Weeki Tatu (Week Three)

On Monday Jon, Ashley and I visited the kitchen as usual to see if the Mamas needed any help with project tasks. Even if there is not a lot of work to be done at the kitchen, we try to go and visit as often as possible so that we are able to have a strong personal and working relationship with the Mamas. I really enjoy my time spent with the Mamas. It gives us the opportunity to get to know them better. We often end up chatting and teaching each other in both Kiswahili and English. I have actually noticed that my Swahili has gotten much better from our interactions! It also seems as though each time we go I leave with a feeling of contentment as we often spend half of our time making jokes and laughing with each other. Afterwards I took Ashley to the clinic because she wasn’t feeling very well. We spent about and hour and a half (sa nusu) hanging out in the clinic (kliniki) and found out that Ashley also had malaria. Pole sana Ash!
On Tuesday Mamas were hard at work as usual and explained that they just needed help preparing their travel documents and arrangements for their trip to Kenya the following week. Some of the Mamas will be traveling to Oyugis, Kenya to train two other women’s groups to make the ‘fiti’ brand probiotic yogurt. The facilities (kitchen, lab, etc.) in Kenya and all of the women are all ready to start production, the Mamas just have to assist them with their last bit of training. Ashley is also planning on traveling with the Mamas as part of her work is to create a training manual that will assist with the set up of other probiotic yogurt projects. This manual will be available in English and Kiswahili.
As most of the Mamas have never traveled outside of Tanzania, they were a little unsure as to where to start with their plans. We expressed to them that we would take them through the process of getting their passports, booking their accommodations and arranging their mode of travel so that in the future, they could do it themselves.
On Wednesday Jon was not feeling very well so he went to the clinic in the morning. Ashley and I stuck around the apartment to do some paper work. Around 11am I got a strange call from Jon. Jon explained that he was trapped inside the bathroom stall at the clinic and that the lock was broken on the door. He explained that he had been trying to get out of the restroom for the past 30 (thelathani) minutes by banging on the door and trying to pick the lock. Although I felt extremely sorry for him, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing…Good thing he had his cell phone on him. I told him to hang tight and that I would be there as soon as I could. When I got to the clinic, I tried to explain in my broken Kiswahili that my friend was trapped in the restroom. I think that the nurse (nesi) thought that I was crazy (wazimu). I think she understood what I was saying but didn’t really know what to do. Eventually one of the head nurses (an Indian Nun who speaks fluent English) came out and I explained to her the situation. I brought her to the restroom that Jon was stuck in so that she could find the appropriate key (muhimu) to get him out. In the meantime, I talked to Jon through the restroom door (mlango), trying to distract him and calm him down a little. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be trapped in a stinky, nasty restroom for almost an hour. The nurse tried ever key in the building and realized that the lock was actually broken and that even the proper key wouldn’t work. I just kept talking to Jon to keep him distracted. The nurse calmly explained to me that the locks (kufuli) and doors are 15 years old and have never been replaced due to lack of finances. She also mentioned that in the last year, 3 people have gotten stuck in 3 different stalls but that they hadn’t had the money to replace the doors and locks. Eventually 2 maintenance workers came to remove the lock from the door. They realized that they needed a star screwdriver and only had a square one…we spent more time waiting. Jon was not impressed (understandably) and was starting to get pretty irritated. I tried to keep talking to him to keep him busy. After another 40 minutes of working on the door, the maintenance men finally got the door open and Jon was released from the toilet (choo). I can’t even explain the look on Jon’s face when he was released...he was not a happy camper. I tried to joke with him telling him that he would laugh about it tomorrow and that he would have a funny story to tell. I also reminded him of the popular saying T.I.A (This is Africa)! We laughed for a bit and waited while Jon’s test results were to be prepared. After all of that, the poor guy found out that he still had malaria and also had a nice parasite called Guardia. Pole Sana Mr. Jon. We decided to take the rest of the day off so that Jon could recover from his traumatizing experience.
That evening we enjoyed a nice dinner with two of our friends Joke and Major. Joke is a medical student from Holland who is working with our project doing clinical trials with people taking the probiotic yogurt on a daily basis. Her boyfriend (kipensi) Major is one of my good friends who I met the last time that I was in Mwanza. Joke made us an amazing lasagna dinner with ice cream for desert. Although the food here is really tasty, we were so thankful and delighted to enjoy a ‘taste of home’. Personally, I was happy to get my cheese fix.
In the morning on Thursday Ashley and I visited the kitchen. Jon was not feeling very well because of his aliments so he had to stay home and rest. We talked with the mamas for a while and dropped off a budget tracking form sheet for the mamas that we created for their trip to Kenya. This form would assist them with recording all of their finances for better record keeping. Ashley wasn’t feeling well because of the malaria so she went home and I stayed to help the mamas. Mama Paskwalina, Mama Elizabeth, Mama Leah and I went into town to start preparing for their trip to Kenya. We first went to get their passport photos taken, then we went to immigration to fill out their passport forms. I really enjoyed spending a whole afternoon with the Mamas. We made a lot of small talk and they taught me some new words. Even in the moments of silence, it was really nice to spend some quality time with these ladies. I then returned home to check on the patients at home. Both Jon and Ash were not feeling the best but they were doing alright. Myself and some of the other Kivulini interns spent the evening at Tunza for some yoga and fun times with friends.
On Friday Jon, Ashley and I all worked together at home on the overall project budget and work plan forms. We also took another trip to the market to buy food for the week. I wanted to buy a new pillow because the one I have at the apartment was looking pretty rough. It is kind of strange finding random items that you need here. At home you can just go to a department store and find everything. Here, the shops are small and you often have to go hunting for items…at least I do because I am not familiar with the shops and stores. After being unsuccessful at finding a pillow at the market, I finally asked one of my local friends, Salome, where I could find one. Turns out, I could get one just across the street at the Mlango Moja market. Salome went with me to help me bargain for a nice pillow. I finally found one. I is SO much better than the old crusty one I was using. Friday night went out with some friends to Isamilo Lodge to hear the ‘Budgee Smugglers’ band play for the last time.
Saturday we spent the day relaxing at home, cleaning the apartment and reading books.
On Sunday Ashley and I traveled to the Kesesa region (Bughora) with two Kivulini interns, Pamie and Nyasa to attend a giant Sukuma (the largest local tribe in Tanzania) celebration. It was quite a long ride on the daladala (small VW-type bus thing) and then a ways walking to get to Bughora. Pamie had been to the Sukuma museum once before in the area but we were unsure of where the festival was to be held. Luckily we made friends with a lovely elderly lady on the way how showed us where the festival was going on. When we arrived there was a podium/stage set up and some bleachers with hundreds/thousands of people in a soccer field. As we looked around we realized once again, just how much we stick out here. Everyone was looking at us and trying to talk to us. It was a little overwhelming. Even though we felt a little uncomfortable we moved forward and made our way closer to the stage so that we could hear the local bishop and the other community officials talk. The officials welcomed everyone, talked about the community and explained the events that were going on throughout the week (at least that’s what I understood). Many strange things happened throughout the day that were funny but also irritating at times. We all really wanted to participate in this event but it was hard to have everyone staring at us all day. I am not used to being the centre of attention. Here are some of the random things that happened: 1) A mentally ill woman came up from behind me and grabbed be in a big bear hug and was babbling in my ear. It was hard to get her off of me but I eventually did. 2) A drunk man wouldn’t leave us alone and followed us. He was continually singing, yelling and dancing. 3) A young man told my friend Pamie that he loved her arm hair and that he thought it was sexy. 4) WE got constant marriage proposals all day…there were many other silly things that happened but if I wrote about them all I would be here all day. Although there were some strange/ frustrating things that happened, we really enjoyed ourselves at the opening ceremonies of the Sukuma festival. It was really neat to see the tribal dances and the ‘drum wars’. The drum wars were really neat. Two different Sukuma tribes set up dance and drumming areas at opposite sides of the soccer field. One tribe would perform in song and dance telling stories from the past. Large crowds of people gathered around to watch. When that tribe was done performing, the crowds would move to the other side of the field where the other tribe would perform. This went on for quite a while, back and forth, back and forth. Later, a winning tribe was declared and they performed for the bishop and other officials. It was neat because I found out that in the past the tribes would use the dance and drum competitions to compete for plots of land. It is a really interesting and peaceful way to settle land issues.
Later on in the day we met a young boy named Kasmil. We started talking to Kasmil and found out that he was a 12 year old artist. Kasmil showed us some of his drawings. They were mostly of animals and scenery around is area…they were amazing! We asked him if we could buy some copies of his drawings from him and he sold us a number of them. Kasmil ended up spending all day with us, just chatting and showing us around. He spoke pretty good English and was teaching us some more words in Swahili. He also explained quite a bit about the ceremonies that were going on throughout the day. Our little friend was so hospitable, it was like having a little tour guide for the day.
Later on we walked up the long, winding hill in the beautiful area of Bughora to the Sukuma Museum for some food. Kasmil came along with us and showed us where various things were in the community. When we got to the museum Kasmil said, ‘ok, I will wait here under this tree and then we can go back to the festival’. The young man was trying to be polite because he did not have money to buy food for himself. We told him that he must join us for some food and that we would buy it. He truly did not want to impose but we stressed to him that we would enjoy his company. You should have seen the smile on his face when he found out that we were buying him lunch…what a cute kid!
After enjoying some delicious chips myia (omlet with fries) and sodas we headed back down the hill for the rest of the ceremonies. On our walk down, a man who worked for one of the local NGOs offered us a ride and we jumped in the back of his trucks alongside about 6 kids who were already back there. We had fun bumping along and taking pictures of the ride. We left around 4:30 so that we could make it back before dark while the ceremonies were still continuing. Although some interesting culture shock moments occurred, it was a beautiful day and we ended up experiencing a really neat cultural ceremony and meeting a lot of beautiful people.