria Day.  In America, we make up holidays to sell more greeting cards; in the Peace Corps world, we make up holidays to write more grants and have events. 

April 25^th is World Malaria Day, and in recognition of this we hosted a 3-day malaria training in my village this past week.  Actually, I’m proud to say that this event was completed without a grant (you don’t need money to do work!), although it couldn’t have been done without the help and expertise of my fellow volunteer, Steph.  Malaria trainings are Steph’s bread and butter and I was grateful to take advantage of her expertise. 

On the first day we taught 55 sixth graders some basic facts of malaria while dispelling some myths.  Some of these facts were new to me when I came to Tanzania and might be new to some of you in non-malaria endemic areas:

-Malaria is spread by only a specific type of mosquito: the female anopheles mosquito. 

-Female mosquitoes bite humans in order to develop their eggs, but rely on sources of sugar for energy.  That means that the only mosquitoes that are biting you are females, the males are off finding food from fruit.

-The anopheles mosquito is active only at night.

We were very happy with the pre vs. post-test results that showed our students learned a lot, despite the flippant attitude among many Tanzanians that malaria education here has reached saturation.  The most important thing that they learned was that mosquitoes get infected with malaria after biting a person with malaria—not all anopheles mosquitoes have malaria—and that there are points in every stage of the transmission cycle where spread can be prevented.  The students who performed the best on the test and in class were invited to teach the 7^th and 5^th graders the next day and I was so proud of them and their leadership skills!

The next day was also a success teaching about pre-natal prophylaxis for the mamas at the health center.  As is typical with teaching at the health center, there were just a few engaged mamas who asked great questions. (Q: Is there malaria in America? A: Yes, there is, actually*).  As an unfortunate coda to the event, a woman having a miscarriage was brought in to the health center who had been hiding and denying her pregnancy for at least seven months.  The child is alive although very premature and drinking breastmilk drawn from the mother.  I couldn’t help but think that her unfortunate situation really underscored how crucial it is for pregnant women to get pre-natal check-ups and prophylaxis.

Altogether, our 3-day event was a huge success and completely exhausting.  Thank you so much to Steph and to everyone in Itiso who helped make it happen!

There is currently an initiative across Africa to interrupt malaria transmission in Africa through vector control and education.  Stomping Out Malaria in Africa stompoutmalaria.org/

* Although 90% of the 1 million malaria deaths are in sub-Saharan Africa, malaria can be wherever anopheles is.  Although malaria transmission in America was stopped in the 1950s, there are still a few reported cases of malaria usually acquired from travelling.  http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsmalariasurveillance/

Maternity Ward Bathroom

In my village, we are working on a project to give pregnant women a sanitary space in which to give birth. We need a ridiculously small amount of money for this hugely impactful project. Check out the project at this website and contribute to the awesome organization that is helping me do this:

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/1474

Thank you so much to the friends who have already donated $455!  Amazing.  If you have a minute check out this organization--they're awesome.

http://appropriateprojects.com/

The Epic Weather Forecast, Big Parties, Shangazi

Back in September I was very amused by an official report from the Tanzanian government that I found on my counterpart’s desk.  It was a weather forecast for November.  I am no skeptic of the art of weather forecasting (I am a devoted follower of Tom Skilling on Facebook), but c’mon, a weather forecast two months in advance?  Well the 10-page report predicted rains bigger and more frequent than usual that would begin a month early, probably the first week of November.  And I’ll be damned, it started raining the first week of November and it has been exactly as they predicted: huge.  Farmers are very excited about the abundant rain, and I too love the rain—everything is green again plus I’m relieved of the daily chore of fetching water.  However, last year’s rains were very light, so I never saw just how, well, flooded things can get.  My house is at the primary school, across a small stream from the village.  There is a nice footbridge over the stream.  As of this morning, it serves as a nice break halfway through 100 yards of knee-deep wading.  The field around the stream is Flooded.  For mom: I’m sure the water is perfectly clean and there are no parasites in it.  This rainy season I am going to have to a) work very hard at motivating to venture into the village b) pick up more periods at the primary school and c) maintain a generous stock of food and New Yorkers in my house. 

On the first of this month, my village hosted Chamwino district’s World AIDS Day event.  Back in September, I went to the district office to request HIV tests and testers.  Not only did they accept, they said that because I was the first to plan an event, they would do the district event in my village.  It was a nice-ish surprise, because it meant a bigger event, but it also meant…a bigger event.  With a vijana (youth) group, we had a 2-day seminar on HIV peer education, then we planned a weeklong soccer tournament.  At every game they did condom demonstrations, games and skits.  The final game was World AIDS Day.  The night before, an organization from Dodoma came to show a movie about HIV at the health center.  Hundreds of people came to watch, and people started testing and continued until past 1am.  The day of the event, we had traditional drummers from sub-villages (they were amazing), some young people performed raps they had written, our vijana group did their skits, there were many speeches and games.  And then there was a feast! Overall, it was a huge success. 

Tanzanian celebrations are pretty funny to me because they throw this big celebration but everything is for the invited guests.  The district coordinators and officers and chairpeople and school principles and committee leaders and all the fat cats sit in rows under a tent at a table decorated with fake flowers and the performances are all directed to the one very special guest.  Then the villagers crowd around in a horseshoe around the performances.   For a similar event in America, the performances would be directed towards the crowd, directed towards the people they're trying to send a message to.  But in Tanzania, people get really worked up about having a special guest, and the event is for him or her.  The food is all for the invited guests. The day before the event, a student was asking me about the event.  "And when Kikwete coming, tomorrow?" Kikwete is the president of Tanzania.  Um...no.

227 people tested and since World AIDS Day there has been a 500% increase of people asking to be tested at the health center.  Of those who tested 2 people tested positive, which is very low compared to typical rates in Tanzania.  One of those people is refusing to get treatment and tell her husband so that he can get tested, which of course is incredibly disheartening and challenging to say the least.  But the other person who tested positive is an inspiration—she is exceedingly open about her situation, very open to advice and help.  She has already adjusted her diet and she is learning different ways to increase her CD4 count.  We can only hope that that first woman will eventually come to accept her situation after she has had some time to digest her results.  Is it even legal in America do willfully hide your status from your partner?

Since my last post, I have continued with Pre-Form 1 English, the intensive English program for kids going into Secondary school, and it ended this week with school’s closing.  It went pretty well.  There were fewer students than I had hoped for, but it’s hard to get kids to show up to school when school is already out.  But for the kids who did show up, their progress was amazing to see.  Some kids came every day, but others showed up once in a while, and contrasting the abilities of the kids with perfect attendance with the ones who hadn’t been keeping up, their progress was so evident; it made me so proud!  When the new school year starts in January, it will be interesting to see how it works out teaching the curriculum over the course of a year instead of a few weeks. 

In October, I had an amazing visit with my dear Aunt. We visited my village where she tasted ugali, met all my friends and schmoozed with the nuns. And we went on an amazing safari.  We saw the staggering wildebeest crossing at the Mara River, got charged by a rhino, flew in thrillingly small and old planes and identified over 100 new birds to add to my list.  Incredible.  Oh that trip could take up a blog entry all of its own, but for another day.

Nane nane and other updates

I have delayed finishing/posting this blog for a while, obviously…it may be out of date but still accurate.

8/8, the eighth of August, was a national holiday for farmers in Tanzania.  Dodoma hosts the national 8/8 festival.  It was like a county fair but African, and people came from all over to see it over the course of a week.  Each district had displays of their best crops and various products.  Chamwino district, my district, had an impressive display with beautiful veggies, lots of honey and baobob products.  Baobob oil is a popular product selling at around $20/liter, said to help control obesity and perform numerous other health miracles.  Beside the agricultural products, flocks of people showed up to hock crappy chinese trinkets, nice maasai jewelry, used American clothes, and housewares.  Guys rolled in with trucks full of housewares and huge P.A. systems and they rapped rambling sales pitches to Tanzanian pop music for their buckets, basins and bowls as they juggled a housewares acrobatics, launching them into the air and catching them.  As impressive as the spectacle was, I wasn’t moved to buy any buckets. 

The biggest attraction was the menagerie of African animals.  They had surprisingly humane mews displaying a leopard, hyenas, a lion, an enormous tortoise, a chimpanzee, a python, monkeys and other animals.  My friend and I met a couple of wildlife master’s degree students who told us a bit about some of the animals, which was a lucky encounter.  The highlight for me was seeing a 10-frame Langstroth beehive from Arusha.  My beekeeping counterpart/carpenter was in town, so I called him up and we met so that we could look at it together and he was able to talk to a Tanzanian about how it works.  We had already looked at pictures together and I had talked at length about the Langstroth hive, but I was nervous about him building one with only a vague idea of what it should look like.  This was an excellent opportunity to show him a model without having to go out and buy an example.  It was also a relief for me to see that Tanzanians are actually using this kind of hive, and it’s not just me trying to introduce this technology that no Tanzanian is going to use.

And now more than a month has passed since 8/8.  Since then, I have continued teaching, and I was lucky enough to travel to a short training on teaching English.  There is an excellent organization called Village Schools Tanzania that builds secondary schools in villages (in Tanzania, could you have guessed?)  The villages put forward a significant contribution of rocks, sand and bricks, and VST provides the other materials that are difficult to access.  They have a “pre-form” English curriculum, designed so that students can learn the English they should have learned in primary school had they been taught properly, to prepare them to start secondary school.  I am so excited to have materials and a curriculum to help my students! 

It was also fascinating to be introduced to VST.  For whatever reason, I have a reflex to be skeptical of missionary work, but this organization, although started by missionaries, does excellent work with education and HIV/AIDS, and doesn’t seem concerned with converting muslims or translating the bible.  The missionary couple who hosted us have been living in Tanzania for more than a decade, and their approach to development seems a lot like life-long Peace Corps service.  They live modestly and the strength of their work is based in human relationships.  They get paid even less than I do, and they seem to spend all of their time in the village.  They built an HIV/AIDS treatment and counseling center where people can come to get medicine and checkups.  They also send patients with the skin cancer associated with AIDS to receive radiation treatment using designated funds.  It was inspiring to see this model of development that appears to be the most effective of anything I’ve yet to see.  If anyone were to ask for my advice on making donations to organizations in Tanzania, I would first recommend Village Schools Tanzania without hesitation. 

More updates later, for now I’m going to throw this post up so that my mom will stop bugging me to update my blog. Hi mom!