Happy Tanziversary

Today is 24 September 2011, exactly one year since the Education 2010 training class arrived in country. It’s amazing how much of this past I remember so clearly, like it was all last night’s meph-induced vivid dream. I remember who I sat with at staging in Philadelphia, who I talked to on the airplane, the chaos of 39 trainees trying to sort through heaps of luggage in the scruffy Dar es Salaam airport, the feel of the air as we stepped outside and took our first breath of the air, the memories of trying to find my way to the airport in Thailand in the darkness that were prompted by our drive through the streets of Dar at night. I don’t think I’ve ever had such clear memories of an entire year before. And there is just so, so much to remember.

Each and every one of us has had our moments here in Tanzania. The frustrations and lack of freedom of pre-service training followed by being abruptly dropped off in our site, far, far away from our friends and everything familiar, and the rollercoaster of emotions that inevitably followed. We’ve all succeeded fantastically and failed miserably at least once, and I think each and every one of us has become just a little bit wiser in the past 364 days. So I’d like to take a minute to share some things that have helped me get through the tough days and enjoy the best days even more.

1. Go outside every day. I read this piece of advice on a PCV blog before I even came to country, and let me tell you it works. There have been days when I’ve decided to spend an entire 24 hours in my house, baking brownies or cookies and reading a whole book in an afternoon simply because I don’t feel like dealing with the things I deal with in the village. But there have been other days when I don’t feel like venturing down to the ville but am forced to if I want to eat anything that day, and nearly every single time I’ve come back happier, regardless of what I expected when I left my house. Even if it’s just a few words of hello, how is your family, what is the news of many days, people always seem to be happy and radiant and full of energy and genuinely sincere in their concern for you and your happiness. And that feeling is contagious.
2. Don’t take things personally. I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked for money, asked to marry someone, asked how I can possibly cook or clean or ride a bike or walk two kilometers, called mzungu on the street and followed and bothered in the cities, but absolutely none of it has anything to do with me as Danielle: it has everything to do with me as a foreigner, as my status as an outsider, and especially as someone who people here perceive to be rich and full of wealth and things to give to everyone. And honestly, people can’t be blamed for it, especially with the absurd amount of money your average tourist spends and the constant handouts given by volunteers and NGOs. Taking these sort of things personally causes only frustration and bitterness — take a minute to look at things from their perspective.
3. Say yes! This is Peace Corps, damnit! An opportunity to experience things you’ll never again have the chance to do, a door which you can step into and enter in a completely different world, emerge a new and refreshed person. Take every opportunity to go out and explore, no matter how much you really want to finish that book your aunt sent you or how you’ve really been jonesin’ to cook some pumpkin bread. Say yes to every offer, every chance to visit a friend in the village, to take a hike through the woods, to meander with a friend to the next village over. You’ll never regret it.
4. Smile. So simple, yet so helpful. Being grumpy never helped anyone. Showing your frustration or anger that your math classes have been suddenly canceled for the third day in a row only makes people keep their distance from you and hurts the personal relationships that you’ve strived to build with people in your community. Just grin and bear it, and realize the things that frustrate you at school and in the community are things that more than likely you cannot change.

And finally, my favorite, number five: when you’re thinking of ET-ing, when you’re just about ready to call up Peace Corps and have them book you a ticket for home so you can have a hot cappuccino and a burrito and a ham & cheese sandwich and a chocolate chip ice cream cone and a car to drive and a couch to lounge on and a remote control to watch stupid TV shows on a giant LCD screen television and constant fast internet access all in less than 72 hours, just close your windows, stir up some cookie dough, bake some soft pretzels and turn on Border Crossings on VOA and dance in the dark, stark naked.

Dodoma

Spent the better part of this week in Dodoma, Tanzania’s capital (and, I learned, one of a handful of national capitals in the world without a traffic light, including Thimpu, Bhutan). Peace Corps held a “Super Regional Gathering” for 20-something Volunteers in the Dodoma, Manyara, and Arusha regions which was like a mini-working vacation where we all stayed in safi hotel rooms with our own seat toilet, hot showers, and TVs. It was a good opportunity to meet PCVs from other classes, including Health and Environment PCVs, and to learn about their projects and bounce ideas off each other. We ate delicious indian food and four-cheese pizza, I got green coffee beans to try roasting at home, played some frisbee (cut my lip open in the process), played some mini-golf, got some sweet new sandals (pictured below) stayed up past 9pm, and even had a bottle of MGD.

The ride down to Dodoma was an adventure and takes two days from Karatu. We got a lifti out to Makuyuni, the junction town where the road splits towards Arusha or Babati, from a friend in town, and then got a ride in a semi truck with a comfy bed to sit on in back. From there we jumped in a hi-c for the last hour to Babati. We wandered towards Lake Babati, taking a short hike to the marsh. Spent the night in town and the three of us were up at the crack of dawn to catch the first bus towards Kondoa, a town near the site of the famous rock paintings. We switched buses at Kondoa knowing that all the seats on the bus would be taken, but deciding we could handle standing for three hours. Too bad the trip took five. Luckily I had my iPod on me to help me zone out as I put my weight against the luggage rack above the seats. Sometime after 4:00 we arrived in Dodoma, stopped for a snack and caught a taxi out to the conference center Peace Corps put us up at. Took a fantastic warm shower, and a nap before dinner with everyone that evening.

I’m never really sure if getting out of the village re-energizes me or just makes me realize what I’m missing. It’s incredible the amount of preparation that goes into taking a warm bath or just cooking breakfast and I’ve definitely had days when I think about how easy it would be for me to hop on a plane and go back to America for good. I think most of us have days like that. And it’s great to have people who you can talk to easily about things as opposed to difficult conversations with people in the village. Even if my Kiswahili was beyond fluent there are still things people in my village wouldn’t understand — religion, privacy, relationships. Peace Corps really wasn’t kidding when they said this is the Toughest Job You’ll Ever Love — it’s everything I wanted it to be, but challenging in a way I’ve never been challenged before. Sometimes I can’t decide if I want to stay here forever or go home tomorrow.

Volunteer Update

I talk a lot about my experiences as a foreigner, about cultural differences that stick out in my mind, but not much about what I actually do as a Volunteer. So here’s a bit about that.

I teach math to Form II and physics to Form IV students. Beginning 3 October Form IV students all across the country will begin National Exams and my physics teaching will have more or less finished up for the year. To be honest, this is quite a relief to me as teaching Form IV is challenging: the headmaster at my school puts lots of pressure on all Form IV teachers to finish every bit of the syllabus, which I find almost impossible if you want to do anything more than write notes on the board, and it seems that all my Form IV students don’t want anything but for me to give them the answers to the exam. They don’t want to learn, they want to know what they need to pass the test. It’s incredibly frustrating, especially when I tell them time and time again they are more than welcome to come to me for help and not a single one ever does. It’s a huge contrast to my Form II students who I can’t seem to get out my office after class. Many of my Form IIs are bright, hardworking, and enthusiatic learners. They’ll ask me about math, and instead of going to their physics or biology teacher they’ll come to me with their questions. They’ll ask me random other things like why is it nighttime in America when it’s daytime in Tanzania, what does altitude mean, and then we’ll get into all kinds of other things like me trying to explain how Mt. Everest was formed and how we know the mass of Jupiter and how it’s possible to put a human being on the moon.

My Form II students are comfortable around me, and though it seems like a small thing it’s actually hugely important. Having someone they can talk to and feel free to ask questions to encourages them, makes learning fun, helps them to better understand the things they care about rather than the things the syllabus says they should care about. I’ve got something called “Maswali ya Siri,” Secret Questions, which is a little tea box wrapped in shiny paper where students can write down questions anonymously. About once every month or so I take time to answer their questions, and they ask some pretty interesting ones. Where does HIV/AIDS come from, and why did I hear it came from America? How many National Parks are there in America? What is malaria? Why was Osama bin Laden killed? Was he buried in the ocean because people are afraid he will resurrect? Do wazungu get their periods? Is it true that dinosaurs existed millions of years ago?

I also have a pen pal program with my Form II students. Peace Corps has a program, World Wise Schools, that sets up a PCV with a classroom in America. The teacher of my matched classroom and I decided to arrange pen pals — his 50-something kids with my 126. The first batch of letters we received came with a head shot of each student, and my students here went absolutley crazy. “My friend is so beautiful!” they’d shout as they all passed around their photos to share with each other. This program gives my students an opportunity to practice writing English and to learn about another culture. Many students ask how maize is used in America, if it’s true that it’s grown for cows to eat rather than humans, what other crops grow, what food is eaten, what classes students have in school. And each time we receive letters they get an opportunity to stand in front of the class and speak aloud, to read their letter and practice pronouncing words in English. They constantly ask me when we’re going to receive more letters from our new American friends, and even when they are coming to visit us.

English is quite a problem in schools nationwide so I’m in the process of creating a workbook and reader to use in an English club next term. I’ve found a few childrens books that we’ll start with, reviewing basic grammar and vocabulary which most students are more or less comfortable with, but adding in a speaking component to each topic. Many of my students can read English pretty well but are afraid of speaking aloud lest they make a mistake in front of the teacher. And I’ve seen teachers actually laugh at students who err. So I want to create an environment after class where students can come to freely speak English and build confidence in speaking.

Other future projects include planting Moringa trees at my school, the leaves of which the students can eat for lunch (something other than ugali and beans every single day). Moringa trees have seemingly endless potential and once the project gets going I’ll think about broadening the scope from school to the village. I’ve also been thinking about opening a school library and have been searching around for sources of free and/or cheap library books. Another project which has been done in the past by other Volunteers is painting a world map mural at the school, something that would not only be educational but would stimulate the student’s creativity. More on these last few projects as they develop.

Nyumbani

The house-place, the home. My living situation in Tanzania is rather safi, with a  spacious house all to myself, a bomba (water tap) in my courtyard with plenty of water, privacy, and plenty of room for a garden. To give you a glimpse into my Peace Corps life, I thought I’d just share a few photos.

Me and my big ol' nyumbani

The sitting room and the lovely furniture my village provided for me so I didn't have to use buckets as chairs

The sitting room and door to the courtyard. meow

My bedroom + "closet"

Hey that's me! In my bedroom

Cooking a pot of rice on my charcoal jiko

Washing clothes by hand (Chelsey, not me)

Words to Ponder

Since the mission came, with the school and the church, and the shop full of strange things which one needs money to buy, life has changed for the worse for the free pastoral African people. They have been given seeds of alien plants to sow in the virgin forests and of alien beliefs to confuse the innocence of their minds. They wear the discarded garish nylon rags of the white man, which cost money they do not have, rather than the traditional shukas made of animal hides, camouflaged and resistant to the wear-and-tear of bush life, which need not be washed with the chemical soap they cannot afford and which offends their pure streams of clear water.

 

-Kuki Gallman, I Dreamed of Africa