Chaos in Dar

On Tuesday we went into Dar Es Salaam, to run some errands. What is normally a few hours excursion there and back turned into a very wet and crazy scramble out of the city that took about 8 hours!!
When it rains here it really rains, you can be outside for less than a minute and you couldn't be any wetter than if you jumped in a swimming pool with all your clothes on. This was the type of rain that we were greeted with when we stepped off the Dalla Dalla (little minivan that they cram as many people as humanly possible into) into the city. In any city rain like this would cause problems, however in Dar there are no drains to speak of and in a matter of minutes the streets started to flood. People were taking shelter under anything they could find, not wanting to waste anytime we decided to brave the wet and just go about our business. Big mistake. Within a matter of minutes we were soaked, now being wet i don't mind but add to that the fact that we were wading through water up to our calves, wearing flip flops and trying to dodge any floating objects of questionable nature that were coming our way, Gross doesn't cut it. The narrow streets were wall to wall water, you couldn't see pavement just a river with shops on either side. Not wanting to have a totally wasted trip we decided to still have some lunch and do some e-mailing until it became painfully obvious that we needed to get out of the city asap. By obvious i mean the fact the the police we now escorting us across the street as the water was so high that cars were now out of control boats. For some reason we decided it would be a good idea to buy umbrellas at this point (i know, a bit late for that) as we had seen some really tacky ones that we thought would be funny. After 20 minutes of deciding if a built in whistle was really necessary we left the store with the ugliest umbrellas we could find to be greeted by what can only be described as chaos. The city seemed to have come to a unanimous decision while we were buying umbrellas that it was time to leave. The streets were filled with people all wading out of the city, they were looking for buses, dalla dallas, basically anything that could get them out of there. As the cars could no longer come down the roads everyone was walking to the outskirts with hopes of finding transportation. Not wanting to be left behind we followed the crowds. Any bus that passed us was so full there were people hanging out of the doors holding on the person in front of them, it was madness. After about 30mins we found a bus that had about one square foot of space left so the three of us piled in counting ourselves very lucky to be getting out of there. However 1 hour later we had only moved about 10 feet, it was traffic as far as we could see, which i would be okay with if we had a seat but there wasn't even room for both of our feet to be on the ground we all had one foot down and were only balanced as we were sandwiched between so many people, i think i could have picked up my other foot and still been upright! Three hours later (it normally takes 20 mins) and in the dark now we arrived at the big station where we change buses . If we thought it would be any calmer here we were very wrong, everyone seemed to be in a state of panic, it was chaos. You would have thought it was the end of the world the way people were behaving. They were jumping in front of cars and buses trying to make them stop, jumping into the back of trucks as they were trying to drive away, some people were even climbing through windows of buses while they were moving. It was madness. I looked at Krystyna and Sarah and we just held hands and ran to the side where the bagamoyo dalla dallas normally are. We knew we were going to have to be aggressive if we wanted on the bus, so the second we heard someone shout 'Bagamoyo' we ran for the bus and elbowed our way on, we couldn't believe we had made it. The bus filled up in seconds and we had made it not only on the bus but we had seats!! feeling rather proud of ourselves and only a little wet, we then made the three hour journey home in relative comfort. We arrived home very tired and many hours later than planned but we made it and that's all that matters. Needless to say i won't be heading into Dar again if i can help it, especially if it is raining.

Doolah Update

Sorry i haven't written in a while but the Internet in Bagamoyo has been down so today i made the big trip into Dar Es Salaam to e-mail and get supplies for the school. First of all Dollah is doing great. After i last wrote he was taken to the police station where his mother signed over custody of him which allowed us to start the ball rolling with finding him care and a school. It was actually very easy considering things like that normally take weeks to do over here because of "Africa Time", but Dollah has already had his first week at his new boarding school and is loving it. Amy and Vicky took him around to schools to see what they were like and they found this amazing school that already has lots of orphans ( even though Doolah technically isn't) so when all the other children go home for holidays there is still a big group of them left to hang out and play for the summer. It is a full time boarding school, he will receive all his schooling, food and care in one place so he won't be going back and forth from place to place and best of all it is a five minute walk from our house. Doolah obviously has a connection with Bagamoyo because every time he would run away from his dad he would walk for several hours to get back there to sleep rough so it is nice he doesn't have to leave. It turned out he has been on the streets a lot longer than we first thought and he is older then he realized as well, he didn't know his birthday. Dollah is 9 years old and he was born in June. We sent him for a full medical and amazingly he got the all clear, which was a big relief. It was shocking to me how easy it was to change someones life. Dollah now has a bed, food, education and people to care for him and all it took was three days of running around and $800 (all inclusive yearly boarding school fees), Thats it, and now he has a future. When i first came to Africa, the whole idea of making a difference seemed impossible as there is so much need out here for everything, money, education, food, care, just to name a few, that it seemed like a mammoth task that no one person could even make a dent in no matter how long you are here. Doolah has taught me that you don't have to do big things over here to make a difference, it can be as small as giving one child a future. Seeing Doolah playing with other children in a playground and just being a child is so rewarding.
The children at my school are happy just to see Krystina and i everyday. When we bring out puzzles and games or colouring pencils or do a craft with them they are so happy to be doing anything other then reciting words on a board you can see it on their faces. I leave each day feeling like i have made a small difference in that childs day and it feels so good. Yacini and Mohammade (the teachers) are great and they have given us free reign of all teaching so we have been coming up with lots of ideas for lessons. Tomorrow we want to discuss the importance of cleaning out your cuts as lots of the children have nasty infections from little scratches, so we decided to do a play for them in Swahili. I have no idea if it will work but i will let you know how it goes!!

Doolah

On my second night here i was invited to a wedding. One of the volunteers, a lady from the US who had been volunteering here for a month, met a local, fell in love and was getting married! So on Friday night i found myself at a wedding reception. It was held outside in the open air theatre of the music college in town. Loads of people were there and lots of the locals did amazing drum and dance performances, everyone had an amazing time. The other volunteers and i we sitting together throughout and we were accompanyed by locals aswell, but one boy in particular caught our attention as he didn't seem to be with an adult, we didn't think too much as it is quite common for children to move about an event like that without a parent as it is a community atmosphere. When it came time to go we were the last ones to leave and we noticed that he was still with us, we asked around everyone that was left but nobody knew who's he was. After we got someone to translate for us it turned out he was a street kid and had been homeless for a month! Now this boy was no older than 8 and he was all by himself for 4 weeks fending for himself and sleeping outside. It broke my heart, he was such a sweet kid aswell he was just standing there blowing bubbles (left over from the wedding) and playing with balloons. He explained to us that he was there as he has learned it is safest to be where there are lots of people and he knew there would be food for him there. Some of the men said they have seen him at a few beach party's as he likes to be around people, but they didn't know he was homeless. We started asking him questions and he said his mum was on Zanzibar and his dad is in Dar Es Salaam but neither of them want him and he was supposed to be living with his uncle but he lost him. He gave a few different stories to people about his mum and dad all slightly different, but it all came down to the fact that he had no where to stay. It was the saddest thing, i knew we couldn't leave him so we tried to figure out what we could do, we needed a place for him to stay then we had to try and locate, his mum, dad or uncle. We tried to bring him back to the house but when we asked we were told we couldn't, so we were going to pay for a room for the night, but in the end one of the local guys said he could stay at his and we would go to the police station in the morning. We all talked that night and decided only 2 people should go with him to the police station and Amy (from PEI) and a lady called Vicky(from the US) went with him. After two days of police stations and visits to his mum and dads, Doolah's story goes like this. His mum kicked him out when she got re-married, he went to his dads, his dad beats him so severely he has permanent scars on his face, so he ran away. Doolah is 8 years old and his own mother put him on the street. His story is so heartbreaking and he is just the sweetest child. Apparently when they located the mother she wouldn't even look at him or acknowledge he was there, when they went to the fathers house he was so scared, when they got back in the car with him to leave(after he thought they would just drop him off and leave)he said "if you left me there he would have killed me". This boy has done nothing to deserve this kind of life and you think he would be lucky as he has a mum and dad, which so many children here don't, but the two people that are supposed to protect him from the world have abandoned him. Thanks to Amy and Vicky the ball is now rolling to get Dollah into a home and into school. The parents have happily given up their rights and now it is a slow process but we are all helping any way we can. You should have seen his face when he got given some clothes by some of the volunteers, it was so heartbreaking as you could tell he is not used to kindness and he doesn't no how to react. He is living in Amy and Vickys room for now and we are feeding him, but we are not allowed to have him there. so it is a strange vibe at the house, as if the program coordinators come we will get in trouble. Amy feels that it is fate and Dollah is the reason she came here so she is happy to leave the program if need be and get a room where thay both can stay till it is sorted so i will keep you posted! Again

Bagamoyo

Bagamoyo is a very cool town. It couldn't be any more different from Saikeri if it tried. Instead of Maasai warriors i am surrounded by rastas, artist, musicians and poets. It is a town of teaming with creativity and a very lively history. I live in a very small house with 8 volunteers, i share a room with a girl from Toronto called Krystina. We have a lady who cooks all our meals for us her name is Happy but she lives in town. Our house is down a dirt road about 5 mins walk from the beach. I had my first day at school and it was really good. There are 50 children all pre-school age and we are with them from 8am till 12pm. It is very basic, a small room about 15ft by 30ft with a blackboard painted on the wall, no table or chairs but it does have a concrete floor which is nice as the kids can sit and not get filthy. There are two teachers both male and they are open to all and any suggestions that we give them. The children only speak Swahili which makes it very hard so the two teachers give the lesson and Krystina and i assist (as opposed to Kenya where i was teaching classes of 46 science and English by myself!!)the children. We have already approached them about having an hour of structured play for the children each day, where we will set up 3 stations of Art and Crafts, Reading and Games using supplies we have brought. As all they seem to do is fight during their play time. We are also going to start a hygiene session each day where we will provide the children with toothbrushes and paste and soap, in the hopes that they will carry on the good hygiene even when they leave the school. It is small steps right now but i have only been there one day and i am sure there is a lot more i can do in one month! So i will keep you posted.

Rain Rain Rain

It has been raining hard for about 9hrs, i guess that is why they call this the rainy season! I am absolutely soaked to my skin but i have been indoors all day and i was starting to get cabin fever so i braved the wet to come and e-mail. I just read what i wrote last time and i was in such a hurry i forgot to write the date of Dominics big race, the Mombassa marathon is on the 26th of March. I am trying to find somewhere that will have a TV in town so i can watch it, he is defiantly my favourite Kenyan by far, such a lovely sweet guy, it was soo hard to say goodbye to him, he was running with the pickup as i was driving out of Saikeri and i was balling my eyes out like a baby. Saying goodbye at school was awful, it was a two day ordeal of speeches gift giving and crying, even the teachers were crying i was soo touched, they really were the nicest most welcoming group of people, one teacher David was so upset on my last day he was sobbing and couldn't even speak to say anything to me, it was heartbreaking and made be cry even more! You should see the gifts they gave me. I have a shopping bag full of traditional Maasai jewelery and 2 kangas, which are the sarongs that they carry their children in. I wish i could download pictures but i can't do it here and this is the only place to e-mail for the next month. When i do you will be amazed at the places i have been and the people i have met!

Missing Maasailand

So it is my second day in Tanzania and it is sooooooooo very different here. I miss the gazillion stars that came out everynight, i miss my students, i miss the people i even miss mama Nashipai a little bit.... well maybe not that much, i was telling the volunteers about the time that my roof was leaking in my room and she put animal fat in the holes and i lay in bed while animal fat rained down on me all night, i was laughing so hard telling the story i was crying. I absolutly do not miss the food, it was amazing to get here and eat somthing other than Ugali, rice or potatoes, i nearly cried when i saw all the fresh fruits, salad and veggies that i was served on my first night here. Oh and for those of you interested, my marathon runner Dominic is going to be running in the mombassa marathon, under the name Dominic Maasai he can't afford the entry fees to run under the Kenya group but he is doing by himself. I miss soo many things about Maasailand but i really really like Bagamoyo.

Leaving Maasailand

So i am in Nairobi after saying goodbye to everyone in Saikeri, it was incredibly sad, i was a blubbering mess as were the teachers. i can't write much as i have way too much to say and i have to get to bed as i fly to Tanzania in the morning, so many stories...... i can't even begin to tell you how much i love africa, i could fill this whole page with stories of amazing people, sunsets, night skies, and the feeling i get every single day when i go outside. I could honestly go on and on forever, but i wont as it is nearly 1am and i have a flight to catch in the morning for a new adventure, i will miss Kenya soooo much but i know i will be back and now that i am out of maasailand i can look forward to Tanzania with excitement. i think i will be able to use the Internet more often there so i will fill you in on the last few weeks when i arrive, thanks to all of you who are writing i really appreciate it!!

Travel plans

For those of you interested i have come up with a vauge travel plan for the next two months and if anyone knows anyone who has been to these places please let me know. I go to Tanzania on the 14th to volunteer for one month then i go to Zanzibar for a few days to chill and soak up the sun maybe do some diving, then i travel back up to Nairobi to meet up with Rob (canadian guy) and Ricci (lovely girl from US). We met at orientaion and all get along like a house on fire. We then plan to go to Uganda ( don't freak mum it is very safe or i would not go) to White water raft the Nile then to see lake Victoria, back to Nairobi to climb mt Kenya (we are taking a week and the easy route) then to the coast to the beaches of Kenya for some much needed RandR, thinking mombassa and the island of Lamu. If anyone has any info or tips would be much appreciated!

SAFARI

I got back from safari a week ago and it was sooooo amazing i won't write much as only the pics can do it justice and i can't post them yet. I saw soo many Lions close enough to touch ( i didn't) ,leopards (one of the hardest things to see), elephants, giraffes, Zebras, buffalo, warthogs (pumba!),wildebeest, monkeys, hippos, white rhinos and the very rare and nearly extinct black rhino ( which was actually fighting the white one). It was amazing i have pictures of lions literally inches away from me!! Anywho i will post pictures as soon as humanly possible as i know you are all waiting with baited breath to see them!

Jambo Kenya

Jambo! or i guess i should say Sopa now i am Maasai, i tell you it is very confusing so many different languages are spoken and they chop and change between them all!! It is Saturday and i decided to make the trip into Karen (named after karen blixen of "out of Africa" fame) to update this blog as i realized alot of what had been written is quite negative and i am having the most amazing time and i wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression! Yes there is corruption here and i arrived to a lot of drama but this is africa and that seems to be the way it is, the amazing with the nasty all together so you don't know what has hit you!
This morning i woke up at 5am to get the matatu here, and imagine my surprise when i went to the toilet and had to fight off a bat that seemed intent on nesting in my hair! My toilet i should explain is a small tin shack a few feet square at the end of the garden with a very small hole in the ground, there is no window or any form of ventilation so it isn't my favourite place at the best of times (i've had a nightmare about falling in) let alone when a bat is trying to nest in my hair. However i emerged unscathed and caught the matatu to town, which is an adventure in itself. It is a truck with a frame over the back that peole can stand/sit on. Today i counted 26 ppl just in the back, not the most i've had but squished is an understatement, there are literally people hanging from every corner of the truck. Which is fine for the first 20 mins but with my boney bum i am in agony by the time we pull into town an hour and a half later. The worst is if you catch one on market day, you really don't know what you are going to be sitting with, goats, chickens, sacks full of machetes, i once travelled with an old maasai mama sitting on my lap the whole way home, i couldn't feel my legs at all when i arrived and had to wait for the feeling to come back before i could get out the truck.
This last week has been great (except on the home front, but more about that later) school is amazing i really love teaching and the kids are soo funny. I teach 3 classes. Class 4 English, class 5 and 7 Science which i really love. I forgot how much i loved science when i was a kid and getting to teach it now is awesome. My students love me, i am like a celebrity at school (well the whole village for that matter) when i arrive in the morning i have a crowd of children around me all wanting to carry my stuff and touch me or my hair, they all shout Namunyak (my maasai name) ow r u? and they have taught me all these crazy handshakes (think Cher and Dion in clueless) that they line up for me to do with them. They are soooo great, whenever i give them assignments and i let them use coloured pencils or stickers or anything they can't believe how lucky they are, yesterday we were studying plants and i made then do leaf rubbings with crayons and they were so happy at doing anything other than copying the board. When i was marking their books later they had written god bless you Namunyak, and we love you , inside their school books, how cute is that!!! i wish i brought out more supplies though, there are children who have no pens or pencils and they have to supply their own so if they don't have one they don't do any work that day. It is amazing just how poor everyone is out here, the school does what it can but there is practically no funding from the government, and i know the teachers end up paying for a lot. At lunch time the kids eat Maize, it looks just like the corn on the cob we have for bbqs but tastes awfull the maize is soo hard it is like chewing rubber, thats what the kids eat every single day all year!!It makes you think about how we complained about school lunch! Last week while it was being cooked i heard a huge BANG, what had happened was a child had found a bullett in the field and had thrown it in the fire and it had exploded, luckily no-one was hurt, and luckily no one saw who did it as he would have been badly beaten. I have a really hard time with the discipline here, the teachers think i am the biggest softie but i cannot and will not beat a child (thats not mine anywho!) . They laugh at me when i tell them how we discipline children in school, writing lines, detention......they think i am joking, when i say they would be arrested for beating a child!
Okay so now the update on my living situation, where to begin..... The rains have started here in the evenings, not just outside but in my bedroom too! I was none too happy when my roof started leaking soaking me in my bed, the kittens ( i have one cat and 4 kittens living in my room with me)were freaking out, as when the rain hits the tin roof it is so loud you have to yell to hear someone right next to you. I mentioned to Mama Nashipae in the morning that she might want to fix it, she said no problem, however the cooking fat that she shoved in the holes only lasted about 5 mins in the next downpour and needless to say i wasn't impressed to be soaked again and covered in animal fat!! The roof problems started when i came back from safari to discover i had no roof, i thought it had blown off in one of the wind storms that we get all the time in the rift valley, but soon found out that they were building an extension to hold more volunteers!!!! I couldn't believe it when they told me, they are being soo greedy, they already have 2 that shouldn't be there, they are soo corrupt but what goes around comes around. After the whoha when i arrived, i told VICDA just what i thought of them and told them that if they wished to keep sending volunteers to Saikeri they had to patch things over with the school and sort out where the volunteers would be living. so when the new teacher arrived the other day she went to live with one of the teachers!! not in our house ooohhhhh you should have seen mamas face when i told her, she is sooooo pissed she just spent money building this extension thinking that it would be paid off as soon as the next Vol arrived as they get so much money but now they are sending them elsewhere! She got straight on the phone to the guy at VICDA who has been doing this dodgy deal with her and i heard my name mentioned, whoops... She has been a right old bat to me and Adrian since, we have nicknamed her the wicked stepmother! We call ourselves cinderella as she trys to make us do all the cooking and cleaning! Adrian came home the other day and she threw a cabbage at her and said DO IT ( as in cook it 4 dinner) Adrian just said no, and we went next door to her rivals house and ate the forbidden (she has told us we cannot eat there)food, it was soooo good. Mama nashipae is a really terrible cook, one of the reasons i came to town was to eat somthing other than Ugali (flour and water) and potato's. Since we ate at mama marys she won't talk to us. It is actually quite hilarious, sometimes i feel like i am on a reality show and that this isn't really happening. i brought home onions they other day so we could add some flavour to our meals, but when it came time to cook there were no onions as she had sold them in her shop! It is so funny we are in this constant back and forth of pretending we all love each other then doing things behind each others back. It sounds awful but it is more funny than anything else. She says she will miss us when we go and i think she means it, we have certainly made things interesting, and secretly i think she likes the drama, people in town have told us she is crazy and i am starting to believe it.