Today I rode a camel....

But more on that later!

This past week we spent all of our time at ISM.  We had a wonderful time with the students because they are all so enthusiastic and willing to take risks.  The teachers were just the same, and participated in classes as much at students did.

Wednesday after school AAI took a dunk in ISM’s ice tank, I mean pool.  It was frigid, but a good break from the sun we had been working in all day.  After that, Eanna, the principal of ISM’s Arusha Campus, had AAI over for pizza and beer.  He pulled out of the ISM parking lot and suddenly drove down a steep dirt path.  Turns out he lives just on the opposite side of the bushes from ISM, along with several other teachers.  Eanna’s neighbors and the nine of us spent the evening chatting and watching the sunset with Mount Maru in the background.  Eanna was so welcoming and made us feel very at home.

Thursday was mostly spent preparing for our collaborative show on Friday.  All day we reviewed the student pieces with them, and then spent the afternoon teching our own pieces for the performance.  All of this hard work paid off, however, because the show went very well.  After an introduction from Eanna, the students performed the prologue of Romeo & Juliet, and sang two songs.  The AAI performed a total of eight pieces, several from each division, followed by a dance finale performed by ISM Students to Mary J. Blige’s ‘Fine.’  They did a fine job indeed, and made us very proud.  Our experience at ISM ended with a beautiful thank you from all of the students, including flowers, ISM shirts, and traditional African bags for all of the AAI members.

In addition to all of the love we received, ISM really helped us out financially.  They gave us a set amount for our work over the week, gave us the proceeds from the performance tickets, as agreed, and surprised us by giving us all of the proceeds from the reception after the performance.  We really could not have finagled a better deal out of them. Our program was entitled “START,” and we can only hope that it really was the start of something great for both parties.

Saturday we started the morning off with a good ol’ AAI meeting, which we have almost everyday.  In the afternoon most of us went to the dress rehearsal for a show that the local Suzuki based music program is having next week.  It was at Shanga, the place we went last weekend.  We met some of the administrators and instructors from this Suzuki program at ISM and they invited us to their dress rehearsal since we are busy during their actual performance.  Once we arrived to Shanga, Molly, my classmate, and I spent almost a half an hour trying to take pictures of the monkeys that were bouncing from tree to tree.  Once the rehearsal really got goin’ we stayed until far past sunset.  It was a little hard to concentrate, however, because the monkeys sat above us eyeing our food the whole time.

Today, most of us spent an entire day at the Karibu Fair.  Quiz: Who can tell me what Karibu means?!?!?! The fair was filled with stands from airlines, international schools, safari companies, and lodge owners.  We split up the group and headed to as many stands as possible.  My group was in charge of making contact with international schools all over East Africa to try and find new places to host our workshops.  Some of the school were very interested, and would even be able to provide housing when/if we teach there.  It is really exciting to meet people who are excited about our project and want to bring a larger arts curriculum to their schools.  After all the work was done was when the camel rides happened.  There was an option to ride in a helicopter for 60,000 tsh (about $40), but there was no way I was going to spend that kind of money!  Instead I spent 2,000tsh ($1.50) to ride on a camel’s back around the fair grounds.  Twas quite an experience, and although I didn’t get a picture, I will remember it forever.

Tomorrow we start a two-week workshop at the Umoja Youth Empowerment Center.  This center is for people aged 15-30 that were knocked out of the government run school system.  At Umoja they learn vocational skills, English, and Math.  There will be a bigger language barrier at this facility, but we are getting Swahili lessons in the mornings, so that should help.

I feel like there are so many little things that happen everyday that are exciting and fun, but do not come to my mind when writing this blog.  Today we were on the side of the road trying to get on a DalaDala, when a van of Mzungus offered us a ride to the fair instead. Yea yea, Dad, I know what you are thinking.  We got in anyway, and held our door locks up the entire ride just in case.  They got us to the fair safe and sound, but it was still a bit of a risk.  We have learned here that if a car does not have a white license plate then it is not a real taxi.  We have ridden in four taxis now and we have gotten a phone number for each one.  We have a favorite taxi driver named Freddy who has a large car that can cart us all around.  No matter where we are, how late is it, or how many of us there are, we can usually call Freddy to get a ride.  He doesn't really speak English, but we have been able to communicate for the most part.

Other than our little transportation adventures things been been fairly calm.  Today I learned how to say, "I am a human."  I plan to say it next time a little kid points to me and says, "Mzungu!!" My response could either make someone think twice before saying "Mzungu" again, or get me a nice black eye.  We shall see!

Will write again at the end of this week!

Finishing the First Week

It is a chilly Monday night in Arusha, Tanzania and the AAI team members are all passed out.  Today was our first day of a five-day arts intensive at the International School of Moshi in Arusha.  The students in today’s workshop are children of UN workers and safari company owners.  They pay to attend ISM and get a wonderful education.  Our workshop is taking over for the week, so we have the students from 8:30am to 3:30pm everyday.  They are split into three groups and see each division (dance, music, and drama) for an hour in the morning, and then have a long rehearsal in the afternoon in preparation for a collaborative performance on Friday.  The students today were super focused and willing to take risks.  Even the teachers participated in our dance classes and allowed themselves to look foolish to get the kids to feel comfortable.  It is a great environment to teach in and we can already see kids starting to come out of their shells.  Teaching three classes and hosting a three-hour rehearsal, however, seems to be taking a toll on AAI’s bodies and our voices.  Sleep will be, or already has been, welcomed tonight.

The days since I wrote last have all blurred together in my memory.  I just spent ten minutes talking to my teammates about what we did Friday – Sunday because I couldn’t remember.  They set me straight.

Thursday a small group of us visited the ISM campus.  We got a feel for the school and were introduced to all of the teachers.  It was lucky to have been to the campus before we started teaching this week because we were able to see the ten keyboards, five drums, and several other musical instruments that these kids get to work with everyday.  Seeing this made the team, especially the music teachers, rework our lesson plans to accommodate for the wonderful arts curriculum at ISM.

After ISM the whole team went to ViaVia, a local restaurant, to meet with Caroline who runs the Umoja Youth Empowerment Center.  We will be running a two-week workshop there starting next Monday.

Friday I wasn’t planned to teach at all, but I was able to tag long with a group that went to MaruView Primary School.  A local man, named Papa Juma, owns a big plot of land that all of the neighborhood kids used to play on.  He decided that since they are around anyway, he might as well teach them.  He converted one of his old chicken coops into two classrooms and hired two teachers.  Once his school was a little more established he asked the Tanzanian government for financial support, but because his classrooms were too small they denied him any help.  He made room for two more classrooms, built a small playground, and got his funding!  He now has 50 students, all under the age of 5 that come to his school everyday to eat breakfast, take classes in Swahili, English, and Math, and eat lunch.  Everyday Friday they have a physical education type class in a field down the hill from the school.  This is where we come in!  For our entire stay in Arusha half of our team will spend Friday morning in a muddy field working on basic arts activities with these children.  We encourage them to use English, and try to get them to gain a greater awareness of their bodies.  These students are literally the cutest kids ever.  They all look up at your with big eyes wanting you to pick them up.  If you give in then you are a goner because everyone wants a turn.  When we lined them up to take them down to the field we had such order, but the second we got onto the street the kids took off for the field without listening to a word we were saying.  They all live nearby so letting them run free isn’t too scary, so says their regular teachers.  The field that we worked in was very spacious, but it also served as a popular walkway for locals.  At one point I looked over and a man was walking through the field, presumably to work, with a machete in hand.  Comforting!  The kids, however, took no notice to the passersbys and were very enthused about all of the games we played and song we sang.

Friday night most of the group went to a placed called The Mango Tree.  We went with two girls who are staying the hostel, one from England and the other from Israel.  Tamar, the Israeli, lives just twenty minutes away from my friend, Yossi, who lives in Haifa.  We will try to make plans to meet up while I am there.  After drinks and popcorn at The Mango Tree we went home and passed out.

Saturday we had planned to go to the waterfalls, but because of poor weather, we went to a place called Shenga instead.  Shenga is an establishment that hires deaf and blind residents to blow glass, make aluminum utensils, and sew dresses to sell at a store in town.  When we got there we were given a tour of the facility that landed us in the shop that sells their goods.  They make amazing glass beads and bowls, along with necklaces and leather bags.  Just outside of the shop is a restaurant with a big open space dotted with sofas and tables.  We snagged a set of benches in the sun and ordered coffee and samosas.  I think that we spent almost three hours there just reading and lounging around.  It was definitely a Mzungu hangout, but it was really beautiful.

I am getting more used to the pace of Arusha.  If you tell someone to meet you at 8:30, you won’t see him or her until 9.  I am also getting more comfortable with Swahili, or Kiswahili as they say.  A little lesson? Sure.

Hello – Mambo

How are you – Habari

Good – Nsuri

(Very) Sorry – Pole (sana)

See you tomorrow – Kasho

Friend – Rafiki (yes, like the monkey)

Thank you (very much) – Asante (sana)

Welcome – Karibu

No – Hapana

Bye – Kwaheri

My spelling is all off, I am sure, but you get the gist. There are other ideas that I am slowly catching onto.  No shorts, or women will hiss at you.  Don’t look anyone in the eye near clocktower or else they will follow you to where ever you are going, trying to sell you whatever they can.  The Masai market is a scary place, but if you know how to haggle you can get a “Rafiki price.” 

I promised myself I would be asleep by 10, but it is already 10:37.  Asante sana for reading!!

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!