"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered."-Nelson Mandela
After one long journey I am back at home.
We left Peace House on Wednesday Aug 18 and had a 9 hour bus ride back to the coast. We presented our research projects to a handful of University of Dar professors on Thursday. Jarod presented first. We thought things were going well until the Dar professors started tearing into everyone after their presentation. They were ruthless! There were actually no bad comments after my presentation (I was sweating) probably becasue it was perfect. Haha- but I think they like it becasue it was sort of technical and had something to do with thier definition of engineering. These guys were definetly easier on the American students and were totally ok with ripping the Tanzanian students apart. After everyone presented, a professor did tell us that everyone did well, and this was just thier way of showing their support....good grief.
We said goodbye to Joel after we had lunch that day. He was not able to go to Zanzibar with us because he had to travel home to visit his mother who was ill. The rest of the remaining group had our last dinner (thank heavens) at Chickin Hut in Dar, then got on the boat to Zanzibar at 6 am on Friday.
We arrived on the tropical island around 9:30 and had breakfast. This place is paradise. Think white sand beaches, palm trees, sun, heat, blue-green water and local fisherman scattered across the sea. After we ate, we headed to the Tembo Hotel- the place where Kurt had made reservations for a night. This hotel was beautiful- arabic decorating, big pool, and it was on the beach. Too bad we never got to use the facilities. Apparently we didn't have reservations (even though the prof. talked to them on the phone AND e-mailed them). We figure that they booted us becasue we only wanted to stay there one night. So the Tembo Hotel recommended another hotel and we ended up staying there. It was also super nice, and I got a queen size bed to myself!
We walked around Stone Town (where we got off the boat) on Friday and on Saturday we ventured off to the east side of the island to the beaches. We got on a Dalla Dalla in Stone Town that was headed to our hotel. The Dalla experience is different on Zanzibar becasue you are pretty much sitting in the back of a flatbed truck that is covered and has benches. The ride was great- until we got about 15 minutes outside of town. I swear they just cram as many people as possible into these public transportation devices! Bryna and I were practiacally sitting on top of one another, and my back was jammed into a wooden post. Soon after I lost feeling in my legs. I guess it's all part of the experience...
An hour and a half later we arrived at our resort. Talk about my wildest dreams! (Thanks NSF). We stayed in little huts on the beach and ate delicious meals in the lodge. We went swimming in the ocean, tried to teach Damson how to swim, and Patty and I took advantage of the pool. I finally got my few hours of sun on the beach in this summer!
None of us wanted to leave the next morning. If I had my way, you would be able to find me still laying under one of the cabana's on the beach. But we headed back to the port and got on the boat back to Dar. Patty, Bryna, Kurt and I picked up our bags that we had left at Damson's house and all of us headed to the airport. Bryna and I left first to go to Nairobi, Kenya then on to London. All of our flights went off without a hitch and we made it home safely.
In the words of Damson and Cara's attemted Swahili translation: 'Hapana Mwisho'- it is not the end. I hope I get to see all of my Tanzanian friends again. This trip was life changing and an awesome experience. We are so lucky and aught to be thankful for all that we have, becasue many other people we share this earth with aren't as fortunate.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Nane Nane
Yesterday was Nane Nane (eight eight- as in the eighth day of the eighth month), the agricultural holiday in Tanzania. We went into town around 2:30 pm and headed to the fair grounds after a short stop at the local craft market.
The fairgrounds are HUGE, and admission was 1,000 Tanzanian shillings, which is equivalent to about $0.80 US. I am so glad we got to experience this because I feel like we really got a taste for an African fair. We went to the fairgrounds on Thursday this week mostly to just check it out- as the holiday runs for about a week and there were a lot less people there and we were able to talk to many organizations that had booths set up. We learned much about local cook stoves, cashew harvesting, the national parks, drip irrigation and some about the water supply in Arusha.
On Saturday, there were so many people there and it was super dusty from everyone walking around. It was much crazier than earlier in the week. There was a traffic jam about 1.5 miles away from the fair grounds so it took us awhile to get there- but totally worth it! We walked around and were attracted to a stage that had performers dancing and singing. Then they started to advertise condoms. Of course Patty, Bryna and I had no idea what was going on, it had to be translated by Damson. Apparently this kind of thing is common at fairs in Africa. It was pretty entertaining.
We left the fair grounds around 6 pm. We made our way to an expensive little coffee shop to get something to drink. After we had our lemon and mint juice (yummy) we witnessed thieves running down the road. People were shouting 'mwizi' (thief) and a huge crowd was chasing after these men. It was quite a sight, and there was more than one mwizi running down the road. Apparently Nane Nane is a huge time for thieves to make a killing. Don't worry- all of us are safe and still have all of our belongings.
The pictures in the previous post are:
One of the sand filters I have created in a water bottle to show the students how water can become cleaner just by filtering through the earth. I think it will be more entertaining to show this little experiment to the Biology teacher here at Peace House. He didn't believe me when I told him that water is naturally filtered by seeping through the many layers of the earth.
The other pictures are of some of the Form 1 girls here at the school. I was hanging out with them on Friday afternoon while we were watching the boys soccer team beat a team from the other side of town. They were pretty hilarious, and one of them loved touching my "soft" hair. I told them I need a hair cut, but they told me that I needed to grow it out longer to be beautiful. I think that most of them are still bitter about having to have short hair here, per school rules. One of my new friends also informed me that I had let the sun ruin my nose- apparently my freckles are noticeable.
Good news: Harry Potter 6 is coming to the Arusha cinema next week and everyone in our group is pshyced! We have been busy catching up on all the previous Harrry Potter movies from a ridiculous copy we bought on the street.
Only 2 weeks left in Tanzania!
The fairgrounds are HUGE, and admission was 1,000 Tanzanian shillings, which is equivalent to about $0.80 US. I am so glad we got to experience this because I feel like we really got a taste for an African fair. We went to the fairgrounds on Thursday this week mostly to just check it out- as the holiday runs for about a week and there were a lot less people there and we were able to talk to many organizations that had booths set up. We learned much about local cook stoves, cashew harvesting, the national parks, drip irrigation and some about the water supply in Arusha.
On Saturday, there were so many people there and it was super dusty from everyone walking around. It was much crazier than earlier in the week. There was a traffic jam about 1.5 miles away from the fair grounds so it took us awhile to get there- but totally worth it! We walked around and were attracted to a stage that had performers dancing and singing. Then they started to advertise condoms. Of course Patty, Bryna and I had no idea what was going on, it had to be translated by Damson. Apparently this kind of thing is common at fairs in Africa. It was pretty entertaining.
We left the fair grounds around 6 pm. We made our way to an expensive little coffee shop to get something to drink. After we had our lemon and mint juice (yummy) we witnessed thieves running down the road. People were shouting 'mwizi' (thief) and a huge crowd was chasing after these men. It was quite a sight, and there was more than one mwizi running down the road. Apparently Nane Nane is a huge time for thieves to make a killing. Don't worry- all of us are safe and still have all of our belongings.
The pictures in the previous post are:
One of the sand filters I have created in a water bottle to show the students how water can become cleaner just by filtering through the earth. I think it will be more entertaining to show this little experiment to the Biology teacher here at Peace House. He didn't believe me when I told him that water is naturally filtered by seeping through the many layers of the earth.
The other pictures are of some of the Form 1 girls here at the school. I was hanging out with them on Friday afternoon while we were watching the boys soccer team beat a team from the other side of town. They were pretty hilarious, and one of them loved touching my "soft" hair. I told them I need a hair cut, but they told me that I needed to grow it out longer to be beautiful. I think that most of them are still bitter about having to have short hair here, per school rules. One of my new friends also informed me that I had let the sun ruin my nose- apparently my freckles are noticeable.
Good news: Harry Potter 6 is coming to the Arusha cinema next week and everyone in our group is pshyced! We have been busy catching up on all the previous Harrry Potter movies from a ridiculous copy we bought on the street.
Only 2 weeks left in Tanzania!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Desperate Researchers...
Well, it's official. The girls house is hooked on Desperate Housewives. No we don't have a TV, but Divina conveniently has all the seasons saved on her computer. We are currently in Season 3 and watch a new episode in our free time. Maybe that should have been someones research project...
The internet at the school has been extremely slow lately, that's why I haven't been able to update the blog. But here is what has been happening:
I collected the water consumption data the Peace House students collected for me last week and I have been busy crunching numbers. I still have some data to run, but my current estimate is that an average student here uses about 55 liters of water per day. I am currently in the process of measuring the level in the waste water treatment pond every day. My research will not be done once I leave here, I need some serious internet time, and right now that is just not possible. The group is currently focusing on gathering all the research we need from the field, while we are physically in Tanzania, and then finish our reports once we are stateside- which is coming up faster than any of us would like!
Don't worry- it hasn't been all work. We definitely leave time to play. Last Friday we went into town and spent some time at the craft market and I picked up the jogging pants my parents sent me at the post office- thanks so much! Last Saturday we hung around campus during the day and Bryna, Joel and I ate in the dining hall. I think it was the most flavorless meal I have had here yet. We always have rice or ugali (like mashed potatoes, but made with corn flour) with beans, but this ugali and beans just tasted like mush. Yum....But dinner that night was much better becasue we went into town and had BBQ at Khan's- the guy who sells auto parts during the day, then turned his place into a restaurant at night. After dinner we went to a bar on top of the Arusha Backpackers Hotel to have a few drinks of Konyagi- Tanzanian gin. On Sunday a few of us went into town to attend serivce at Arusha Community Church, which was being led by some of our friends in the area. It was very nice and after the service I met a gentleman who had been living in the Arusha area for 12 years, but was born and raised in Laurium, MI and graduated from Finlandia University. It really is a small world...
The internet at the school has been extremely slow lately, that's why I haven't been able to update the blog. But here is what has been happening:
I collected the water consumption data the Peace House students collected for me last week and I have been busy crunching numbers. I still have some data to run, but my current estimate is that an average student here uses about 55 liters of water per day. I am currently in the process of measuring the level in the waste water treatment pond every day. My research will not be done once I leave here, I need some serious internet time, and right now that is just not possible. The group is currently focusing on gathering all the research we need from the field, while we are physically in Tanzania, and then finish our reports once we are stateside- which is coming up faster than any of us would like!
Don't worry- it hasn't been all work. We definitely leave time to play. Last Friday we went into town and spent some time at the craft market and I picked up the jogging pants my parents sent me at the post office- thanks so much! Last Saturday we hung around campus during the day and Bryna, Joel and I ate in the dining hall. I think it was the most flavorless meal I have had here yet. We always have rice or ugali (like mashed potatoes, but made with corn flour) with beans, but this ugali and beans just tasted like mush. Yum....But dinner that night was much better becasue we went into town and had BBQ at Khan's- the guy who sells auto parts during the day, then turned his place into a restaurant at night. After dinner we went to a bar on top of the Arusha Backpackers Hotel to have a few drinks of Konyagi- Tanzanian gin. On Sunday a few of us went into town to attend serivce at Arusha Community Church, which was being led by some of our friends in the area. It was very nice and after the service I met a gentleman who had been living in the Arusha area for 12 years, but was born and raised in Laurium, MI and graduated from Finlandia University. It really is a small world...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Oops...
On Sunday morning Divina, Bryna, Joel and I walked down to the classroom block to catch the staff transport that leaves around 9 am to go to into town to church. We got there about 10 minutes to 9, but there was no bus. We called the driver and he said they had left a half hour earlier to take one of the teacher's kids to the doctor. Gee- thanks for letting us know. But the driver said he would be back to get us in awhile. Awhile turned into 45 minutes, so we called him again. This time he said he had a flat tire (which was probably a lie so he wouldn't have to come get us). But we waited until 10:30 to see if he would show up. He didn't- so we gave up. As Joel said, "We were at church spritually."
For the rest of the morning, and part of the afternoon the Chui House (the leopard house where the girls live) watched Desperate Houswives. It's Divina's favorite show and she has all the seasons on her computer. We were soooooooo productive.....not.
Later we played some volleyball with some students and Bryna, Divina and I went on a run. When we got back to the school Bryna identified where the sewage smell we noticed earlier was coming from. One of the manholes for the sewer system was overflowing and raw sewage was bubbling up by the security station at the gate. I had Divina ask the gaurds how long it had been like this, and he said the system had been blocked up since Friday and it was blocked up on purpose. Of course it was blocked up on purpose- it was my idea. Good Heavens- my research project had raw sewage leaking in tot he road outside of Peace House property. Oops.
The maintenence guy that was going to block up the system was supposed to do it last Tuesday...but I guess on Tanzanian time that means 3 days later. I thought the experiement was complete crap (literally) because I had no way to measure how much sewage I had lost. I wanted to measure what volume of waste was entering the system per day. I didn't take a measurement and hoped that the system would be unplugged as soon as possible.
The good news is that I talked to the maintenence guy this morning and he has been taking measurements for the time that the system was blocked up- so it wasn't a total loss. Now I just have to see what kind of data he has.
Yesterday (Monday) we traveled to the village of Monduli, which is about 20 km west of Arusha. We met up with volunteers and workers of Global Service Core (a local NGO). They were in the village to build a hefier- which is a rain water catchment that can be used to irrigate crops in the dry season. Our group helped dig the 1m deep by 1.5 m wide by 4 m long trench that was going to be lined with plastic to store the rain water. I hope that this actually helps the family we built it for. We were actually in a Masaai village- the family who recieved this hefier was living in a small hut covered with leaves and had mud/dung walls. It was cool to see the Massaai warriors help dig the hole. The village elder made an appearance later in the morning and was talking to the warrior whose hut we were at in angry tones. Of course I couldn't understand anything since they were talking in Masaai, and it sounds like swahili, which I don't understand either. But the wife (or one of them anyway) of the warrior told us that the village elder/cheif was just a cranky old man and a corrupt leader and told us that we were doing a good thing helping them. The elder was just mad that no one consulted him first. Amends were made, and we stopped working and went into town for lunch around 2 pm. The hefier was about halfway done when we left and we came back to Peace House after lunch becasue we had a long ride in a Dalla from Monduli. We hope to get back out to the village and keep helping sometime later this week.
For the rest of the morning, and part of the afternoon the Chui House (the leopard house where the girls live) watched Desperate Houswives. It's Divina's favorite show and she has all the seasons on her computer. We were soooooooo productive.....not.
Later we played some volleyball with some students and Bryna, Divina and I went on a run. When we got back to the school Bryna identified where the sewage smell we noticed earlier was coming from. One of the manholes for the sewer system was overflowing and raw sewage was bubbling up by the security station at the gate. I had Divina ask the gaurds how long it had been like this, and he said the system had been blocked up since Friday and it was blocked up on purpose. Of course it was blocked up on purpose- it was my idea. Good Heavens- my research project had raw sewage leaking in tot he road outside of Peace House property. Oops.
The maintenence guy that was going to block up the system was supposed to do it last Tuesday...but I guess on Tanzanian time that means 3 days later. I thought the experiement was complete crap (literally) because I had no way to measure how much sewage I had lost. I wanted to measure what volume of waste was entering the system per day. I didn't take a measurement and hoped that the system would be unplugged as soon as possible.
The good news is that I talked to the maintenence guy this morning and he has been taking measurements for the time that the system was blocked up- so it wasn't a total loss. Now I just have to see what kind of data he has.
Yesterday (Monday) we traveled to the village of Monduli, which is about 20 km west of Arusha. We met up with volunteers and workers of Global Service Core (a local NGO). They were in the village to build a hefier- which is a rain water catchment that can be used to irrigate crops in the dry season. Our group helped dig the 1m deep by 1.5 m wide by 4 m long trench that was going to be lined with plastic to store the rain water. I hope that this actually helps the family we built it for. We were actually in a Masaai village- the family who recieved this hefier was living in a small hut covered with leaves and had mud/dung walls. It was cool to see the Massaai warriors help dig the hole. The village elder made an appearance later in the morning and was talking to the warrior whose hut we were at in angry tones. Of course I couldn't understand anything since they were talking in Masaai, and it sounds like swahili, which I don't understand either. But the wife (or one of them anyway) of the warrior told us that the village elder/cheif was just a cranky old man and a corrupt leader and told us that we were doing a good thing helping them. The elder was just mad that no one consulted him first. Amends were made, and we stopped working and went into town for lunch around 2 pm. The hefier was about halfway done when we left and we came back to Peace House after lunch becasue we had a long ride in a Dalla from Monduli. We hope to get back out to the village and keep helping sometime later this week.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Our group got considerably smaller on Wednesday morning. There are only 8 of us left now. And now I have my own bedroom! That afternoon I went to Mr. Peter's biology classes and talked to the students about water consumption. I told Mr. Peter that I would only need about 15 minutes of his class time, but of course he didn't prepare any lesson that day, so I improvised. I have had the students help me count how much water they use everyday here at school. I hope I get good data so I can calculate how much water an average student at Peace House uses. The kids are stressed out because they have exams all next week, but hopefully they have been filling out the notecards I have given them!
Today we went to the school's rugby match and Peace House dominated! I never realized rugby was so violent. I also realized it has been quite some time since I have been on a bus with a bunch of high schoolers. They were going nuts singing/screaming on the way back from the country club where they play. Tomorrow a few of us are planning on going into town to go to church- should be a cool experience!
Today we went to the school's rugby match and Peace House dominated! I never realized rugby was so violent. I also realized it has been quite some time since I have been on a bus with a bunch of high schoolers. They were going nuts singing/screaming on the way back from the country club where they play. Tomorrow a few of us are planning on going into town to go to church- should be a cool experience!
The great difference between voyages rests not with the ships, but with the people you meet on them.
Talking to Form 2 Biology Classes (thanks Kurt) and pictures of children we passed on the way to the orphanage (thanks Robyn)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Pole Pole (slowly)
The pictures are all that would load for now. I'll get more up when the internet is cooperating.
Hakuna Matata!
It means no worries! Everything is fantastic here in Tanzania- just got back from safari and research is going strong!
This past weekend our entire group (minus one Tanzanian student) went on safari to Ngorongoro Crater and to Tarangire National Park. We left Peace House at 9 am on Friday and headed into town to buy a park pass. We didn't leave town until about 11 am because we had to change money about a thousand times. If you are not Tanzanian and want to buy admission into any of the parks in this country you have to pay in US currency. Of course all of us don't just carry around $200 US cash, so we had to use the atm, which spits out shillings, then go to the change bureau and get it changed into dollars. What a fiasco! We all spent more money than we planned on this trip- but it was totally worth it!
We got to our lodge/camp on Friday afternoon and went on a sunset hike up a big hill. Then we were served a huge 3 course dinner. All of us had rooms with bathrooms except for Jarod who had a tent to himself (if you don't count the fleas). On Saturday morning we had breakfast at 6:30 and headed to the crater. This crater was formed by an explosion of a mountain larger than Kilimanjaro. Now, it is home to many animals and one of the two places you can see about ten of the 20 Black Rhino that are left on earth. We saw two of them! We also saw mating lions, tons of zebra, fighting wildebeests, hyenas, cheetahs, hippos, one really old elephant, water buffalo, and a bunch of other things I shot- with my camera of course! It is really dry in the crater and we were so dusty afterward from all of the safari vehicles kicking up dust.
On Sunday we left the lodge (and the good cooking) and headed back toward Arusha to Tarangire National Park. The crater was dry and open with no trees and Tarangire was dry, but there were many acacia and upside down trees. There was also a river the animals used for watering. Our group had two land rovers and each car had a driver. Our driver/guide- Alphi- heard about a leopard sighting over the radio. At this point the leopard was the only animal out of the Big 5 that we hadn't seen! I stand corrected from my last post- the Big 5 are: elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo. This is because they are the most sought after by big game hunters. At 10:15 am our vehicle won the race in our group to see the Big 5! A leopard was hanging out in between a termite mound and a tree. It was kind of hard to see him in the tall grass, but he had the fur of a cheetah and the body of a lion. Way cool! Alphi said we were very lucky see all that we did. We saw many elephants, zebra, wildebeest, monkeys, and the coolest thing we saw were 3 lionesses and a lion after they had eaten their kill. You could tell they were really full- pretty much just napping under a tree with the carcass of a buffalo near by. 2 of the lionesses got up to get a drink and walked 3 feet from our car to cross the road to go get a drink. Scary! They definitely are the kings of the jungle!
We got back from safari on Sunday night and I made HUGE progress with my research yesterday. I am going to teach students about water consumption tomorrow in biology class in order for them to help me collect data on how much water they use. I also got more information about the wetland system from Andre- the school's grounds keeper and the person who built the system. He said they would stop up the sewage flow for me today in order to determine how much waste is entering the system, but now it is 2:30pm and it hasn't happened yet, so I have an idea that it might not happen today. Tanzanian time is def. slower than the pace I am used to.
Tonight we are going into town for pizza to celebrate the going-away of part of our group. Dave, a professor, Melanie, Dave's girlfriend, and Robyn and Kat (U of Minn.) are heading back to Dar es Salaam to catch flights back to the States on Wed. and Thurs. Our group will almost be cut in half and it will be a big change without them. Time has been flying, and I have been learning so much!
This past weekend our entire group (minus one Tanzanian student) went on safari to Ngorongoro Crater and to Tarangire National Park. We left Peace House at 9 am on Friday and headed into town to buy a park pass. We didn't leave town until about 11 am because we had to change money about a thousand times. If you are not Tanzanian and want to buy admission into any of the parks in this country you have to pay in US currency. Of course all of us don't just carry around $200 US cash, so we had to use the atm, which spits out shillings, then go to the change bureau and get it changed into dollars. What a fiasco! We all spent more money than we planned on this trip- but it was totally worth it!
We got to our lodge/camp on Friday afternoon and went on a sunset hike up a big hill. Then we were served a huge 3 course dinner. All of us had rooms with bathrooms except for Jarod who had a tent to himself (if you don't count the fleas). On Saturday morning we had breakfast at 6:30 and headed to the crater. This crater was formed by an explosion of a mountain larger than Kilimanjaro. Now, it is home to many animals and one of the two places you can see about ten of the 20 Black Rhino that are left on earth. We saw two of them! We also saw mating lions, tons of zebra, fighting wildebeests, hyenas, cheetahs, hippos, one really old elephant, water buffalo, and a bunch of other things I shot- with my camera of course! It is really dry in the crater and we were so dusty afterward from all of the safari vehicles kicking up dust.
On Sunday we left the lodge (and the good cooking) and headed back toward Arusha to Tarangire National Park. The crater was dry and open with no trees and Tarangire was dry, but there were many acacia and upside down trees. There was also a river the animals used for watering. Our group had two land rovers and each car had a driver. Our driver/guide- Alphi- heard about a leopard sighting over the radio. At this point the leopard was the only animal out of the Big 5 that we hadn't seen! I stand corrected from my last post- the Big 5 are: elephant, lion, leopard, rhino and buffalo. This is because they are the most sought after by big game hunters. At 10:15 am our vehicle won the race in our group to see the Big 5! A leopard was hanging out in between a termite mound and a tree. It was kind of hard to see him in the tall grass, but he had the fur of a cheetah and the body of a lion. Way cool! Alphi said we were very lucky see all that we did. We saw many elephants, zebra, wildebeest, monkeys, and the coolest thing we saw were 3 lionesses and a lion after they had eaten their kill. You could tell they were really full- pretty much just napping under a tree with the carcass of a buffalo near by. 2 of the lionesses got up to get a drink and walked 3 feet from our car to cross the road to go get a drink. Scary! They definitely are the kings of the jungle!
We got back from safari on Sunday night and I made HUGE progress with my research yesterday. I am going to teach students about water consumption tomorrow in biology class in order for them to help me collect data on how much water they use. I also got more information about the wetland system from Andre- the school's grounds keeper and the person who built the system. He said they would stop up the sewage flow for me today in order to determine how much waste is entering the system, but now it is 2:30pm and it hasn't happened yet, so I have an idea that it might not happen today. Tanzanian time is def. slower than the pace I am used to.
Tonight we are going into town for pizza to celebrate the going-away of part of our group. Dave, a professor, Melanie, Dave's girlfriend, and Robyn and Kat (U of Minn.) are heading back to Dar es Salaam to catch flights back to the States on Wed. and Thurs. Our group will almost be cut in half and it will be a big change without them. Time has been flying, and I have been learning so much!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Finally- a research project!
One word- HUMANURE. It will save us all.
On Monday we visited an orphanage-in-progress that is run by an Australian NGO called "Food, Water, Shelter." It is located outside of town in a small village and it was probably one of the best days of my life as a student. Why? Becasue I learned about an awesome composting latrine design and got to use one that is similar to what I have been dreaming about for the past 2.5 years...
Most of the buildings on the orphanage site are almost complete, and they hope to start moving orphans in sometime in August. The design about every aspect of this place is completely sustainable and green design. Their excellent features included: 45 rainwater storage tanks under the buildings to collect the water from the roof. The overflow from these tanks runs into a man-made aquifer for extra storage. They have fishponds that are full of tilapia (used for eating) and the water from the ponds can be pumped onto the garden, which is rot a tilled by placing a chicken coop over the bed after the veggies have been harvested. The chicken's feet aerate the soil and work their poop in as fertilizer. Food, Water, Shelter will produce biogas for cooking fuel with the dung from their cattle. But the coolest feature was of course their composting latrines! There are 16 holes in the toilet block and each hole leads to its own black collection tank. A number of different sized mesh in the tank will catch solids and allow urine to seep out into banana circles (compost piles). Sawdust is added after every use. Once the tank is full it is moved aside to sit for 6 months. The right high temp. has to be obtained for bacteria to die. Apparently the manure they get from this is excellent for their crops!
On Tuesday I played rugby with the school team, it was my first time playing. I had no idea what was going on and spent most of practice trying to figure out the rules. I definitely like soccer better. Hopefully today I can practice with the team- if I can keep up. These kids are wicked fast!
The group has finally tired of eating ugali, rice and beans. So we have decided that every once and awhile each house will cook for the other house. Last night the guys house made delicious spaghetti and us girls brought over dessert. Patty made pineapple tarts and Kat and I made a chocolate cake with icing- so good!
I finally have my research project. Drumroll please... "Wastewater treatment at Peace House Secondary School; appropriate plants for wastewater treatment in Northern Tanzania." It sounds just like the title. I will studying the wastewater treatment system here at the school and hopefully getting the students involved in helping me collect data. I'm going to start taking measurements of the system this afternoon because tomorrow, Friday, we are leaving to spend the weekend on Safari! Hopefully when we get back I can post pictures of the BIG 5- hippo, lion, cheetah, buffalo and rhino!
On Monday we visited an orphanage-in-progress that is run by an Australian NGO called "Food, Water, Shelter." It is located outside of town in a small village and it was probably one of the best days of my life as a student. Why? Becasue I learned about an awesome composting latrine design and got to use one that is similar to what I have been dreaming about for the past 2.5 years...
Most of the buildings on the orphanage site are almost complete, and they hope to start moving orphans in sometime in August. The design about every aspect of this place is completely sustainable and green design. Their excellent features included: 45 rainwater storage tanks under the buildings to collect the water from the roof. The overflow from these tanks runs into a man-made aquifer for extra storage. They have fishponds that are full of tilapia (used for eating) and the water from the ponds can be pumped onto the garden, which is rot a tilled by placing a chicken coop over the bed after the veggies have been harvested. The chicken's feet aerate the soil and work their poop in as fertilizer. Food, Water, Shelter will produce biogas for cooking fuel with the dung from their cattle. But the coolest feature was of course their composting latrines! There are 16 holes in the toilet block and each hole leads to its own black collection tank. A number of different sized mesh in the tank will catch solids and allow urine to seep out into banana circles (compost piles). Sawdust is added after every use. Once the tank is full it is moved aside to sit for 6 months. The right high temp. has to be obtained for bacteria to die. Apparently the manure they get from this is excellent for their crops!
On Tuesday I played rugby with the school team, it was my first time playing. I had no idea what was going on and spent most of practice trying to figure out the rules. I definitely like soccer better. Hopefully today I can practice with the team- if I can keep up. These kids are wicked fast!
The group has finally tired of eating ugali, rice and beans. So we have decided that every once and awhile each house will cook for the other house. Last night the guys house made delicious spaghetti and us girls brought over dessert. Patty made pineapple tarts and Kat and I made a chocolate cake with icing- so good!
I finally have my research project. Drumroll please... "Wastewater treatment at Peace House Secondary School; appropriate plants for wastewater treatment in Northern Tanzania." It sounds just like the title. I will studying the wastewater treatment system here at the school and hopefully getting the students involved in helping me collect data. I'm going to start taking measurements of the system this afternoon because tomorrow, Friday, we are leaving to spend the weekend on Safari! Hopefully when we get back I can post pictures of the BIG 5- hippo, lion, cheetah, buffalo and rhino!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Weekend at Peace House
We went out to dinner at my new favorite restaraunt on Friday night. It's called Khan's Barbeque. This Indian guy named Khan runs an auto-repair shop out of his store front by day, and at 6pm every night (even holidays he told us) he starts up his grill on the street and his shop turns into a BBQ joint. It was delicious! He had a sort of salad bar with spicy sauces and some veggies. Then he brought us huge plates of fries, bread, Zanzibar pizza, beef, mutton and chicken. I was so happy to eat meat! We eat beans almost everyday at Peace House. Khan's motto was "Chicken on the Bonnet" (as in hood of a car) so the next time we go there we are going to propose the idea that he should actually stick his grill in the hood of a car. Pretty sweet, huh?
Saturday was pretty relaxing until Bryna drug me out for an intense run. We ran outside the school's property and had a great view of Kilimanjaro. That night we all played a hilarious game of cherades.
On Sunday morning I ate my cereal on our porch and listened to the students worshiping in the dining hall. It was beautiful. Until we heard girls let out bloodcurling screams from outside the hall. I seriously thought that someone was in mortifying pain. Soon after Bryna and I walked down to try to use the internet and one of the teachers had taken 4 girls to the campus gazebo and was yelling/ preaching to them (in Swahili so I didn't understand what was going on). Every girl was individually pulled aside by the teacher and would start screaming after he was yelling at them. From where we were standing we couldn't tell if this man was choking the girls or if he just had his hands on their heads. Soon after, we found out that this is the way the students renounce their demons. I really hope that they got all of their demons out today, because I never want to hear those haunting screams again.
Saturday was pretty relaxing until Bryna drug me out for an intense run. We ran outside the school's property and had a great view of Kilimanjaro. That night we all played a hilarious game of cherades.
On Sunday morning I ate my cereal on our porch and listened to the students worshiping in the dining hall. It was beautiful. Until we heard girls let out bloodcurling screams from outside the hall. I seriously thought that someone was in mortifying pain. Soon after Bryna and I walked down to try to use the internet and one of the teachers had taken 4 girls to the campus gazebo and was yelling/ preaching to them (in Swahili so I didn't understand what was going on). Every girl was individually pulled aside by the teacher and would start screaming after he was yelling at them. From where we were standing we couldn't tell if this man was choking the girls or if he just had his hands on their heads. Soon after, we found out that this is the way the students renounce their demons. I really hope that they got all of their demons out today, because I never want to hear those haunting screams again.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Arusha Nite Life
Last night we went to a restaurant, Via Via, to have some drinks and listen to reggae. This was our first time experiencing the hoppin' Arusha night life. We danced with drunk tourists and the locals. It was a ton of fun- but not all play. I met a woman in the bathroom from South Carolina who is working with an NGO here focused on business and micro-financing. I got her contact information as it might help with some of our research here. Funny how connections are made.
We have just been hanging around the school for most of the week, and will be here this weekend. Next week I will hopefully start moving forward with my research projects. Right now I am thinking that I will assess the funciton of the school's wastewater treatment system which is supposed to be a wetland system. I also want to look at the springs in a local village that people use for drinking water, and see if their coffee bean shelling process has an effect on their water supply.
On Wednesday we attended Peace House's opening flag raising ceremony for the second semester. Saying the school has no religious affiliation would probably be lying since the kids pray before and after everymeal, and someone gave a sermon about obidience at the ceremony. Alot of fire and brimstone stuff. Later that morning a group of us went into town to attend some of the Rwanda trials. The East African International conference center is located in Arusha, and that is where the United Nations have taken up court as the Rwanda Trials Tribunal. All we had to do is show our passports and we got to sit in the gallery. Not too much happened as they weren't sentencing that day and only got through one witness before lunch time. After lunch we went to the craft market and I was searching for a certain fabric for a skirt I had seen a woman wearing last week. It had a picture of a choo on it. A choo is a toilet. How fantastic would it be to wear a skirt with a toilet on it! Amazing right?! Don't worry all the women in the stalls who had their wares for sale were laughing at me too...But one shop owner named Victor is hopefully on the hunt for that pattern for me, and it would make my day!
We have just been hanging around the school for most of the week, and will be here this weekend. Next week I will hopefully start moving forward with my research projects. Right now I am thinking that I will assess the funciton of the school's wastewater treatment system which is supposed to be a wetland system. I also want to look at the springs in a local village that people use for drinking water, and see if their coffee bean shelling process has an effect on their water supply.
On Wednesday we attended Peace House's opening flag raising ceremony for the second semester. Saying the school has no religious affiliation would probably be lying since the kids pray before and after everymeal, and someone gave a sermon about obidience at the ceremony. Alot of fire and brimstone stuff. Later that morning a group of us went into town to attend some of the Rwanda trials. The East African International conference center is located in Arusha, and that is where the United Nations have taken up court as the Rwanda Trials Tribunal. All we had to do is show our passports and we got to sit in the gallery. Not too much happened as they weren't sentencing that day and only got through one witness before lunch time. After lunch we went to the craft market and I was searching for a certain fabric for a skirt I had seen a woman wearing last week. It had a picture of a choo on it. A choo is a toilet. How fantastic would it be to wear a skirt with a toilet on it! Amazing right?! Don't worry all the women in the stalls who had their wares for sale were laughing at me too...But one shop owner named Victor is hopefully on the hunt for that pattern for me, and it would make my day!
Peace House Secondary School
Pictures are of: a classroom block of the school. Currently only the second floor classrooms are used. The library is also on the second floor and the librarian, Susan- a Canadian, is busy trying to get it ready for use. I helped her out yesterday by organizing National Geographic magazines for the students in the dorms. The view of our meeting hut/grilling place from my house. My bedroom I share with Divina, a Tanzanian student. The last photo is of our living room looking into the kitchen.
Arusha National Park!!!
It was a great day to see Kilimanjaro. Notice how scary she looks behind me! Look closely- the mountain looks like clouds and is in the top left hand corner of the picture. All the animals were willing to pose for pictures.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Safari!
Yesterday we went on a day safari to Arusha National Park. It was incredible! Within 3 minutes we were driving on the park road we saw giraffe, zebra, water buffalo and warthogs. We also saw some monkeys, flamingos, lots of other birds and some rabit looking rodents. Bryna saw a hippo in a lake, but it went underwater before the rest of us could see it. Hopefully I can post pictures soon.
We had a rocking 4th of July party on Saturday. I don't think I have ever been around a group of people so excited to celebrate the 4th. Maybe we just needed a reason to throw a party. We made peanut butter cookies, deviled eggs, potato salad, brats, burgers, fresh guacamole (the avacoadoes here are awesome!), and Patty made a pie. We are getting really good at making baked goods with our tempermental gas oven and no recipies. We played a competitive game of ultimate frisbee and some volleyball with local friends from town. There were about 20 of us!
The Peace House campus isn't so quiet anymore- the students arrived last night and are currently in their first day of class after their break. Tomorrow is an industrial holiday, Saba Saba (Seven, Seven), which takes place mostly in Dar so nothing is really going on in Arusha, except the kids don't have class.
We have made research progress last week with many organizations. This afternoon we will go visit Potter's village again and hopefully look at their water systems. We are supposed to have our finalized research project ideas in 2 weeks. I'm curious to see how this turns out!
We had a rocking 4th of July party on Saturday. I don't think I have ever been around a group of people so excited to celebrate the 4th. Maybe we just needed a reason to throw a party. We made peanut butter cookies, deviled eggs, potato salad, brats, burgers, fresh guacamole (the avacoadoes here are awesome!), and Patty made a pie. We are getting really good at making baked goods with our tempermental gas oven and no recipies. We played a competitive game of ultimate frisbee and some volleyball with local friends from town. There were about 20 of us!
The Peace House campus isn't so quiet anymore- the students arrived last night and are currently in their first day of class after their break. Tomorrow is an industrial holiday, Saba Saba (Seven, Seven), which takes place mostly in Dar so nothing is really going on in Arusha, except the kids don't have class.
We have made research progress last week with many organizations. This afternoon we will go visit Potter's village again and hopefully look at their water systems. We are supposed to have our finalized research project ideas in 2 weeks. I'm curious to see how this turns out!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Our Posh Pad
This is the volunteer house that we are staying in at Peace House Secondary School, Arusha Tanzania. The 6 women are staying in this house and the 5 men have a similar house right next to us. I was so excited to use my hammock I put it up the first day we got here and we use it all the time!
Swimming
We went swimming in the Indian Ocean in Dar! This is the exclusive beach resort Joel (a Tanzanian student) took us to on our last day on the coast.
Traveling
I finally have some time to try to get some pictures up! This is of Buckingham Palace in London!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Research has begun!
Last Friday, after my troubles with the bank (thank goodness I had cash on me) I had my first experience in an African bank. I waited in line for 40 minutes, which wasn't so bad since it was air conditioned. The money exchange went fine- apparently I didn't have fraudulent bills on me!
After the bank we went on a tour of Dar es Salaam with one of the Tanzanian students, Joel, who is working with us. He took us to the market, a fish market, lunch and then we visited a fancy resort and swam in the Indian ocean! It was much warmer than I would have expected, about 70 degrees, and wasn't as refreshing as I had hoped it would be.
On Saturday we were at the Dar es Salaam bus station by 6:45am. Our bus, Fresh Coach (as shady as it sounds), didn't leave until 8:15am. We arrived in Arusha at 7:30pm and were picked up by Peace House Secondary School staff and taken to our place of residence for the next 2 months.
All I can say is- don't feel sorry for us here in Africa. We are definitely NOT staying in huts with dirt floors. Our group of 13 is staying in two separate houses (one for boys and one for girls). Our food is provided, fridge stocked with beer, someone does our laundry, we have electricity (and solar power when it goes out), running water, and super comfy beds! I set up my hammock right outside of our front door so we can lay in it and read or take in the beautiful view of Mt. Meru. The students of the secodary school are currently on vacation, but will return next Monday. We have already met some of the teachers, who started work yesterday. The entire property is fenced in and there are security gaurds on duty 24/7 so we are definetly safe.
Research began yesterday, Monday, with a few phone calls and our first trip into the city. Before we could even orient ourselves once we got off our bus, street guys surrounded us and wouldn't leave us alone. It got old real fast...My research group's first lead was a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that helped empower women. Our contact led us to an office in a bank. Again I found myself waiting in a bank for 40 minutes. We found out that this NGO had nothing to do with public health, or any other research to pursue. I have a feeling many of our leads will end up as this one did.
Today we have had much more luck. We took the school's bus in at 6:30 am to attend meetings with NGO's that we set up yesterday. After our second meeting at 10:30 we were led to a village by a woman who worked for this agricultural and renewable energy organization. We met with a village potter who showed us how to make a flower pot and showed us all of the indoor cook stoves he made and uses in his kitchen (outdoors of course). The woman who took us here seems willing to show us around to other villages- which we are very excited about. I am suprised we have made so much headway so soon! Hopefully it keeps up. I am learning some swahili, but it is still frustrating to not know what is going on in certain situations.
Haven't seen any lions yet, and we hope to plan our touristy adventures soon and a 4th of July party!
After the bank we went on a tour of Dar es Salaam with one of the Tanzanian students, Joel, who is working with us. He took us to the market, a fish market, lunch and then we visited a fancy resort and swam in the Indian ocean! It was much warmer than I would have expected, about 70 degrees, and wasn't as refreshing as I had hoped it would be.
On Saturday we were at the Dar es Salaam bus station by 6:45am. Our bus, Fresh Coach (as shady as it sounds), didn't leave until 8:15am. We arrived in Arusha at 7:30pm and were picked up by Peace House Secondary School staff and taken to our place of residence for the next 2 months.
All I can say is- don't feel sorry for us here in Africa. We are definitely NOT staying in huts with dirt floors. Our group of 13 is staying in two separate houses (one for boys and one for girls). Our food is provided, fridge stocked with beer, someone does our laundry, we have electricity (and solar power when it goes out), running water, and super comfy beds! I set up my hammock right outside of our front door so we can lay in it and read or take in the beautiful view of Mt. Meru. The students of the secodary school are currently on vacation, but will return next Monday. We have already met some of the teachers, who started work yesterday. The entire property is fenced in and there are security gaurds on duty 24/7 so we are definetly safe.
Research began yesterday, Monday, with a few phone calls and our first trip into the city. Before we could even orient ourselves once we got off our bus, street guys surrounded us and wouldn't leave us alone. It got old real fast...My research group's first lead was a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that helped empower women. Our contact led us to an office in a bank. Again I found myself waiting in a bank for 40 minutes. We found out that this NGO had nothing to do with public health, or any other research to pursue. I have a feeling many of our leads will end up as this one did.
Today we have had much more luck. We took the school's bus in at 6:30 am to attend meetings with NGO's that we set up yesterday. After our second meeting at 10:30 we were led to a village by a woman who worked for this agricultural and renewable energy organization. We met with a village potter who showed us how to make a flower pot and showed us all of the indoor cook stoves he made and uses in his kitchen (outdoors of course). The woman who took us here seems willing to show us around to other villages- which we are very excited about. I am suprised we have made so much headway so soon! Hopefully it keeps up. I am learning some swahili, but it is still frustrating to not know what is going on in certain situations.
Haven't seen any lions yet, and we hope to plan our touristy adventures soon and a 4th of July party!
Tips for the International Traveler
1) Always make sure to bring enough money. Apparently one credit card isn't an option. Especially when your bank decides that someone is trying to hack into your account and abruptly cancels your card. Whoever wanted my money should know that I don't have much and it wouldn't get you very far...Gee thanks Bank of America.
2) Bring plenty of sunscreen. Don't worry Mom, I have plenty. But they do not sell sunblock in countries whose people have dark skin for obvious reasons.
3) Smile. The facial expression goes a long way. If you are reading this, you have internet access which puts you ahead of at least 90% of the world. Look around- you are doing way better than most people could even hope for...
2) Bring plenty of sunscreen. Don't worry Mom, I have plenty. But they do not sell sunblock in countries whose people have dark skin for obvious reasons.
3) Smile. The facial expression goes a long way. If you are reading this, you have internet access which puts you ahead of at least 90% of the world. Look around- you are doing way better than most people could even hope for...
Thursday, June 25, 2009
1 More Day in Dar!
We made it to Tanzania just fine. Of course my luggage didn't show up until a day later, but its a good thing I brought extra clothes. On the way here, Bryna and I were able to get out in London and explored Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Palace. I guess the Queen was out because she didn't ask us in for tea...maybe next time!
We are staying in a hotel near the University of Dar es Salaam. It's very nice, has air conditioning in the form of a fan and even continental breakfast- bread and jam, eggs and watermellon. We leave the city on Saturday to travel to Arusha where we will spend the rest of our time. I hope to write more soon!
We are staying in a hotel near the University of Dar es Salaam. It's very nice, has air conditioning in the form of a fan and even continental breakfast- bread and jam, eggs and watermellon. We leave the city on Saturday to travel to Arusha where we will spend the rest of our time. I hope to write more soon!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Leaving in less than 42 hours!
It's hard to believe this trip is here already. I'm all packed (well, mostly) and just have to celebrate Phil's graduation tomorrow. I leave from Detroit at 9:30 am on Sunday, hang out with Whit in Minneapolis until 9:30 pm then get on a plane to London. Bryna and I are planning on exploring the city during our 8 hour layover, then get on another plane to Nairobi, Kenya. We will meet up with our professors then go the last strech together, landing in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania around 10 am local time. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers for traveling- I'll try to keep this thing updated and upload pictures of the Serengeti.
I feel unprepared for this trip, but I don't know if anything can prepare someone for their first African adventure!
I feel unprepared for this trip, but I don't know if anything can prepare someone for their first African adventure!
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