Taking a quick break to rehydrate!
In the evening, some local friends came for dinner and shared some tales of their life in East Africa. Grace, orphaned at birth, explained her story growing up with a family in Kenya on an opium farm. You can imagine how interesting her stories were! She is now a 25 year old proud mother of two, with a diploma in counseling. Her husband, Jontwa, is also a counselor for a Christian group and he works to educate and provide support within the HIV community. He explained his ambition to write, and detailed the book that he is currently creating based on the mind set of government leaders in East Africa. Jontwa explained to us that one of the biggest political problems in Africa is corruption, and stated that he believes the route cause of these actions stem from a childhood of poverty- a very plausible explanation.
Grace, Jontwa, their two children and I in the WHE apartment.
Monday morning began as I created English lessons for the week. I spent the day with the Mama’s making yogurt and practicing my Swahili conversation skills. We had an English lesson for two hours and I was able to meet a few of the children of the Yogurt Mama’s.
Yogurt Kitchen in Mabatini.
On Tuesday, I met with a teacher from Germany named Tini. I was able to share with her the grand opening of a nursery school that she has spent the past five years fundraising for. She introduced me to about 60 of the 117 children who live at the orphanage on the premise, and we spent the afternoon running around the playground and completing math homework. Tini has agreed to allow me to conduct part of my research project with the children at the orphanage. I will be comparing the diet and growth progression of the children at the Starehe nursery school (children who are not consuming probiotic yogurt) to the children at Forever Angles (those who are consuming probiotic yogurt). These are very similar populations as both groups of children arrived at the respective orphanage in infancy, and have consumed a similar diet of traditional dishes and local foods. I will begin data collection over the next few weeks.
Wednesday morning I ventured to the market in search for a basket for the back of my bike. My chariot is now officially the yogurt delivery mobile of Mwanza. I travelled to Sekou Toure Hospital with Ruben so that I could see where he conducts his research trials. There was an interesting trailer at the entrance of the Hospital…. A storage unit where one may go to purchase a coffin…. Not the most reassuring site to see!!! I spent the afternoon in Mabatini where the Mamas shared a meal of rice, spinach and onions with me, and we had our English lesson for the day.
The “choose your coffin” trailer at the entrance of the hospital
On Thursday I fought with the internet for several hours trying to post my blog. Plan A, and the contingency plan both failed. It has been quite the uphill battle with the internet. I can finally appreciate the patience of previous interns! I spent the afternoon chatting with Simon, the microbiologist that is in charge of the bacterial cultures for WHE. I was able to read some journals published from NIMR researchers in the afternoon. I rode my bike to Tunza in the evening for yoga and made a quick detour to shoot some pictures.
The sun glistening over the waters of beautiful Lake Victoria
On Friday morning, January 18th, I woke up to a Birthday song from Ruben and Pendo and had cake for breakfast! Together the three of us shared stories of our past Birthdays and spent the morning laughing. I spent the morning printing and photocopying (a 10 minute task in Canada, but a 3 hour job in Tanzania!). I travelled to the bank then onward to Mabatini to give the Mamas their English test for the week. I picked up 6L of yogurt, strapped it onto my bike, and headed to Forever Angles for the afternoon. I came back to the apartment around 7pm. I walked in an immediately dropped everything that I was carrying when I saw the cutest little kitten sitting in a box in the middle of the floor! Mama Coroko, the nurse who had Ruben and I over to her home for lunch last weekend has decided to “loan” Ruben a kitten for the remainder of his time in Tanzania! We played with the little cutie for a few hours then met some friends for a Birthday celebration dinner at the restaurant of hotel Tilapia. We had a delicious meal then spent the evening dancing at a local hangout. We grooved to African beats and stayed out way too late! The other volunteers that I have met here are such incredible people. I am so lucky to share this experience with such kind hearted friends who have made me feel so welcome in Tanzania. It was by far the best Birthday that I could have ever asked for!
Awwwww!
On the weekend I set out for a hike to discover the beaten paths of Mwanza. I found myself in the heart of a little fishing village where I saw birds that stood about half my height.
Fishing village
Birds that stand almost 3 feet tall!
Around 3pm I went back to the apartment to feed Miss Kitty her favorite meal of dagaa, dried fish the size of sardines, yum! Ruben and I set out for walk, which turned out to be a second hike for me for the day. This time the travels were in the opposite direction, up the granite stone hills. We found a huge water tower, which at the time was the highest point that either of us had ever reached in Mwanza, so naturally, we figured it would be a good idea to climb. Not so! On my way down I was met by a group of locals and a man who shared a piece of his mind with me…. Apparently I have no business shooting pictures of the city. We spent a good half hour listening to this man explain his point of view. We came to realize the source of his frustration- the documentary “Darwin’s Nightmare”, which is a depiction of life in Mwanza. Pole sana bwana (very sorry sir). We continued our journey and shot several more pictures of the outstanding landscape.
We met several little cuties along the way, each pointing and laughing at the wandering wazungu. We stopped to play a quick game of soccer at the top of the mountain were I was totally outrun and out played- and I used to think that I had endurance!
Some faces of Mwanza
On our way back into town we were guided down the hills by some children who were carrying water to their homes the traditional African way.
Water delivery
This is the end of another amazing week in the beautiful country to Tanzania.
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