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10 April 2010

We have been home for a week now and we are loving being around our friends and family every day. We are of course reveling in the small things in life and enjoying everything that we missed while we were gone. Things like reliable electricity, brushing our teeth with tap water, not having to boil all our water, sleeping with our dog, not sweating through our clothes every day, smelling good (or just not smelling bad!), eating cereal for breakfast, driving wherever we want whenever we want, and catching up on the latest news since we've been back. I also have overcompensated a bit in the "self grooming" department--wearing make-up everyday, did my nails, and have been doing my hair nice every day. I am just making up for 6 months straight of having practically no personal-hygiene. I'm sure I'll calm down soon enough :)

On Easter my cousins Anne & Levi came up from Denver with her two new little twin girls that arrived while we were gone. My dad's sister Jane and her husband Jack were also visiting from Montana to see the new little babies, and my Grandma Esther came up from Fort Collins; we had a kind of emotional reunion, but we have been anxious to get back and see her almost since we left, so it was kind of expected. Grandma reminisced of her time in Africa 50 years ago and Zach and I talked about what it is like today.

My birthday was on Wednesday and my Grandmas Jean and Shirl were in Cheyenne on their way home to Wisconsin from Texas. They are always such and pleasure and so much fun it was a great welcome home/birthday present to have them around for a couple of days. We all went out to dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant in Cheyenne and Zach surprised me by inviting Lindsay and Nate to come over from Laramie. I have been desperate to see her since we got home so that was the perfect present :).

Now we are up in Buffalo visiting Zach's parents a week. They were very patient while we were in Cheyenne and were very anxious to see us. We are going to relax a bit while we are up here, but we also need to get busy on some job applications. There are actually quite a few jobs available in Cheyenne that we are interested in, so we are trying not to let the opportunities pass us by. Once we get jobs then we can start looking for our own place where we can unpack our storage unit and live with Mala full time. Grandma & Grandpa Sukie and Joel have been so great to keep her for us (and have enjoyed it a little too :) ), but they might appreciate the quietness of their house when the puppy is gone :). Then this summer Zach will apply for medical school, which we should find out where we are going around this time next year. Once we know that, I can start applying for school also. I am going back and forth between Public Health and Social Work right now, but hopefully over the next year it will become clear to me what direction I want to take with my future life/work.

Well, for those who are wondering, we are planning to keep blogging in the future. It may not be as interesting or crazy, but over the next few years we will be going through some pretty big life changes and would like to be able to keep writing about them. We found it very therapeutic and helpful to journal/blog while we were in Tanzania, so we are going to continue to do the same and hope that it gets us through the next phase of our life, which might be a stressful one.

(I am planning to post a picture here of Zach and I at our going away party for work at the CWCD, but I am having trouble locating the camera right now (surprise, surprise...our stuff is everywhere! right now), but I will get it up soon.)

Written by Whitney

A friend comes to visit...

March 24, 2010

Our week with Jordan flew by, but we were able to show Jordan so much about life in Arusha. We first took him to the village of Sambasha, which is a village that we had visited and presented to three previous times. We were able to have a small good-bye celebration with the leaders and the women’s group of Sambasha, and we were able to give the antenatal clinic of Sambasha several well needed medical supplies to help them continue their work for the village. Jordan, as a photographer, had a blast taking photos in the village, but also saw first-hand the generosity of the villagers that we have had the privilege to work with. They adorned us all with tokens of appreciation, and by the end, we all looked like real Maasai with our shukas (Maasai blankets worn as shawls) and jewelry. The most touching part of the day for me was an invitation given to Whitney and me from the leaders of Sambasha; they told us that whenever we come back, they will have jobs for us in the clinic and our own boma (Maasai house) to live in. This was such a humbling gesture, and it made me realize the relationship that we have built with these people through our work.

Jordan also wanted to go on a short safari while he was here, so we escorted him to the Serengetti and to Ngorongoro Crater. I don’t know that anyone could be so lucky on a trip as we were in the two and a half days of our trip. We saw the famous wildebeest migration in the Serengetti, the so-called “Big Five”, which included a leopard, elephants, several lions and their cubs, six black rhinos, and cape buffaloes. We also saw two cheetahs, hippos and just about anything else you could think of. Seeing the wildebeest on the Serengetti made me wonder if that was what the Great Plains used to look like when the bison roamed freely; I guess I’ll never know. My wonderful wife, a great friend, beautiful scenery, and incredible animals made this such a memorable trip.

We also took Jordan for a walking tour of Arusha to show him what we have experienced for the last 6 months. His reactions brought back memories of our first week in Arusha and how overwhelmed we felt; it made me feel like we have come a long way since we first got here, that I maybe wouldn’t have realized had Jordan not been here. The last place that we took Jordan was to the waterfall that we hiked up to a few weeks earlier. He wasn’t impressed with the difficulty of the hike, but the end result was well worth the sweat.

Our dog, Mala, got to go home with Jordan, and they both arrived safely without too much difficulty. We’re so excited that she is safe at home and waiting for us to come in another week. We were invited over for dinner by Tony and his wife, who runs the small restaurant down the street, who we have become great friends with.. We are planning on having dinner with the Simonsons before we leave, and our boss is having a small going away party for us soon. Other than that, we are just making sure that all of our loose ends are tied, finishing some last errands, and then we will be on our way home in less than a week.

0459 (The people of Sambasha made us feel like royalty that day, but even though we were dressed like Maasai by the end of the day, we still stuck out like sore thumbs. Great trip. Jordan told me that this village visit was the greatest thing he had ever experienced.)

Siku ya Wanawake (Women's Day)

11 March 2010

Three weeks now until we arrive in Denver and we are trying to use our last weeks wisely. Zach's friend, Jordan Edgcomb, arrives for a visit tomorrow and we will spend a week with him around Arusha and going on a short safari. We are excited to have him and look forward to being able to show someone first hand what we do and how we live here in Tanzania. Our last ten days will be spent trying to say goodbye and thank you to all the people who were so helpful and friendly to us during our time here!

Last week we went to dinner with a family of a friend we have back home. He married an American volunteer who was doing something similar to what Zach and I do, and they now live in Fort Collins, CO. Grandma Esther introduced us before we left thinking that Zach and I could use all the contacts we could get during our time here. We had such a great time with his family and were grateful for the connection and for being welcomed so warmly into a family and home.

We celebrated Women's Day on Monday this week. We visited a little village called Nduruma which is about 20 km outside of Arusha. There were hundreds of women there and lots of singing and dancing and speeches that stressed the importance of women's rights and empowerment. I was pleasantly surprised, also, by how many men were at the celebration and actively participating in the festivities. From my own personal observations it seems that most women here are well aware of their status and role in this culture, and are also aware of the problems with it, and yet not many women seem to be ready to put up a big fight to demand their rights and change their status. Even Mama Hindu, the director of the CWCD whose sole mission is the empowerment of women, still cannot get through her head that Zach does most of the cooking in our family and that our marriage works as a partnership, not a dictatorship. It is hopeful that the women here seem to be getting the knowledge needed to make changes to their lives, they just need to work out how these changes can be incorporated into their relationships and work places without changing the aspects of their culture that they value and want to preserve.

We are getting excited to see all you at home in the first weeks of April!

(Coming Later...internet is not working here! The picture today is from us giving wheelchair to the doctor of one of the village antenatal clincs that we visited that was incredibly under-equipped. The wheelchair was purchased with money from the Olson Family and my Grandma Chandler at home. They were extremely grateful for such a generous gift.)

Written by Whitney

Video Game?

February 27, 2010

It seems like we usually talk about work and how difficult and frustrating, yet successful and rewarding it can be. But there are so many other components to life in Arusha besides our work, and Whit and I have talked a little about how they are kind of like a video game. There are so many different levels to play every day, whether it be dodging tourist chasers downtown, or braving the dirt roads of Mianzini and Ilboru that seem like their own mountain ranges with peaks and canyons, or maneuvering through central market in search of decent produce with an honest seller. All of these levels, once completed, bring a sense of accomplishment, and if not, at least relief.

No matter what level we play on any given day, some of the obstacles are universal to all of Arusha:
• Getting bumped by a car or motorcycle, or even repeatedly having to dodge them while maintaining patience
• Slipping on a banana peel or mango pit (which truly happens more than one would think).
• Dodging dish or laundry water that women throw into the street nonchalantly and without regard for passers-by.
• Crosswalks and stoplights just don’t carry the same meaning and sense of security that we are familiar with.
• Hurdling the large water drainage ditches that separate the sidewalks from the major roads, and many streets have holes in them that expose pedestrians to the mucky waste water below if they lapse in concentration.
• Searching for bits and pieces of Swahili, thinking you have them soon to find out that you’ve lost them, and then having to backtrack to find them.
And if these obstacles (and so many more) aren’t enough to make passing each level difficult, you also have to overcome the distractions:
• So many people going every which way
• The “How are you?” chants that the children direct at every mzungu (white person) they see.
• Honking from cars and motorcycles that often scare you half to death
• The wonderful smells of greasy fries and samosas
All of these distractions, good or bad, can cause the player to become the victim of one of the above obstacles, if they aren’t careful. All of the obstacles here must be faced before the player even gets to work or school, or wherever they are going.

We started playing when we got off the airplane, and won’t pass all of the levels of this year’s edition until we reach the airport again. But aside from all of the obstacles, we have had and will continue to have goals and missions until we leave that have made playing this game so worthwhile. I won’t fully be able to evaluate “Arusha 2010” until we get home, but Playstation should definitely here my ideas.

We’ve taken a little break from the game for the last few days since Mala was spayed, and we brought her back to our apartment so we can watch her. She is definitely dealing with her new apartment very well, especially since she can’t go outside whenever she wants, but she loves sitting on the couch and standing on the small balcony watching the happenings of Fire Road. It really sucks having to watch my dog wear her upside-down, Apollo 13 collar just so that she won’t bite at her wound that is itching to the point where Whit and I both scratch it for her so that she’ll quit driving us crazy. We want to bring the collar home with us though because Mala could do some serious snow shoveling with her Elizabethan collar. The best part about her being here is that she is completely potty trained. She sits at the door every time she needs to go outside, and the only accident she has had was when she was still whacked out from her anesthesia. She’s even potty trained to the point where she is whining at the door so she can go outside, fake squat for two seconds, and then spend the rest of the time sniffing around. I hope she at least feels sneaky. Gotta love dogs!

(This is a good picture of what we refer to as the snow plow and Whitney. Mala runs into everything and it’s so funny but I feel bad every time and want to rip it off early.)

Written by Zach

Differences

22 February 2010

Haven’t written in a while because we haven’t had much new and exciting happening. We have gone to a few more schools and are still getting ready for Women’s Day in a couple of weeks, but work has pretty much been the same old, same old.

So instead! I am going to write about a few more of the things that I find quirky and interesting about living here. :) One of the things I have found very different from home is some of the commercials on television, particularly ones that are advertising skin lightening systems. That’s right. Lightening, not tanning! Funny how people at home usually want to look dark and tan, while products here offer skin lightening for “up to 5 shades lighter!” Most of the television stations here come from South Africa or India, though, and most of these commercials I think are aimed at the Indian populations that live in East Africa.

Another mystery to me here is the “Duka la Dawas”, which literally means “shop of medicines” or “pharmacy”. Here the Dukas are labeled either “baridi” (which literally means cold, but indicates that they sell Western medicines) or “asili” which means they have more traditional, local remedies for illnesses. These dukas are found on almost every street corner, even out in smallest of towns and remotest of areas. When you enter a “Duka la Dawa: Baridi” you will usually see shelves filled with versions of the medicines that we would find in our own medicine aisles, but sometimes they also have medicines that would require a prescription in the US, such as Cipro. As you know, it takes many years of schooling to be able to be a pharmacist in the US, so I have to wonder when I go into a duka here, if the shop owners have any sort of relevant training to qualify them for handing out these sometimes powerful medicines. Although, in the time that we spent at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital we saw the doctor’s writing out prescriptions, so I also wonder what drugs DO require a doctor’s Rx and why? Is it just really specific meds, such as anti-retro virals? This is definitely on my list of things to find out more about.

(The picture here is of a waterfall that we hiked to last weekend. It is up in the foothills of Mt. Meru, just past a little village where some of the Basecamp employees are from. It was beautiful. If you look closely, just at the top of the rocks, you can see Zach standing up there. He was brave enough to take a dip in the freezing water, but since I tend to be a little hydrophobic, I just took pictures!)

Written by Whitney

Tarangire National Park

11 February 2010

We just got home from safari today and had a blast. We are now in the mood to watch the Lion King :) , but we don’t have it here. We went to Tarangire National Park and stayed at the Tarangire Safari Lodge. Our “camping tent” was nicer than our apartment in Arusha so we definitely were on vacation! We went with a couple from Minnesota who were nice enough to let us share a safari truck. They lived in Tanzania ten years and taught at the Maasae Girls School in Monduli for two years and are just back for a few weeks to visit. We had a lot in common and had fun exchanging stories and experiences from our time living and working in Tanzania.

We went on almost two full days of game drives around the park and were able to see a variety of landscapes and animals. Some of the stuff we saw were: a leopard, two lions, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, impala, water bucks, dikdiks, hartebeests, klipspringers, mongooses, bat-eared foxes, cape buffalo, gazelles, ostrich, oryx, baboons, vevet monkeys, brown-crowned crane (endangered!), egrets, owls, eagles, vultures, turtles, and tons of other beautiful and colorful birds. We didn’t see everything we were hoping to, but that leaves us something to look forward to later.

We saw babies of almost all the animals, but the baby warthogs were one of our favorites. They are unfortunately, though, one of the most skiddish of all the animals and were hard to photograph. The elephants were the most abundant animals in the park, as Tarangire is famous for. There were thousands around and we were able to see them in many different habitats. Sometimes they were so close to the truck that we could practically reach out and touch them. They almost seem otherworldly and we laughed at how we felt like we were in Jurassic Park at times.

Overall, we had a great time. We wish our families could have been there to share the experience, but hopefully in the future we will get to make the trip together.

(One of our favorite photos of the trip was of the leopard in the acacia tree. They are so sleek, beautiful and rare and seeing it in the wild was absolutely exhilarating.)

Written collaboratively by
Whitney & Zach

Tough Questions

4 February 2010

Even though our week started out slow, it has turned out pretty good. The last two days we have done presentations at Sinon Secondary School that is a little South of Arusha in a rough neighborhood. The school wouldn’t let us present during the day so we have been getting there around 3pm and presenting until about 5:30pm. The fact that the students stay that late at school to listen to our presentation amazed me, let alone how interested they were the whole time we were presenting. At the end of the presentation today one boy raised his hand and said how happy he was that we had come and how much they all appreciated it. He said that they were so thankful three times in a row and everyone in the class was cheering and clapping. It is times like those that make the bad days here worth it.

During one of presentations at Sinon there was a young girl who sat in the front row and asked some interesting questions. Her first question was about we were doing as an organization to address homosexuality in Tanzania. We were a little taken aback by the question, but told her that we have not worked directly with the topic here because it is still not something that is received very well in Tanzania at this point in time. Later we were talking about the time period between when someone contracts HIV to when they will actually test positive, which can be several months, but she asked, “what are you as Americans doing for us to decrease the amount of time we have to wait for those results?” She also later asked a question about what America is doing to help AIDS orphans get access to formula. Not that those aren’t valid questions, but they are also problems that we have in America. I think it was her accusatory tone of voice that made America seem like the bad guy, and the laughing and clapping from other students during those questions, that are frustrating. (Most of the ARVs in Tanzania, which are free, are provided by EGPAF and USAID, both from America. It is not like there aren’t efforts being made to address the issue.) I guess I feel like we get so many mixed signals from people here about these issues. Sometimes I feel like they don’t even want us here, thinking that we work here out of pity for them…sometimes they accuse America of putting AIDS in condoms and other things, like biological warfare…and yet sometimes they ask questions about what America is doing to solve ALL of their problems, problems that we even still have in America. I can’t even count how many times we have gotten questions about how to prevent miscarriages, premature births, infertility and things that we still deal with in America, but it seems like they just have this picture in their minds that America is a place where everyone has everything they want and no one has any problems or worries in life. I know they hate hearing that sometimes there are no solutions to life problems, but sometimes I feel like they don’t always believe us…like they still think we are part of some big American conspiracy to make the lives of Africans as hard as possible.

On a lighter note, the best thing about work this week was that we hit the 2,000 mark for how many people we have presented to in Tanzania. We were pretty excited about that and are happy to have a “concrete” way to quantify the work that we have done here. (It also makes us feel less guilty about taking a few days off next week to go to Tarangire National Park to go on safari. We are really excited about it!)

(The picture today is of the warning label on our box of wine...pretty funny, but also true!)

Written by Whitney