Weeki Kumi na Mbili (Week Twelve)

I can’t believe that it has already been three months since I’ve been here…time sure does fly by…
Monday morning Ashley and I headed over to the yogurt kitchen to see the Mamas. Ashley also had to put up posters for her health benefits study that she was finishing that week. When we got to the kitchen only Mama Sabina was working in the kitchen and she said that 5 of the Mamas were sick with malaria, typhoid, amoebas, etc. and they really needed our help with the breakfast program and making yogurt. After hearing the news that the Mamas were really short on help, Ashley went straight to Mtoni to help make chapattis for the breakfast program and I stayed at the yogurt to help Mama Sabina make yogurt. For some reason this year it seems that everyone has been more sick than usual, even the local people. No wonder Ashley, Jon and I had been sick so much.
Ashley and I spent the rest of the morning and part of the early afternoon helping out until the Mamas caught up on their work schedule. It was really nice to spend time in the kitchen just Mama Sabina and I. She is often very quiet and shy and I was able to spend some time getting to know her. Turns out she is really quite funny once she opens up. We spent a lot of time conversing and laughing while making yummy yogurt!
Once the Mamas were all caught up with their work Ashley and I headed over to the Mtoni High School as we had planed to visit the Headmaster earlier that morning. We brought with us some more sports equipment (soccer balls) that were donated by Clarke Road High School in London, Ontario and were able to give them to the students. We also talked to the Headmaster about the Mtoni School Sign that the Clarke Road students fundraised money for. We wanted to see if it the sign been made yet and if they were finished constructing it. The Headmaster told us that it was not quite finished yet and that he would let us know when it was finished. We also discussed the possibility of heading into town to purchase school supplies, books and science equipment with the remainder of the funds raised by the students at Clarke Road. The Headmaster informed us that he was very busy but would give us a call when he had the time to go and purchase supplies. Ashley spent some time talking with the Headmaster since it was most likely the last time she would see him before going home to Canada.
After our visit to Mtoni we went back to the kitchen to meet Mama Elizabeth so that we could all go to the bank together to work out a small financial matter that had come up. It was great because Mama Elizabeth packed a bucket full of 1L yogurt containers to sell to the workers at the bank. She told us that every time she goes to the bank she tires to bring some yogurt to sell…what a good way to market the yogurt! The bucket was pretty heavy so Ashley and I took turns carrying it for Mama Elizabeth. When Mama Elizabeth was carrying the bucket she was carrying it on her head which actually makes the load feel quite a bit lighter so Ash and I each took turns trying to carry it on our heads. Of course, we on’t have the skill and balance quite like the ladies here so we had to hold it on our heads but we walked the whole 20 minute walk like that.
Later on in the afternoon we returned went to meet up with our friend Geoff (the other SDF intern who was working in Sengerema) since he was spending his last night in Mwanza before he headed off to Zanzibar and then home to Edmonton. Geoff and Ashley wanted to go and get some souvenirs and gifts for friends and family before they went home so we all went to the market in search of local art, crafts, scarves and Masai blankets. I also had to pick up some groceries so it was the perfect time to all take a trip to the market…As I’ve said before, going to the market is always quite an adventure. This time Geoff showed us a place hidden away in the centre of the market where you can buy really cheap and good quality souvenir items. We spent a while bargaining with the local vendors and conversing about this, that and everything. We then went on a search for scarves for Ashley to buy her friends and family. I know a special little place that sells scarves in this small nook down this tiny ally in the market so I took both of them there. It was quite unfortunate because on our journey through the small ally way a man was coming though with a shipment of goods and I tried to move out of the way and didn’t make it in time and I got wailed in the face with a box. It really hurt but it didn’t end up leaving a mark. I find that the way movement and transportation works here is quite interesting…when people are working they tend to never stop for anything. And the rule is, whether you are a pedestrian or traveling in/ on some sort of vehicle, the rule tends to be whoever is bigger wins and you better watch out…I guess I was in the way..lol!
That evening we all went to one of our favorite Indian restaurants in town, Diners. It was our friend Eyla’s last night in town as well so Eyla, Geoff, Ashley, Kate and I all went to have a delicious meal.
That evening Dr. David Cechetto from the university of Western Ontario also called me to inform me that he had made it to Mwanza to come and visit the yogurt project. David has been working on and off in Kigali, Rwanda for the past 10 years in the health sector and was coming to view the project so that he could possibly assist us with setting up a project in Rwanda. I actually get to travel to Kigali, Rwanda with three other interns in October to start to set up contacts so that we can see if a probiotic yogurt project will be feasible. I am very excited to go since I have always been fascinated with the history of Rwanda. It will be nice to visit another country in East Africa.

In the morning Ashley headed off to Nyakato to continue her health benefits study and I headed to Tilapia Hotel to meet Dr. Cecetto. David and I sat down for a while and got to know each other a little bit and then we made a plan for the day so that he could see as much of the project as possible. We planned to visit the yogurt kitchen, the National Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) and Saint Augustine University (SAUT).
When we got to the yogurt kitchen, Mama Joyce was working away all on her own as some of the mamas were still very sick. I explained to David that there are usually at least two of the Mamas working at one time but many of the Mamas had been ill that week. It was great that Mama Joyce was working though because she knows how to speak quite a bit of English and since Dr. Cecetto only knows a few words in Swahili, this was perfect. Mama Joyce and I showed him the facilities and explained to him the procedure for making the probiotic yogurt. We also explained what equipment and supplies were needed for the kitchen and what some of the daily and monthly expenses were. We also talked about the plans for the new kitchen site at Nyamhongoro and our plans for dairy production with the cows that had recently been purchases. After tasting some of the yogurt and spending about an hour discussing the yogurt project as a whole, David and I decided to go and visit the rest of the Mamas around the corner at Mtoni High School. I wanted David to be able to see some of the spin-off community outreach programs that are also run through the program.
The rest of the Mamas greeted David very warmly and served us some chai and mandazies. I explained how the breakfast program worked and told David about how WHE interns are often the liaisons between schools at home (Tecumseh and Clarke Road) who fundraise for schools in the Mwanza community. I also explained a bit about the Mamas training in community counseling, especially related to women’s rights and HIV/AIDS. David seemed to be quite pleased with the project as a whole.
Our next stop was NIMR so that I could show David where the probiotic culture is cultivated and stored. David wanted to see what equipment and training would be needed to facilitate probiotic production in Kigali. We met up with Simon, the main lab technician at NIMR and he showed us around the lad. Simon was very good at explaining the entire procedure for probiotic yogurt cultivation and he was able to show us all of the equipment that is utilized during this process. David was able to take some pictures and to videotape some of the procedures which was great.
After visiting NIMR we decided to take a short break for lunch. I offered to take David out for lunch since I know many good local spots but he had to get back to Tilapia to work on his motorbike (piki piki). Dr. Cecetto and his son Luke flew into Arusha and travelled all over Tanzanian on motorbikes. The next day they would be leaving for Kigali, then Nairobi, some other places and back to Arusha so they had to get their bikes in good shape to go...what an adventure!
David and I met up again later on in the afternoon so that we could head to SAUT and meet with our project director, George Mutalemwa. It was really nice because David got to see a bit more of the Mwanza area since SAUT is a little bit of a drive out of town. When we got to SAUT we met George at the school canteen (cafeteria). Over sodas and water we talked about the role of SAUT in the probiotic project. George explained his position at the University and explained about the different programs that arer offered at the University. George explained that part of his position is to act as a liaison for Western students. He also talked about the administrative role that SAUT has taken on and their future plans for student exchanges and course credit acquisition. Other topics that we discussed were SAUT student internships and research opportunities for the University. After talking for about an hour David and I headed back to Tilapia to meet his son Luke.
We decided that we would all (Dr. Cecetto, Luke, Myself, Ashley and Esther (the SAUT student that was helping her with her study)) go out for dinner at Isamilo Lodge. We had a great dinner and had great conversations about our experiences and knowledge of Rwanda and Tanzania. We also talked about possible partnership opportunities in Rwanda. David and Luke had made quite a few connections in Rwanda and were very willing to set up appointments for us. It was great because Luke explained how is is working with the Minister of Gender and Children and that he would set us up with an appointment with her. Turns out that Luke and I actually went to the same high school as well back in Canada but we didn’t go there at the same time because he is a few years older than me. It’s funny though because we found out that we actually have some of the same friends….what a small world! After dinner we said goodbye and wished David and Luke safari njema (good travels) since they were leaving early the next morning for Kigali.

On Wednesday morning Ashley and I headed back to the kitchen and Mtoni to help out again. It was nice for both Ashley and I to spend so much time with the Mamas this week since Ashley was leaving on Friday…She is really going to miss the Mamas…who wouldn’t, they are such lovely ladies! We made chapattis all morning and for part of the afternoon and then headed to the clinic since I still felt tired and a little malarius. Ashley also wanted to get a checkup before she went home to make sure that she was malaria, worms, typhoid and amoeba free.
Luckily neither one of us had anything! The doctor just told me that since I had malaria for 3 weeks and that I was on 2 different medications that my body was still recovering.
In the evening we headed back to the apartment to have our weekly meeting with the Mamas. We had rescheduled from the usual Monday time slot since so many of the Mamas were sick.

Thursday was Ashley’s last full day in Mwanza so I decided to dedicate my day to her to do whatever she needed to do and to go wherever she wanted to go. I told her that I would be her personal assistant for the day because I knew that there was so much she wanted to do. In the morning we went to the market to buy some last minute gifts and items. Later on in the morning we met up with our friend Mussa who is a tailor (fundi) to retrieve the 20 (ishirini) or so bags (pouchi/ mfuko) he had made for Ashley to take home and sell for our WHE fundraisers. Next we went to Kivulini’s new office (now located at Kivulini Kitchen in Isamilo) so that Ash could say bye to Maimuna (the director/ our neighbor) and the rest of the Kivulini staff who are always very helpful and friendly. Next we went to Ashley’s other fundi to pick up some clothes (nguo) that he made her and to say goodbye to him and all of the other fundis who work in the shop with him. Next we hit up the internet café so that Ashley could confirm her flights and make sure that she would be at the airport at the right time the next morning (not that she would mind if she missed her flight cause she didn’t want to leave but she was on her way to Egypt to visit family and then off to Canada to finish school). Ashley still hadn’t packed anything up yet so she went home to pack while I went to Tunza to do some yoga and relax a bit.
Later on I came home so that Ashley and I could meet up with all of our friends for her goodbye dinner and party. When I got home Ashley was all flustered because she still hadn’t packed anything and the power went out so she couldn’t see anything. So I helped her for a bit and then we went out. Ash still hadn’t packed much but we planned on staying up all night packing. Our friend Kate stayed over at our place so we all stayed up to help her pack.

Friday morning was kind of hectic since Kate and I had only slept for a few hours and Ash had only slept for about 20 minutes. I was really sad to see Ashley go and I knew that she was very sad too. But we both knew that just like me, she’ll be back to Mwanza again sometime soon. I helped Ashley gather the rest of her things and carry her suitcases out the door. Mama Joyce came to see her off too so we all headed to the airport. Ashley got all checked in and Mama Joyce and I returned to Mlango Moja (my neighborhood).
I came home and ate some breakfast and headed out the door again to go to SAUT to meet George about the project bank account.
Later on in the day I headed down to the immigration office since my visa was going to expire in a few days.

I spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and hanging out with friends since the week was so hectic and crazy. On Sunday I even went tubing in Lake Victoria…so much fun!