From the roof of Africa to the whitesand shores and turquoise waters of Zanzibar, living and traveling in Tanzania almost feels like a dreamscape of incomparable sights and sounds. God has been gracious enough to give me a glimpse of this rich and bio-diverse land, along with many meaningful work and personal relationships and memorable experiences. In the past couple months, I’ve spent time in the capital city “Dar”, worked in Arusha, took 2 weeks of vacation to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro (Kili) and visit the tourist attractions of TZ with my family, and also went on several field site visits around Lake Victoria. I’m just now returning from Dar to Mwanza after a weeklong workshop of strategic planning and visioning with my colleagues to determine the new directions that my organization will take in TZ for the next 5 years. I’ve filled my time in between with reading, reflecting, and chillin’ with friends.
In December, a very close and dear Tanzanian friend of mine got into a car accident and I spent two weeks in Dar to help her with her recovery from a fractured vertebrae giving a bit of therapy and exercise. That was pretty scary since she lost total consciousness after being hit by a truck, which caused her car to flip over thrice. But angels were watching over and I got a chance to spend Christmas and New Years with her and her family, enjoying the beaches of Dar as well as a quiet office, catching up on some work. In January I went to the field to monitor the OVC/HIV project two times and to assist with trainings. I really enjoy being with my colleagues/partner group in the field, witnessing the positive work they are doing. I also come across disturbing situations. One lady, who claimed she was being punished by the “directors” (ie. gods of nature) seemed to be demoralized, hanging her head as she pointed out her little mini-sweat lodge with her dejected grandchildren looking on. Pretty sad actually b/c the kids are all vulnerable and not even getting enough food to eat or the chance to attend school during their grandmother’s period of self punishment. Other families however are making good use of their microloans and saving up to invest in new businesses. Sitting down over a cold beer, the staff from our partner organization recently told me they wish I could stay longer to work with them, so that was touching. I am already missing them. I’ve been blessed to have such an animated and dynamic supervisor along with supportive colleagues in the field.
I also went to Arusha in Jan. to visit 2 different sites to help document water projects (Gates Foundation and privately funded) via video/audio/foto methods and learned so much about how we are dealing with climate change/deforestation here along with working in schools and villages where whole people groups cannot access descent water or land to live on, partly b/c of unjust policies and land grabs. I helped guide the water team in assembling a documentary about the projects, which I hope will be out by the time I leave TZ. Of course, many thanks goes to my sister-in-law Kelly for her guidance on how to properly edit and document these stories. I also got a chance to visit a local lake, some pubs, and drive by the international criminal court on genocide from Rwanda, which is closing up now. Pretty chill town, with cool weather and truly an international flavor. It’s actually the center of Africa in terms of latitude. I visited a Masaai boma as well and learned how they are adapting to climate change, altering their lifestyle from pastoral to farming, which is a means of survival; no one is untouched!
While I was in Arusha, I climbed to the peak of Mt. Kili with 2 friends and 20 porters! This is the highest mountain in Africa standing at 19,850 feet and the tallest free standing mountain in the world, so it felt pretty amazing to get to the top, especially knowing that all the snow might be melted by 2025 b/c of deforestation at the foothills, which actually made that part a bit sad as we ascended, seeing only half the glaciers that I used to see from a distance as I child when I lived in Kenya. The highest point is called Uhuru “freedom” peak and it took 6 days to reach and 1 day to descend. The last 3000 feet before reaching the peak was really difficult b/c of the incline and the thin air, not to mention it involved a 7 hr hike with almost no sleep. Some people had to turn back before reaching the peak b/c of altitude sickness, but thankfully we were all able to make it to the top, although i should have prepared my body more than i did. I think b/c I was determined to reach my goal and also see the most amazing sunrise of my life (see the photos). It really felt as though I was peering into space looking over those massive glaciers named after different explorers and distant mountain ranges and vast seas of white clouds just below the peak. It was breathtaking just seeing such a deep blue sky and breathing such clean air. Nothing like it for sure! I really felt that I achieved a life goal and proud that I could make it after my dad had climbed it in the 1990s. So that was well worth the couple thousand dollars of savings I put into that and all the effort. We had a great team and an awesome guide who I ended up becoming good friends with. We had a lot of good conversations on the way up, learning about flora and fauna, walking through the rain forest, desert lands, low lying clouds and taking in the beautiful sights. It rained only 1 time and none of us got sick, thank God! Our neighbor’s tent at the base camp however was picked up by a dust storm and blew down the mountain several hundred feet, so that gave everyone a little scare. All in all, it was an incredible journey.
In February, I had the added bonus of getting another week off to tour through the Serengeti and Zanzibar with my mom, dad, and sister, who flew all the way out to see me and visit my home in Mwanza. We had an awesome time, seeing lots of wild game (even 3 leopards at the same tree) and swimming in the crystal clear water of Zanzibar. We went on a really cool spice tour, which is the claim to fame for the island since the days of when the Sultan of Oman ruled over this treasure trove of natural riches… learning about the agronomy and uses of cloves, vanilla bean, cinnamon bark, nutmeg, among others. Our well educated local tour guide also gave us an intense politico-historico-religious tour, teaching us such things as the disparities of taxation policies and mineral rights between the mainland and the island and the unique flavor of how Islam is practiced in this kick back tourist setting. To see an Indian man running a business with Black Tanzanians working for him and fully veiled women with Arab heritage and white tourists as customers might be common scene in the marketplace... a place of diversity and much tolerance where mosques and chapels are located side by side. Religious tolerance isn’t always prevalent in TZ b/c of political divisions and even historical bitterness of determining who actually owns what property when it comes to churches and schools. As a piece of trivia, the first building with electricity in Africa was in Stone Town, Zanzibar, a place ruled by the Portuguese, Brits, Omanis, and local tribes. This diverse set of “rulers” also brought a horrible legacy of slavery, but we were glad to see that there was a strong history of abolition on the island. Actually, when we were at the museum which discussed slavery, we ran into a former president of TZ who happened to be just strolling through the building. I almost said “shikamoo” to him which is a sign of respect here, but he didn’t look in my direction.
I especially enjoyed the annual music festival “Sauti Za Busara”= “Sounds of Wisdom” in this town, which is where we stayed. There were 40 African music/dance groups performing over 5 days at an old colonial fort, full of tourists and locals (mostly the former). I went with my dad and sister for one day to take in the sounds of Africa and watch the old and young people of all colors dance to the music. I can’t forget about the 2 hour boat trip that my dad and I made to a remote mini-island (frequented by Bill Gates and other heavy hitters) to go snorkeling, in which about 4 women got sea sick and puked for about 1 hour off the side into the deep blue sea! We finally made it to the reef and enjoyed the swim, but I don’t think I have ever seen sea water that purely blue with no sign of pollution, except for the puke of courseJ The sand on every beach seemed to be untouched and virgin, although I know the place is teeming with tourists… especially Italians for some reason. I hope to go back some day for sure.
Through work and personal relationships, I’ve learned a lot about myself, my strengths and weaknesses, my wishes for the future, and my professional skills. In mid Feb, my two supervisors and the country director gave me feedback via a six month evaluation and for the most part, I am doing well, except for a few minor things that can easily be adjusted. I’ve taken initiative on a few different innovations and suggested new ways of doing things within the organization, which were received well by some and not others, but I’m learning that working inside an NGO requires good communication and diplomacy when it comes to convincing people of new methods. I’m up against a larger structure and sometimes larger egos. Anyhoo, I’m learning and hope that I’ll get the support I need to move forward. I don’t know yet what the job opportunities are available with my organization or where they will place me next, but I wish for my time here to be longer since I feel I’ve connected so much with the land and the people already. It looks like I only have two more months left in country to complete my fellowship so I will make the best of what I have. I’ll be writing and editing a lot of documents, project documentation, learning finance and policies, and going on site visits. My hope is to continue working as a program manager, but some things are out of my control. Staying busy has been good for me and I feel pretty healthy, just tired sometimes. I’m just enjoying the time for what it is and learning to live in the here and now, seeing myself in new ways as well as people around me, building upon my vision for the future as to what might be possible in my life.
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