International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda

After our volunteer placements yesterday, CCS took us to Arusha where we attended some of the court proceedings at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). It was very interesting!! When we arrived at ICTR we had to surrender our passports and go through security, then we were met by our host who escorted us to Trial Chamber II. I was quite surprised at the technology being used by the UN (although I must admit that the first thing I appreciated was AIR CONDITIONING!! It was delightful!). Each of the three trial chambers has a viewing room with glass so that you can see into the court, as well as TVs which broadcast the proceedings from various angles and wireless headphones with live translators. The specific lawyer who was making his closing remarks was speaking French, and I kept flipping back and forth between the live French and the live English translation on my headset.

The courtroom was full of people - each trial chamber has three judges and there were at least 15 attorneys plus their assistants or clerks. Everyone in the courtroom had their own set of headphones/translators, their own laptop computer, their own little cubicle-like area. The room had one solid wall (behind the judges) and the other three walls were glass. We sat directly across from the judges in the viewing room (I know it was clear glass because I got two of the attorneys to crack a smile at me). Through the other two glass walls I could see the language interpreters at one end and the audio-visual folks at the other.

We listened to a defense attorney's closing arguments for about 1 hour in the case of Nyiramasuhuko, Ntahobali, Nteziryayo, Nsabimana, Ndayambaje, and Kanyabashi. I can't remember which one of the named accused they were talking about (it's hard to figure out a Rwandan name from a French attorney's words that are being translated to English by a Swahili-speaking native!!!). Each day the court publishes case minutes online, and all of the proceedings are broadcast live via satellite. Very impressive!

After listening to a case for about an hour, we moved into a conference room where we watched a 45-minute documentary about the ICTR and then heard a 30-minute presentation from the ICTR's Public Information Officer. The entire experience was really interesting and educational - and it feels cool to have been witness to such a historic process, live and in person!

After several hours at ICTR we had some time at a local market and then got to experience rush hour in Arusha, which was terrifying. Driving here is much different from what I'm used to at home (translation: SCARY!!!) - I'm glad CCS provides a driver for us.

Batik, Cheka and Cultural Differences

Yesterday CCS had a few batik makers come visit the home base and show us how batik prints are created...then we got to create our very own! It's a fairly involved process with layers of dye on fabric, wax, drying, more dye, more wax, more drying, etc. They took us several hours to complete, but each of us went away with our very own batik print that we created from scratch! Here is my finished product (not bad, eh?):
Since I've picked up a very tiny Swahili vocabulary, I've noticed that they often use one word for multiple meanings. For example, the word CHEKA. We asked Catherine, the teacher at TAFCOM Children's Center, how to say "smile!" in Swahili and she said "cheka!" Because most of the kids here aren't familiar with cameras, they usually look at you with a blank stare or in fear when you try to take their picture (unless, of course, you run into an experienced, sly youngster who poses and then asks you for money!). We wanted to see some smiles, but every time Erin or I say cheka to the kids, they crack up laughing and act like little monkeys. I learned today that cheka also means LAUGH!

Just getting around from place to place here is such a challenge - the daladalas are crowded and dangerous, personal vehicles are far beyond the means of most people, and the roads/infrastructure are incredibly poor. If a family rents a small room to live in, they don't have land where they are able to plant crops or graze animals for food. In a typical household the father has to work and support the family, so the mama has to make her way to town to go to the market (if she's lucky enough to have the money) and lug the 'groceries' back home to feed the family. Just a simple trip to the market can take up most of a day due to long distances and the hassles of the roads and transportation.

And during the time that the parents are working, children are usually left alone at home (or in school if they are lucky). It's amazing how many young children I see wandering around alone here - sometimes holding machetes or scythes! Children as young as 18 months old are left alone to occupy themselves, or under the very loose supervision of an elderly grandparent or neighbor. A few of the volunteers took a coffee farm tour on the day that Shari and I hiked Mt Kilimanjaro. Apparently when they arrived at the coffee farmer's house, a five year old boy was in charge of watching his 3 younger sibilings, with no adult to be found. The five year old started the fire for them to roast their coffee beans over!

Today I'm feeling quite homesick. Not sure why, just wishing I was home again. I know it will pass and I'm definitely enjoying my time here, but it's hard to face the poverty and disease that we see every day in Tanzania.

I've blessed the rains down in Aaaaaafrica!

(That was a shout-out to Ms Kat)

When it rains it pours, right? They aren't kidding about that here. I mean literally - when it rains in Tanzania it is serious business! Around breakfast time this morning it started raining and within minutes our dining area was flooded. Most of the roads here are terrible to begin with, just dirt and lots of rocks. And when it rains the roads are even worse - the dust turns to mud, huge holes form, and you are lucky if your vehicle doesn't get stuck. The mud cakes to everything so your shoes end up weighing about 5 pounds heavier and it's impossible not to get muddy.

When it rains a majority of the children don't attend school. I'm talking a ~75% absence rate. Many don't have umbrellas, and those who do have umbrellas must trudge through the aforementioned mud - sometimes for miles. About 99% of adults don't have vehicles, so parents can't take their kids to school on bad weather days. So lots of them just stay home! CCS has a van and a driver who takes us to our volunteer placements each morning, so some of the volunteers went to their teaching assignments and had only a few students in attendance all day.

Erin and I went to TAFCOM, but Nie decided that it would be best to wait until tomorrow to go on any home visits. When we go for home visits we have to take the daladala to the village, then walk quite a distance to get to the various homes. With the rain we decided to wait until tomorrow in hopes that the weather clears up, so we stayed at the TAFCOM office working on grant applications and updating the organization's profile documents. Unfortunately the power kept going out so the computer was basically unusable most of the day. Since I've been in Tanzania it has become crystal clear how much I depend on reliable electricity, water, and even technology in my day-to-day life. I very much appreciate the "basic luxuries" that I have in Texas.

P.S. I'm feeling much better, no tropical disease here! I think my body was just punishing me yesterday for the strenuous hike the day before.

Mount Kilimanjaro (and Laundry)

I hiked on Mount Kilimanjaro! Yesterday Shari and I took a day hike in Mt Kili National Park - we hiked for FIVE HOURS (three were UPHILL!!), went up about 3000 feet in elevation, and finally made it to the Mandara Huts - the first base camp on the Marangu route. I am completely amazed that I was able to do this, as I am not the most athletic person in the world. My body is telling me to rest today, but I am proud of our accomplishment. FYI, to go to the top of Mt Kili is a 5-7 day journey (and a $1500 price tag!).

Have I mentioned yet that laundry is quite a chore here? It's done by hand in buckets. First you have to fill a bucket with water and detergent, then let your clothes soak for about 10 minutes. Since we tend to get really dirty and sometimes muddy, next you use a scrub brush to attempt to remove some of the worst stains. After that there are several cycles of rinsing, wringing, rinsing, wringing before you hang the clothes out on the line to dry. Once everything has dried (hopefully that only takes a day, but if it rains you just have to wait) then each item must be ironed to make sure you kill any Putzi fly eggs that might have been laid in your clothes. The process takes quite some time!

Today I'm not feeling great. Thought it was just aches from our climb, but now I think I also have a low grade fever. Ugggh. I don't want to be the first in our group to catch some lovely tropical bug. Just taking it easy the rest of today and hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow.

Tomorrow will likely be another tough day as we go back to Pasua to visit more of the TAFCOM families.

P.S. Shari is also keeping a blog - the address is http://sharij.blogspot.com if you would like to see what she has to say about our adventures.

TAFCOM Children's Center

For those of you who know me well, the following may surprise you: today I fell in love with 35 children. We returned to the TAFCOM Children's Center to play with the kiddos and had a really great day, even though my partner Erin and my mentor Nie left me alone with the children for a while (PANIC!!!). Turns out that it doesn't take a whole lot to entertain little kids, even if you don't speak the same language. I never knew that blowing bubbles with bubble gum and giving high fives could be so exciting to 3 and 4 year olds!

As I learn more about TAFCOM I have begun to understand their seemingly un-focused approach. Their main mission is assisting those affected by HIV/AIDS, so when I learned about their children's center and some environmental issues they address, I thought they were trying to tackle too many subjects with too few resources. Being here for a couple of weeks now, I've realized that the HIV/AIDS problem grows from many different roots, with lack of education being one key area (hence the children's center). Without the basic education being provided by TAFCOM Children's Center (and other similar places here), extreme poverty and all its ramifications will continue in a vicious cycle, ad nauseum. Breaking the cycle of poverty is the answer and the best way to do that is through education. At the same time, leaving adults who are suffering from AIDS to die alone is unacceptable - giving them comfort and assistance is necessary, which is something else that TAFCOM tries to do.

So much more to say, so little computer time...

More adventures

Today was a really fun day! The CCS folks arranged for us to have a day excursion to Marangu, a Chagga village near Mt Kilimanjaro. We first stopped at a blacksmith's to watch them make spears and cowbells (and, of course, to purchase a few things). Then our guide took us to a traditional Chagga hut - a round hut made of banana leaves. This one was atop the entrance to an underground cave system! We climbed down into the cave and explored (and fell in the mud several times) - it was really neat and REALLY dirty. We were all caked in mud by the time we got out of the cave. So much for trying to stay a bit clean today! Next we visited the local market and then drove to a beautiful area with a waterfall. Because of recent rains, the trek down to the waterfall was quite treacherous; I didn't have on the best shoes and slid through the mud several times. It was hard, but coming out of the rainforest and seeing that waterfall made it worth while! The trek up the mountain trail took longer but was actually a bit easier, since we weren't sliding DOWN the steep inclines. It was a beautiful sight!! Next we went to a Chagga Museum where we sat in a Chagga hut with two cows. Our guide was trying to explain the details of the hut while one of the cows was noisily eating and peeing behind him - too funny! That cow must have pee'd for at least a full minute and had us all chuckling. After the museum we stopped at a lovely resort-type hotel for a refreshment, then on to a batik shop where I purchased a couple more skirts to wear at my volunteer placement. A very full and fun day today - it's nice to be able to experience some of the touristy things of Tanzania while I'm here, and get a break from some of the sadness that I feel.

When we returned to home base the cooks had a lovely surprise for us - they had a barbeque grill set up in the garden and tasty kebobs for us to eat! It was a delicious dinner, and now I need to go wash today's mud off of myself and settle in for the evening. Much love to you all!

An idea developing....

When I first viewed the TAFCOM website a month ago, I noticed that there was no easy way to make a donation (i.e. online!). Since arriving in Tanzania, I have been asking the folks at TAFCOM a lot of questions and have discovered that their website was created and is managed by a former volunteer. My partner (Erin) and I have tried to contact the volunteer a couple of times, but she has not responded. Apparently she is the only person with administrative rights to the website, so making any changes will be a lengthy process (including adding online donation capability).

While researching some alternatives I discovered that many NGOs have American-based counterparts (i.e. a 501c3 organization established to allow U.S. people and institutions the ability to make tax-deductible donations to an international NGO). I began to talk with Jonas and Nie at TAFCOM about this, and think that I have the go-ahead to set up a 501c3 in the U.S. After I discussed this with them they informed me that another past volunteer had also suggested this, so I sent her an email yesterday to see if any work has been done towards this goal. I hope that I'll hear back from her soon so that I can start moving on this! Finally, a possible idea where I might be able to help!

Monday with TAFCOM we visited a man named Happiness who is literally on his deathbed. He was unable to move or eat, he weighed 90 pounds at the most, and was wasting away in a disgusting room with a dirt floor, holes in the ceiling, no electricity or water, and animals running in and out at will. It was completely heartbreaking. His wife is also HIV positive and trying to care for him, but they have no money, no food and no support. She was also very thin and worn down, but doing her best to keep him alive. Nie gave them 500 shillings out of her own pocket to get some flour so that the wife can make a "paste" to try and eat. I can't find the words to explain how terrible their situation is - and their situation is identical to so many others. Erin and I were so depressed after visiting them, and although we are not supposed to do this we gave Nie a small amount of money to buy Happiness a little food. It's unbelievable how far just a tiny bit of money will go. We gave them a total of about $1.00 USD which will feed this man and his wife for a few days!!!

I've had the opportunity now to look at the business plans and budgets for two local NGO's. One spent a budget of ~$30,000 USD last year, and they are helping over 200 women rise out of poverty and become self-sustaining with education and micro-loans. Shari put it into perfect perspective - that's less than what my former employer would spend/waste on one engineering experiment. We spent more than that on sodas and office supplies.

Can you imagine how many lives could be completely transformed with the money we (myself included) "throw away"??? I wonder how many people I might have actually saved from death or sent to school this year...just by donating the money I drank at Starbucks. It's so hard to comprehend all of this and know what to do.

Today we went to visit the TAFCOM children's center and I acquired a tiny bit of hope...hanging out with little kids will lift your spirits! TAFCOM rents a very small little room where they run a nursery school for ~35 kids. The children were from 2 - 4 years old (although there was one 6 year old, more on him in a second) and they have a "teacher" (who doesn't have her teaching certification) who works there for FREE - she does it as a volunteer. Her name is Katherine and she is really cool, seems to be doing a wonderful job caring for these children. The kids are either orphans whose parents died from AIDS or from really poor homes where the family is somehow affected by HIV/AIDS. Katherine somehow managed to keep the focus of 35 kids in a tiny space with no desks, no chairs, no school supplies, no blackboard to write on, no books, few toys, no food, no uniforms. They sang us a sweet little song when we arrived and then they taught us some Swahili! She is really amazing and TAFCOM is lucky to have her.

One child, Kelvin, really touched my heart. The kids were arranged/grouped by age, and Kelvin was with the littlest ones (2 year olds). He was so cute and funny, but I could tell that he had some sort of disability. He can't really talk, but he liked our cameras and playing with a little empty backpack that was in the room. Turns out he is six years old, HIV positive, and he had a seizure right there while we were in class. They just wiped his mouth, calmed him down and he went back to playing.

There is so much more that I want to write about, but I have used up my computer time (and then some!)...

Habari za safari? Nzuri sana!!

We just got home from our weekend safari and it was FABULOUS! We visited Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater/Conservation Area, and Tangierie National Park. Ngorongoro was incredibly and spectacularly FULL of animals...we saw all of the "Big Five" except for the leopard. It is amazing to view the animals in their natural habitat, and quite surreal to round a corner and see a herd of elephants or a group of giraffes just chillin'. We were in THEIR HOUSE! At one point there were several baboons on the truck and at lunch each day sneaky monkeys would jump into the vehicle to steal food. Today we were nearly charged by an angry elephant - all of us were freaking out and our guide was just laughing. It was one mad elephant and she sure seemed bigger than our truck!!! I took over 300 pictures but will have to wait unti I'm home to post them. An amazing and unforgettable weekend....

Tough Day

Today was the first day we made home visits to some of TAFCOM's clients. I will have additional pictures later (Erin, my volunteer partner, took photos at each house), but this is a photo of the first woman we visited today. She is a grandmother living with her daughter and two grandchildren in a one room "house" that has no electricity, no water, no flooring. The dirt floor even had a mud puddle in it from the recent heavy rain. This woman has AIDS and is suffering from an opportunistic infection of shingles - she could barely stand for the picture. Her entire "house" was smaller than my bathroom at home...and they have two adults and two children living there. I don't know how to explain the squalor and poverty that these people live in on a daily basis, and I don't know how to help.

My initial impulse is to say that I will give them some money or buy them some food, but for how long does that help? Only until the money or food runs out, and then what?

For some of the healthier clients who are able to work, the answer is a little clearer (although not easy!): empower them to become self-sustaining through a small business. Educate them on basic business principles, help them to form a cooperative among their neighbors, show them how to become self sufficient. There are a few organizations who are successfully doing this and ever-so-gradually lifting their clients out of poverty. But even those organizations require capital to get off the ground and people with an education to lead them in the right direction.

And what of people who are in the situation of this woman - unable to work, afraid of imminent death, unable to care for herself or her family? At this point, all that TAFCOM can provide is emotional support via the occasional home visit. I believe that Nie (from TAFCOM) has developed friendships with each of these people, and her visits seem to mean a great deal to her clients. The people we visited today were inviting and welcomed us into their modest homes, probably with the hope that we can DO SOMETHING for them. What is it that I can do????

I know that I am only a few days into this journey. I am trying to soak in as much information as possible and hoping that an opportunity to help in some tangible way will present itself. My heart is breaking.

Overwhelmed

Started my volunteer placement at TAFCOM today (still on it, actually, I just have a few minutes to write a quick post). Their biggest challenge seems to be funding - the organization was founded and is run by a married couple named Jonas and Nie. They truly seem to do their work from the heart (they certainly don't get paid for it!). They cannot afford to pay any staff - Jonas has his own business as a computer repair technician which supports them so that Nie can focus full-time on TAFCOM. Primarily they go out and visit families who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. There is such a stigma against people who are HIV positive that they are unable to work or really live in a community if anyone knows they have HIV. TAFCOM's goal is to provide these people with emotional support, and sometimes more if they can manage to do so. Tomorrow we begin our home visits to some of the TAFCOM clients. I'm sure it will be eye-opening and sad.

I want to try to find some grant sources for TAFCOM - they have several cool projects they are working on, but have had to stop due to lack of funds. The biggest one is building an orphanage (there are so many orphaned children here). They got some funding in January to begin the building, but only received enough to have a foundation built on their land. They don't have any more money with which to complete the project. They also want to support, in any way, the clients they serve who have HIV/AIDS. For example, a couple of years ago they had a successful fundraiser that allowed them to buy food which they distributed to their clients.

I'm feeling overwhelmed - the problem is so huge and seems impossible to fix. I know that I can't change that, but hope that I will be able to contribute in some small way. I just don't know what that is, yet. It's so incredibly sad to see all of this.

Intro to TAFCOM

Hooray! I got to meet my mentor at TAFCOM this afternoon! She came to the CCS home base to introduce us to what TAFCOM does and answer some of our questions. She is very, very nice...I will have to clarify her name though. Didn't quite understand what she said. Tomorrow will be our first day at our volunteer placements. Erin (another CCS volunteer) and I are both at TAFCOM and we will spend tomorrow in their office in Moshi getting to know the other staff members and reading some of the family profiles. Then we begin several days of in-home visits to people living with HIV/AIDS. Our mentor said we will visit about 2-4 families each morning...thankfully she will be with us!!! I don't know why, but I'm having a difficult time learning even the simplest Swahili. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to tomorrow when I get to actually begin what I came here for!

Speaking of my poor Swahili...we had our first real Swahili lesson today from a teacher. I'm just not really "getting" a lot of it. For some reason it was a lot easier for me to learn French - maybe just a younger brain back then. :-) I will keep trying! I hope it will improve over the next month.

Here is a very weird story - turns out that I'm related to one of the other volunteers here at CCS!!!! His name is Joe and his brother is married to my step-cousin. So his sister-in-law is Amy Block, who is my Aunt Phyllis' step-daughter. Small world, huh?! Funny that we met in Tanzania of all places!!!!

Also, it seems that the rainy season has finally begun. Last night it began raining around 11 PM and didn't stop until this morning. We had an assigment to go out into the neighborhood and get to know some of the neighbors. Shari and I paired up and were assigned to go to the Amani Center for Street Children and learn the name of the director, how many kids they have, where the kids come from, and their genders. The assignment was a little tough, although we finally found someone there who spoke English, but the hardest part was getting to and from the Amani Center! The CCS house is on a long dirt road...after an entire night of rain it is just a big MUD road. On the way back to our house I moved aside for a passing vehicle and stepped right into a big muddy mess. It went into my shoes and all over my legs - it was pretty funny, but I'm certainly glad that it happened on the way back home rather than the way to town!!!

Well I have run through my computer time and there is a line, so I'll have to continue later. FYI, for those of you who received the volunteer phone number, it doesn't seem to be working. We aren't sure if it's the phone line or the telephone itself, but the Mama's are checking into it. Sorry if you've tried to reach me.

Much love!
Kimberly

Day of travels & exploration

Today was a lot of fun! This morning we went to an orphanage near the base of Mt Kilimanjaro - the drive was beautiful and the orphanage was in a secluded part of what seemed like the jungle! We were not allowed to go in and see the kids because they are having an outbreak of scabies. But we got to see them through the windows and they were so cute! They were VERY EXCITED to see us wazungu! They started singing and dancing and screaming for us to play ball with them. It was sad but sweet. The sisters who run the orphanage were down to 4 adults tending to 45 kids under the age of 3!!! I have some pictures of them that I will add later (haven't figured out how to upload pictures to the volunteer computer, yet).


Then we came back to home base and had an hour of "cultural sharing" - we learned about greetings and some of the cultural norms that we will need to follow out in the community.

My roommate for the next two weeks, Simone, returned yesterday night from her holiday in Kenya - I like her a lot! She is really showing us the ropes, too. We had the afternoon free and Simone helped us take taxis into Moshi town and visit the "Unique Batik" shop where we purchased some skirts and purses from the local craftswomen. Here is a picture of Simone:


Then we finally got on a daladala!!! I had heard about these funny-named buses. It costs $0.20 to go anywhere in town, but you certainly get what you pay for. They are basically 8-person vans into which twice that many people are crammed. It's hilarious (and a little scary). You are sitting on top of other people trying to keep your purse secure from pickpockets and trying to not breathe due to all the incredible body odor. Quite the experience!

Everywhere we walk there are guys who surround us trying to sell their paintings or jewelry. They are very friendly but so persistent. At one point a police officer came to our rescue and shooed them away because they were causing a scene in front of a bank. They just moved a bit down the street and waited for us to leave the bank before coming to talk to us again.

We went to a bar on the roof of a hotel where the other volunteers tried some local beers. It was a beautiful view and a much needed rest - it is SO HOT here!!! I don't believe I've ever sweat so much in my entire life. I hope I will get a bit more accustomed to the heat after a few days. Then we took another daladala back to the house.

I'm having a great time so far and really looking forward to starting my placement on Wednesday, although I must admit I'm nervous. Thankfully one of the other volunteers has the same placement, so I won't be completely by myself in such a foreign situation. My Swahili still stinks!

My first day in Tanzania

Today was long and hot and strange and beautiful. We had an orientation to go over the rules of the CCS home base and program, then spent a couple of hours in the CCS van driving around Moshi town. Our driver, Peter, and house manager, Mama Fatuma, showed us the important stuff, like banks, the post office, coffee shop, etc. The town reminds me somewhat of Mexican border towns - very old buildings with people selling their wares and just hanging around - but with much prettier foliage! The flowers and flowering bushes/shrubs here are amazing...white, yellow, pink, fiery orange. Beautiful!

We had a rain shower early this morning, then the rest of the day was HOT and clear. It's easy to remember that we are close to the Equator! The sun is very strong here.

Because it's Easter today, the town was fairly quiet and we didn't have many activities planned. Several of us took a long afternoon walk to the "Highway Supermarket" - I made the mistake of not bringing my water bottle and got a nasty headache from heat exhaustion. The CCS house is down a long dirt road, the likes of which I haven't seen in the US. The soil here is quite fertile and rocky (I learned that Mt Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano) and the roads are full of volcanic rocks and huge holes. Riding in the van to get to the house is an adventure! Walking the road seemed easier than driving on it.

The people here are incredibly friendly and curious. Children walk right up to us and touch our hands or give us big smiles (we get called "mzungus" by the kids, which means white person or foreigner). The CCS staff is awesome - they are teaching us a little Swahili and are so gracious and kind. Everyone greets one another as you pass in the street, so we've been learning the various greetings and responses. A casual greeting is "Mambo" (Hey! or What's up?) to which you reply "Poa" (Cool). If you see an elder, the correct respectful greeting is "Shikamoo" to which they reply "Marahaba" - sometimes the little kiddos will greet us with Shikamoo.

A couple of the volunteers who were here before us created a cute book for us with their recommendations for the best restaurants, hotels, safari companies, etc. It was a very nice gesture and will prove to be useful, I'm sure. We have already booked a safari for this next weekend...sounds like it will be amazing!

That's all I have for now. I feel quite safe and think I will pretty easily adapt to some of the cultural differences here. I miss my sweet boyfriend and my friends and family, but am looking forward to the next four weeks in Tanzania!

Karanga Village

Made it to home base in Karanga Village - the compound is beautiful, rooms are clean and simple, and I'm getting to know the other volunteers. We arrived last night, had a brief introduction/orientation, then tried to go to sleep. Not the best night's sleep I've ever had, but that is to be expected. There are so many interesting things to tell you already, but I haven't even left the home base yet! Internet connection is very slow and spotty, so I may have to do "proper" updates when I get home, but for now know that I am safe and enjoying my introduction to the continent and country.

Landed safely in Tanzania!!

Made it to Amsterdam!

Leaving Austin

I'm boarding my plane in Austin! Shari is already in London & we will meet up in Amsterdam tomorrow morning. I'm so excited!! Love to you all!!!

Here We Go!!!

My friend and traveling partner left for Tanzania this morning! We had a chance to see each other yesterday, which made all of this feel very REAL. Her route allows an overnight in London this evening for a quick visit with her daughter, but we meet on Saturday in Amsterdam for the final flight into Kilimanjaro. I leave tomorrow morning (Austin -> Houston -> Amsterdam -> Kilimanjaro) for 19 hours of flight time and 9,447 miles of travel. I believe we will both be exhausted by the time we reach Tanzania, but I'm happy that we arrive together.

Today consists of running last minute errands and packing up my suitcase. I did manage to schedule a massage for this afternoon, so at least I'll be nice and relaxed for my grueling days of travel. :)

This is really happening! I almost can't believe it!

Oh, I heard back from Mama Charlotte at UAACC. She said we are welcome to visit them in Arusha - we really hope to be able to do so. Here is a video about their most recent project, a children's home:

Asante Sana

I want to again extend my sincerest thanks and gratitude to all of you who have supported me with your kindness and love. I am deeply humbled by both your financial generosity and all of the amazing encouragement you've given to me as I've prepared for this trip. Yes it sounds cheesy, but I have cried tears of gratitude more times than I can count over this past month. I don't think it's possible for me to clearly express how much your well-wishes and support mean to me. THANK YOU for cheering me on, for strengthening my confidence, and for giving my optimism a huge shot in the arm. I wish I could package the incredible feeling I have in my heart and share it with each of you!

More research

I've had lots of pre-departure Tanzanian cultural exposure today! This morning I watched a documentary called A Panther in Africa. It's about a couple who were members of The Black Panther Party in Kansas City but have been living in self-imposed exile in Tanzania for about 35 years now. They run an NGO in Arusha called United African Alliance Community Center that does all kinds of community development in their local village. It was a good documentary and also gave me a visual glimpse into some of the conditions I've only heard about, such as the really rocky and dusty roads, the clothes people wear, the markets, etc. I emailed the folks at UAACC to see if I will be able to visit them when in the area.

Then I had coffee with a friend who lived in Tanzania for 9 months - she had so many insights and stories to tell. Although she was in a different area of the country, she did visit where I will be living and working. Her experience sounded really amazing and it was nice to talk with a young female from the U.S. who has taken a similar trip. Other than not knowing enough Swahili, I feel much better prepared and a bit more confident after today!

Some sobering facts

Tanzania is in the bottom ten percent of the world's economies in terms of per capita income.

In Tanzania there are about 1.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS, more than 6% of the country's population. In 2007, 1.2 million Tanzanian children were orphaned due to AIDS.

In contrast with the U.S.:






Sources: CIA World Factbook and AVERT

There is a really awesome thing I've been told about called the Tumbu Fly or Putzi. This little critter likes to lay its eggs in damp places (for example, your wet clothes drying on the clothesline), and the eggs hatch when they come into contact with human skin. The larvae then burrow into your skin and develop into fully grown maggots. Doesn't that sound delightful?! To kill the eggs from your 'clean' laundry you have to iron everything, including underwear, or risk becoming a Putzi host. Can't wait!

Bug Spray

Sometimes the internet can be a bad thing. For instance, when a hypochondriac (like me) uses Mr. Internet to become educated on the various forms of malaria...and as a result of this research/education, the hypochondriac spends way too much money on insecticides that will probably kill her faster than malaria ever could. I've got lotions and sprays and wipes and roll-ons in various strengths - and every one of them has a poison warning on it! Let's all hope that DEET and permethrin don't turn out to be my generation's Agent Orange.

My Volunteer Placement in Tanzania

I will be working with an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) called TAFCOM, whose main purpose is HIV/AIDS prevention and education, as well as providing care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS. This is an issue close to my heart and I am delighted to be able to work with them!!!!

From what I understand, they need skills and knowledge related to grant writing, fundraising, etc. so that they can raise funds to continue their community efforts. If any of you out there have experience in this area, I would love to hear from you! I will be researching grant writing strategies post-haste.

I will also be working with the TAFCOM staff on outreach programs for HIV/AIDS prevention projects in the local communities.