Mambo!!

It is 8:45pm on Tuesday, and I have officially been in Tanzania for 48 hours.  My flights were uneventful, but very long.   We had an 8 hour flight from NY to Amsterdam, a two hour layover, and another 9 hour flight to Tanzania.  Blah blah, that stuff is boring.

Tuesday morning we woke up bright and early, so as to catch breakfast at the hostel of Supabread and fatspread, and went to St. Dymphna’s Special Needs Centre for children 3 years and up.  The school was started ten years ago by a Tanzanian woman who, after receiving special needs education training, realized that there is no place for these children in the Tanzanian government run schools.  She now has several classrooms, attached to her own home, where hired teachers work with the students one on one and in small groups.  The four volunteers from AAI that went on Tuesday morning helped with entertaining the children that were not practicing writing their numbers with the long-term volunteers.  After counting blocks and banging on drums we all went outside for playtime.  The kids ranged greatly in their level of disabilities, from being Autistic, having Down’s Syndrome, to having cerebral palsy.   Half way through play time, one of Mary’s helpers called us into Mary’s home for lunch.  It was a lovely introduction to the sorts of facilities that we will be teaching in on this trip.  We will return to St. Dymphna’s for a couple days at the end of our time in Arusha to do an arts workshop with the kids. 

The rest of our day consisted of errands like money exchange and trying to figure out internet availability, of which there is little!

Today we woke at the same time (to yummy pancakes!) and went to a wonderful place called the Cradle of Love.  It is an orphanage that houses 42 babies.  Some were left at their door, while others were found on the street and brought to the facility.  When we got there, there were tons of munchkins on the floor trying to find a matching set of shoes to wear so they could go outside.  Little ones would walk up to me reaching up with a shoe in each hand.  After helping some of them put on their shoes, I spent the same about of time forcing toddlers to the ground so I could put their right shoe on their right foot, rather than their left.  Once shoes were on it was time for a walk.  I somehow managed to leave the nursery with a child in each arm, biceps burning, and four more trailing behind me with eyes full of tears that I hadn’t picked them up.  Lunchtime was filled with spit up, snot, and lots of smiles.  It was a chaotic place, but one filled with love.  The six women who work there in three day shifts give each child tons of affection and great care.  It was a joy to work there, even if I left with chewed up beans on the shoulder of my t-shirt.

Arusha is an amazing place.  We live a ten-minute walk from “Clocktower,” which is sort of the center of town.  I am still trying to figure it all out.  To get to each facility we catch a DalaDala, which is usually a 15-person van with a colored stripe on the side that tells you the direction it is headed.  The drivers and their money-men all fight over giving the “Mzungus” a ride because they want to charge us more. Mzungu, of course, means white person.  They pack the DalaDala as full as it can be, resulting in people sitting on each other’s laps, while others stand and hold onto the outside of the van.  Today I was in a DalaDala, meant to hold 15 people, with 27 people.  Needless to say, I got out smelling like the sweaty man next to me.

The DalaDala isn’t the only place that Mzungus are popular.  Every stand we pass people call out to us and try to get us to buy whatever they are selling.  Even children on the street say, “Oh! Mzungus!”  They are not trying to sell us anything; we are just a sight to see.  This year, Tanzania raised their Volunteer Visa costs from $150 to $575, which has really taken a toll on the number of people that are coming to volunteer here, meaning fewer Mzungus.  People literally stare at us as they pass us, but maybe that is because we travel in packs.

From the backyard of our hostel we can we see Mount Maru, which is beautiful.  The rainy season has just ended so everything is green and filled with life.  The only wildlife that I have seen are little lizards, if you exclude the goats, dogs, chickens, and cows that sit on the side of the road owned by Masai men. Overall the people here are very friendly and helpful. 

It is time for bed. Kesho!