It has been a while since my last post! Nothing too new to report. Days are long,
in part because I make them that way. Trying to get some projects going. Right
 now,
I am starting a permagarden at the school/ behind my house. Permagardening is
the way to go. Crop yeilds can be 400% times greater than conventional methods.

Also, the major soda companies recently switched from using glass bottles to
plastic, which is kind of a shame. The plastic generally just gets burned in piles
around
the village and usually everyone ends of breathing some in. Sometimes it
drives me out of my house. Therefor, I am trying to find ways to reuse bottles.
One idea is to make water cisterns while another is to build ramps to school
classrooms for students with disabilities.

Another man in the village and I are also trying to procure funding to start a
class for donkey health and donkey care.

Many ideas going. No real headway yet. But keep at it and I suppose something
good will start to develop.

The American PCV who lived in thisvillage for the last 2 years has left and is
heading back to America. Yet another adjustment. Peace Corps is full of
adjustments.

I am tired and my battery will die soon. I melted the fuse in the voltage
 regulator
box here so I am back to limited computer use. Sorry for bad grammer/
mispellings
.. I will try to do a more indepth post next time... there is some cool stuff
happening that is worth talking about!

Thanks for reading- Jeff

A long post for those that are interested

                I took a chair facing the rising moon. But this was not just any rising moon. This was a blue moon. And although it would be nice to transport back to Kentucky for an evening, it was nice to fully appreciate a blue moon in this new continent. It will be the only blue moon while in the Peace Corps. As I let my pupils soak in the reflection of the sun, Megan exclaimed her regret for taking a chair that faced the other way. In my right hand I hold a box of white wine from the Dodoma region of Tanzania. It’s my second time having wine in the country and although the bitterness makes me flick my tongue against the roof of my mouth I am impressed with the taste knowing it comes from the semi arid region of Dodoma.

                Three other volunteers and I are contemplating what to order from the outdoor food court called the Foridhari Gardens. We are in one of the wealthier towns in Tanzania called Tanga, where a decent amount of tourists visit. I have started calling the food court “The Garden” just to give it a little sense of New York City and home. I wonder who will take the stage tonight.  Or maybe I should rephrase that into “who will stay on the stage tonight?” After finishing a Tanzanian “burger” the blue moon quickly fades to black as rain clouds move in. And that’s when the show starts. Rain drops sends the tourists and others to an overhang. But the Tanzanian women that work the food court continue working their shifts as if nothing has changed. Some women that were working under the overhang walk out into the rain to help the others. Their facial expressions show only the slightest hint of recognition of the water from the sky as they leave the sheltered area.

                The night continues on to one of several night clubs in Tanga. Aside from the demographics of the crowd and the music selection, once inside it is hard to tell you are in Tanzania. It could be London, New York, or any other hip city. Lights blink and spin around while conversation making becomes nearly impossible as near deafening tunes start playing. A fellow American who is with a non-profit outside of the Peace Corps attempts to introduce himself through the loud and dark room and then offers to buy me a drink. I feel my vocal chords wearing thin as I introduce myself through the music.

                Larry and I see eye to eye on several issues. Most notably, we see Africa as an opportunity and not a problem. That may sound very trivial but it is actually quite profound. Prior to arriving in Africa, I looked at Africa on a world map the same way any other naïve outsider would. I would think “the dark continent, AIDS, Malaria, poverty, drought, starving children, The Lion King, and good marathon runners.”  But here Larry and I are in one of several clubs in Tanga. Other stores in the area sell used electronics and one of the region’s main Toyota dealership of motorcycles is just down the road. Further up around the bend, gated house with nicely landscaped yards overlook the bay. The streets are clean and nicely landscaped in some parts of town. There are several town parks with large shade trees and benches underneath. Of course only a small minority of Tanzanians live this way but it does exist. For those that don’t have gated houses and personal cars, a cell phone is only about 20 U.S. Dollars and used ones can be bought for as little as $5. Given that you don’t sign up for a plan, but rather use a “pay as you go” voucher system, it is more uncommon to see a Tanzanian without a cell phone than with one. Frequently they will “beep each other” or give one quick ring to their friends to signal that they don’t have enough voucher credit to call but that they would most certainly enjoy a phone call from you on your voucher!

                Many Tanzanians also have televisions and lights in their houses. I am not sure of the break down percent-wise but I would imagine about half of Tanzanians have electricity and/or running water in their homes. Many houses that have electricity still have charcoal stoves for cooking. I have not found out why Tanzanians prefer to stay on the charcoal stoves and not make the switch to electric. The charcoal stove in without doubt the item to use for baking items but I cannot see the advantage of using charcoal over electric for heating up water to cook some ugali or beans. I guess Tanzanians are probably not thinking about carbon dioxide emissions as much as I am but at the same time forests are not exactly plentiful here anymore. I would imagine at some point it would be a money saver to switch from charcoal to electric.

                So how do all these items give Tanzanians opportunity? Electricity allows for charging of cell phones which opens up lines of communication between the whole country. TV commercials advertise, among many other items, different degree programs in health, tourism, and agricultural science. Paved roads allow for greater distribution of goods, including news papers. Although I have only bought and read one news paper in country (there is an English and Kiswahili version of the paper), it was packed with both news articles and informative articles. Perhaps it was that newspaper that really made aware that Tanzania is not a problem that needs to be fixed but rather a land of opportunity.

                The paper had a full section on drought resistant practices of farming such as rain water capture, terracing, and other sustainable ideas. The article talked about a once poor and struggling banana farmer who implemented drought resistant strategies (permaculture, rainwater catchment etc.) to run his orchard. His yields increased to the point where he could fully support himself and his family. (His monthly income rose to 200,000 shillings, which is about 4/5ths the monthly salary of a public school teacher here). Other neighbors supposedly laughed at this farmer when he initially implemented this strategy. It looked way different and the initial set up of the new garden beds was more work than the traditional planting techniques. However, after neighbors continually watched yields improve, people started mimicking and asking about how to better terrace the land and implement rain water catchment to help grow crops.

                It is not the concept of sustainable farming in this story that shows the opportunity here but rather the social fabric of the village that quickly soaked up the knowledge after they recognized it was working. When you have a financial structure that is on the fringes of capitalism and still largely invested in the old ways trading and self sufficiency, knowledge moves more freely and there is more transparency into the production and maintenance of goods and services. Here in my village, I can walk to the thatched roof hut next to the benches under the mango tree and watch the bicycle mechanics of the village work on the bikes and perhaps drink a soda and talk to them as I watch them work. At the guest house this past weekend in Tanga some people were working on a car with the car parts scattered all over the front porch of the guest house. I leaned over the railing and watched them for some time as three men worked. Not only does this “open workshop” method make it so that working men don’t need to pay for a trade school to learn, but it also allows for strategies and information to move more freely.

                I recently listened to a “This American Life” podcast by NPR about the joint car plant between GM and Toyota called NUMMI. In short, the NUMMI plant became a huge success at a time when the American automobile industry was in great decline. Similar to the sustainable banana orchard, the NUMMI Plant made the same cars as surrounding plants but in a way more efficient and with fewer defects in the finished products. However, the new approach to making cars casted away the concept of seniority and other traditions inherent to union based organizations. It took years and in some cases decades to adapt the “NUMMI” concept to American automobile manufacturers. By that time, it was too late.  The Podcast really made me aware of how important knowledge mobility and willingness to implement new knowledge is for continued success in any business. Africa’s social structure allows for knowledge mobility and their economic position and structure gives them motivation to implement new knowledge in fast and dynamic ways. This is why I see opportunity and not necessarily a problem that needs to be fixed. I have not been here long enough to know if I will agree with my own current opinion/ observation further out in time but you need to start somewhere.

AIDS is still prevalent here. Malaria took the life of a young student at my new school last year. There currently is some political instability. Many people struggle with poverty. But you can get those news stories on BBC or in the New York Times. Things are far from perfect here but I really wanted to use this particular blog post to balance out the image of Africa that the media may have imprinted in your head. I think back on one of Peace Corps quotes that they have on their website that goes something along the lines of “Part of Peace Corps mission is to show each other how our similarities are far greater than our differences.” 

                I imagine with time some of these ideas and perceptions will change. The more I learn the language, the more I will be able to understand the subtleties in culture. For now, thanks for reading and kwa heri!

End of Training

Today we had our swearing in ceremony. It was at the US Ambassador’s residence in Dar es Salaam. Tonight is the last night for three months that we will all be together. Actually those living on the island of Pemba in the Indian Ocean left directly after the ceremony.

I will most certainly miss the volunteers, home stay family, and Peace Corps staff. However, I am ready to engage in the journey that I signed up for. Departing for the Muheza/Tanga region at 430 AM!

The Homestay Experience

For the last few months we have been in the training phase of the Peace Corps experience. It is crazy how fast the time has gone. We only have one more week of training before leaving for the “swearing in” ceremony when we officially cross over from trainees to volunteers.

The daily routine for training generally has been to get up around sunrise (6 or 630 AM) and do all the regular stuff (eating, showering, etc.) Generally this routine is similar to America although showers are taken by taking water from a bucket. Sometimes there is running water and if it is hot enough (outside) I will take a shower with running water but it is not heated at all.

After the morning routine we go to one of two sites. The first site is the Christian Council of Tanzania. The compound is guarded, spacious, and clean. There we learn all the ins and outs of surviving in Tanzania and we train for our volunteer positions. The second site is at a secondary school where we spend the majority of the time studying Swahili and the rest of the time “student teaching” as we would call it in the states. Here we are broken up into smaller groups (about 6 people) and so there are about 8 schools in town with volunteers student teaching. I should mention there are 47 people in the group coming from all corners of the country and of all ages with the youngest around 20 and the oldest around 65! The day raps up around four in the afternoon. After that some of the volunteers hang out in town or head back to home stay.

During training we spend a lot of time with fellow American volunteers and are in a bit of a bubble with respect to the rest of the country. The home stay is a way to truly engage in the local culture. I have helped cook some meals, washed clothes by hand, and gone to local celebrations with the home stay family. The family raises chickens and they grow some of their own food like the majority of families here. Sometimes dinner is nothing more than what was running around the yard making noise a few hours earlier! The fresh chicken and meat in general has a very different texture than super market meat. It is very lean and chewy. Sometimes it takes an hour just to chew one piece of beef. Of course the cooking style plays a huge role here. I remember reading a National Geographic article or something years ago about how the human jaw and teeth structure is changing due to higher consumption of processed foods. Indeed my jaw has gotten quite a workout since being in Tanzania.

My home stay family makes a juice out of avocado, mango, and sugar cane most nights. I have become quite addicted and I need to find a way to keep making or buying this juice once I leave training. Some volunteers to develop a mango allergy while in country due to the absurd amount of mangoes we consume. Mangoes cost about five cents when in season. Yes a lot of the world lives on less than one dollar a day and this needs to change but at the same time I had an awesome lunch for 60 cents today!

The home stay experience has been an experience like no other. Living with them for several months allows for the initial false or over polite character facades to fade and allow for true integration into an African family. My home stay family has five “blood” members who go by the names of David and Joyce (parents) and Betty, Mtefu, and Sea. However, there have been many other people staying in the house who are considered family. They include Romward, Fadhili, Happy, Abduli, Gifti and several others. Some are blood related but not in the nuclear family. Others are just good friends. As my Swahili has improved I have had a chance to get to know all of them better. They all know at least some English.

I will have many good memories from home stay. At one point we had twelve people staying in the one story rancher like house and the power was out for several days. We all had dinner on the family room floor and sofas around a kerosene lantern while telling jokes and laughing.

Having my family teach me how to wash clothes by hand and chop vegetables without a cutting board were both amusing experiences.

Recently I attended a work party with David and Joyce. Afterwards, Joyce (homestay wife/mom) and I rode back in the bed of a pickup down the rough red dirt roads of Morogoro in the pitch black.

I will try to put another blog entry in soon. I visited my site which I will be living at for the next two years recently and realized I will not have the decently fast internet of Morogoro anymore. It took five minutes to send a 50 word email there.

In Tanzania, first post

Life in Tanzania has been a fantastic experience so far. It would be way too hard to summarize the events of every day but here are a few of the experiences I have had so far:

Off the plane and on the roads of Dar es Salaam: Driving through the streets of Dar on the first day here in Tanzania was my first true culture shock. Motorcycles, (or in Swahili Pikipikis) bicycles and pedestrians swerve in between cars and trucks and some vehicles drive on the dirt sidewalks to get around traffic. I opted not to look out the front of the bus most of the time. I am coming to see the traffic here in Tanzania as organized chaos.

Using the bathroom (Choo) in Tanzania. The days of sitting down and doing business are over. These days its pit latrines and toilets that are porcelain bowls carved out in the ground. It does take some getting used to. It never helps when there are thousands of fire ants running around and crawling up you and giving your skin that burning sensation.

I want to write so much more but my laptop is about to die so until next time.. Kwa Heri! (Good bye)

Note: Most Swahili words have similar pronunciations to Spanish

Overview

Thanks for checking out the blog! I will be doing my Peace Corps volunteering in Tanzania. I will mainly be teaching math. I don't know how much internet access I will have but I will try and update this when I can!