Gilala Primary School

Friday June 4, 2010
Another later start to the day as we don’t have to be at Gilala school until 10:00. Peter and I gather up empty 1.5L water bottles to take to the CPAR office to fill to use for drip irrigation for the trees we are to plant. Water from the Karatu pipeline is a muddy brownish colour. People must boil it before they can drink it.
Into the jeeps and on the way in the heavy mist – very close to rain. Gilala Primary School is located in the picturesque highland village of Kili Matembo (Elephant Hill). There is mud everywhere! We get out of the jeeps and take about 10 steps before we are carrying an extra 10 pounds on each shoe. We are welcomed by the head teacher and the assistant head teacher, who acts as the translator and MC and seems to be in charge of the agenda. First, into the office to sign the guest book. Next, ceremonial welcoming speeches. The Tanzania students sang us a Tanzania song (not the national anthem but a very pretty song about Tanzanian pride) and the Canadian contingent introduced each individual. Again, I find it hard to explain that I teach Computer Science to children that don’t have electricity. I just say I’m a teacher. We toured the tanks, girls latrines, and drinking/handwashing stations. They demonstrated how everything worked and explained the job of the school water committee, stressing that it consisted of 2 boys and 2 girls so there would be gender equality. The teacher looked at the CPAR reps as he made this last point, but I’m not sure everyone really bought in to the gender equality concept – there’s a ways to go. We then planted trees with the students. It was a lot of fun – we were already completely covered with mud. Those children, obviously farmers, were no strangers to working a hand hoe! We planted about 50 trees in the fertile volcanic soil and settled in the pop bottles for drip irrigation. Cleaned up for lunch – we ate in a separate classroom since we had box lunches and the African students were eating a maize and beans mixture. Their food was actually very good – Janice traded parts of her lunch for a sample of their lunch and we all had a taste. Following lunch was more ceremony – singing and dancing. The village chairperson made a speech about how pleased they were with the collaboration and hoping it would continue. We were presented with gifts of Masai shukas (blankets). Janice was drawn into a dance and wrapped in a kanga – she was so excited she nearly ripped a hamstring jumping around. Peter finally danced! Susan was presented with 2 shukas (one's for you, Daria!). The parents were honoured with 4 and the students presented with 4, which we will divide up randomly.
We then brought out the bag of sports equipment for the school and a soccer game ensued. 3 - 2, thanks to Devin for both goals. Everyone was playing some kind of game or making some sort of connection. Even the tour bus drivers were playing soccer with the kids.
The people in this village seemed to be a little more worldly, perhaps because they are a bit closer to Karatu town. They had much better English, and were very curious about life in Canada. I brought out some pictures of my family and some winter pictures and was immediately mobbed by people young and old who were absolutely fascinated with the photographs. As usual, everyone is very curious about Mary – they do not understand the concept of a black Canadian and assume she is the only one. Some other ideas are also difficult to explain. What is the importance of forests in Canada? Do we use them for firewood? How do our houses withstand the cold (many people here live in houses with walls of mud and a roof of thatched grass)? Why am I not a grandmother at my age? (tried not to let that last one get to me). Finally left at about 3:30 and drove back home. Many students went into town but I sat out with a book in my hands – which immediately attracted people to sit around and talk. Everyone got spiffed up a bit and we went to Happy Days for a change of pace for dinner. Some students wanted to go home immediately after dinner (having a bit of a hard time adjusting to new experiences) but we told them to stick it out for a bit. Started playing the kids’ music (shudder) and they all started dancing and even had some of our drivers up and dancing with them, so everyone had a good time. Went home at about 10:00 and had a minor mishap when one student had her hand caught in a jeep door. Peter cleaned and carefully bandaged it while someone held a flashlight. After he was finished, the student with the injured hand pointed out that he had missed the actual wound, so we had to take it off and do it again.

Farmers' Field School

Thursday June 3, 2010

Get a fairly relaxed start to the day, giving everyone a chance to sleep in a bit. Pile in the jeeps and head off in the direction of Qaru Lambo to the village of Basodawish where we are going to visit a secondary school and some farmers. First stop is the village office where we all need to sign the guest book. This is a very important ritual – every office of every elected official has a guest book. The more signatures in the guest book indicate that said official has been doing a wonderful job so he is likely to get elected again the next time.
We walk over to visit the secondary school, which is hard at work in preparations for the torch ceremony which will be stopping at the school the next day. Sounds kind of like the recent Olympic torch run across Canada, except it happens every year in Tanzania and there is no competition at the end of it.
Due to the impending ceremony, the school is in immaculate condition. A very new school, it is surrounded by beautiful gardens. The school was built by the community, mostly farmers, because they recognize that education for their children is the key to future growth and the only chance they have for improving their future. Once a community has built a school, the government provides the teachers, although not always enough of them. Inside the school, many of the classrooms did not have enough desks or desks at all, meaning students would be required to sit on the floor. There were also very few other resources – no textbooks in evidence. Teachers’ residences at the back of the school have been marked out but the community ran out of money before they could be built, so they have 4 teachers sharing the one existing house.
The teacher makes about 200,000 (approx. $130 Canadian) shillings a month, before taxes. Students at the school are given 2 meals a day. The first is a porridge, which is really just sweetened flour and water – no real nutrients, it just fills the stomach so the students don’t feel hungry. The second is ugali (sort of the same thing, only thicker and not sweet) and beans, so there is some protein. Secondary school has school fees – only primary education is “free”. On top of the school fees, students or their parents must pay for their food, contribute water, pay for a uniform, and pay a host of other expenses each term. Skipping classes is not a problem at all – attending school is not only a privilege but also a great hardship on their parents to provide this education, so it is very highly valued.
We then visit a small dairy goat farm run by Mikali and his wife. They have 3 children, the second of which is disabled due to a condition at birth. CPAR provided one female dairy goat which the farmer breeds and sells the extra goats. He now has a herd of about 5 or 6 goats, which he can sell for about 100,000 shillings each. The extra money he has is now used for visits to the doctor for his son. The milk he uses for his family. His farm was spotless and very well-tended. The precious dairy goats were in a separate barn to keep them free from diseases carried by ordinary goats or cows, which were kept in a separate enclosure formed by a ring of trees. Mikali travels 2 km twice daily to collect water for his family, and collects water for his animals from a nearby (about 1.5 km away) slough.
Off to another area to see the Farmers’ Field School. This is a cooperative of 21 farmers, male and female, who each have paid to rent one acre of land. They experiment as a group with the combined acreage, planting ground cover crops like beans between rows of maize to help the soil retain moisture and return nutrients to the soil. The teachers are the CPAR staff workers – Nderingo, Dayo, and Japhet, who all hold degrees in agricultural studies from university. Through this experimentation, the farmers have been able to increase their yield by as much as 8 times that of traditional methods. Harvest from the shamba darasa (Farmers' Field School) is sold and the money reinvested in the group, which is quite formalized with a chair, vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer. After the discussion of the project, the farmers danced a traditional Iraqu tribal dance to welcome us and express their pleasure at our visit. They handed us each bottles of mineral water, a most precious gift indeed, as a sign of their respect.
We then split up, as some students were feeling in need of a rest. Some went back to the hostel while the rest of us drove out into the countryside near the Ngorongoro highlands to the village of Kampi Simba to visit a women’s cooperative vegetable garden. The surrounding area is lush and green with many fields of flowers and other crops. The flowers (cosmos, nasturtiums, and marigolds) are used to make pesticides.
First, of course, we file into the village office and sign the guest book. Public service posters in the village office make you realize you are really in a different culture. One had a picture of a couple in wedding finery. The Swahili translated to a message encouraging people not to marry young, and to be faithful to avoid HIV. A second showed a picture of a young man, and the caption read “I respect myself. I don’t rape. What about you?” The third showed a happy family and the caption “My wife is not mutilated. She is faithful to me and our family is strong.” Not quite promoting male fidelity yet - baby steps.
The women greet us with song and dance and showers of flowers and proudly display their garden. This project involving 21 women uses a new and simple drip irrigation technique to grow different vegetables that will be sold at the market. One of the problems they have is trying to keep the animals out of their garden – things like elephants. Not something your average Manitoba gardener has to worry about. These are incredibly strong women and again the message they have is that they key to success lies in education. So many times we hear that from so many different people in Africa.
After another very bumpy ride back to Karatu, we stop at the Bureau de Change to get more shillings. We immediately attract a flock of vendors that dogged our heels the entire walk home. Some of the girls picked up dresses they had had custom tailored and some bought more lengths of material. As we made our way home with dusk falling, we had to encourage the girls to keep up with us. They love chatting to all the street kids, but may be a little naïve when it comes to thinking they are their friends. The street kids are charming and love to find them good deals, but they are definitely looking after their own interests first. Many of them say they are selling trinkets to pay for school fees – hard to say what is true and what is just a story to tug at tender heartstrings.

Visit to UMATU

Wednesday June 2, 2010 - pm
Walk up the road past the CPAR office to a beautiful compound that houses UMATU – a cooperative of women living positively with HIV. We were greeted by a boisterous group of women who performed energetic and entertaining dances and songs to make us laugh and set the tone for a very upbeat meeting. They then showered us with flowers as we all conga-lined our way into their meeting room. The house is one of the nicest ones we have seen yet in the village. It was built from funds raised by Valerie Pringle working with a group of breast cancer survivors who wanted to help other women. UMATU is a combination of words meaning love and hope. It began in 2005 by 2 women and has grown astronomically since then. There is a great stigma against HIV positive people in Tanzania. UMATU are women who have accepted HIV, are on ARV’s and have broken the silence. They talk to people, showing them that they are strong and healthy and provide counseling and encourage people to get tested for HIV. CPAR has helped build capacity in this organization so they can stand alone. They have a number of income generation projects under way, with many plans for expansion.
They had a very frank discussion with the KEC students. HIV is such a huge issue in Africa, they were surprised and somewhat horrified to find we are perhaps a bit complacent about it in Canada.
During the discussion, a chicken roamed in out of the yard and made herself at home in the very centre of the room, her comfort level illustrating just how closely people will live with their animals. We toured the building and the girls were delighted to find they could purchase bags made from kangas (brightly printed lengths of cloth with Swahili sayings printed on them). Any chance to shop makes it a great day! Many more ordered bags (they really are great!) for the next day.
We were excited to be able to support these women in their fair-trade income generation project. Interesting to see that the sewing machine used was an old-style treadle machine - doesn't need electricity.
Back to the hostel for supper and then over to the CPAR office for some computer time. After working in shifts, the students walked home ahead and left Peter, Susan and I in the office. We walked home in the dark just after 10 (and it’s very dark – no streetlights and big trees that obscure the many stars) to find that not only was the gate to the hostel compound locked but the escari (guard) was no where to be found. A few of the girls were waiting just inside the gate (tried to jump out and scare us, but we’re made of sterner stuff) and gleefully informed us that we would have to climb over the gate, like they had. The gate is iron bars about 10 feet high with sharpened spikes at the top. Susan was up and over first – it didn’t look too bad. However, when I scaled it next, shorter legs and a fear of heights came into play at the top of the fence – and did I mention the sharpened spikes? Very carefully crossed the top and made it back down then managed to get my camera out in time to catch a shot of Pete trying not to impale any parts of his body he wanted to keep whole. Janice (safely on the inside the whole time) stood by to shout encouragement, very glad she was locked on the right side of the fence for the night. All in all it added a bit of spice to an otherwise ordinary night in paradise.

Back to Qaru Lambo!

Wednesday June 2, 2010

Up at what felt like a more civilized hour (after the past few early days on safari). Showers just not quite the same as at the Sopa lodges. Breakfast (same old - really great eggs) and then prepare for return to Qaru Lambo to plant 65 trees. Mix up the seating arrangements again so Janice doesn't have to be subjected to any more guy-humour. The drive (still quite bumpy, but were getting quite used to it and are learning to lean with the dips) is just as beautiful and takes us past lots of different houses (some mud, some brick, many under construction), lots of different crops (maize, pigeon peas, sunflowers, coffee), and colourful bursts of morning glory, bougainvillea. Many people are walking, cycling, driving carts pulled by either donkeys, cows, or the people themselves, and others herding cattle or goats as they travel with empty buckets to collect water for perhaps the first of 3 trips that day. Many of the goat or cattle herders were very small children, maybe 7 or 8 years old.


It is the last week of school before a 6 week break - the exams are already finished and students are pretty much putting in time until the break. As we pull up to the school we see that the kids are already out to meet us. The tree planting is somewhat loosely organized - Peter's phys. ed. background was making it very tough for him not to take over and form everyone into more effective teams. We arranged our selves - 2 QL students with each Canadian and one primitive hand hoe and began to dig into the dry clay-like soil. Very tough work! We kept passing the hoe around so no one got too tired, but the African kids were obviously far superior when it came to this basic farming skill. The hole I was trying to dig was basically taken over by one of the QL teachers - he was trying to be polite, but I could tell he was thinking "we haven't got all day!" After the whole was the prescribed size (thank goodness the trees were actually just seedlings), we added a bit of manure for fertilizer (Pete got the nice fresh stuff, much tothe amusement of the QL children he was working with), plunked the tree in, covered it a bit and added a large plastic water bottle with a hole punched in it so it would drip-irrigate the tree. We planted guava, fig, orange, papaya, and croton trees - all about 8 inches tall. They will be fruit-bearing in about 2 - 3 years! After the trees were planted, the fun began! Some of the sports equipment from Canada was brought out and we demonstrated frisbees and badminton, When the skipping ropes came out - the QL kids went nuts - they are master-skippers! Usually in pairs, even on the small ropes. There were kids all over the place. Devin played gorrilla and had the small children chasing him screaming all over the school yard and up a tree. In what surely could be construed as a criminal act, our kids taught the Tanzanian children the Bird Dance (bad enough we have it in Manitoba, no need to infect the rest of the world). Our girls learned one of the songs and dances the African children performed for us - very cute and involved much tiny booty-shaking.
When it is time to leave, the math teacher had all the students line up in a remarkable display of order. He then said one word and all the children stamped their foot and turned right. Another word and they all stamped and turned left - all in their military-straight rows. Assemblies at KEC could definitely benefit from this sort of behaviour! I mentioned it to our students and they didn't seem too keen on adopting this practice. The Qaru Lambo kids sang us a Tanzania song and we presented the teachers with keychains that we had made to help raise funds for their tanks. They led us into a classroom and served us each a bottle of pop, which we had to finish before we could leave. This meant Susan had to visit the CPAR constructed, KEC-funded pit latrine one last time before we hit the bumpy road back to town.
After lunch at the hostel, we walked down the road to visit UMATU.

Safari Day 3 - Final day!

Tuesday June 1, 2010

Woke up to a very cool morning and another great Sopa lodge shower and a breakfast buffet that goes on for about a mile. Get on the road by about 8ish after Peter fails to negotiate his way out of paying for the milk consumed the night before (it was free at the first lodge and they didn't even charge all of the tables, so it should have been an easy battle). Take a very steep and scenic drive down into the crater. Spy a lion in the grass almost immediately! Other wildlife is soon evident, and we come across a hyena, well-fed, resting beside the road that didn't even blink when we stopped to say "jambo."The jeep drivers were very knowledgeable and gave us quite an education about the origins of the crater, its inhabitants, and the surrounding area. The crater covers about 17 sq km and has vastly different landscapes - dry flatland grasses (warthogs, hyenas, gazelles, rhino (wa-a-y far away), ostriches, wildebeast, zebra), lush rainforest (elephants, baboons), swampy watering holes (hippos, cranes, lions - LOTS of lions, it was gr-r-reat), and a lake. The lake is supposedly covered with flamingos during the dry season, and they get really pink when they eat the algae. It is apparently quite an amazing site. This, however, is not the dry season and the dumb birds have all migrated to another lake in either Kenya or another part of Tanzania. We saw a few slightly pink flamingos (I guess the lazy ones that didin't migrate) from quite a distance.

We stopped for a bathroom break and were immediately surrounded by Masai pushing their familiar wares. They are much like the lions that hang around the watering hole waiting for prey to arrive, except the Masai hang around the toilets knowing that the tourists will show up sooner or later.

Stopped for lunch by a large pond that was full of hippos. All we saw was hippo ears - it was naptime for them. Had another box lunch (getting a bit too familiar with this concept) and enjoyed basking in the unaccustomed sunshine. Made another drive around the crater and then headed up. Really steep! These are some kind of tough jeeps - definitely like to bring one back as a souvenir! It would take on Manitoba roads without a blink. After crawling out of the crater, clinging to the edge of the road, we had an uneventful drive back to Karatu enjoying the gorgeous landscapes. Stopped at a small curio stand to look at carvings, but quickly realized they were not the best quality and highly over-priced, even allowing for some bartering room. Quickly fled without buying anything.
Arrived home (and yes, our rooms back at the hostel did feel like returning "home") in time for some people to venture off to the market before dinner. It felt like we had been on a three-day vacation from our "real" life.

Safari - Day 2!

Monday May 31, 2010
Woke up abruptly at 6:00 a.m. (rooming with Jan is a whole other story!) Had the best shower ever in our huge showers with perfectly controlled temperature and pressure! After a sumptuous buffet breakfast, we tried to get on the road by 8:00, but everyone else was doing the same thing so we were a little delayed. Saw majestically graceful giraffes, some monkeys with either blue bums or blue other parts of their nether regions (apparently this encited much discussion in Jan's jeep as she had all the boys), and a crocodile back (maybe a log - we just took our guide's word for it). Driving through the Serengeti is very dusty - especially with the top up and standing up to catch everything. We all have a litany of bruises (badges of homour) from slamming into the doors, roof, etc of the jeeps as we bumped along. Came across absolutely gazillions of zebra. Zebra as far as the eye could see. And this is not apparently the high season. We laughed at how excited we were a few days ago when we glimpsed our first few zebra - who knew we soon be plowing through them on the road?
Had lunch at a small interpretive center (yay- western toilets!). Devin made friends with a pack of hyrax that roamed tamely through the trails. Saw hippos (barely), lions with cubs, and lions with a fresh kill (fairly gross - but interesting). Stopped for lunch at same place as yesterday and had box lunches (this is a big thing here - it comes in an actual box!) from the Sopa lodge.
Afternoon drive through Serengeti to Ngorongoro crater - saw more animals but a little sparser - many of us dozed in the warm, bumpy jeeps. Riley does a very entertaining head nod thing as she sleeps sitting up.
Decided to stop at a Masai village. They will welcome you in and tell you about their culture for a mere $20US each. We got it down to $10 each, thanks to Oswald - one of our drivers who knew them - but Peter's impressive negotiating skills somehow had the price back up an extra $20. (Side note - he is not allowed to negotiate any more - that's a job for Janice). The whole Masai experience seemed a little staged. The welcome song and dance was a ltlle half-hearted at first. Devin and Alyssa joined in the dancing. Part of the male dancing involved a high-jumping contest and Devin, our volleyball player, proved that white men can jump! He really held his own and managed to jump within about 4 inches of the Masai men. We were then separated into small groups and taken inside separate itty-bitty mud huts to see how they lived - very primitive indeed. Then shown the array of ubiquitous trinkets and jewellery and convinced to part with yet more of our shillings. The women all work hard making the jewellery and the beadwork on the crafts is beutiful. We were taken to a kindergarten class in a small hut that promptly sang us a song in Masai and showed us how well the tiny tots could count in English - a necessary skill for fleecing tourists.
After we left the village (I was offered 15 cows each for Bronwyn, Alanna, and Morgan - tempting) we had to push it to get to the Nogorongoro Sopa Lodge before dark. It is important to be off the roads before dark because the animals come out and don't like the lights so they attack the cars. We're talking about buffalo, elephants, and leopards - could do a bit of damage! Made it just in time to catch a spectacular sunset over the crater. This lodge is even nicer than the one at Serengeti! Temperature is very cold (maybe less than 10 degrees) - Peter refuses to wear long pants in Africa, but the rest of us bundle up. Have a marvelous dinner, complete with a birthday celebration for Jessica - song and dance and special cake all for her. It was a very unique 18th birthday! Everyone promptly crashed right after supper. This time, our beds had been turned down (no nets as it is too cold for mosquitoes) and a hot water bottle carefully placed inside each bed to make it nice and toasty. I could definitely get used to this!

Safari!

Sunday May 30 - First day on Safari!!!
Packed up a bag with a couple of days worth of stuff and threw all our excess luggage in the boys room (made them clean it up first). Started out right after breakfast in damp, cooler weather after shuffling around the seating in the various jeeps so we were all evenly dispersed – more or less. As we drove up to the Ngorongoro highlands, the scenery changed to a thick, jungle-like rainforest – very “gorillas in the mist” without the gorillas. Stopped briefly at the entrance to the park and read some info and picked up a few souvenirs (some people will shop anywhere!) The drive was very steep with a very sharp dropoff (very unnerving if you’re still not used to the driving on the left and you happen to be sitting on the left!) Very misty with occasional glimpses of the Karatu region far, far below. We pressed on to a point overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater. Stopped for a picture break – very windy – and were immediately surrounded by Masai selling their ever present trinkets and wares, or, for a few thousand shillings – they allow you to take a picture of themselves! Next stop – Olduvai Gorge (or more correctly Oldupai Gorge). Toured the tiny museum set up there and, surprise! - bought more souvenirs. Sat through an informative but short lecture whilst overlooking the gorge. Saw a copy of the casts of some original footprints that show that hominids walked upright long, long ago. On to the Serengeti! Passed many Masai people herding flocks of goats and cows. The landscape changed to flat brown grasslands. Started seeing wildlife! A few zebra (who knew we’d later see millions?), gazelle, ostrich (weird-looking birds!) and giraffes casually strolling around with the Masai on the way to the gate to the Serengeti National Park. The Masai and their animals are not allowed inside the park. Inside the park, we stop for a picnic lunch at the main office. Girls use an absolutely disgusting pit latrine before finding out the “western” toilets are around the corner. After lunch we follow a little trail to a scenic lookout and see an elephant way too close for comfort. I’m still convinced it was a tame one planted there for tourists. Spent the next four hours driving through the park standing up in the jeeps with the top popped up. Spent a good bit of time at some rocks with a pride of lions – nearly 20 in total! Absolutely amazing! Saw animal after animal, everyone clicking away with their cameras. Our drivers were very informative - it was a highly educational and entertaining experience. We felt a bit like we were in some National Geographic movie.
Arrived at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge in time for a nice refreshing swim (thanks to Devin the lifeguard) in the pool overlooking the Serengeti. The lodge itself caters to the rich and famous – we were definitely a little out of our element! Showers alone were big enough for 8 people! We dressed for dinner (“smartly” – as per instructions in each guest room). At dinner, we were offered a menu of choices for the main course of the five-course meal. VERY fine dining! Some students ordered cold milk to drink – very odd to the waiters. Puzzled, they brought it out and tried to be discreet as they watched in amazement as the kids drank it. Had to be escorted to our rooms so we wouldn’t be bothered by any wild animals that ventured onto the lodge grounds, particularly buffalo and baboons (now that’s a little different!) While we were at dinner, someone had been to our rooms to turn down the beds and draw the mosquito nets around the beds. I’m thinking it wouldn’t be hard to adjust to this!