life's a landcruiser?... enjoy the ride

i just had maybe the best car ride of my life (which is saying a lot, i've had some pretty stellar road trips in my life) this morning i woke up early already irritated. i had to make the 1 hour motorcycle ride + the 3 hour bus ride into town to go to the bank. Ugh. If you think banks in the states are annoying try one in tanzania. Lines are a fantasy, so put on your helmet and get ready for full body contact banking. my motorcycle ride was a half hour early so i went without food... i really like my breakfast. then i finally got to the main road to wait for a bus to take me to town and... of course, no buses. an hour later still no buses. a few cars passed but none would slow down for the pathetic looking, hungry peace corps volunteer crouched on the side of the road. i kept flagging each one that passed anyways figuring it couldn't hurt. and it didn't. low and behold after about an hour and a half of waiting a lovley landcruiser slowed down and rolled down its window. Two white faces peered back at me. Now, let me explain to you i almost never see white people, especially when i'm not in town, especially ones i don't already know. so this was a bit of surprise. I asked if they would be passing through Iringa town, they said they were. I asked if it wouldn't be too much trouble to give me a lift there, they said of course it wouldn't be. So i crawled into the 4 wheel drive, leather interiored land cruiser with automatic windows and locks, a functioning air conditioner, a cd player, and a jack to plug your ipod into. It was stepping into another world. One i haven't visited in a LONG time. As we got to talking I found out they were two south african men who worked for a company based in south africa that works all over the world looking for alternative energy sources. Graham and Louie. They were wonderful. We talked the whole way. Louie has been to 84 countries and shared fantastic stories. It was interesting to hear his take on Tanzania in comparison to other African nations and other developing nations on different continents. I was so excited to talk to someone about development work (literally so excited i realized i was trembling a little and couldn't wipe a goofy grin off my face)... what are we doing here? whats our goal? why is it working so much better in Mozambique and Kenya (2 of Tanzanians neighbors) and stalling here in Tanzania. There are so many reasons and here is a man who as seen a lot of countries and cultures and could make some educated comparisons. It was so refreshing and even a little relieving to know that my frustrations and challenges aren't necessarily because of something that i haven't done right. I have come to the conclusion (with the agreement of Louie and Graham) that development work here has gotten ahead of itself. the real problem is in the education system. Swahili is the official language of Tanzania and English is the second language and considered the language of the educated and powerful. In primary school children are spoken to and taught in Swahili, which can be a challenge in the more rural areas because before school many children only speak the tribal language. English is taught as a foreign language the way students in the states are taught Spanish or french in high school. When these Tanzanian students reach secondary school all subjects are taught in English.... and then we wonder why they don't really learn anything. imagine having taken Spanish in high school then going to college where everything was taught in Spanish and you were expected to understand complex subjects such as physics. A little tough right? I will say that their memorization skills are superb. But this is the root of the issues. We need to teach them secondary school in Swahili so they can understand what is being taught or we need to teach them English from the start. This is what Kenya has done and it has been largely successful. Many of the wealthier families send students to boarding schools in Kenya so that they can have a good education and truly learn.

But I digress, the point is that these men were wonderful. They stopped and treated me to a "spot of breakfast" along the way. It was a wonderful surprise and a perfect cure for the bad mood i had started the day with. Louie told me he has started traveling when he was 17 and hasn't stopped. "Its the best education there is." Its true, I've learned things i didn't know were possible to learn, and for better or for worse "you never regret travel." The trip ended with him dropping me off in front of the bank. I told him that i was going in an attempt to reclaim some mysteriously missing funds. His reply was "let me give you my card. if you have any trouble in there call me up. i know the manager and we go way back." this is what i love about life, you meet the most interesting people along the way.... so ya, its been said before but i'll say it again: life is a journey and we should, by all means, enjoy the ride

Giving Thanks!

Since grandma Blanche passed away a few weeks ago I can’t seem to keep the a certain image of my 3 grandparents who are up in heaven out of my head. There’s Grandpa Whit charming the pants of St. Peter as he leans up against the gates of heaven relating some hysterical (and perhaps slightly indulged) story of his youth. Grandpa Bill is working diligently with the angels figuring out the most efficient protocol for wing repair. And Grandma Blanche would have the big G-O-D cornered giving him her opinions on how things are going down here on earth. In her long and fascinating life Grandma was a lot of things but afraid to speak her mind she was not. I’m eternally grateful for that. She no doubt passed that gift on to her kids and in turn on down to my sisters, cousins, and me.

Speaking of grateful, I think it’s the right time of year to share what it is that I’m most thankful for: (it’s the holidays so I feel that I’m excused for any excessive sentimentality)
This is called the “Grateful ABCs” I do this when I’m feeling grumpy or sad:
A- African women: they are far and away the strongest and most resilient individuals i’ve ever encountered
B- books: I’d be dangerously bored without them. Over 70 read in the last 18 months
C- Clouds: big white puffy ones and rainbows too. I’ve never seen so many in my life. They’re the upside of the depressing rainy season
D- Duct tape: “if you can’t duct it, f--- it”
E- Education that teaches you how to think critically and problem solve. It’s a privilege denied too many.
F- Family and friends: many of whom I don’t get to see often but all of which I’m blessed to be associated with.
G- Gardens: home grown tomatoes and potatoes are the best
H- High fives or “nipe tano” (in Swahili) so happy this is universal
I- Imagination: this goes along with education. I’m so happy that I was taught to have one. I have seen first hand how bleak life can be when imagination is snuffed out of children and absent in adults
J- Jeans: they never get dirty (or look dirty)
K- Kerosene lamps
L- Little kids: self explanatory I think
M- Macaroni and Cheese: even with fake butter and powdered mild it still tastes good!
N- Needle and Thread: for the inevitable holes
O- onions and salt: my only consistent source of seasoning
P- Pancakes and syrup: I can make both on my charcoal stove
Q- Quilts made by hand by African women trying to support their families
R- Rainbows (see clouds)
S- Solar charger: it has allowed me a cell phone and an ipod in a village with no electricity
T- Teeth: you finally see how valuable they are when you’re the only one around with a full set.
U- Unconditional Love: good to have when the conditions are seriously tough
V- Vegetables: again, something that you don’t know how great they are until they are seriously scarce
W- Walter: the best dog in the world!
X- Xanex, hahaha! Just kidding…kind of
Y- Yaks: it’s the only thin I could think of that starts with a Y
Z- Zungumza: Swahili for talking or conversing, as art I’ve started to truly learn in the absence of electronics

Fukuza?

So i'm still truckin along here working on a few projects. I've got my homebased care worker training coming up in the next few weeks to train village members to be the first line of care for people living with HIV. I'm also helping my mama's basket group learn a new craft, Batik. And good news on the well construction: we should be getting an official survey very soon!

I've run into a few bumps in the road recently, my village executive officer, my direct village supervisor, was "fukuza"ed out of town. It took me a while to figure out what that word means... turns out it means "banished" or "chased out".... oh. apparently he stole some roofing, i don't know. it didn't go well. so there was that and also a village member stole about $200 from my house... so its been a little rough.

Anyhow, here are some pics. overall things are good. and i'm good!

babysitting on testing day





my friend dada peter's new baby rabi





walter and me in all my braided glory

a nutrition poster i made for the secondary school

getting tested on testing day

my village: this is why i need to raise money to drill a well... its a tad dry