Adventures with street food

Indian mix... some kind of soup, made with a mango puree, potatos, kasava... cabbage? Who knows.

Kitchen in the background. 

Mishkake! So good

Mishkake and roasted banana

We visit the market a lot! That counts as street food right?

Corn Roast

Pineapple core... from the market.

Coffee pots at coffee corner. Please note the "azam" bag. Azam owns everything over here. Juice, soda, flour, and evidently coffee. 

Coffee corner. Aint your average starbucks

Sweets at coffee corner! Peanut bars 

Maandazi on the Mountain!

Street corn... not what we expected. But I would have it again

Debate

The Girls Club held a debate last Friday!
I was a little nervous about it since their topic was a little complex and I wasn't sure if they really grasped the concept. But any worries I had were washed away as soon as I stepped foot in that classroom. We actually showed up a little too early and ruined the surprise they had waiting for us.  I couldn't believe my eyes! They had re-arranged the classroom and had decorated a podium area for the panel to sit. These girls impress me every day. They take so much pride in what they do. I don't know why I was so worried!
The debate was well structured, and very good points were brought up by both sides. The topic was
"HIV/AIDS affects women more than men because of their economic status".

The pro side argued that women's economic disposition in Tanzanian society puts them at risk of contracting HIV via transactional sex and the like, inability to leave a cheating husband, and sexual abuse in the workplace.
The against side argued that there are other factors that have a greater influence on a woman's risk, such as inability to negotiate condom use, biological factors, and traditional customs.

Sometimes the debate went a little off structure, and instead of stating facts, the girls were stating what they should do, rather than the facts.
i.e anti - "girls are more at risk of HIV infection because it's harder for them to tell their partner to use a condom"
pro - "That's not a good enough excuse! No matter what, girls should always use condoms!"

While these statements are obviously not part of a typical debate, it was great to hear the girls empowering one another to insist upon condom use... or, as per another instance, support themselves through meaningful work.

I was left beaming after the debate. I'm so proud of these girls!

Tomorrow we are doing another event with the UMATI YAM group. It's an outreach event that's meant to be a part of the World AIDS Day festivities. The girls club will be joining the event and playing a soccer match vs the UMATI team.
The girls only just got soccer cleats, so they haven't had much practice. But it should be a blast regardless. The girls voted that Irene and I should play striker, while Alicia helps out in the net with another girl (I'm going to try to convince YAM that we should be allowed a handicap of 2 goalies).

The Debate Topic written in Swahili for the audience to read
"HIV affects women more than men because of their economic status"

Awarding prizes for the girls who participated most, with the most convincing arguments. We bought kangas, CDs, and stationary supplies to give out. Kangas are Tanzanian style sarongs that most girls and women wear.

The crew (sans Alicia and Norbert... they couldn't make it because they had to meet with the UMATI group)

Showing off the kanga prize

Reviewing the debate discussion and adding some important points about biological factors (a woman's vagina is more prone to small tears, so the likelihood that the HIV virus can enter her body during unprotected sex with an infected partner is increased)

Crash-course in soccer positions. I went with the ol' 4-4-2

Maasai and More

Saturday was such a fun day!

We started our day at Home Based Care working with the ambassadors. Only 2 people showed up which was an unusually low number. We worked on some presentation skills and went over their presentation skills, since they will be presenting to the Faraja staff and their caretakers on World Aids Day.

After that, Alicia, Norbert, Irene and I headed to a local private hospital called Saint Mary’s. Norbert wanted to introduce us to J, a friend of his that is currently ill with pneumonia. He also wanted to show us around Saint Marys since it’s the hospital that Faraja sends HBC kids to. Faraja uses a private hospital because the kids receive better care and aren’t as stigmatized by the public.

The hospital is incomparable to hospitals in Canada, so I’m not exactly sure how to describe it. It’s a small complex with a reception area up front and a few private hospital rooms in the back. J is staying in a 2-bed room. Luckily she was on her own so we weren’t disturbing any other patients during our visit. Norbert and Alicia had also visited J yesterday. They said that she was in considerably better spirits today, which was good. We were also able to bring a little care package along…  some mango juice, a nice light shawl/scarf, some Canadian Souvenirs, and an english-swahili book to tide her over when she doesn’t have visitors. Our visit was spent joking around, taking silly pictures, and lounging out into the courtyard. It was a nice visit and I hope to see her again! She’s such a sweet girl.

After that we boarded a dala dala and made our way to the outskirts of Morogoro to visit Irene’s Maasai friend. He actually works in town as a security guard in town, so he met us half way and took the dala dala with us all the way to his village (Maasai are known as fierce warriors, so they are highly coveted security guards).

 After being dropped by our bus, we walked for about 10 minutes until we reached 3 small mud houses. The Maasai ladies that met us there brought out a cow hide for us to sit on… they tried telling us it was lion skin. I’m glad they had a sense of humour! We lounged in the shade for a while, already tired from the hot sun. After that, Alicia and Irene headed off with one of the mamas to start preparing food. I lounged for a little longer, but eventually meandered over to check out the process. Mama was preparing food inside her house over a simple wood fire. The house was a 2 room bungalow comprised of a kitchen and bedroom.

The onions and tomatos were cut, so all that was left to do was make the ugali. Ugali is made with corn flour and water. You boil the water and slowly whisk in flour until it’s thick. After that, you spoon the mixture out into a bowl and let it harden.

Outside, the other mama started cooking the spinach, onion, and tomato mixture. While that simmered away, we sat with the mamas as they fed their babies breast milk and porridge. Their interactions with their babies were the most loving that I've seen so far on my trip. They were playing around with them, making faces.... something that I really haven't seen much of between mother and child. Even Lamweli got in there and played around with the kids. An even rarer sight!

Once dinner was ready, we all sat down all together and dug into our meal. Even the chickens got something to eat.

By about 6:00 we realized it was time to get going. We were invited to Mama Mrema’s birthday so we had to make it back to town in time for dinner! Edna said that she hasn’t been home for her moms birthday in several years, so she wanted to make sure this one was special. And special it was! Edna, Mama’s niece, and house girl, Winifred, had been cooking all day to create a special birthday feast. It was delicious and I was so happy that we got to be a part of that special occasion.

As usual, we got to talking about the differences between Canada and Tanzania. Marriage, education, child abuse… oh you know, the usual. I love having these conversations!

So yesterday was probably one of my favourite days so far. That and our trip to Arusha last weekend!

Alicia preparing for motherhood

So thirsty

Preparing the tomatoes

This baby did NOT like white people

Cooking ugali

Porridge

These houses only make 2 weeks to make!

Maasai lunch

Getting clubbed for dinner

!!!!!!

Jumping Maasai

Mama's homemade birthday cake! Best cake I've had in Tanzania!

Arusha & Ngorongoro

Last weekend Alicia and I made a trip up north to Arusha. It was a difficult trip to arrange since we had such a limited time to spend there. We wanted to bus up Saturday (10 hours), safari Sunday (all day), and bus home Monday (another 10 hours).

Most safari companies do multi-day safaris, so it was hard to find one that would work with our busy work schedule.

We were fortunate to have been recommended to African Trails by Mama Mrema, the mama that we’ve been working closely with for Home Based Care. A few months back, I had actually been looking into doing my overland trip through Africa with African Trails. In the end we went with another company, but it was nice to hear a familiar name from Mama Mrema. The lady she set us up with through African Trails went above and beyond for us. She met us at the bus terminal, drove us to our bed and breakfast (which she had booked for us), sat and had some drinks with us, had all details of the safari sorted, and drove us back to the terminal on Monday morning.

The safari itself was incredible. Even though we will get to go on another Safari later on our overland trip, I was SO happy to have made it up north to see the crater. After all, it is considered the ‘8^th’ wonder of the world.

4:45 am – Woke up to the sound of a nearby mosque blasting it’s prayer song from the loudspeaker.

5:30 am – Martin, our guide, picks us up in a 7-seater safari 4X4. Nobody is in it except us.

5:55 am – We are stopped by the police for a roadside check. After about 5 minutes we are on our way again. Martin says the police wanted money, but we got away without paying.

6:00 am – Sun is rising over the planes to the east. The landscape is incredible. Much more green than Morogoro. It looks like the Africa I imagined in my head!

6:49 am: Zebra spotting! Martin says it’s because we are near another national park. We are also passing many Maasai villages. They are small communities, just a few small round huts made of mud and straw. Martin says the women build the houses while the men heard the livestock. We’ve seen several groups of men herding both cows and goats. Men with a lot of livestock are considered rich and hold a lot of prestige.

7:02 am – First glimpse of the rift valley. The eastern wall rises in front of us.

7:03 am – We are passing through a small town. The day is just getting started. Women are sweeping the garbage from their store front, and young guys are out chatting with friends. Farmers hoe their fields. The town is called Mtuwambu. The jungly-looking forest to our left is Manyara National Park.

7:12 am – Baboons! Crossing the road in front of us. We are ascending the ridge.

7:26 am – I realize that the Lion King soundtrack has been playing in my head for the past 45 minutes.

7:30 am – It’s like heaven up here. Clouds settle on rolling hillsides. Rejia trees blossom with pink and orange flowers. Lake Manyara reflects the rest of Tanzania behind us. Mist obscures houses. Farmers walk with their cows, which have huge humps on their backs. The plow/wagon bar rests between the neck and the hump

7:35 am – We enter the Ngorongoro highlands. Farms galore! Martin says most of the farms here are for subsistence farming. But they look really large. I wonder if we misunderstood him.

7:56 am – Arrival at Ngorongoro gate! It feels like we are entering Jurassic Park.

8:20 am – First view of the crater. Absolutely breathtaking.

8:44 am – Martin says the only animals that the Ngorongoro Maasai are afraid of elephants.

8:47 am – Speak of the devil. There’s an elephant!

-          Martin says that when the Serengeti became a national park in the 1940’s, the Maasai had to leave their homes. Many came to the Ngorongoro crater. They are not allowed to farm here. Only herd their cattle and goats.

9:13 am – Descent into crater begins! Rugged road.

9:25 am – Timone!! A warthog!

9:30 am – Coffee in the crater. Martin gives us our breakfast out of a picnic basket. A Maasai kid approaches Alicia and asks her to take a picture. He asks for money… she obliges. More Maasai show up and show off their merchandise. Alicia buys a necklace.

9:57 am – Zebras, Gazelles, and Wildebeasts!

10:15 am – Watched a male ostrich do a hilarious mating dance. Proceeded to lure in female.

10:20 am – Storks! They are MASSIVE.

10:40 am – Lions! Well. Lionesses. And cubs! They are eating a wildebeest. There’s a rhino off in the distance. There are about 20 jeeps parked here. Wish we could get closer. I’m glad I brought my binoculars!

10:50 am – Cheetah and more Thompson Gazelles. Cheetah from a distance again. Alicia’s telephoto lense is malfunctioning!

11:56 am – Flamingos!

12:05 pm – We spot a group of hippos lounging together in a medium sized pond. They are all connected, faces resting on one anothers backs. You wouldn’t think they were alive if it weren’t for the occasional flick of a tail or ear. They stay in the water/mud all day to avoid sun burns.

12:10 pm – Thunder rolls in from the western ridge. What a beautiful sight! Hippos in the foreground, and wildebeasts, gazelles, and birds behind. Blue skies on one side, storm clouds on the other.

12:25 pm – Mama warthog and her babies! So cute!

12:51 pm – 2 more Rhinos off in the distance again.

1:30 pm – Lunch at a watering hole. Hippos but not elephants. Boo. But there are elephant footprints and elephant poop.

2:35 pm – Baby zebra!

2:50 pm -  Our ascent back up the crater begins. Goodbye Ngorongoro!

4:18 pm – Left the gate. Making our way back to Arusha Now. Sad we didn’t get to see any Giraffes, and bummed that we only saw 1 elephant. But we’ll see more on our other Safari(s)!

-          Martin says there are 21 Maasai village in the Ngorongoro conservation area, but none live in the crater itself.

5:00 pm – Stoped at a souveneir shop. Alicia drives a hard bargain and I’m glad I’ve got her by my side. The prices at this shop are in American dollars and way overprices. But we haven’t been able to find many souveneirs yet, and don’t want to miss out on an opportunity. I got 2 earrings, a necklace, bookmark, and some salad spoons.

5:45 pm -  Another police check. Easy this time.

5:50 pm – Buy two more necklaces at the lookout for lake Manyara. These ones are sold by a local and much cheaper.

5:55 pm – Another police check! Easy again.

-          The town we are passing through is so pretty. The forest is next door and gives the place a tropical feel. It’s called Mtombo, which in english means ‘Mosquito River’. Maybe it’s not so nice here…

6:02 pm – There are so many anthills along the road back to Arusha! I wonder how many ants live in them. After my experience with the biting ants at one of our outreach events, I don’t think I really want to know. It must take them so long to make one of these hills!  Every time we pass a new one, I think that’ll be the tallest one we see. But they get bigger and bigger! Double deckers. Ant Condominiums.

6:07 pm -  Passing more Maasai with their herds. I wonder what they do all day… just walk around with the animals? Does it get boring?

-          There are SO many Maasai! Tall with spindly legs. I wonder what a fat Maasai looks like… I doubt one event exists.

6:22 pm – OK I’m officially obsessed with Maasai. They looks so cool with their traditional garments billowing in the wind as they run roadside with their staff held high. Maybe I will be the next White Maasai.

6:24 pm – Dead donkey on the side of the road. Pole (sorry).

6:33 pm – Maasai men and about 30-40 cows cross the road in front of us.

6:34 pm – Maasai guy on a piki-piki. He’s got a parka on over his traditional garb.

6:37 pm – I notice that the Maasai here wear a different patterned cloth that the ones in Morogoro and Dar wear.  Martin says that the Maasai wear different colours for different stages of life. There’s a colour for the young boys. Then, after circumscision, they become warriors and are awarded with a different set of clothing. After that, there are elders. Women wear plain blue or plain purple fabric. Still not sure why we haven’t seen the same fabric that we see Morogoro, though.

7:00 pm – Martin drops us off at the African Tulip restaurant to have some post-safari drinks with Mirjam and Claire, our fellow YCI volunteers! It’s basically a luxury hotel. I don’t even feel like I’m in Africa any more. Arusha is VERY different from Morogoro. The night was a lot of fun and got to share some great stories (including a rabies scare!!). Sounds like the girls are having a fantastic time in Arusha on their project.

 What a day!

Hippos lounging. Wildebeasts, gazelles, and zebras grazing.

Coffee in the crater!

Zebra and Wildebeasts

When I was a young Warthog... (When I was a young WART HOOOOG)

Such a fun day!

Lookout point. Jungle and Lake Manyara in the background.

The Crater

Simba & Punda Milia

Fuzzy... but what a sight! Maasai men and all their cows

Girls

All the groups that we work with are absolutely amazing. The UMATI Youth Action Movement is full of energy and are experienced and passionate about educating their peers. The HBC ambassadors are smart, resilient, and dedicated to learning more about the illness that affects them and their friends. The Faraja staff are friendly and SO committed to helping people affected by HIV/AIDS. And then there’s the Girls Club. Over a very short time I’ve come to really care about these girls. They range in age from about 12 – 23. Some of the girls have children and some of them ARE children.

I read about it before I came. I’ve talked about it in group discussions. And I’ve now seen it with my own eyes. There is a large gender disparity in Tanzania. While women over here are boisterous and friendly, there is a lot that lies beneath the surface. Girls and women do not enjoy the same rights and security as boys and men. It’s difficult seeing the girls in Girls Club and knowing that as they mature into women they will face a lot of unfair challenges. Sexual harassment at work and school, inability to negotiate condom use, forced marriages, physical and sexual abuse…  Thinking and hearing about these things on a near-daily basis has been one of the greatest difficulties that I’ve faced on this trip so far.

And just like back at home, gender is very much intersected with poverty. Girls that come from a higher socio-economic status will not face the same challenges as poorer girls. For example, women who need money are at higher risk of sexual transmitted infections, as they are (1) less educated about STIs, and (2) more likely to exchange sex for life’s necessities.

This is why I feel so strongly about empowering girls and women. As girls, we need to understand and respect our bodies, and we need to understand the health issues that disproportionately affect our demographic.

Empowerment, however, is a complex issue, and empowering women isn’t the only way to shrink the gender gap. It’s equally important to educate boys about respect. Respect each other, respect elders, respect girls, respect poor people. No matter what their background, nobody deserves to be treated inhumanely or taken advantage of. 

I never really realized how much I cared about empowering girls and women. I suppose it took coming to a new place, one with such a large gender gap, for me to realize it. And I wouldn't even stop at girls. Empowerment as a whole-- seeing people realize their own potential, seeing them get excited about their abilities... that's what it's all about. For me, anyway.

YCI Blog

I made a post for the YCI blog last week! Check it out here:

http://ycicanada.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/a-tanzanian-symphony/

The little things

There are a lot of points and observations that get lost and forgotten in bigger blog posts. So here's to the little things that make up such an important part of this experience!

 

Getting called muzungu everywhere I go. The novelty is starting to wear off. It's still kind of cute when I get called over by children... but when guys yell “Muzungu! Muzungu! Muzungu! Muzungu! MUZUNGUMUZUNGUMUZUNGU” or honk at us when we drive by... yes. We know. We are white. I'm trying to imagine this situation in the reverse. If at home we yelled out “black person!” in excitement every time someone walked by. Definitely NOT ok.

My name has somehow morphed into “Erlaina”. R's are hard to pronounced in Swahili. Where the “a” came from, I still don't know.

Alicia's name sounds like the Swahili word for diarrhea. To avoid any further confusing introductions, she now goes by “a-lee-sia”

Sitting in the front seat of the dala dala and getting to hold the babies and children that the mamas can't manage in the back.

The cool handshakes that the Girls Club give us when leave each class

Seeing the girls dress up in their best clothes for class and presentations!

Torrential downpours! I love rain.

Having the neighbourhood kids greet us with excitement whenever they see us.

Having our simple chores become a community event. Doing our laundry, burning our garbage, brushing our teeth, putting on makeup-- people (mostly kids) love to come watch.

Chipati in the morning! Alicia and I do a little happy dance whenever we see it waiting for us on the breakfast table

 A nice cold bath at the end of a long, hot, dirty day.

ENDLESS LOVE. My new favourite show. It's a Philippino soap opera dubbed in English. It's hilarious in all the wrong ways.

Seeing confidence grow among the youth that we work with.

Dance parties... whether it be with the kids on the street or just Alicia and me geeking out and in our room. Such a great way to blow off steam. Yesterday, Sophie peeked in while walking by and burst out laughing.

Cockroach encounters. In our bedroom. In the bathroom. In the toilet. No no, in the actual toilet crawling around on the sewage.

Running into people we recognize! Morogoro’s population is about 250,000… so we have a tendency to run into people that we know. Shop owners, artists, muzungus, and people from programming. It’s nice! However… it’s hard to tell which “Mambo!!” is coming from a stranger and which is coming from a familiar voice.

Africa time... this time I'm talking about the slow pace. In some ways it's nice... no need for a to-go coffee. Why ever would you need to drink and walk at the same time?!
But tonight we arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 6:30pm. At 6:40 he still wasn't there so we called him to check in. He said he was on his way. 7:15 rolls around and still no taxi. Another phonecall, another empty promise. Luckily Makho was in the neighbourhood and swung by to pick us up in his taxi. I'm learning to black-list taxi drivers.

Sundown! It’s a shame that it’s unsafe to be out too late after dark. The air is cooler and everything is so alive! People are off work and hanging around roadside cafes, coffee corners, and outdoor pool tables. Vendors cook mishkake and corn on their mesh barbeques. Kids play on the street… it’s my favourite time of day.

Sharing laughs with our family. Over the sour mango we picked out… over our failed swahili attempts… over baba promising to cook us pilau on Sunday, when in reality it will be mama doing all the work (sound familiar?).

Maasai Market and Other Pics

Yesterday we woke up extra early to go to the Malela Maasai market. We had high hopes, but when we arrived, we found the market to be pretty small and lackluster. Since we’ve just passed a dry season, many of the Maasai men are out drying to find water with their livestock. Despite the low attendance, we still got to see some cows, sheep, and goats getting traded. We also took a walk through the market where men were slicing goats, smoking the meat on the fire, and boiling the intestine in pots (sure looked familiar!). It was really cool, and most of the people were incredibly friendly (especially if they had been drinking). On our dala dala ride there, a Maasai man struck up a conversation with Irene and I. He was pointing to my earlobes with my tiny earing holes. Maasai men and women stretch their lobes very big, so we had a laugh about the difference between mine and his. I told him about my sisters boyfriend, and he was surprised to hear that many Canadians stretch their lobes as well!

We’re going to try to go to another Maasai market on a Saturday some time. Apparently the Saturday markets are much larger and have a lot more goodies for sale! Also, Irene said she would talk to her Maasai friend and see if it’s possible for us to visit his village.

Maasai market, set up under what little shade the tree has to offer.

Goat, anyone?

Smoking the meet. They stretch it over sharpened sticks

Trading cows

So hot! Waiting for the dala dala to come take us back to Morogoro

Check out the bike in the background. I'd say that's a medium sized load for a bicycle

Terrential downpour! Luckily we had just arrived at a cafe for lunch

 

And some other pictures from days gone by. I'm taking advantage of my decent internet connection!

 

A true pit toilet. Alicia came back from her trip to the toilet looking like she had seen a ghost. I don't know if this was a cruel joke or....???
A person with Diarrhea's worst nightmare.
Please note the damp, surrounding area.

Painting of Maasai mama.

Our taxi ride to UMATI every wednesday. There are no capacity limits in TZ.

Kisses from an EMPTY dala dala.

Waiting for the girls club to show... brought out some chalk and had a little fun!

A common and popular meal in Tanzania. Chipsi myai. Fried potato chips with egg.

Shooting pool

Most of the keys here look like this. They're tricky to use!

Fast food: Tanzanian Style. We get chipati from these ladies in the morning! We carry our own sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top. Yumm.

Beans, rice, and mboga mboga. My favourite meal!